The joy and curse of traveling by car, is you can pretty much do what you want within the limitation of time, distance and stamina!

On our trip to WA we skipped our favorite winery in favor of getting there without an extra day. We decided to hit it on the way home. It ended up adding an extra 2 hours… and since we weren’t trying any other wineries.. probably not necessary, but it did break up the monotony of the drive!

We got 4 of our favorites and then splurged on another one we tasted and really liked!

The rest of that day was just getting to Boise – to sleep in a king size bed! Ahhh! MIL and FIL have a double bed, and with 2 people that spread out and the pups… oy!

So we pulled the block out curtains and enjoyed the night!

The next day was trying to get to Moab so we could visit Arches the next day before heading home!

We got there too late and too pooped to enjoy all that Moab had to offer! Breweries and fun restaurants!

The next morning we did the “if you have 1 and 1/2 hours to spent” trip thru the national park

From there we scooted home as fast as we could!

We were tempted to hit our favorite wineries in Grand Junction again – but decided a side trip was not what we wanted to do, so our next order of business is to find them in the big liquor stores locally!

It was a fun trip – not very many fights, or getting lost!

We are considering doing the same this to my parents this coming year…  we’ll see!

It was a pretty relaxing week! I got to the gym every morning – except for Christmas day! We walked the pups with their cousin Bounce many of the days and just enjoyed the company of family!

We had a nice day on Christmas! Lots of great presents from Grandma and Grandpa, and SIL and BIL

One day while we were there we took a trip to a local winery – English Estate Winery

It was an adorable little place with interesting “Bag” distribution and adorable bags to hold the bags in!

We enjoyed some tastings with my MIL and took a couple home to enjoy later!

On our last day in town – the day it rained ALL day – we finally decided to take a jaunt down to Portland!

We started with Voodoo Donuts

I went with the maple bar with bacon – yes, i did it! It was great! The hour wait – was not worth the results. It was fun and we were just chatting the whole time, but i think i would visit the second location that is less popular!

Our next stop was the 24 Hour Church of Elvis

I mean really, how could we not take a peak at this one??

We ended the night with dinner with friends!

It was a great trip!

What did you do over your Christmas vacation?

We took a road trip with the pups to see grandma and grandpa in Washington state!

We cruised thru Grand Junction and picked up some of our favorite wines – Carlson Vinyard and Colorado Cellars – also some jalapeno mustard… Super yummy!

That night we decided we weren’t feeling like wine tasting since we were both feeling the affects of our cold – why bother to taste something when there isn’t any taste going on…  So we decided to cruise thru to grandma and grandpa’s with a quick stop at Shoshone Falls!

This place was absolutely amazing! They said it was the Niagara of the west and it was so beautiful!

The mist from the falls left an amazing layer of ice all over the parking lots and sidewalks and it sparkled!

On the way into finding this little midwest treasure we stopped at a little view point to check out the snake river. We were amazed!!

This bridge did not look quite as scary going over as from below!

From there it was drive drive drive to Washington State!

We got there before Grandpa went to bed, and got to catch up with everyone before we hit the hay!

When i was planning our trip out to the in-laws for Christmas i tried to find some place interesting and new!

With time limits and drive times, possible snow routes, puppie travel illness etc…

I found Twin Falls – and the “Niagara of the Midwest” and knew i just HAD to see it!

There was some doubt if we should make the time or if it would be open as we started our trip. Turned out hubby and i caught a cold and we decided to turn our 3 day meander into a 2 day – let’s get the hell there and rest!!

We decided to do the second day of the trip full out- but also take 1 hour to see this place!

Boy am I glad we did! The snake river area is AMAZING!!

The mist from all the falls left a sheer coating of ice on just about everything, and the dogs were a little unsure of this crazy place we had brought them! But it was really cool to see!

On the way there we crossed over a gigantic bridge and stopped at a “historic” view point.

It was a really great side trip!

Every time i would return to Orange County to visit my friend Kim she talked about the Orange Balloon. I was never too excited to, cause i never really understood what it was all about!

Saturday we had a little time before hanging with our friend sunshine and before “the wedding”!

I looked up the Great Park of Orange County. and it looked like something that could be done in an hour or 2.

The balloon is a giant balloon that carries a circular base that can hold up to 30 people, and floats up 400 feet, with a view of the old El Toro air base!

