Welcome back to our page, we have been a little busy the last few months and are sure you can guess why (especially if you follow us on Instagram). If not, I am happy to announce we welcomed our first baby into the world on February 29, 2020, he is perfect and we have enjoyed being parents these last two months. This post is not technically travel related but it involves packing and traveling to the hospital, so why not! During my pregnancy I found myself on google ALL THE TIME, and even more after as we were learning how to become parents. From the beginning, so many changes were happening and being a first time “mom to be”, I needed reassurance. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I found myself looking up packing lists for the hospital because I wanted to be totally prepared- you never know how long you are going to be in the hospital and want it to feel somewhat like home. Below I will outline what we brought and recommendations for a hospital bag packing list.
Ideally, you should have your bag packed and ready to go by week 36.
For Mom-
Pillow: This is my number 1 recommendation, bring your own pillow. My absolute favorite during pregnancy was the U-shape maternity pillow that you can purchase on amazon (chick HERE). It helped so much while I was pregnant and especially in the hospital (labor is not comfortable and this will help you get into comfortable positions), you need this in your life. Clothes: 2 sets of pajamas, undergarments for at least 3 days (including your nursing/pumping bra and breast pads- click HERE for the reusable ones I love), a going home outfit (this is not the time to wear jeans, pack loose clothes), your own hospital gown if you choose, slippers, and flip flops. Toiletries: The hospital can and will provide a lot of these items but I brought my own bag filled with- toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, dry shampoo, body wash, lotion, makeup, extra hair ties, deodorant, glasses/contacts, etc. The hospital provides bath towels and wash cloths but feel free to bring your own.
For Dad-
Clothes: Day wear and sleep wear for at lest two days. Don’t forget comfy shoes or slippers too! Toiletries: Toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, body wash, deodorant, glasses/contacts, razor, shaving cream, etc. Some hospitals allow husbands to use the shower and others do not so be prepared for both. Entertainment: Something to keep him busy as you have time to relax/sleep during the process. Don’t forget headphones.
For Baby-
Car seat: The hospital staff will make sure you have everything properly installed before you leave. It is a good idea to have this installed a few weeks early too. Clothes: Going home outfit, onesies, pajamas, socks, photo outfits if you choose. Other baby items: Swaddle, baby blanket, baby book (we were told to bring additional pieces of card stock for hand/footprints as the staff will do as many as you would like), binky. If you plan to exclusively bottle feed from the beginning, pack 2 bottles.
Additional items-
Camera, snacks/drinks if you want something specific, entertainment/activities (I love puzzle books so I packed these for down time), laptop, portable speaker, essential oils, chargers, printed birth plan if you decide to write one up, pediatrician information. You will also need all of your insurance information and proper identification upon getting to the hospital.
Things you will probably NOTneed (but check with your hospital first)-
Breast pump (keep this home and use the hospitals if needed), bed linens, diapers/wipes, formula, stroller, baby toys, hair dryer, bath towels and washcloths.
Other recommendations– Take everything you can from the hospital. If the nurse opens a pack of diapers and you only end up using 1, take the rest or they have to be thrown out. I asked my nurse for extra items and she hooked me up with 2 bags full of postpartum toiletries. These nurses are great and will help make this process easy for you!
We hope this list helps you as you are nearing the end of your pregnancy and good luck! If you have children and feel we left something important off of this list, let us know!
Based on our history, you could say our relationship is based on travel and adventure but you know what else it is based on? Fine wine and craft beer! During our travels, Greg and I always try to find a local winery or brewery to visit and have had great luck over the last 8 years… we even got married at a winery! Below we will list where we have visited by state (we started this list late so there may be a few missing). We will continue to add to this list as we travel. Let us know if any of these are familiar to you or if you have been to any.
Connecticut Cassidy Hill Vineyard Sharpe Hill Vineyard
Florida Green Bench Brewing Company Crooked Thumb Brewery St. Pete Brewing Company Pinellas Ale Works Dunedin Brewery 7venth Sun Brewery Right Around the Corner Brewery Soggy Bottom Brewery Big Storm Brewing Company Dunedin House of Beer Caledonia Brewing Cueni Brewing Co. Woodright Brewing Company Grindhaus Brew Lab Arkane Aleworks Pair O’ Dice Brewing Southern Lights Brewing Company Stilt House Brewery Palm Harbor Brewery De Bine Brewing Company Two Frogs Brewing Co. Cigar City Brewing Tampa Bay Brewing Company Coppertail Brewing Co. Saint Somewhere Brewing Co. Hidden Springs Ale Works
Idaho Grand Teton Brewing Company
Ireland Irish Whiskey Museum
Maryland Cooper’s Hawk Winery
Massachusetts Harpoon Brewery
New Jersey Cape May Winery & Vineyard Willow Creek Winery & Farm Cava Winery & Vineyard Westfall Winery Slack Tide Brewing Company Cricket Hill Brewing Co
New York Brotherhood Winery Heartland Brewery Warwick Valley Winery and Distillery Thousand Island Winery Ventosa Vineyard Rooster Hill Vineyard Barrington Cellars Villa Bellangelo Ravines Wine Cellars Keuka Spring Winery Glenora Wine Cellars Starkey’s Lookout Brewery & Winery Hermann J Weimer Vineyard Abandoned Brewery Seneca Shore Wine Cellars Casa Larga Vineyard & Winery Bully Hill Vineyards Heron Hill Vineyards McGreggor Vineyard Pleasant Valley Wine Company Fruit Yard Winery White Springs Winery 3 Brothers Winery & Estates Fulkerson Winery Magnus Ridge Winery Lakewood Vineyards Keuka Brewing Company Dr. Konstantin Frank Wine Cellar Wagner Valley Winery & Brewery Hazlitt Vineyards Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellar Chateua LaFayette Reneau Two Goats Brewing Company Grist Iron Brewing Company J.R Dill Winery Damiani Wine Cellar Rooster Fisher Brewing Company Finger Lakes Distillery Bottomless Brewing
North Carolina D9 Brewery Free Will Craft & Vine Bold Missy Brewery Divine Barrel Brewery Free Range Brewing Ass Clown Brewing Company
Pennsylvania The Vineyard at Grandview Lancaster Brewing Company Vynecrest Vineyards Waltz Vineyard Troegs Brewing Company Appalachian Brewing Company
Utah Zion Brewery
Washington Redhook Brewlab JM Cellars Alexandria Nicole Cellars
(This post is part 3/6- make sure
to read the others. While you’re reading, click anything blue and you will see
I attached links and additional images for more information!)
*All times included time spent
taking pictures/enjoying the views.
* We visited in the middle of
June
After what seemed like forever in
the RV (12.5 hours) we made it to the Grand Canyon from Sequoia National Park. We
originally had 2 days planned here, but after talking to some new friends at
Yosemite, they said to pack everything into 1 day and explore other areas of
Arizona- we ended up rerouting our trip include Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe
Bend.
Prior to arriving at the Grand
Canyon entrance, we stopped at a visitor center outside the park.
