Once in a Lifetime

Mendenhall Glacier-Juneau, Alaska

I think I know where and why the phrase "once in a lifetime" came about, particularly when used as an adjective to a family vacation. It means, should only be done once in a lifetime. Let's see-broken wine bottle in a suit case, misunderstanding of what travel agent said was and was not prepaid adding hundreds per family of unplanned cost (but was clearly in the printed material and we had accounted for it in our budget), teenager thinking mini bar was included, packed shoes in luggage taken off ship leaving one member without any footwear on departure day, and a left suitcase in the disembarkation center, with a $43 cab fare to get it to the airport all were part of the fun of unnecessary stress. Ironically, none of theses issues were with my family. We are home and relatively unscathed from eight days of togetherness as as part of an extended family. Heavily aided by a few cocktails along the way, I managed to get some good time with my immediate family, and keep my mind gripped during the full on group of 17. To be honest, I think the others felt the same way-we aren't exactly total peaches to spend a week with either. 

This was for my mother in law, and important to her. We had a lovely birthday celebration  for her on her birthday itself.  That night she sat with all her kids and in laws, plus two oldest grand daughters due to table arrangement.  The next night she sat with just the grand kids. One of the little guys, who hasn't really spent much time with DS in his short 5 years, found a new best friend. Yesterday at the airport in Seattle, he sat on DS's lap until it was time for us to board. DS was on a different flight of course heading back to LA, and had to take a shuttle train to another terminal before catching his later flight. 

One of my favorite animals, these sea lions were catching
some rest and giving me a good photo op.

The sites were gorgeous-beautiful mountains, glaciers, wildlife,and blue waters to appreciate the magnificence of the world. DS captured some good footage for his film real. I have mediocre at best pictures, but turned my camera over to DD2 for most of the trip.Highlights of course were having all three of my kids together. Trip specifc favorites was seeing the Mendenhall Glacier, Ketchikan, and the humpback whales. We originally were scheduled for a zodiac boat ride and guided forest hike on Monday, bu it got cancelled due to mechanical difficulties with the boat. We chose to get a refund rather than the alternative canoe trip they offered. Back on ships, we booked the glacier and whale watching in place. This was fortunate, even though it cost us another $235, becasue the whales did not disappoint.  We found a pod of 12, and one guy even jumped out twice for us.  I captured on video, so will try and upload and post a link. 

I don't know if I'll get back to Alaska in my lifetime. There are so many other places and wonders I want to see. Even though we were planning on this trip anyway, it made my MIL happy to be able to gift the bulk of the trip to her family, and have everyone come along. Back at the airport, she allowed herself to use the wheelchair service. While she departed the ship at each port, she avoided stairs on board, and it was clear the physical strain had taken its toll. Seeing her in the wheel chair was the first glimpse of recognition that she is slowing down with age. However, slowing down but not quite done with her own adventures. She has a trip planned with the town senior center for Nova Scotia next month already.

Falls from the mountais were all along the scenic coast
and interiors of Alaska. 

Not the best picture, but saw the tops of a family of humpbacks. 

Gizmos, Gadgets, and Getting in Gear

I am pretty good with computer software, have a pretty good command of the Office Suite, and can figure out access issues pretty confidently.  What I do not have a brain for at all is the behind the scenes coding and hardware. Cameras also scare me.  Part of it is my eyesight is pretty poor without glasses, and to really use the focus lenses, gauge picture quality, having a decent view to begin with is essential. I finally bought myself a camera that I hope is going to fit my needs for  a long time. Funded through a combination of gift cards, and future gift to myself, I am now the proud owner of a Nikon L840. It looks much more "real" than any camera I have ever had, but still is basically a point and shoot.  I could have spent about $50-$75 less and just got an updated version of my Nikon Cool Pix small camera, but I have really struggled with the size. My dexterity is not great many days, and this larger camera fits my hands really well.

After figuring out the camera and the video, I hope this will give me hours of blogging/vlogging fun, and help me capture memories in my daughters final years of school. Speaking of DD2, she has decided to not run cross country this year. I can't say I am not disappointed, becasue she really did a good job.  However, it is a wise, mature decision with all she had on her plate, and opportunities she wants to add this year. As she said, she can run whenever  she wants, can put the money we would have spent on the athletic fee towards fun runs, and she now will have both Thursday and Fridays free after school to put towards other pursuits. She may decide to audition for the fall play and for another choir ensemble, and the arts center is thinking of starting a youth orchestra. None of these things would be possible if she ran cross country on the team-there are jut not enough hours in a day or days in a week. She was on the fence all summer, and made the decision in the final hours before registration closed last night, but it was her decision.

