Traveling with a toddler

I'm pretty hesitant to post about mom stuff. I mean, come on, this is my fist time at the rodeo. What do I know? It's all trial and error for me.

With that said, I'm not sure that having four, six or eight kids would make me feel any closer to being an expert. (That's totally not something I want to test out, either.)

Recently, a few people have commented on my "bravery" in traveling with Little Man when Beau is unavailable to join us. I didn't ever really consider it brave. (Or stupid, or crazy, or inspiring or any other adjectives assigned to our adventures by outsiders.)

Just this morning we returned home from our weekend in Chicago for my first BlogHer conference. This time I didn't travel solo. My wonderful, sweet, kind mom came with us. Her pseudonym from here on out will be Granny Nanny. (Don't worry, she likes it.) I realized during this most recent trip that traveling with kids can be hard. It doesn't have to be. (And by kids, I mean my one kid. Moms of many, I don't pretend to speak for you.)

Here are some pieces of advice I have for moms of toddlers who want to travel. I've tested these on planes, trains and automobiles. They work. At least for my kid. I've even tried them out traveling solo with him. I'm still here to write about it. Go figure.

1. Accept help
This one is the hardest for me. Just ask my mom. She saw it first hand this weekend. I am fiercely independent. I have an "I can do it" attitude about most things. I fully realized the benefit of accepting help last night when Little Man was asleep on me and I was trying to figure out how to get my backpack down from the overhead and put it on without waking the sweet baby. Mom was further back on the plane, so I was going to have to do this on my own. (Yes, I realize I could have waited for her to get up to us. I didn't think about it at the time.) The sweet grandfather who shared our row of seating offered to get my backpack for me. Instantly I felt less stressed. He was also sweet enough to offer to carry my bags off, but that seemed like overkill given my proneness to fierce independence. I'm a work in progress, what can I say.

Likewise, I've had strangers offer to help carry the stroller down stairs where a ramp wasn't available. Doors are often held for us. These gestures are so, so helpful.

Say thank you. Profusely and sincerely.

And if you refuse help, do so politely as well. Don't be the one to make the person offering not want to help another solo mom some other time.

2. Don't expect help
People will help. Probably. Except for when they don't. Don't count on it, and don't expect it. Formulate a plan that you can manage on your own. That means you should have the means to carry all of your luggage and manage your child at the same time. When we flew to San Diego, Beau's company booked his flight and because of logistical difficulties, Beau had to book us on a different flight. Little Man and I flew across country on our own. The most difficult part of that was that I carried his car seat with me because we rented a car and I didn't want to rent a sub par seat (tried that once, wasn't impressed) and I didn't want to check his seat (the abuse that luggage takes can damage a seat and compromise your baby's safety). This meant that I had to traverse the airport in Detroit with a baby, a car seat, and a diaper bag. I erroneously didn't want to deal with a stroller in the airport, so I didn't bring one. There was no nice grandfather on his way to visit his grand kids to help me in this case. There were a lot of people in a hurry to get where they needed to be. I was just another ant (albeit a baby wearing ant) in a maze of other ants.

Instead of expecting help, I prepared to make the plane change on my own. I wore Little Man on my chest in his Baby Bjorn and made sure that I could balance his jumbo car seat on my hip and still walk a good distance at a solid clip. It would have been nice to have had help, but I didn't need it. We made our connection with enough time to grab a sandwich and have a college age couple comment on my car seat/baby carrying guns.

3. Prepare, but don't over pack
When I travel alone I bring extras. I have "just in case" stuff. A just in case magazine or two. My laptop- just in case I want to write. A water bottle just in case I want to fill it up after getting through security. Et cetera. You get it. When traveling with a person who doesn't contribute anything to the experience (aka your offspring), you get to play Sherpa. It ain't as fun as it sounds. Know how many diapers your little one will use, and then plan on bringing just a few more. (I know, mom, I over-packed diapers this trip...) Know which small toys and books will amuse your little one and just pack those. If your little person is as nosy curious as mine, you won't need many toys. The airport should be stimulation enough. And on the plane, Little Man could have played with the shade and little lap-table-thing for days. Know your child well enough to know what amuses him or her. A new toy? Get one. Can't survive without his or her lovie? Pack it.

Even if you aren't flying and the amount of luggage is a non issue, remember, you'll have to carry it, load/unload it, and pack/unpack/repack/unpack it. Bring what you need plus a little extra and call it a day. Do keep in mind that if you don't bring an extra outfit or two there will be a poop explosion or something equally messy and stinky. Preparedness is not synonymous with over packing. Know the difference. 