We then made our way into the
park and to Mather Campground. At Mather Campground we paid $18 a night, no hook up but
very close to everything. The campsites are very large and have a picnic bench
as well as a fire pit. There is a laundry facility by the entrance to the
campground. The Grand Canyon village is also very tourist friendly and includes
things like: a general store, restaurant, post office, chase bank, clinic, a
chapel, and multiple visitor centers. Be on the lookout for elk, they won’t
bother you but remember to keep your distance (2 bus lengths).
Day 1- Thursday
Our first planned hike was Ooh
Aah point but after talking to one of the rangers he said it was not
recommended to hike into the canyon between the hours of 10am- 4pm. At that
point, we took the free shuttle to the visitor center in order to get to
the Rim
Trail.
Rim Trail–
Distance- As long or as short as you
would like- we hiked a mile and then turned around for a total of 2 miles
Time- As long or as short as you
would like- 2 hours
Shuttle- Yes
Handicap Accessible
The Rim Trail allows for views
alongside the rim of the Grand Canyon (where it gets its name). There are many
lookout points you can walk down into and almost the entire tail is paved. You
may think you have seen it all but there are so many different views from one
point to another, take your time and enjoy this hike. It can get very crowded
during the day.
From the Rim Trail we got in our
RV and headed to our first lookout, Yavapai
Lookout.
Yavapai Lookout–
Distance- .2 miles from the
parking lot
Time- As long or as short as you would like
Shuttle- Yes
Handicap Accessible
Attached to this lookout is the Geology
Museumand we recommend you check it out, we found it had the best
views. Take your time walking around/reading about the history of the canyon. Look
for helicopters inside the canyon, let us know if you saw any!
Time- As long or as short as you
would like (stay in 1 spot to view)
Shuttle- Yes
Pipe Creek Vista, along with the
other lookout points has great views, it is interesting to see the canyon from
another viewpoint.
Finally, around 4:30 we got ready
and hopped on the shuttle to complete theOoh
Aah Pointtrail.
Ooh Aah Trail–
Distance- 2 miles (total out and
back)
Time- 1 hour and 30 minutes
Shuttle- Yes
This hike was amazing but
difficult! The entire way to the Ooh Aah point is a downhill zigzag which means
the entire way out is an uphill zigzag… Greg and I had to take many rests
periods along the way back. For reference, it took us 26 minutes to hike the
mile down and 52 minutes to hike the mile up. You do have the option of
continuing after Ooh Aah point to 2 other lookouts but we knew we were already
going to have trouble from this point so we turned around.
After this hike we went back to
the RV for dinner and some rest. Around 9:00pm, Greg mentioned how it would be
cool to see the canyon at night so we hopped in the RV and headed towards the visitor
center to the Rim Trail and guess what… that was literally the best
idea! We basically had the canyon to ourselves and were able to see so many
stars above because of minimal light pollution. If you can, definitely do this
as you will not be disappointed.
At the end of our day we were really
happy with what we saw. You can definitely see the Grand Canyon in a day.
OTHER
PARK INFORMATION
SHUTTLE SYSTEM- The free shuttle system
at the Grand Canyon is great but make sure you know what time the last shuttle
is. Here, they run very late compared to the other parks we have visited.
VISITOR CENTER- Definitely make a stop here. The rangers can provide you with
any information or questions you may have. You can buy souvenirs at the gift
shop, grab free maps (we lived off of using ours), and get a stamp for your
National Park Passport! We added to our National Park patch collection
here.
SERVICE- We had limited service here but were able to communicate with
our family when we got closer to the village.
FOOD- We packed a lot of snacks for our hikes including trail mix,
crackers, etc. Having the RV available after each hike was very convenient for
meals as well. There is a restaurant/tavern located nearby in the village that
looked very popular.
LAUNDRY- There was a laundry facility but we did not use it- not sure
of the price.
WEATHER- It was hot! Hike early or hike later in the day to prevent heat exhaustion. The rangers do not recommend anyone go into the canyon from 10am- 4pm. We found 5pm was a good time to start.
TRAILS- If you are limited on time, plan out your top trails and do
them first. You might be surprised that you have extra time in the day that
allows for more adventures. As stated before, we believe you can see the Grand
Canyon in one day.
FIREWOOD- You are not allowed to gather branches for firewood, it must
be purchased. We bought ours from the general store and it did not last long
and it put black smoke on our smores.
OUR NUMBER 1 RECOMMENDATION- Go back to the rim trail after dark- it will not disappoint.
OUR NUMBER 1 RECOMMENDED HIKE- Ooh Aah Point!
Day 2- Friday
We woke up early and headed
towards Page, Arizona in preparation of our guided tour through Antelope
Canyon (Ken’s Tours). Our tour was at 1:30pm in the lower antelope canyon. The
canyon did not disappoint, every time you make a turn you see another amazing
view of the sun shining through. I am so happy we were able to add this to our
trip.
-We were told the lower canyon
has better views (compared to the upper canyon) and the best time to go is
between 10am-2pm because the lighting is the best.
– With Ken’s Tours, adult tickets
are $50 and I believe children are $30.
– You must check in 30 minutes prior
to your tour.
– You need a reservation to complete the tour, as we were waiting there were so many people that came up to buy tickets and were turned away. Plan in advance.
From Antelope Canyon we drove
about 15 minutes to Horseshoe
Bend which was another great adventure.
In order to get to the rim/overlook you have to walk about a half mile (some
uphill/some downhill) but the views are totally worth it! Look down to see
boats and how small they are compared to everything; it puts it into
perspective.
(This post is part 2/6- make sure to read the others. While you’re reading, click anything blue and you will see I attached links and additional images for more information!)
Greg and I traveled from Yosemite
National Park to Sequoia National Park to continue our honeymoon. We had 2 full
days here and below is what filled our time.
*All times included time spent
taking pictures/enjoying the views.
* We visited in the middle of
June
Day 1- Monday
We woke up around 5:30am to pack
up and get on the road. Initially the GPS said it would take us 3.5 hours to
get to Sequoia but it took us around 4.5 (there is cheaper gas the further you
drive away from Yosemite). On the way to Sequoia we passed right through Kings Canyon National Parkand were able to stop at
their Visitor Center and stamp our passport. Driving up and down the
mountain we were also able to make a stop at a lookout point that overlooked
the canyon. It was nice but had somewhat occluded views. We then drove straight
to Moro
Rock before checking in at our
campground as we knew there was a parking lot on location.
Moro Rock
Distance- 400 steps with a steep
incline
Time- 45 minutes
Shuttle- Route 2
We arrived here around 11:15am
and there was a fair amount of people- not over crowded but it may seem that
way when you are trying to climb up and down narrow stairs. Once you are at the
top, there is plenty of room. Going up, I’ll be honest, I had to take a few
rest periods. I never knew how exhausting 400 steps would be and after we got
to the bottom, my legs were literally shaking. Don’t let this stop you though,
the views are wonderful!
After Moro Rock, we drove back to
Lodgepole
Campgroundwhich took about 25 minutes. Lodgepole is a park campground
that offers tent/RV spots for $22 a night- no hook up but there are bathrooms,
a laundry facility, the visitor center, a restaurant, gift shop, public
library, dumping stations, and many water stations. The RV spots here are very
big and also have a fire pit which came in handy.
