Prepping for a Family Road Trip
If you’re looking for family vacation ideas, consider taking a road trip. Driving to your family vacation destination is often more affordable than buying plane tickets for the whole family
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A Spring Skiing Adventure at Heavenly and Kirkwood ski resorts
Heavenly Ski Resort. We both agreed that this ski area had been aptly named. We looked out over the giant span of beautiful Lake Tahoe from the top of the mountain.
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A flight worth enjoying, honestly!
I’m in my Virgin America extra legroom seat with no one in front of me and plenty of room to stretch on this flight from San Francisco to New York. For once the five-hour plus flight doesn’t seem interminable.
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Time to plan your visit to our National Parks
My youngest daughter, Mel, says those national parks trips when she was little (and complained her legs were “broken” from all the hiking) spurred her interest in environmental science — her college major
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An Easter brunch to remember — Day Five
We are at the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay’s Sunday Brunch that is so popular in the Bay area that people drive an hour or more to indulge.
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Giant Redwoods and little yellow slugs – Day Four
The Giant Redwoods, soaring hundreds of feet in the air, were amazing. But what was even better was the conversations with my daughter Reggie as we hiked through Butano State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains
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Backyard Vacations | Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
Exploring the coastal region near Half Moon Bay
This area is also home California’s first and only broad based ecotourism visitor program, through which more than 30 farmers, fisherman and business community members have come together to offer visitors hands-on activities and a chance to meet local residents.
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RVing vs camping? Why not both?
Many suggest that despite gas prices RVing is cheaper than other vacations but the Muellers aren’t so sure. That wasn’t why they did it anyway—it was a lifestyle thing, to get outdoors with the kids.
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Day Two – exploring San Francisco’s Japantown
Everyone knows San Francisco’s bustling, busy Chinatown, the largest outside of Asia.
But Japantown? This area is worth exploring and not just for the food. -
Six days in San Francisco and Redwood country
The Fairmont San Francisco’s Executive Chef jW Foster installed the beehives in the hotel’s 1,000-square foot culinary garden to help support the bee population which has dropped 90 per cent since the 1980s.
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Spiderman vs. Harry Potter at Universal Orlando
Move over, Harry Potter. Spider-Man has arrived. “I’m just not that into Harry Potter,” explains 16-year-old Jordan Madow who preferred the newly reanimated Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
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How to get your teens to spend time with you
Question: How do you make two high school senior girls happy AND get them to spend time with you?
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Frozen Planet brings back memories of the Arctic
The new Discovery Channel series Frozen Planet is reminding me of the exceptional trip to the Artic Circle last summer. We were smack in the middle of a bustling fast food court—for Arctic animals.
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Teens meet DisneyWorld – really like Epcot
When we got to Magic Kingdom the first day we were in DisneyWorld, it was a little overwhelming. After walking through Cinderella’s castle, we were greeted by Hannah Montana
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Learning animation on Disney’s cruise ship Fantasy
Wow! Even the jaded 17 year olds I’m with are impressed. At the end of the show, each of our names — as we signed them on our placemat — is listed on the credits as “guest animator.”
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Two teens explore Universal Orlando and Harry Potter’s world
Once we arrived at Universal we met up with Matt, our amazing tour guide, who immediately brought us to our most anticipated attraction, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
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Just a couple of teens on a Disney Cruise
Jack Sparrow greeted us, along with crystal clear, bright blue waters and white sandy beaches. We walked past the first beach because it was a little crowded, but found chairs AND, much to our content, a water slide at the second beach
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Learning local history adds to vacation memories
Since we’re here on a girl’s getaway, we find it amusing that at the height of the mining boom in the 1900 census, there were 22 seamstresses in Park City but only two sewing machines.
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A club dedicated to getting moms back on the slopes
Welcome to Park City Mountain Resort’s new Ladies’ Club, offered certain days of the week. Women who hadn’t skied in a while, said Martell, “didn’t want a high powered clinic. They just wanted an opportunity to get back on the mountain in a non-threatening way.”
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Touring the old city of Dubrovnik, Croatia
The city’s medieval walls helped protect the city and there was tremendous international publicity decrying the bombing of this historic city and in favor of granting Croatia diplomatic recognition.
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Luxe and lots of powder at Deer Valley UT
For those who can afford luxe on the slopes, tt doesn’t get any better than the ski-in, ski-out Montage (with its own Compass Sports rental shop and ski valet where they buckle and unbuckle your boots) and Deer Valley
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Good eats in and around Park City UT
Here as well as at neighboring Deer Valley –which led the industry in providing good mountain eats—we’re seeing ever better food with an emphasis on what is locally sourced.
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Meet Holly Flanders – and make time for yourself on the slopes
Flanders teaches women’s ski workshops at Canyons—I thoroughly enjoyed one a few years ago—but now has a new mission—to convince women they need to make that time, no matter what else is going on in their lives.
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Remembering a great adventure in the high Chilean desert
It’s only 10 a.m. but I feel like we’ve been going all day. That’s because we left our hotel Tierra Atacama before dawn—I’d never seen such bright stars across the desert sky—on our way to the highest geyser field in the world—El Tatio Geisers at 14,190 feet!
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A visit to see the biggest Budda in the world
Not just any giant Buddha but the Tian Tan Buddha, the world’s largest outdoor sitting Buddha — some 98 feet tall and weighing 250 tons, his humongous right hand raised to deliver a blessing to all.
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Getting out of your comfort zone is a good thing – just ask the kids
It’s no secret that the snowsports industry wants to encourage more minorities to hit the slopes. But that’s not easy with lift tickets costing over $90 at many places, not to mention all the gear that’s needed. (Even long underwear and the right socks can be expensive.)
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Prepare for Take Off in a Stress Free Way
Yes, we get reserved parking at the airport. No, we’re not VIPs or parkers with special needs.
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Lower Manhattan is New York’s must-see destination
We’re talking about Lower Manhattan — specifically the area south of Chambers Street that’s surrounded by water on three sides. In 2011, a record 9.8 million tourists visited Lower Manhattan — 800,000 more than the previous year.
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When you take the kids, you take what you can get!
When we suggest stopping for some soup, Mel sees her opening to leave us. “I have a PB&J in my pocket,” she says, “I want to keep skiing!” …So much for family time.
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Timeout for some spa time in Beaver Creek, CO
Family ski trips can be a lot of work, especially for moms-all the schlepping, all the shopping for groceries and cooking. Certainly moms deserve some “me” time on ski trips and there’s no better place than a spa like this to enjoy that.