4. Give yourself more time that you think you could possibly need
This last trip, mom and I could have booked a connection that would have gotten us back to Richmond earlier. The layover would have been less than an hour, though. I wasn't keen on the idea of changing planes with a toddler in Atlanta with less than an hour between flights. We probably could have made it, but it would have been tight and I would have been stressed. Be aware of layover times, the size of the airport you'll be changing planes in, and any customs requirements when booking your flight. Plan according to your needs.

Similarly, plan to get to the airport earlier than necessary to get through security. On both legs of this trip I got pulled aside to have my bag searched. While it is perfectly within FAA regulations to bring as much food or liquid as is reasonable, my bags got flagged and the food packets got pulled out and the bag rescreened. Likewise, it takes a few minutes to take care of strollers and seats, get the little one situated back in the seat or sling, put shoes back on, etc. It is much easier if there is no real rush.

Little Man and I have made two road trips to West Virginia when Beau's work schedule didn't allow us to join him. The drive itself is a pretty straightforward five hour drive. I never plan it taking five hours. I know that we will stop at least once for a nice stretch, meal and diaper change. We'll play for a little bit and I'll let him expend some energy. I never know how long this will take and I have learned not to begrudge it. Giving him time to recover from being strapped in a seat for a lengthy period makes the rest of the trip go by smoothly. Be aware and considerate of your little person's energy level.(Because if you aren't you--and possibly the other 100+ people on a plane--will suffer through the ramifications of a baby who has too much energy and nowhere to go.)

5. Always pack food
Even if I'm driving an hour to see family, I pack food. It may just be a small baggie of crackers and a sippy cup, but it is food nonetheless. Sometimes that hour turns into two plus hours because of traffic. Sometimes a 45 minute flight sits on a tarmac for two hours. Sometimes the food/beverage cart on the train is out of food your baby can/will eat.  Those packed snacks can often keep a meltdown from happening.

And that is very good.


6. Be flexible
Travel is stressful. Babies and toddlers are stressful. The two of them together could very easily be a stress cocktail. Don't let it be. If traffic has you stopped long before you planned your leg-stretch stop, let the traffic dictate your stop instead of your agenda. If your flight is cancelled or your bag is lost, calmly ask the airline personnel how they are going to remedy your situation (and then thank me for reminding you to pack that extra outfit and a few extra diapers). If your baby ALWAYS eats a nutritious and balanced meal at noon but the plane is still ascending, distract him or her with a cracker or whatever you have handy and let your schedule slide for a day. Having goldfish for lunch one day will not have long-term affects on his or her health and wellness.

Travel is exciting and novel for your baby. It is also overwhelming. Schedules will be thrown off. Routines are out the window. Be ready to adapt to that three hour time change or missed nap. Plan for what you can (i.e. Little Man's inability to go to sleep at a decent hour the day we make the five hour road trip to WV) and be cognizant of the fact that you can't plan for everything (maybe a lost lovie or pacifier). You can only adapt. Be ready to adapt to any number of events.

I truly believe that babies react to our stress. If you are flexible and calm, your baby will use those cues to formulate his or her reaction to the trip. 

Here's wishing you safe and happy travels.

What other general travel advice do you have to share?

California love: San Diego edition

Finally! I harassed Beau enough to convince him that we NEEDED to make a pilgrimage back to my homeland, Southern California.

Somehow, my BFF in the whole wide world had never meet my son or my husband. (And by "somehow" I of course mean that we have billions of miles separating us. OK, not billions. I do have a basic grasp of geography. But it sure does feel like billions most days.) It was definitely time to get out there to visit. Fortunately, Beau had a class in San Diego, so Little Man and I simply tagged along.

We spent a few days there in sunny, perfect San Diego and then ventured into Orange County and even made it up into Hollywood long enough for a meal and a drink with one of Beau's childhood friends. And some classic L.A. traffic on the way back. Perhaps I don't miss everything about California.

Because I could (and probably will) wax poetic about California for far, far too long, I will probably break our vacation into a few posts. Because everyone needs to see all of my photos.

Oh, crikey, this is the modern-day equivalent to the family photo slide show. Geesh. I'm sorry. (But really I'm not.)