We ate lunch at the Lodgepole
Market and both enjoyed our meals. Greg had a spicy Italian sub and I had a
grilled chicken sandwich. We also picked up 2 things for breakfast and our
total was $29.00. Not bad!
We hopped on the shuttle in order
to get to our next hike to see the General
Sherman.
General Sherman Hike
Distance- 1 mile (total out and
back)
Time- 30 minutes – can be longer
as there is a line to take a picture in front of the tree
Shuttle- Route 1 (Makes 2 stops, 1 for trailhead and another for their handicap accessible route)
Handicap Accessible
The General Sherman was absolutely
amazing! It’s so crazy that this tree is the largest on the earth! This is an
easy hike (with a steep incline on the way back) and definitely worth it. We
arrived around 2:00 and it was pretty crowded. There are many photo opportunities
right around this area.
In order to make this a longer
hike, we added the Congress
Trail to the General Sherman.
Congress Trail
Distance- 2 miles (loop)
Time- 2 hours
Shuttle- Route 1, you must pass the General Sherman to continue onto this trail
The Congress Trail is one of
those trails that pictures just do not do it justice. The trees are something
you have to experience with your own eyes. They are so big and so amazing. Here
you will also see the President Tree which is the 4th largest on
earth. We noticed a lot of the sequoias had “scars” or burn marks and later
learned that fires are actually good for them- typically after a fire you will
see a growth spurt! The entire trail is paved and a lot is shaded which helps
on a hot day. We had a blast on this trail and would definitely recommend it if
you are visiting as it was nearly empty as we were completing it.
Distance- 1 mile total walking
from the museum and back
Time- 1 hour
Shuttle- Route 1
The Big Trees Trail is great to
do after you complete a trail like the Congress Trail because you get similar
views of the trees but with a different backdrop. This loop circles the Round
Meadow and has numerous “stations” that provide tree information regarding: the
fires, soil, habitat, water intake, history, etc. (There are bathrooms located
at this trailhead)
After completing our last hike of
the day, we went back to tour the Giant Forest Museum and were glad we
did. This museum is so interesting and provides so much information on the Sequoias.
It is great for kids and adults.
Our night ended by the campfire
making dinner and eating smores for dessert!
Day 2- Tuesday
We started our day with the Topokah
Trail as it was only a 2-minute walk
from our campsite at Lodgepole.
Topokah Trail
Distance- 4 miles (total out and
back)
Time- 2.5 hours
Shuttle- Route 1
This trail was very interesting
to us because when you think of Sequoia National Park, typically the trees come
to mind. This trail did have some large sequoias on its route, but the main
attraction was the waterfall at the end. My watch clocked this trail at just
over 500 feet of elevation throughout but many parts are shaded which allowed
for a cooler breeze during the time of our visit. We started this hike at
9:30am and were the only two until our way back when we passed many people
heading up. Keep an eye out for animals on this route, no bears for us though.
After the Topokah Trail we hopped
on the shuttle to get to the Crescent
Meadows/Tharp’s Log Trail– from
Lodgepole it took us 50 minutes to get to this location.
Crescent Meadows/Tharp’s Log
Distance- 2 miles
Time- 1 hour
Shuttle- Route 2
This trail is mostly shaded and circles around the Crescent
Meadow, we added a little bit to see Tharp’s Log so we saw views of Log Meadow
as well. Keep an eye out for marked trees such as “Chimney Tree”!
OTHER
PARK INFORMATION
SHUTTLE SYSTEM- The free shuttle system at Sequoia is great but make sure you know what time the last shuttle is. The shuttles at this location stop around 6pm and you do not want to get stuck at a trailhead.
VISITOR CENTER- Definitely make a stop here, the rangers can provide you with
any information or questions you may have. You can also buy souvenirs at the
gift shop, grab free maps (we lived off of using ours), and get a stamp for
your National Park Passport! We added to our National Park stamp collection
here.
SERVICE- We had absolutely no service at during our entire time at
Sequoia, not even for a minute. I would 100% recommend loading the directions
from one place to another on your phone beforehand and taking screenshots- this
helped us!
FOOD- We packed a lot of snacks for our hikes including trail mix,
crackers, etc. Having the RV available after each hike was very convenient for
meals as well. I would recommend packing sandwiches for the longer hikes. The
Lodgepole Market also has great food as I mentioned above.
LAUNDRY- Lodgepole has a laundry facility (not sure if there are any
others in the park but this was open to the public). We paid $1.25 to wash our
clothes and $.50 to dry our clothes for 20 minutes.
WEATHER– The weather here fluctuated. We woke up freezing and even
the start of some hikes were cold but by the end of the day we were hot. Wear
layers that you can remove.
TRAILS- If you are limited on time, plan out your top trails and do
them first; you might be surprised that you have extra time in the day that
allows for more adventures.
FIREWOOD- You are allowed to use branches/wood that you find on the
ground for firewood here, no breaking off trees.
OUR NUMBER 1 RECOMMENDATION– Pack for the cold, even in the summer the nights can get very cold.
(This post is part 1/6- so make sure to read the others! While you’re reading, click anything blue and you will see I attached links or additional images for more information!)
Welcome to this post! If you don’t already know, Greg and I love to travel. Before we were even engaged, we talked about the idea of having a National Park Honeymoon as we have been to Europe a few times, but have not seen most of our own country. Planning for our June honeymoon began in January as something like this takes a long time to plan. We were determined to complete 100 miles on foot between hikes and exploring. Do you think we hit our goal? Continue reading through our posts to find out!
Greg and I were lucky enough to start our honeymoon at Yosemite National Park. Here is a guide for our 2.5-day trip we spent here. We hope you can learn from our experience and we wish you the best of luck if you are planning to travel here!
(We arrived the 2nd week of June and were told there would be more visitors this weekend than Memorial Day weekend due to the weather, so this information below is based off that. Some trails were also closed due to the extreme snowfall they experienced this year- you can find a list of the closed trails on the Yosemite National Park website or by calling.)
*All times included our time spent taking pictures and enjoying the views.
Day 1- Friday
After 19 hours of traveling, we arrived around 8pm at our campground:Indian Flat RV Park– full hookup RV sites are $48 a night, including showers, a restaurant within walking distance, general store, grill, and picnic table (unfortunately no fire pit). There are cheaper RV parks that we found but Indian Flat was only 35 minutes from the entrance of Yosemite (turn right out of the RV park and follow it up, no turns).
We were pretty hungry/tired when we arrived so we went to the local restaurant/bar for dinner which is next door to where we were staying: Canyon Bar and Grill– the food was good, but small, and in my opinion, a little over-priced. I got a grilled chicken sandwich and Greg got a patty melt, for $26.00 (not including tip).
Day 2- Saturday
Bridalveil Falls
Distance- 1 mile (total out and
back)
Our Time- 30 minutes
Shuttle- no shuttle stop, there is a parking lot
Handicap Accessible
We woke up around 6:30am to get to Bridalveil Falls early- we were told this parking lot fills up and if there are no spots, you will probably have a far walk for a short hike. I recommend planning to start your day with this hike. After getting ready and driving, we arrived at 7:30am and there were plenty of spots available. We finished the hike around 8:00am and still less than half of the spots were filled. Bridalveil Falls is an easy hike but has a short/steep incline at the top. When we visited it was very wet. Our shoes did not get wet but others said their shoes were soaked which caused their feet to be cold for hours. It was also very cold at the top.