We are off tomorrow morning bright and early, aiming to be to the airport about 30 minutes away by 8:30. My niece stopped by for pup and fish instructions and most important, the WiFi codes. I have yet to start packing, throwing in the odd load of clothes in the wash. I never sleep much the night before flying.  I think my body tells me it needs to be really tired to relax, so I'll be up late making sure everything we need is packed. DD1 is coming here and staying overnight-too far to drive that early, and I bet she'll come with some laundry. Depending on my WiFi situation, I may be silent until next week. I look forward to sharing pictures and stories and hearing yours. 

Onward and Upward in August

As I suspected, we are in the negatives for July in making efforts towards our December 31 savings targets, but not quite as bad as I had first thought it was going to be, ending at  -$633. On a more positive note, I am pleased to say we ended August in groceries at $298.77. Not bad at all, and if I really wanted to play Mother Hubbard, I think I could scrape together meals for another week, bizarre ones, but meals all the same. So with knowledge of what we have in stock, I am aiming for August again to be under $300. To add to the challenge, I want to keep household (personal, cleaning, laundry etc.) at under $50, and meals out, not counting the vacation meals, at under $100. I won’t count DH’s lunches-no control there on my part, and I won’t count a few activities DD2 has with friends that will need lunch money. 

I’m not even going to try and figure out what we spent beyond groceries this month on entertainment and meals out. Eating out was as much as ever, and I can’t even remember where and what we might have eaten. I splurged well beyond my per diem in New Orleans, and last night, we had planned and did end the month with pizza because DH was going to be at the cabin most of the day. But hey, August 1 is a fresh start. 

I checked our suit cases and one of our large ones still has some life in it, and we use the large so infrequently, it didn’t make sense to splurge on a new one. However, I found a carry on size, largest that will pass, with the 360 turning wheels, for $50 at Gordman’s with another 20% off. It seems as good a quality as the one I purchased for DD2 before Spain at Kohl’s for $100, plus 30% off and $10 Kohl’s cash, so I guess a better buy once all discounts and earnings are applied. All our carry on size have handles that won’t extend, or are ripping in seams. I really abused them the years  I traveled for work. I  found some light weight knit dresses, perfect for layering with tights and sweaters, to refurbish my summer to fall, and cruise appropriate wardrobe. These were not originally in my plan, but with some of my purging, I am realizing the sorry state of my work wardrobe. I really have purchased very little in the last year, and these seemed practical, not indulgent, except perhaps the black one, as I already have two black dresses. 

So that was July. August has us going on vacation, with a firm budget, and back to school expenses. As much as DD2 has clothes galore, it just feels like a fresh start to a school year to let her get a couple new things. Then there is school supplies and the list; I wish I had stock in three ring binders. I'm not sure how to pack for the trip. It could get downright cold at night out on the Alaska coast, but I’m thinking items that can be worn in layers and swapped and switched out. I need to get DH’s suit to the dry cleaners-ouch that will eat 1/3 of the household budget right there! Guess we’ll be using up the dribs and drabs of our cleaning supplies, but the last of the laundry soap went in the washer this monring. How are you all gearing up for spending to close out summer? Are splurging or cutting back, or like me, do you have a mix of both going on?

Books, A Cheap Vacation

Wednesday we had an all out thunder and lightning storm, followed by high winds on Thursday, and the deep darkness of fall has truly set in. The winds took any last leave hold out.  Late fall is the perfect time to peruse my books shelves for books I might want to reread or the ones, and there are many, I never got around to.  It is a great time to put holds on library books that always seem to be checked out when I want them. It is time to pass books between friends, family, and coworkers.  While Wednesday was a thunderstorm, the next one we get with the dropping temperatures is sure to include snow and ice. Now is my time to make sure my coffee, tea, and hot chocolate provisions are topped off. I love shut in days because with a good fiction book, I feel like I am on an instant vacation. 

