Five Days in San Francisco
DAY ONE — As long as I was flying cross country to San Francisco, I thought I’d try Virgin America (www.virginamerica.com) . I always liked…
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A trip to Costa Rica designed for teens and tweens (and one little sister)
After a morning of white-water rafting (and plenty of water fights) on Costa Rica’s Sarapiqui River, and a first-rate burrito lunch made by our raft guides at the river’s edge, we stop in the small town of Horquetas, about 10 minutes from where we are staying to visit an elementary school. Some 270 kids attend the ill-equipped school, which is so overcrowded that children must attend split sessions. The students mug for our cameras and giggle.
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Destinations | Disney | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
The Disney guides make all the difference
No matter how interesting the places, how scenic the terrain, touring is exhausting — especially with kids. That’s why the parents in our group so appreciate our Adventures by Disney guides who are always there to offer a bottle of water, a snack, even an activity or movie on the bus to keep the kids amused.
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Destinations | Disney | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries | Volunteer & Service
The trip is alive with the sound of music as we approach Salzburg
Lunch will be on a cruise down the Danube that will take us about 35 miles, from Durnstein to Melk. The villages are postcard-pretty, especially on a sunny day. The parents are pleased that the guides invite them to enjoy the views on the top deck while they entertain the kids elsewhere.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Weekly Column
TO AUSTIN, TEXAS
All around Lost Pines were other families determined not to miss one second of vacation fun — floating in the lazy river, watching the kids on the water slide or in the baby pool, saddling up for horseback rides or bike rides around the extensive property (405 acres and an adjoining 1,100-acre nature park!), playing “golf” with preschoolers on the lawn and watching them on the playground nearby.
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Off to see the monkeys
A monkey in the treetops takes his time watching us before performing (click image to enlarge)DAY 5 — Our guide, Gaston Trujillo, says he thinks Costa Rica remains a jumping off point for many venturing into eco tourism for the first time. There are so many different species and habitats to see here, he explains, without great distances.
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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries | Volunteer & Service
An amazing journey to see the sea turtles lay their eggs
Tortuguero is all about the turtles. The Caribbean Conservation Corporation (www.ccturtle.org) is the oldest sea turtle conservation anywhere and the program here — more than 30 years old — has documented an over 400 per cent increase in green turtle nesting here. For a $25 donation to the Conservation Corporation, I adopt a turtle tag # 105549.
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Mixing two cultures at a local school
We parents of course notice what their schools are missing-computers, air conditioning, enough room for the children to go to school full days. Sarah Kate Garrett, at nine the youngest in our group, immediately makes friends with nine-year-old Maria.
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Into the Costa Rican rainforests
No bored seen-that done-that teens in this crowd. At breakfast, we’ve met the rest of our group from Thomson Family Adventures. We are four families with eight girls aged eight to 16. There are two other moms traveling solo with kids and a family with three girls from Los Altos, CA. The dad, Jeff Purnell jokes that he’s used to being outnumbered by women.
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TO VERMONT — IN SUMMER
The steep climb up the slick rocks — 770 vertical feet — doesn’t phase them, nor scrambling without footholds or squeezing between two boulders. “Hard but fun,” a trio of 9-year-old boys declare, as they race ahead. “Definitely worth it,” their older sisters add, as they trail close behind them.
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A trip to Costa Rica with two teenagers
JFK was typically a crowded mess at Delta. No one was quite sure which line was which — baggage drop, check in, security? For some reason, the automated kiosk wouldn’t let us check in so we got on a long line only to discover that was the line for the folks who had already checked in but needed to drop their bags
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
Fun in the Texas Lost Pines Country
DAY TWO — It’s barely 9 a.m. and kids are in full vacation mode, playing water basketball, floating in the lazy river, zipping down the…
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To a national park this summer-one of the most budget
We screeched to a halt along the side of the road in Grand Teton National Park. Reggie, 8, was equally mesmerized but 3-year-old Melanie couldn’t quite grasp that we were in the moose’s house — and it wasn’t a zoo. I still smile years later when I think about the kids’ excitement. Forget the Kodak moments. The chance to share something new together — something you’d never see or do at home — is what makes those indelible family vacation memories that last forever.
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Getting free gas, free golf, free s’mores and more this summer
Free gas anyone? Not quite. But the higher gas prices go — and the more we rethink summer vacation plans as a result — the more hotels, resorts, cities and towns across the country are rolling out the welcome mat with rebates and credits all designed to help fill your gas tank and ease the sticker shock that comes with it, as the price of gas climbs to $4.07 a gallon on average. That is $1.09 a gallon more than a year ago, according to AAA.
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A special trip with my graduate daughter
There’s always something special about traveling with your kids one-on-one — whether they’re five, 15 or in my case, 22. I just returned from a trip to Italy with my daughter Reggie — her college graduation trip — before she headed off for adventures (and a new job) across the country.
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Last day on the Amalfi trails
Steep stone steps that never seem to end. We’re hiking above Positano in the Lattari Mountains — the trail is less than three miles but the elevation is steep and it’s the toughest hike we’ve attempted on the fifth day of this Backroads hiking trip along the Amalfi Coast
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A hiking trip to Italy with a (mostly) grown daughter
We’re hiking high above Positano along Italy’s famous Amalfi Coast in the Lattari Mountains. This trail is less than three miles, but the elevation is steep and it’s the toughest hike the Backroads hiking group, which includes by daughter Reggie and me, has attempted on this the fifth day of our trip. Reg is at the front of the pack; I’m in the back.
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A concert in the foggy woods
Brigid — always one of the fastest hikers in the group isn’t there. Her stepson Drew last saw her on the trail and her husband Jim is worried. Even worse, he’s got not only the directions and maps but her water bottle, money and the card with the guides’ phone numbers.
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A trip to the amusement park should not mean a trip to the emergency room
No one likes to talk about it but every year, nationwide, an estimated 8,000 children ages 14 and under are treated in emergency rooms for injuries involving thrill rides at amusement parks and traveling carnivals; in an average year, three or four die, reports Safe Kids USA
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To Pontone and Ravello (but are we lost?)
The views are spectacular, though — the sea, the boats, the pastel-colored houses looking like layers on a cake marching up the hills, the gardens with olives, lemons, vegetables and of course grapes, some vines growing in trellises above the vegetable to save space.