We then drove from Bridalveil Falls to the Yosemite Valley Lodge (this is where RVs must park) in order to catch our first ride on the free shuttle. We took the shuttle from the Lodge (shuttle stop #7) to the Visitor Center/Theater (shuttle stop #9) which opened at 9:00am.
From the Visitor Center we got
back on the shuttle and headed to the Mirror
Lake Trail.
Mirror Lake Trail
Distance- 1.8 miles (total out
and back) or 5 miles (around)
Our Time- 3 hours for a modified
5 mile loop
Shuttle- #17
When hiking this trail you have the option to either hike out to the lake and turn around or to hike all the way around the lake and make a circle. Our original plan was to hike around the lake but along the way, we met people who informed us that the conditions were not the best (1 area required you to take your shoes off to hike through water and the other required you to go off the trail because the path was flooded- not appealing for us). We decided to hike to the very top and once we reached Snow Creek Falls we turned around. This hike was about 5 miles total but was a really good hike with plenty of shade and visits from animal friends!
From the Mirror Lake Trail we got back on the shuttle and headed to The Loft at Degnan’s for lunch (shuttle stop #4). Here, you have 2 options- a deli on the first level with ordering kiosks (pizza, sandwiches, all day breakfast, etc.) or you can go upstairs for a set menu. We decided to go upstairs and the food was great. The portions were also great and the prices were not bad. I ordered a Teriyaki Chicken bowl and Greg ordered a Beef Burrito all for $22 (we expected prices to be higher inside the park).
After lunch we got back on the shuttle and headed to the Lower Yosemite Falls, we were told if you are visiting Yosemite then you must do this hike.
Lower Yosemite Falls
Distance- .5 miles (total out and back)
Our Time- 30 minutes
Shuttle- #6
Handicap Accessible
The views at this hike were wonderful! You could get so close to the waterfall and there was a nice mist to cool you off. This hike is almost entirely handicap accessible too!
This trail concluded our day so we headed back towards the shuttle stop. We ended up waiting in long line for 35 minutes so we decided we would just walk back to our car. This took us about 15 minutes- probably because we were exhausted from our day!
On the way out of the park we stopped for gas and paid a hefty $4.78!!! Crazy, right!? But we needed gas and this was the only place around. It was a Chevron gas station located 8 minutes from our RV campground. If we wanted to go elsewhere, we would have had to add another 30 minutes to our drive to find another. We recommend filling up if you happen to drive by a place with decent pricing.
Day 3- Sunday
Our alarms went off at 6:15 on day 2 in order to get to the recommended hikes early. (No worries, we were both asleep by 9:00pm the night before. Man were we exhausted!)
On our way to our first hike, we stopped at Tunnel View. We had planned to visit this after our hike, but the parking lot was nearly empty as we drove past (7:30am). The views were great but our pictures were a little washed out as the sun was rising at this time. It was still great to see firsthand with your own eyes though!
From Tunnel View, we continued to drive up the mountain to the Sentinel Dome/Taft Point Trailhead. I was terrified during the drive up because there are no rails to protect you while you’re 6,000+ feet up! I constantly felt myself leaning while in the passenger seat away from the drop off (lol). So I definitely recommend taking your time and allow others to pass if needed.
Sentinel Dome/Taft Point Trail
Distance- 2 miles (total out and back) or 4.5 (loop)
Time- 2.5 hours for the 2 mile trail
Shuttle- no shuttle stop, parking lot located at the trailhead.
We arrived here at 8:00am and we were one of maybe ten cars in the parking lot- just under ½ full at this time. Our original plan was to do the entire loop in a counter- clockwise direction as recommended but after visiting the Visitor Center, we were informed part of the Taft Point loop was under about 5 feet of snow and greatly impacted ability to locate the trail. Instead, we walked from the Sentinel Dome/Taft Point Trailhead up to the top of Sentinel Dome and back. Towards the end, there is a steep incline, and at the time of our visit, it was covered in snow; made it extra fun to climb! This was hands down the best view we saw during our time at Yosemite. Greg and I kept saying “Is this real? It looks like a fake backdrop.” We 100% recommend this hike if you can only do one during your time here.
From the Sentinel Dome/Taft Point Trailhead, we traveled to Glacier Point which was only 10 minutes away. Online I read to arrive before 10:30am or after 5:00pm. We arrived at 10:45am and were lucky to find a parking spot (after being told we would not be able to, on our way out someone was leaving!). We spent about an hour here looking at the amazing views, taking pictures, and visiting the gift shop. On our way out was a line of over 50 cars waiting to find a spot in the parking lot. If this happens to you, try to park up the road more and make the extra walk. The hike to the top is very short.
On our way back down the mountain, we made another stop at Tunnel View. We arrived around 1:30, the parking lot was PACKED and people were illegally parked which was annoying and made it difficult to navigate an RV. We ended up finding a spot and were able to get more pictures that weren’t washed out. Overall, I would recommend getting to this location between 8:00-10:00am or later in the day.
As we continued down the mountain, we passed the Sentinel Dome/Taft Point Trailhead and the Bridalveil Falls Trailhead- both were so packed the streets were lined with cars trying to find any spot they could fit in. This justified our 6:15am alarm which allowed us to enjoy the hikes with minimal people around.
At the end of our day, which was only around 2:00pm, we decided to make one last trip into Yosemite Village. We parked at the Yosemite Lodge and walked 15 minutes to the Visitor Center because we knew waiting for a shuttle at this time would take forever. We continued to be amazed by the views and wildlife that walks around as if no one is there.
If you have been to this park or go for a visit, let me know what your favorite hike is!
OTHER
PARK INFORMATION
SHUTTLE SYSTEM- The free shuttle system at Yosemite is great. In the morning from 7:00am-10:00am it is scheduled to come every 30 minutes, from 10:00am-10:00pm it is scheduled to come every 20 minutes. Towards the end of the day you can wait upwards of 40 minutes and in a line of people so check the map to see how far you are from the next stop, it may only be a 5-minute walk!
VISITOR CENTER- Definitely make a stop here. The rangers can provide you with any information or questions you may have. You can buy souvenirs at the gift shop, grab free maps (we lived off of ours), visit the theater, and get a stamp for your National Park Passport! We started our National Park patch collection here- if you are visiting the parks maybe you will enjoy starting a collection of something like us!
CELL SERVICE- We had absolutely no service at our campsite and limited service once inside the park. I would 100% recommend loading the directions from one place to another on your phone beforehand and taking screenshots- this helped us! We were told to download the app “You Need A Map” for trails, but be aware, it may drain your battery.
FOOD- We packed a lot of snacks for our hikes including trail mix, crackers, etc. Having the RV available after each hike was very convenient for meals as well. I would recommend packing sandwiches for the longer hikes.
WEATHER- The weather here fluctuated. We woke up freezing and even the start of some hikes were cold, but by the end of the day we were hot. Wear layers that you can remove. All of the hikes we started in long sleeves/pants but we had an extra shirt in our bags.
