Monday, January 24, 2011

Escaping the Snow

Escaping the snow in Central Ohio, hubby and I headed south a few days ago. A man that used to work with hubby told him once he wanted to strap a snow shovel to the hood of his car and drive south until someone wondered what the item was...he would then know, he'd gone far enough south.

Well, we didn't exactly do that, but we did leave town to get away from the snow and the cold and the winter. As we headed south we lunched at Sonic Burger. Have never eatten there, and probably won't again. Strange place. Seems they can't decide if they want to be a fast food place or an old style car hop type place. It filled the tank and let us travel on, but it's not a place I would recommend nor a place I care to eat at again.

A tip for traveling in your car this time of year, once you've filled your window washer fluid, put the bottle in your car so you can refill. You definitely use lots of it this time of year with snow, road junk being thrown up, and salt.

Our first stop was Charlotte, North Carolina. We didn't take anytime to explore there, just pasted through. Though last year (about this same time), we did stop in a very historic cemetery (even though there was snow on the ground). It's called Pioneer Cemetery. Am also hopeful we'll stop on the way back north this trip so I can see it, explore it a bit without the snow. Thus far, we've faired better this year in our escape the snow trip then we did this time last year. It's 30 degrees warmer here then it is at home, that's worth a smile. Temps at home where minus 2 degrees as we departed Charlotte to head further south....Hilton Head next stop.

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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Happy New Year and What will be the future of Traveling Suitcase?

First let me say belated Merry Christmas to all who's blog I never made it to in order to wish you the best; and Happy New Year to all. I hope you've all been able to spend quality time with loved ones celebrating whatever holiday is your special one. I hope you've all been safe in your travels.

The Traveling Suitcase hasn't been updated in sometime. The longest time, actually since it began. Life has been busy, work has been busy, work on my other blogs has been busier than normal; and I've been hustling trying to knit and crochet as much as possible for the homeless (through my Bridge and Beyond Blog)

I'm very inactive these days with regard to EC and am unsure whether or not I'll be deleting my membership there. Apoligies for not returning drops with the same zeal as I have in the past. It seems when I've looked in, many are not active. I'm not sure there's much point with all the changes, they surely have diluted the orginal intent and fun of the program.

I have much still to tell you about regarding the trip to Mexico and a few other places where I've traveled. And Flat Stanley has lots of interesting things to share, he too has been busy.

Travel safe my friends if you're traveling throughout the remainder of the holiday.

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Sunday, November 21, 2010

Not a typical day at The Beach, Manzanillo Mexico

crocked beach partiersOnce again the order I wanted on the blog seems to be an issue. Apologies that they aren't in the nicest order. Two friends here, one still wearing a party hat. Not a typical day at the beach. Not for me anyway. A normal day at the beach might be a packed lunch/packed cooler and a couple of beach towels and or beach chairs. This is doing it up in style folks. One might ask who's crocked here, those in the photo's (see drinks in hands), or the photographer. lol
party and bar areaOur table area in the shade of a Palapa, table cloth, and real dishes in the foreground with the bar area further back. The staff prepares the area then transported us there for a wonderful day at the beach with fabulous food and drink.
pretty table settingReal silverware, cloth napkins; so much nicer than paper and plastic. And when you see the food they prepared for us....truly the real stuff is needed.
private beachVilla Paraiso has access to this private beach. The day we were there, we were the only ones. The town of Manzanillo is off in the distance there. We're in the vicinity here of where the movie 10 was filmed. I'd show you a picture of me running the beach, looking like Bo Derek's look alike...except I'm taking the pictures you see. lol
kabobsThe Shrimp, Chicken, and Beef Kabobs were fabulous.
party hatsAn attempt to get all 9 of us in our party hats failed, but you can still see how festive everyone was in their special sombrero's.
food viewFood view with chilled adult beverages.
Party AnimalIn case you wonder how to show you're having a good time, use this photo as your guide. Here forward this picture will appear in Websters under the words Party Hats.
bathhouseThis is the bath house which was quite large and very nice. There were lots of tables inside, and facilities for concessions which I believe are open during the "in season". We were there just 1 week before the "in season".
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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Villa Paraiso, Manzanillo, Mexico

Ernie and SandyWelcome to Mexico. Sorry these pictures are out of order. I've loaded them twice, seem to be having some tech issues. Ernie and I here, relaxing after lunch on Day 1. Look at the food, tons of wonderful food. Yes, we are in our bathing suits. We lived in them for a week. Note to self, pack more suits and fewer clothes in the future. One can get very relaxed after several good margarita's.
Mexican lunchA close up of some of the food for our typical lunch. Chips, Margarita's, Tortilla's and more not shown in this photo. No one left hungry.
BarMeet Joel, our bar tender. Actually Joel did many things there at the house, Villa Paraiso I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back up. Day 1 began early, before daylight early -arriving at the airport. After making it to Houston we flew into ZLO (Manzanillo). The airport is about 35 miles north of the city of Manzanillo on highway 200. We were met by our guide/driver Antonio. He transported 7 of us to the Villa, where we met the staff. They were fabulous. They greeted us with a tray of waiting margarita's and nice warm cloth to towel off after our 2 flights and van drive. AWESOME beginning.
Ohio State DudeThey gave us a tour of the house, we each selected our bedroom and quickly got into swim suits. We made our way outside to The Palapa (were we virtually lived for the duration of the week); refilled our glasses and were soon served our lunch. This was a nice touch, The Buckeye Dude by the bar. The house is owned by a fellow Ohioan, a Buckeye.
poolThis pool view is awesome. You're looking out at The Sierra Madre Mtns, the Pacific Ocean; the bar is to your right should you need a refill.
sunsetOur first breathtaking sunset. This shot was standing behind the pool in the above photo.
sunsetThe sun is almost dipping into the water here, or so it seems. The pools water in the foreground. Manzanillo is a busy port city in the state of Colima in Mexico. It's home to The Navy, and is The Sailfish Capital of the world.