Simpler Times-Perhaps: Part 4, Vacations

When my kids were young, vacationing was simple. Now we have to manage passports, and the right ID, ground transportation, and making sure we capture all the highlights we can to justify the cost of the trip. This is not a complaint, because I like my traveling, and feel the planning ahead of time is part of the fun. Back then, vacations were all road trips, and were short, a few days at most. We also had to have a loos schedule. It is hard packing things for babies,toddlers, and preschoolers and as a new mom, hard to feel like a vacation when you are on constant vigilance to make sure they are safe, which is why a few days at most worked for us. Of course , it was a money thing as well. There just wasn't any money to do more than a a couple nights. We would book at a discount hotel, finding the best deal we could.  We made sure it had a pool and scouted out parks in the area so we could make the most of the time away. It was simple.  

We packed a cooler and tote bag to keep expenses low and make sure we had ready food for hungry kids that would be off schedule from their normal routine.  More often than not, we made sure the hotel had a free continental breakfast. That breakfast paired with the cooler, was plenty to get us to an early supper where we dined with other families with young children and senior citizens at a budget chain restaurant, with a coupon if possible.  I would look in the Sunday coupons the month before our get away and clip the Applebees, Ruby Tuesday, Olive Garden, and any other coupons for restaurants  we might run across.  While discount, and chains, these were fine dining when you are financially strapped young parents.One more silly bit of nostalgia I miss, is the end of kids menus.  No more puzzles and games to play before the meal came,  No more special kids cups, and little toys that would be lost by the end of the trip, but treasured for the next day. 

Once we scored a deluxe three day, two night package, off season, in a real hotel in Duluth that included dinner and drinks in the carousel restaurant on the top floor.  The restaurant rotated very slowly, reviewing a look by the end of dinner of the whole city.  DD#1 got called "mam" when her chair was pulled out for her by the host, and both kids were served kiddie cocktails with umbrellas. Needless to say, her pretend play later in the week included pulling chairs out for her dolls and stuffed animals at her little table and calling them "mam".  DS thought a lot about the mechanics of the carousel, wondering if it went faster, would our food fall off the table, or would the force keep it in place? He later experimented with cups and plates on a Sit-n-Spin. What's the sign of a good vacation for kids? When they take the vacation home with them in their mind, not in stuff. 

After checking into the motel and going for a swim, we would find the points of interest, talk to the kids about where we were, things they might relate to, and spend the day out and about new surroundings. Heading back to the motel for another swim, we would have an early night in bed, letting the kids first watch something on Disney channel or cartoon network, a bonus treat because in those days we did not spend money on cable or satellite. It was a banner motel stay if they had free HBO, and once the kids were asleep, DH and I might watch a grown up movie, and have a glass of wine or beer.  If nothing on, we would have an uninterrupted chat, knowing the exhausted kids would not wake up needing something.

These were simple, but fun and memories that I still have, though I am sure the kids remember little.  In pictures though, I have pictures of a two year old and a four year old, smiling ear to ear climbing on a boat in a Lake Superior park, happy to be let loose to play and climb. I have similar smiling pictures from later trips to Florida, Mexico, Jamaica, and the Bahamas.  At the time in life, I doubt they would have had any better time at those more exotic of locales, and I doubt I would have either.

While I love traveling, I don't want to get in the habit of thinking all get aways have to be in an airplane, in fancy digs, with a jam packed itinerary. Young children force by age, and by expense, to make things simpler, but not less enjoyable. Now though, with no little ones to think about, I still get to decide how special an event, a day, or a week is. I can decide with what and when to fill my cooler and where to head. Like then, I'll make sure it has a bottle of wine.  

Vacation Wind Down-$13

$13 is the remainder to spend if I want to stay on the "new" budget.  Originally I planned $200 more but when I shaved $160 off through a promi code, I decided to aim for an even $200 less than budget.  We still have a full day of meals, transportation, and a souvenir sweatshirt to buy DD#2 and something for W the neighbor boy feeding the fish and returning our garbage bins. Well, at least we won't be over original budget.  Meals are the killer.  Normally we would eat more fruit or just grocery items but I made some poor decisions for that approach-better for others.  I'll blog more later for do's and don'ts of vacationing in Washington DC.  I learned "work" DC and "vacation" DC need different strategies.