TRAILS- Unfortunately, with the limited time spent here and due to the weather conditions, we were unable to do everything we planned. We did expect this and definitely plan on returning. If you are limited on time, plan out your top trails and do them first; you might be surprised that you have extra time in the day that allows for more adventures.
GAS- As I mentioned above, we paid $4.78 for gas at a Chevron going into the park. We recommend you fill up your tank before you get close to the park, even if you are ¾ full, I promise it will save you money. We found out the hard way but this was our first park and our first time in an RV together.
OUR NUMBER 1 RECOMMENDATION- Start your mornings early!!
OUR NUMBER 1 RECOMMENDED TRAIL- Sentinel Dome! Starting at Sentinel Dome/Taft Point Trailhead and then continuing counter clockwise.
Having post wedding blues like I did? I have so much extra time now. I LOVED planning and staying busy with wedding crafts. I know, crazy right? I loved the hectic life which makes sense when I tell people I want 4 kids. I was urging for 1 last wedding craft and knew I needed to do something with the wedding cards that were taking up space in a drawer because I couldn’t just throw them away. But what? I looked on Pinterest and found my inspiration. I had so much fun making this with my mom and it was so easy!
Things you’ll need: frame (we used a 16 x 20 inch from
Hobby Lobby (on sale for $28.00) which required about 65 cards but you can and
will most likely use more than 1 punch from each card if you like this size), Fiskars 2 inch hexagon punch (FIND
ON AMAZON HERE), crafters tape–
you’ll need 2 for this size project (CLICK
HERE), scissors, a ruler, possibly a background sheet, and wedding cards! Oh and maybe a glass
of wine.
Step 1- If you want a focus point,
decide on what card you will use and set that aside. The card we chose was 3D
and you cannot cut those so it was perfect, it says “Just Married”.
Step 2- Use the Fiskars punch to cut
your wedding cards. You may have to cut some of the cards with scissors to get
to the desired cut area. If possible, cut
more than one from each card because you will need a lot of fillers for the edges.
*Most cards are glued together which makes cutting hard, I had my husband separate
them with a knife. ** Check the back of the cards, sometimes there are cute
little pictures! *** If you have more of 1 of the same card like we did then
get creative with what you cuts!!
Step 3- Background sheet. We used the back
of the “picture” the frame came with as our background and attached it to the
cardboard using the crafters tape. If this is not possible, cut and attach a white
piece of paper to the cardboard (Hobby Lobby has sheets for free at checkout!).
Step 4- Measure for the center and
place your focus card in place. *We played with the idea of the focus card not
in the center and it didn’t look bad! This might be a fun option.
Step 5- Start from 1 spot, place your pieces with the crafters tape, and keep going! Have fun with this and use your imagination with placement! *I kind of moved all over the place and found it was harder at the end.
Step 6- Put the frame together and you’re
done! Show it off! I posted a picture on Facebook and had people commenting
that their cards have been sitting for years and now they are going to do this.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out! Share a picture if you create your own!
Welcome to this post! If you are
reading this just to read, I hope you enjoy it, if you are reading this because
you are recently engaged then WOO HOO CONGRATS, and enjoy! I want to first
start off by saying our wedding was not a “true destination wedding” but we
planned it from 1,251 miles away (Florida to New York) and I can only imagine
that we had to deal with some of the same things someone planning a destination
wedding in Jamaica, for example, would deal with. I hope you can learn tips and
tricks from this whether you are planning a destination wedding or not and urge
you to reach out if you have any questions, I LOVED planning my wedding and
would do it all over again tomorrow if I could.
A little back story first.
Greg and I were born and raised in the Northeast and knew that even though we
were making the move to Florida, we would still have our wedding up North for a
few reasons, 1- Have you ever seen the fall colors up North… do I even need to
explain myself? 2- Florida is hot and our September wedding would probably be
an 80+ degree day filled with humidity, no thanks. 3- We knew we wanted a big
wedding with all of our family/friends and making people travel would most
likely drop our guest list count. As bad as this sounds, the churches Greg and
I grew up going to were just that, we grew up going, but then went away to
college and eventually moved away- we wanted to get married in a location that meant
something to the both of us. We had vacationed in the Finger Lakes for a few years
with our families combined and I had always envisioned having our wedding there
at one of the vineyards overlooking the lake… also for many reasons including
the location, the attractions, the beauty, and the memories. For those of you who do not know, the Finger
Lakes is a region in New York named for its series of long, thin lakes filled
with vineyards, breweries, and distilleries- this sounds like the perfect
wedding destination, right?! Because of this area being a bit of a drive from
our friends and family in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, many guests made a long
weekend or even week trip!
Okay, so lets’ get to it. There
are many reasons why couples are interested in a destination wedding and let me
tell you, if you want to do it, do it! Yes, some family members are going to be
mad because they cannot financially afford the trip, they cannot afford to take
time extra time off work, or your parents might even be mad because you are not
getting married in your hometown but this is your day and I promise it will be
worth it in the end- luckily our parents were on board from the start but we
did have some guests who could not make the 4 hour drive for us especially
because… wait for it… we did not have kids at our wedding, we understood.
#1 step– get a wedding binder,
for real, you will not regret it. It helps keep everything organized and when I
say put everything in it… put everything in it from your “To Do List” to receipts.
It is fun to fill and will limit stress. I had so much fun with mine which
ended up almost filling a 3-inch binder, oops!
Do I need a wedding planner?
Here is my answer: if you are the least bit organized and enjoy planning things
then no. I planned my wedding by myself from 1,200 miles away. I made it fun.
Was it stressful at times, yes, but I knew what the end result was going to be.
My venue did come with a day of coordinator that I e mailed throughout
the planning process which did come in handy and I would recommend (My day of coordination
also helped throughout the process as needed because of our situation: if I needed
dimensions of the room to plan where tables and decoration would be then he
provided them, he helped pick the wine we would be serving, and even provided a
recommendation on where to get our cake- he was the best).
Picking the location/venue. This is totally up to you, some people want a destination that holds a special place in their heart (like us) and others want a destination that is new, either is fine and I urge you to do whatever the two of you want, after doing research. I do not know much about Caribbean locations but the time of year is probably very important to keep in mind… I’d stay away during hurricane season as an example. It may be hard to believe but if Hurricane Irma was a week later we would have had to get in a car and drive 20+ hours to New York for our wedding because EVERYTHING was shut down here in Florida. Look up different venues and see what comes with each no matter where you are getting married. If you are the type of person that does not want to spend excess time hiring vendors then look for a venue that provides it all!
Deciding on your vendors.
There are many ways to go about this, for us, the internet was our best friend
because we did not know anyone who lived in the Finger Lakes area to provide
recommendations- WEDDING WIRE
and THE KNOT were the main websites we used
other than google. We did not have much luck with the “app communication” so I
would recommend sending messages through your personal e mail or communicate by
telephone. When communicating with vendors weigh the pros and cons, don’t automatically
go for the cheapest option because more than likely they will work with you.
For example, Greg and I did not need an engagement session because we were not
going to fly up to NY just for that, our photographer ended up dropping the
price because of that. Ask all the questions you can think of and believe me
there is not a stupid question- We asked each one “What happens if you cancel
on us?” which I would recommend asking and getting the response in written form
and… put it in your binder. Our photographer canceled on us with less than 3
months to go but we had the contract printed out to refer to (things ended up
working out for the better). OFFER A CASH PAYMENT! We got a little extra with a
few of our vendors by doing this!
