How did we get to here? (Our “other than camping” love of travel)

I was planning to work in the yard today, but mother nature had other ideas, so I guess I will type instead.

If you haven’t read it already, my page (subtitled “the early years”) describes how we came to love going camping with our kids when they were very young, and some of the trips we took with our Citation Travel Trailer and Dodge Ram Conversion van.

I thought I would add a page dedicated to our love of travel outside of camping, as we have done a good bit of that.  We have taken the kids lots of places and I won’t bore you with every single detail (plus, that would take WAY too long!), but just some pics and highlights.  We have also gone on our own, just Bill and Kelly, without the kids.

Sadly, I do not have pics from Bill and my pre-digital camera trips scanned into the computer.  Our first trip together was to upstate NY, where we went skiing and visited Niagara Falls (in January!)  For our honeymoon we broke the bank and went to Hawaii!  We would love to get back there someday, but there are so many other places to go!  Also, when the kids were young, before we moved to KY, we would go away for our anniversary every year, to a Bed and Breakfast, while the kids stayed with trusted family members.  Another big trip we took in pre-digital camera days was to Las Vegas when Uncle John got married.  This is the only pic of that trip I have scanned in

Our kids with our new nieces and nephew
Our kids with our new nieces and nephew

 

Bill and I also took a second honeymoon on a Caribbean cruise.  We sailed on the Norwegian Spirit and enjoyed an amazing 9 days!  We left from NYC and spent 2 days on the way south

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then 5 different islands, first one was St. Thomas, where we went on a submarine tour

 

I am not the happiest, as I do not like small spaces, but I was so proud that I overcame the fear - if only for the hour!
I am not the happiest, as I do not like small spaces, but I was so proud that I overcame the fear – if only for the hour!

The second island was Antigua; that day we sat on the beach while people brought us umbrella drinks!  This guy was very good with the knife!

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The third island was Barbados.  That day we went out on a Catamaran Tour and swam with those big sea turtles, but sadly, I don’t have any pics of that since we took the pics with the underwater film camera, but I do have one of my favorite pics of clouds (no lie – I must have 30 or 40 pics of water/sun/clouds)

 

sunset
sunset

The fourth island was St. Maarten, which without a doubt was Bill’s favorite day, as I surprised him with an excursion on the America’s Cup Regatta boat the Stars and Stripes!

 

my happy man!
my happy man!

Our last island was Tortola, but our excursion took us to Virgin Gorda.  If I had to pick a favorite day, this one might be it, although that is hard to say since the whole trip was perfect!  The water here was like nowhere else

 

Wouldn't mind being out on that cat!
Wouldn’t mind being out on that cat!

, then 2 days back!  Yes, we ate our fill at the Chocolate Buffet!

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Good morning Lady Liberty!  Back at home!

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One of the first places I think most parents want to take their kids is to Disney World, and we were no different.  When they were very small, we had friends that lived near Disney, so we were able to go just for a day to Magic Kingdom.  Michelle was scared of the characters and Billy was just too young to really know what was going on.  Gotta love those acid wash jeans!

disney  january 1992 9

Disney was a lot more fun when we took them when they got older, they were 8 and 6 1/2 for this trip!

Oct 1997 disney 4

1997 disney trip (8)

In October 2000, we took advantage of Bill’s employers offer to pay for all of us to come to spend time in Jamaica.

Dunn's River Falls, Ocho Rios
Dunn’s River Falls, Ocho Rios
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at the family friendly resort on the north shore in Trelawney

We went again to Disney again right after we moved to PA.  Bill had been traveling a lot for 2 years and we just wanted time to relax and have fun together.  On that trip, we also visited Universal Studios for the first time!

2002-2003 Orlando 2 (8)

 

Here is one of us in Colorado!

at the top of Trail Ridge Road
at the top of Trail Ridge Road

 

The following year I went to Ireland in the spring with my Dad

Packie, me and my Dad
Packie, me and my Dad

and in August the whole family went to California!

Bill out on the catamaran tour we took out to the Golden Gate Bridge and back!
Bill out on the catamaran tour we took out to the Golden Gate Bridge and back!

The kids were both in high school at this point and so their activities took over our lives for awhile, which is how its supposed to be.  They were both in Marching Band and we went all over the place with them, locally and also out of state.

My men at Sea Base in the FL Keys with Boy Scouts
My men at Sea Base in the FL Keys with Boy Scouts
At Winchester VA Apple Blossom Festival.  My daughter is 3rd over in 2nd to last row, playing piccolo
At Winchester VA Apple Blossom Festival. My daughter is 3rd over in 2nd to last row, playing the piccolo.
my daughter (on the right) and my German-daughter with lower Manhattan in the background.
my daughter (on the right) and my German-daughter with lower Manhattan in the background.
My son playing his tenor sax on Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom, Disney World FL in 2005
My son playing his tenor sax on Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom, Disney World FL
my daughter (she is in the middle with her holding her piccolo) marching on Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World FL in 2005
my daughter (she is in the 3rd row, first one her holding her piccolo) marching on Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World FL in 2005
My daughter playing her piccolo while marching on Main Street USA again in 2007, back row last on right
My daughter playing her piccolo while marching on Main Street USA again in 2007, last row on right
my son marching on Main Street USA, playing his tenor sax, 3rd over from the right, in 2007
my son marching on Main Street USA, playing his tenor sax, 3rd over from the right, in 2007
my son (on left) and German son in Battery Park, Manhattan
my son (on left) and German son in Battery Park, Manhattan
my son playing his tenor sax in the WV Strawberry Festival parade in 2009
my son playing his tenor sax (front and center) in the WV Strawberry Festival parade in 2009

Ok, I am done showing off my kids!  I did say we went all over with them, didn’t I?  This was a priority to us – to spend as much time as we could with them and show our kids as much as we could!

Mission accomplished!

The next chapter will be “The Class C Years – The Dream Comes Alive”

 

 

 

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