Once the sunset we ventured indoors for dinner, but returned again after dinner to The Palapa to visit, and enjoy ourselves before calling it a night. The house is an open air home, some folks left their doors open to the outside, others used the a.c. at night only. The weather was fabulous.

Return for more fun and information, I've got a lot to share.


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Sunday, November 14, 2010

Kicking off our travels to Mexico

OSU Guy at airportKicking off our recent trip to Mexico this OSU Guy at the airport. Several in our group were having a Bloody Mary here in the bar prior to departure for a week in Mexico. This was an away Sat Game Day, when Ohio State played Minnesota in Minnesota. I assume this guy was traveling to the game. I asked if I could a picture and he was gracious enough to wait while I did so.

Follow along each day for information, pictures and participate in the fun from my travels to Mexico. This kicks off the series which will start tomorrow, Monday the 15th
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Thursday, November 11, 2010

A wordle post for FUN regarding GROUP Travel

Wordle: group travelHave you heard of a wordle? I hadn't until a few days ago. Kinda fun, sorta artistic. I plugged in the url of this blog and it picked up on the most recent post (scroll back to read about group travel), and bingo here's what you get. It's black and white unless you choice colors. I choose orange because of the current season of fall leaves and so it then choice colors associated with it. Give it a try, it's fun, it's free, it's easy, and it's fast! No much news for you today regarding travel, but thought you might enjoy some fun. Pop back tomorrow for Friday Fun with Flat Stanley

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Thursday, November 4, 2010

Group Travel

Group travel has both pluses and minuses. You need to actually think about it before you sign on to a group travel excursions.

Are you a scheduled person? If so, group travel can make you nuts. It's hard to get multiple people ready to go at a specific time and to agree when and where to go.

Are you flexible? If you're flexible group travel may be a breeze for you. If you have one thing in mind and do the opposite you need to ask yourself ahead of time if that will be ok with you. Will it disrupt you and cause you irritation?

Are the folks you plan to travel with like minded? Do they like to do the same sort of things? If not, you could have a problem. If group 1 is active and wants to get up early to exercise; and group 2 wants to sleep in, get up leisurely and take the day as it comes without things being pre-arranged or scheduled. You might have conflicts. Will the early birds be quiet, are they content to do their own thing and leave you be?

Group Travel can save you money. But, it can also actually increase the costs. Are you all sharing equally in the cost of a condo vs each of you paying for your own hotel room? If you're paying for your own hotel room, you need not all have the same accommodations. Example ocean view generally costs more than side or street view. Are you eating out or eating in? If you're eating out, the choice of restaurant can up the cost of your trip. Likewise if you're eating in, are you sharing the costs? Does everyone like to eat the same thing?

Are you a person that likes things neat? If so, going on vacation sharing a house or condo with people who aren't can be an irritant to you. Example: You have a beautiful condo and every night people leave their shoes everywhere, their drink glasses on end tables, personal care items like sun tan lotion on the table. Access your situation, what you like, what your travel partners are likely to be like and decide if ground rules need to discussed before the trip.

If you're at a house or condo and are eating in. Who's doing the cooking, the cleaning up? Are you going to get stuck with it all the time? Is it being shared. Really a good idea to discuss this before hand.

Do you want to do some things by yourself, or with your spouse and not necessarily everything with the group? If so, discuss it before hand. People can get their feelings hurt if they expect all activities to be group activities and you want some time alone.

What time do you like to eat dinner? If you're a 5 o'clock person but traveling with people like myself who like to eat at 7 ish, you have a potential problem.

There is no right, or wrong way to go about this. We all have our routines. The important thing is to discuss things ahead of time.

Here's 2 of the biggest area's that can be a source for discord in a group. Pets and smoking. Pet people tend to think everyone should love their pets they way they do. If you're not a pet person, you probably don't want to travel with people who are or want to bring their pets. Time tables can be an issue here, when and where to stop. Where to eat, what to do with the dog in the car etc. Smoking, if you're a non smoker, chances are you don't want smoke in your hotel room, condo, or beach house. If you have people in the group who are smokers, discuss ahead of time how that's to be handled. Is there a reasonable place outside for them to smoke?

Organize yourself, think about what you want out of vacation, and by all means discuss things BEFORE hand that will give everyone the best possible means of having a wonderful vacation.

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