Meeting with the vendors. Unfortunately, we did not get to meet our photographer, videographer, or band before the wedding but we trusted our decisions because of the research and communication we had previously done. My biggest piece of advice for someone planning a “destination wedding” is to plan a time to go to your location before the wedding. We flew up to New York 8 months before the wedding and took care of the following within a 5-day period: food and cake tasting, planning the rehearsal dinner, picking out flowers, visiting the church, meeting with our day of coordinator, hair and makeup trial, etc. It was actually fun doing a full week of planning and took off a lot of stress; when we got back from that vacation almost all of the “big stuff” was done, we were able to relax and take our time with the little things for the next few months. I constantly had people at work ask me “How are you planning this wedding all by yourself, you don’t seem stressed at all”. That was a good feeling even though on the inside I was stressing, a little. I understand some people may hire and fly their vendors to their venue location, that is another good option!
Guest List. This is probably one of the hardest parts of the wedding planning process. I don’t even know how to give advice because it is different for everyone and depends on many things including your venue size. I would start off with making a list of everyone you could possibly think of inviting and then to eliminate from there, if your parents are helping with the wedding, out of respect, ask who they would like to invite. Do not feel bad if you end up not being able to invite someone, they will hopefully understand. My other recommendation is to not invite more than your venue can hold, sure they say about 20-30% cannot make it but my parents invited 210 to their wedding and 206 came. Don’t over chance it.
Sending save the dates. For those planning a destination wedding you will need to send your save the dates out a little earlier, we sent ours out 10 months in advance. Sending early will not only allow your guests to plan in advance but if they know they will not be able to make it, then you can start to invite those off your “B list”… if you have one. For those not having a destination wedding, I’d say 6 months in advance is ideal, you do not want to send it too early. Have fun with your save the dates! We ordered ours off of VISTAPRINT because the quality and prices were great, they always have a sale and if not, contact the live chat and ask for a current coupon- my favorite cheap thing to do! Remember, you do not need a save the date for every person, you need one for every household, don’t make the mistake I almost did and order 235 when I only needed 115.
Sending invitations. This can get tricky and is based off of a few things. If you are having a sit-down dinner you will most likely have to give your venue a final count a few weeks before the wedding (ours was 3 weeks and we could not make any changes after that). If that is the case, send your invitations 10-12 weeks out and make your deadline a week or 2 before that final count is due; 2 weeks before our final count was due, we were waiting on 62 people!!!!! If you are having a buffet, I’d say 8 weeks out gives your guests enough time to RSVP, hopefully. Once you get your RSVPs back I recommend doing your seating chart on paper, I printed out a simple circle from Word and then used stickys to move people around as needed, it worked out great.
Packing. If you know me, you know I hate packing. Whether you are getting married 1 mile or 10,000 miles from home, begin this process early and make a packing list. You do not want to forget something (I use to have dreams I woke up the morning of the wedding and realized I forgot to pack my wedding dress- wedding nightmares are a real thing!). The hardest part for me was getting my dress up to NY; the company I bought it from offered to ship it but I declined as my dress was not leaving my sight! I called the airline a few weeks before and they told me to approach the customer service desk when I got to the airport and they would be sure to keep the first few overhead compartments empty for me; my dress was my carry-on. Some bigger airlines have a closet up front, call before to find out if that is an option. (I did not get my dress pressed before this as I knew it was going to be wrinkled when I took it off the plane, I made an appointment for when I got to NY to have this taken care of). Greg rented his tux from Men’s Warehouse (the worst but most convenient company we found) and was picking it up when we got there so this was not an issue for traveling. Luckily, our parents live in Pennsylvania/New Jersey and held 90% of our wedding items in their house- from there they drove it to New York when we arrived up North a few days before.
Out of town boxes. These were SO MUCH FUN to make, my mom and I got together and did them all by ourselves! Greg and I knew we wanted to have a little something at the hotels for the guests that made the drive to celebrate with us. We ended up making the box below filled with: a map of the area with things to do, snacks (pretzels, gum, mints, Hershey kisses, pringles) and a water bottle. Everyone loved them. My mother in law bought the boxes and I’m not sure where, but click here HERE for a link of what we used. We got the cardstock and ribbon from Michaels and used double sided tape for the front. The front says- Thank you for making the trip and sharing our special day with us. (Most hotels will hold these and hand them out as your guests check in but just to be sure, let your guests know to mention they are there for the ______ Wedding)
Things may (or shall I say will) go wrong. You are planning a wedding and you cannot control everything. Go with it! Think of the end result, you are GETTING MARRIED. The night before our wedding not only was my sister vomiting and missing the rehearsal dinner but we had tornado warnings and all I could think about was “What if Mollie gets sick while standing up with me? What if she can’t be in the wedding? What if the weather is like this tomorrow? That means no outside pictures, no fireworks, no drone from the videographer, and frizzy hair”; but guess what, September 22, 2018 ended up being the most beautiful, weather perfect day Geneva, New York has seen and my sister was by my side, feeling 100%. As perfect as I make it sound 2 things did go wrong but we laughed about it as it was happening. The first was after the limo took Greg and the bridal party to the church it forgot to come back and pick up me and my dad, I remember saying “Dad, it isn’t coming back”, looking nervous he said “It will, it is probably stuck in traffic”… after 20 minutes of waiting on the side of the road we called and then it came back to get us. The second thing that went wrong was my dad ran out of gas after dropping our dog back off at the house after getting pictures, it caused the reception to start late but that is it. I’d say we are pretty lucky.
After the wedding. RELAX AND ENJOY YOUR TIME. Take it all in because you are married! Greg and I stayed in NY for a few days to do wine tours but flew back to Florida 3 days after the wedding. We took the rest of that week off work because a few friends and family members came back to Florida with us to continue the celebration. We did not go on our honeymoon right away and I am glad we chose to do it that way. We were able to get home, open our cards, and not feel rushed to get out the door again. By waiting, were able to save money and vacation days- we are 1 month away from our 18- day honeymoon and have something else to look forward to! Keep an open mind about this, I know a lot of people are doing this lately and have no regrets.
Tips. DIY can be your best friend. I am not the craftiest person but I had help from friends and family and was able to save money this way. If someone offers to help, take it. Play around on the computer and have fun, I made my wedding invitations and wedding programs on Microsoft Word… yes, you read that right and I received compliments on both.
Ask your venue for assistance. We knew we wanted a lot of corks for decorations, our venue ended up providing us with over 1,000 to play with, for free! We barely purchased any decorations for the wedding.
Write out your vendor thank you notes ahead of time and have someone in your bridal party hold them. You can hand them out at the end of the night and won’t have to worry about sending them right after the wedding.
If you can, make payments ahead of when they are do. A lot of vendors require their final payment 1 month to 1 week before the wedding and if you do not plan, that can be a lot at once.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out, like I said I had the best time planning my wedding and would love to help others if I can.