Views were spectacular, but DAMN is it scary to start. I was gripping the sides for deal life, wishing i hadn’t decided to do this, ignoring the hubby when he pointed straight down and said wow, look at that! Eventually I calmed down and enjoyed the view and the fun to be had!

One of the other things there to do was to ride a carousel!

The first thing we did was the time line which was very interesting and weird! It listed from prior to 1930, thru the creation of El Toro, included the bombing of Pearl Harbor and other historical and war related information.

It was a really fun time and i would recommend it to anyone else cruising “the oc”

Luckily we both get up early – so we were up an at-um by 6:30!!

Time to head out to Colorado Monument!

We decided to do the whole 23 mile drive and stop at every pull out!

We got in a couple mini hikes and enjoyed the amazing scenery!

After a couple hours exploring nature, it was time to have some grub and head back.

We decided to try Fruita…

It was quite an experience! We enjoyed the offerings of the town and escaped as quickly as we could!

We once again yammered and played mad libs all the way home!

It was an amazingly fun trip and i can’t wait for the next one!

I got a last minute invite to hang with a good friend for a quick overnight business trip. I worked my butt off to get a week’s worth of work done in 3 days!

We headed out early thursday morning for Grand Junction!

We reached Grand Junction in no time – just yammering the hours away! What fun!!

We had enough time for lunch at a local brewery Rockslide Brewery an Restaurant, and desert at a local Geltao Place -Gelato Junction and Desserts – then i checked in with work, while my friend had her meeting!

After that, it was play time!!!

We started with an Alpaca farm and then onto some wine tasting!

The Alpaca farm was very very informational, and the animals were adorable – huge dogs, tons of alpacas!

Then it was wine time- but we spent so much time with the Alpacas that there were only 2 vineyards open til 6pm!

Carlson Vineyards Winery

I picked out some amazing wines and brought home 1/2 a case to share with the hubby!

On our way to the next winery we just had to stop and take a picture of some yard art…  Words cannot descibe

Graystone Winery

This port only winery, also had their own home made fudge with their port – oh my goodness! The cherry port fudge was absolutely amazing!

While driving around Palisade we noticed some strange road names. We took an extra side trip to see the best one!

We picked another brewery for dinner - Kannah Creek Brewing Company- We split an amazing salmon quesadilla and a so-so salad – but it had an amazing dressing!

After that we headed back to the room to enjoy a bottle of wine and get ready for the next day!

Our final day with the family was Christmas Day itself.

We got up just as Santa was flying overhead to get to breakfast across the park at the Grand Floridian!

The location was gorgeous, the family was all together, and the meal was very good!

This was where our vacation ended for me and hubby. :(

We all said our farewells, the family off to Animal Kingdom and me and hubby to check out and another quick jaunt around Epcot!

It was sure nice at Epcot – it was deserted! Everyone else in the entire park seemed to be at Disney World – so that was a nice treat for me and the hubby!

Unfortunately taking Disney Transport takes a very very long time. They cover a number of hotels per bus, and you need to be ready to go over 3 hours before your flight. Ugh.

We got home late on Christmas time, got lots of kisses from the puppies and tried to put the house back together from the damage the boys have created!

Christmas eve in Disney World.

Strange, but fun!

We spent the day in Epcot again! We slept in a bit and headed over a little later ! Yeah!

We decided to take the boat over to Epcot! I’m sure it took 3 times as long, but it was like going on another type of ride!

We took it easy and enjoyed the park. Took in a few more countries, rode Test Track, saw the awesome aquarium included in the Nemo ride!

Then it was time to head to our “Christmas” dinner – on Christmas eve!

Christmas dinner we spent in Downtown Disney!

We all enjoyed the time, maybe not the meal, but happy christmas time!

After our meal we hung around enjoying the music and the decorations!

After our bus ride back my sister and I raced to Epcot to take a ride on “Soaring”. One of my favorite memories is us running down the doc to catch the boat to Epcot, we started giggling and couldn’t stop as we were running! I’m sure it makes no sense reading it, but it was a special silly time for us!

My sister totally enjoyed the ride, and we got plenty of exercise running across the park and fighting the crowds to and from the ride!

Shortly before dinner the hubby and I enjoyed a beverage to ring in the eve of Christmas!

Definitely weird to be in such an out done place right before christmas!

We snuggled in for a quick sleep before an early breakfast on Christmas Morning!