85 Minutes Later

Two perfectly lovely customer service agents helped salvage a day of our precious vacation in the fall. The bad news; Sun Country has cancelled their midweek 6:30 a.m. flight from Minneapolis to Washington. This is a permanent switch to their schedule, and not likely to come back.  They switched us to a 5:30 p.m. flight, which was now the only one on that airline, and nearly 12 hours difference.  I love DC at night, don't get me wrong. The lit monuments are pretty darn cool, but arriving to our hotel after 9:00 is not my idea of a vacation day.  Through good stick to it-ness, I persevered 85 minutes on the phone with Orbitz and Sun Country, and was able to rebook outbound for a one stop flight on another airline, arriving at 12:00. 

That will give us  about 90 minutes less time on Wednesday, but we can eat a good breakfast in the airport on the lay over, and skip lunch, making up time. I'm not fond of cost or quality of airport food so I'll pack some PB and J, granola bars, and some fruit and we should be good to go once we land in DC, and then have an early dinner some where out and about.  Here is the kicker though.  Our flight now leaves at 5:19 a.m.  This means out the door by 3:30.  I know I am insane, but I would rather nap on the plane, instead of losing a day of our abbreviated week vacation. We will be packed and ready the night before, just a backpack for each of us, and probably a small drawstring pack for DD and I, and the camera bag for DH. We can print boarding passes the night before.  It can get crazy on those early morning flights, but I think we are even earlier than the red eye passengers, so should whip through security.  One more little piece of good news; we will get a credit
 after all things done of $41. 

I was quite annoyed when the message came up about the flight change, but if that is my biggest first world problem of the week, I am a fortunate person. I'm still working on a July get away-narrowed done to something west of the metro.  Living the dream in Minnesota.

I Get To Be A Tourist

 

I hit the agree and submit button for a fall Washington DC trip for DH, DD#2, and me.  No business meetings, no late night taxi to the hotel following a three hour flight and an eight hour work day will be on the agenda.  I've been to DC more times than I can count, and while I have been able to quickly fit in a site or two on several of the trips, even managing a whole extra day last fall with DD#1, I've never been on vacation there.  I couldn't wish for more in my terms of travelling companions for five days in my nations capital.  While DD# 2 could go in an out of one of the Smithsonian's in less than an hour, I wonder if we will fit in all there is to see with my two history buffs. The Air and Space Museum will be no less than four hours-I am sure.

I've written before, we will need to really tighten the belts to ensure funds are free for the various trips we have planned in the next 14 months.  I was greatly aided by doing a quick promo code search and found a code for an extra $150 off a package for a four night minimum stay, exactly the number we are staying.  Not too shabby for a 60 second detour.  I was tempted to book one of the tours to make sure we really fit in all the monuments, but then decided "why bother?" I'd rather we have the opportunity to go slow and deep rather than wide and frantic.

Half the fun for me is in the planning of the trip. I will look forward to gathering Internet links for DD and DH to look at and picking up fact books, and reference materials from the library. I have a few old metro maps tucked in some old work binders to plan some routes, but now with the miracle of google maps, we can put in a starting and end point, as well as stops along the way, for walking or public transit. Still, the journey is part of the joy, so low tech will suit me fine for planning.  I do like the  street view interactive maps where you can drag the little avatar man to a specific location and there you are. I just caught a view of a few folks noshing on a slice from We the Pizza, one of my favorite stops on Pennsylvania Ave.

I'll probably prattle on a bit between now and October.  I am very excited about this because it will follow or precede a few markers in my families life. First, it will be my first real vacation since changing jobs.  While I will have many three day weekends because of a flex schedule, those should, will, be filled with the growing home project list.  Second, this will be the first break DD#2 will have had since starting  cross country training in August, and her first year of high school. Third, the trip is the month before I turn 50.  Seems fitting that I ring in the half century mark with a little history.  If you've been to Washington DC, what is your number one "don't miss" activity or site? What do you all have planned? Anyone else dive into the planning and design months before you actually step on the plane, train, car or boat?

 

DC budget-Savings			$2,500.00
	(includes air, hotel, ground transport, airport parking, kennel, meals, snacks, entertainment)
Budget helpers
	Orbitz Promo		$150.00
New budget-from Savings			$2,350.00