If you don’t already know, Greg and I live in Dunedin, Florida (click HERE to read about our move to Florida). Dunedin is on the west coast of Florida, about 30 minutes west of Tampa and north of Clearwater- it is right along the Gulf of Mexico and is known for their beaches, downtown area, Honeymoon Island, and their part of the Pinellas Trail. We have enjoyed this area so much and have taken advantage of many opportunities it has to offer; we live like we are on vacation… well after getting off work and during the weekends. Here is more information and some of our favorite things to do- there is so much more that may attract you, we hope this urges you to visit!
Speaking of visiting, luckily there are 2 airports close by: Tampa International Airport (about 25 minutes) and St. Pete- Clearwater Airport (about 20 minutes- here you will be able to fly smaller airlines, this is our go-to airport)
Dunedin Causeway– The causeway is a 2.5 mile route that leads from Bayshore Boulevard directly to the entrance of Honeymoon Island State Park. The causeway has free parking and is our absolute favorite spot to watch the sunset, especially from our hammock that hangs in between the palm trees. No dogs allowed on the beach but they are allowed on the trail which runs the entire 2.5 miles. Unfortunately, we do not have a Jet Ski but there are always people on theirs here so if you have one, go for it! We often bring our kayak to this location and head to Caladesi or Honeymoon Island (you can also rent kayaks and paddleboards, HERE is the website). Their hours are from 5am – 11pm.
Honeymoon Island State Park– A Florida State Park located on Honeymoon Island. The island receives more than 1 million visitors each year and is the most visited state park in Florida. There is an $8 entrance fee per vehicle (8 people or less in the vehicle unless you are alone which is $4). Greg and I have their family annual pass which we paid $125. The park is open from 8am to sundown, 365 days a year and offers the following: trails (biking, walking, running), fishing, picnicking, beaches (cheaper and less crowded compared to Clearwater beach), concession and restaurants, playgrounds, interpretive exhibit, and our favorite the dog beach (Dogs must be on a leash at all times. There is a wash station outside but you have to bring your own dog shampoo and towels- this is great for getting the sand off before your dog gets back in the car. If you are visiting during the weekend plan on arriving before 11:30am or you will sit in traffic for about 25 minutes on the causeway- gorgeous views but you’ll want to get in).
Caladesi Island– An island accessible by boat, kayak, the ferry, or by walking 3 miles from Clearwater beach. You can take the ferry from Honeymoon, $7 for children and $14 for adults (you also have to pay the fee to get into Honeymoon). This island has a small restaurant with foods like burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, etc but has a great beach!
Pinellas Trail– The Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail is a linear trail currently extending from St. Petersburg to Tarpon Springs (over 30 miles) and is a multi-use trail everyone can use for: running, walking, skating, and biking- no motorized vehicles are allowed. Greg and I enjoy hopping on the trail by bike and going downtown to eat or visit one of the many breweries.
Breweries– There are 7 microbreweries in downtown Dunedin, all within walking distance. Woodright Brewing Company, Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin House of Beer, 7venth Sun Brewing Company, Caledonia Brewing, Cueni Brewing Co., and Soggy Bottom Brewery. All are different in their own ways and offer things like live music, pool, darts, beer pairings, food, games, etc.
Spring Training Baseball– This speaks for itself. I grew up in Philadelphia and was raised to be a Phillies Pan, luckily, we are 8 minutes from the Phillies Spring Training field which also holds other events during the non-baseball season. The other stadium right in Dunedin is for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Downtown Dunedin– Okay our downtown offers so much, there is literally something happening all the time. I was told they will be decreasing the number of events held this year because there were over 150 in 2018… I think they are great and they should keep it how it is, that is what attracts people! From November to June we have the farmers market every Friday and Saturday morning (clothes, homemade items, food, drinks, entertainment, etc.) Our main street is filled with local shops, cafes, and restaurants that are great, you’ll be able to find whatever you are looking for and if not take in the amazing views of the Gulf of Mexico down by the arena.
You can even go fishing off the pier!
Some of our favorite things right outside of Dunedin:
Weeki Wachee – An enchanted spring where you can see live mermaids, take a trip on a river boat cruise, learn about Florida wildlife, swim, or paddle down the river. There are many places you can kayak from but we recommend the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park Kayak Rentals (click HERE for their website). The cost is $50 for a tandem kayak for 4 hours which is plenty of time to complete the 5 mile river trail. If you are looking to book, I recommend a week day as the weekends are so crowded you have no room for yourself! We were told the manatees are in this are from the middle of January to the beginning of April- we visited April 2 and saw about 10!
Dog Bar– The dog bar is another one of our favorite places to take Nash (click HERE for their website). It is a unique combination of an off-leash dog park and a full service bar, is there any better combination?! They have 2 pools and various areas for the dogs to play on as well as a “rufferee” that watches over the dogs, although you will be too. You must be 21+ to enter but you do not need a dog with you. You can catch us either here or at the Honeymoon Island Dog Beach every weekend!
Busch Gardens– Although we have only been here once since moving to Florida, this is a great amusement park, ZOO, and water park about 35 minutes from Dunedin. Click HERE for their website.
Clearwater Beach– If you are looking for a tourist beach this is the place for you. In 2018, Clearwater was named #1 beach in America and was in the top 10 beaches in the world; not only will you get great views but there are so many things you can do to fill your time- boating, fishing, shopping, water sports, dining, dolphin watching, etc. We typically will bring out guests here once during their trip and then to Honeymoon Island because, to be honest, sometimes it is too crowded and parking can be a little expensive. If you are visiting during the “warmer months” which is basically May- September I would recommend arriving by 10:00am so you can get a parking spot or you can take the Ferry from Dunedin!
Tampa– It would take me forever to list all of the fun things to do in Tampa. Fortunately, because there is so much to do in our town of Dunedin we do not spend as much time in Tampa- we go there maybe once a month. Do your research before you go because visiting Tampa could be a vacation in itself.
July 4th, 2014 was the first week I spent in Dunedin, Florida with Greg and his family- it was my first time ever visiting the west coast of Florida but Greg had been here before to visit his Aunt, Uncle, and cousins. I LOVED the area from the beginning, if you have never been here I recommend you book a trip now. I told Greg I wanted us to live there one day… even though he and I didn’t even live together at the time and wouldn’t for another year and a half in New Jersey. We would continue to visit every July to celebrate the 4th of July and January to go to Gasparilla- a pirate festival held in Tampa that attracts over 300,000 people every year.
As we were planning our trip for January 2017, Greg told me he was not going to be able to get off work to go this time; working in the medical field, my schedule is very flexible as I can swap a day and work on the weekend. I remember telling Greg I still wanted to go and he was surprisingly okay with the idea. My parents ended up coming along because they knew we loved the area so much and had talked about moving one day. The trip was great, like always, filled with beach days, shopping, and hanging out, but I did something I had never done before on this tip- I contacted a realtor to “see houses”, my excuse was that houses in Florida are VERY different from houses up North so I wanted to see what they were like. My parents, the realtor, Greg’s Aunt, and I headed out to look at houses the day before we were scheduled to leave, I fell in love with the first house but continued to look at 6 others; at the end of the day I requested to go back to the first house and was still in love- it was in a great neighborhood, a reasonable price for the area, 2 miles from the Gulf of Mexico which meant THE BEACH, 2 miles from downtown Dunedin which meant we could ride our bikes, 4 bedrooms so family could visit, a huge backyard for the area, and was just completely redone from top to bottom. I called Greg and said “Hi, I love you, and I love this house I went to look at”, his response “You’re crazy”. Houses in this area tend to sell within 1-2 weeks (this one was on the market for 3 days) so I explained to him that if we put in an offer, the house would be “ours” for 2 weeks so I could come home, we could talk and decide what to do. Greg is the most easy-going, go with the flow go guy (I’m so lucky to have that trait in a husband) and agreed. I called and did it… I placed an offer on a house while I was on vacation, a house Greg hadn’t even seen (to be fair before he said yes, I sent pictures and a video walk through). The next morning, as I was boarding the plane to go back to New Jersey, I got a counter offer, literally walking on the plane I called Greg who said to go for it, called them back, and accepted the offer! Sitting on the plane I was thinking “Is this the right thing to do? Are we really going to move 1,200+ miles from 99% of our friends and family?” We are both so close to our entire families and will be starting over if we move- new jobs, new friends, new state, new temperatures, new everything!
I get back to our 750 sq ft apartment
in Jersey, in the cold, with a view of a parking lot- wanting to be back in
Florida already. We talked it over and the decision was a little scary but we
knew if we didn’t make a move now, we would get married, have kids, and then
possibly never move- there is always an excuse for why you shouldn’t make a huge
life change, right? I felt that the spontaneous decision was exactly what we
needed! We agreed that if we ended up not liking Florida we would move back; if
1 of us was unhappy we could not stay as it would probably cause fights and
make things worse.
Buying a house in a different state is difficult and I’ll be honest, causes a lot more stress-
everything is done through e mail/the phone so I recommend if you are thinking
of doing this get a folder and keep everything together- we were unable to fly
down from when we bought the house to when we moved in, looking back I would
have made that possible. We were not able to be there during the inspection
which also caused some issues, the day we moved into our house we had no
electric in 1 room, our problem now as it “passed during inspection”.
As for moving our belongings, we used the company PODS which was the most convenient option and I would 100% recommend. Basically, they drop off a storage container at your house (you can pick from 3 sizes), you load it up, call them, they pick it up and deliver it to your destination of choice, and then you unload it. I believe it took about 3 days for it to go from New Jersey to Florida – we were on a vacation in Europe so luckily Greg’s family unloaded it for us, still thankful for them! We got the largest POD although were told the smallest could fit a small apartment and is the size of an elevator. We filled the largest POD… other than bathroom/kitchen/personal items we had: 2.5 bed room sets, a couch with 2 chairs, and a dining room table with 8 chairs- not all of this was in our apartment as we were moving to a bigger house. PODS has insurance on their containers which we also liked but some rules which caused Greg to have to drive down with a U-haul. You are unable to put anything with gas in them even if it is empty- no grills, no motorcycles, no lawn equipment, etc. Something else to make note of is rules of the town/neighborhood. Our neighborhood has an HOA and only allowed the POD to be in our driveway for 4 days which is why we had people empty it while we were on vacation.
I shipped my car so I could fly and probably used the worst company out there- I don’t remember the name but they were based out of New York, I erased it from my memory. I based my choice off website reviews and the price, don’t do that, do more research than I did because looking back every review on the website was the name of someone I talked to. If I talked with John S. on the phone then John S. had a 5/5 review on the website, if I talked to Barbara M. then she had nothing but great things to say on the website reviews and would “book them again in a heartbeat”. Doing more research, I found the terrible reviews. My car wasn’t damaged or anything but the experience was horrible- communication sucked, they tried to change the price, they were late picking up my car (again we were on vacation so a friend sat all day waiting for them to pick it up), and they were 2 days late dropping it off so I had limited ways to get around once in Florida.
Jobs. While on the vacation back in January 2017… you know, the one responsible for this move, I also reached out to a few rehabilitation centers. I basically sent e mails explaining that I was thinking of moving to Florida and if they believed they would have a job opening within the next 6 months, I would like to come take a tour/meet the staff- 1 place got back to me, how disappointing. Anyway, I set up a time to meet and fell in love with the facility; I knew I would learn so much as an Occupational Therapist working there. It was only 18 minutes from Dunedin which was also a plus. Unfortunately, the Director of Rehab said she did not foresee any job openings but if I wanted to fill out an application for PRN (as needed work) I could for when I moved, so I did. March 2017, I get an e mail that stated a full time OT job was opening up and asked if I was interested, heck yes! but we were not moving for another 4 months. I explained my situation and she said “Lets go through the interview process and if you are the right fit for the job then we will hold it for you”, is this real? This is perfect! I go on 2 phone interviews and end up getting the job which was a huge relief, I was to start July 2017. Greg worked with a recruiter and landed an Accounting job before we moved as well- all of his interviews were through Skype. We are both still at the same companies and have grown from our jobs.
It has been a year and 10 months since moving to Florida and we love it- we aren’t sure if this is our “forever” place in the states but as for now this is home. We have had visitors or either been back up North almost every month of living here which might sound like a lot but it helps with being homesick- we also have each other and so many great friends that fill our weekends with adventure.
Greg and I are so lucky to have Nash in our family. Many people say we saved him but we believe he saved us.
Last October was just a normal day scrolling through Instagram, I know you’ve gotten stuck in this situation before… I came across a picture of a 3 week old black lab puppy, Nashville or Nash for short, featured by @talesofalab. The picture was posted in search of a home for Nash who was living in Las Vegas, Nevada at the time. Nash was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his paw which resulted in a club paw, making him function on 3 legs. As you can remember, October 2017 was the Route 91 shooting in Las Vegas, where 58 people lost their lives and many more were injured. The community came together to help the victims and their families so little was available to help local animals during this time… including Nash who veterinarians said would have to undergo an amputation of his front right leg, estimated at $2,500. Because of the estimated costs of current and future vet bills, Nash was having trouble finding a home… until I saw his post. I immediately contacted the page who put me in contact with his owner, from there we had 2 phone interviews. I explained how not only were Greg and I looking to expand our family but how I am an Occupational Therapist and will provide the best life by loving and working with him and his “disability” (I really hate that term and use it loosely because if you ever met Nash you would see he is a 100% fully able dog). Greg was on board from the beginning and booked a round trip flight for the following Saturday (yes, out and back from Florida in 1 day); on November 5, 2017 Nash came to his “furever home”.
A year and a half later, Nash has proven to be the
most energetic, loving, caring, and goofy dog we could have ever imagined; he
is the best addition to our family and goes everywhere with us- some of his
favorite activities are going to the dog beach and the dog bar- perks of living
in a dog friendly town!
Nash helps with anxiety issues I have dealt with after being involved in a serious car accident and is a certified Emotional Support Animal. One day we would like to get him certified as a Therapy Dog because he also loves to visit my patients at work, some who are just like him- working with a “disability” but not letting it stop them.
** After meeting with an orthopedic surgeon in
Florida when he was a few months old, it was determined Nash does not have to
have his leg amputated unless issues arise later in life. He will stay with his
club paw which makes him who he is today.
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