Beau had been to San Diego before, but he hadn't been to my San Diego. I wanted desperately for him to see it through my very rose colored glasses. Obviously, there are about a gazillion things to do there, but when I'm the tour guide, there are a few places that are a little off the normal list of tourist spots. If we had more time we might have gone to the zoo or Hotel Del Coronado, but time was short and I had to revisit some very special places.

See, I lived in San Diego for the four years I was in college. It was an amazing time and because I enjoyed my college years so much, San Diego will forever be a favorite place in the world to me. One of our very first stops was to my Alma Mater, the University of San Diego. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the most stunning college campuses in existence.

Nearby is the equally stunning Balboa Park.

We wandered around there, had a nice iced mocha at the pond and then stumbled upon this exhibit.

Beau was very intrigued. Until he realized it didn't involve samples. So, we skipped it, went along to  the rose garden and then grabbed a bite.

I'm supposed to be completely honest with you guys. I should fully disclose that I might have had In-n-Out for two meals that first day, but I am too embarassed. I don't think I'm capable of adding numbers as high as that calorie count would be!

We stayed at the Sheraton San Diego Harbor and Marina and while Beau was attending his second day of classes, Little Man and I took walks, played in the pool and made plans for our adventures that night. Exercise never looked so good, huh?

Long, long ago, I did my student teaching in La Jolla at Muirlands Middle School. While I didn't take Beau to the school to show him my ocean view classroom, I did think it important to show him the seals at La Jolla Cove. (On a semi-related note, who gives a student teacher a classroom with an ocean view? That just seems mean since my first two years of teaching were spent in classrooms that didn't even have windows that I could see out of. Lets just say after my short stint in La Jolla my expections were a little bit high.)

Little Man loved the ocean breeze and didn't really understand that the brown lumps down on the beach were really cool living animals. Whadda expect? He's one!

Since it was prime traffic time when we left La Jolla, we decided to drive down the coast. One of my favorite things to do when in crazy expensive neighborhoods like that is to have my Zillow ap open and check out the houses that are for sale. (Don't worry, I wasn't driving...) Holy moly are there some crazy expensive and beautiful houses on the California coast. While playing starnge voyeur/co-pilot, I planned a route that would take us past the Wahoo's Fish Tacos in Mission Bay. (I blogged about Wahoo's once before here.)

Beau and Little Man were pretty happy with the fish tacos and I was in memory-lane-heaven. So, so, so good.

The next day Beau had his class in Long Beach, another place I called home for a happy period of time. I met him up there and my OC portion of the trip began. (Beau had one more day of class in SD.)

Orange County adventures are coming soon, but what are your must-sees in the San Diego vicinity? Have you been? If not, seriously, get there.   

Travels with Carter

Thank you, John Steinbeck for giving me a cool title to play with for this post...

Anyway, enough shout-outs to dead authors, lets get to the goods! Over the past two weeks our Little Man has been a traveling fool. He was in three (three!!) different states (not counting home, so I guess technically that's four), flew on an airplane, saw two different sets of grandparents and two aunts, laughed like a fool at his sweet cousin, went to an aquarium, visited an Ivy League school, Dad's alma mater, and hung out at the beach. Whew.

Little Man has had quite a few cool life experiences packed into his almost five short months. (How is he almost five months old?!?)

More in depth posts of our adventures are coming, but here are a few highlights:

While on Cape Cod (Massachusetts= state one), Carter got to spend some time with Beau's family. One crisp morning, Beau, Grammy, Little Man and I walked to the beach. Grammy and I look windblown and happy, and if you can see the little nugget nestled in his sling, you can see he's out for the count. That's a sure sign that he's enjoying himself.

That or his newly found ability to giggle. Adorable.

 

While in the second state of the fortnight (North Carolina), Little Man stayed at the bottom of the Currituck lighthouse with Grandma, but mom, dad, and Pop Pop climbed up this beast. Can you believe what a spectacular day it was? There is zero photoshopping done to the above photo! And it was taken on an iPhone, not a DSLR! The day was just plain perfect!

 

 

Also in North Carolina, Little Man gets his snuggle on with his Pop Pop. They were watching football together. I think getting into the football zone is embedded in the male genetic code. He just stared at the game in awe. It was super cute. (Even if TV before the age of two rots a baby's brain. I figured a few minutes of man time with Pop would be well worth any potential rot.)

 

Oh, and this blurry fog was also taken on my iPhone, lest Beau think I don't need a new camera because of the lovely lighthouse photo. Ahem. Christmas.

 

What? 

Did you hear something?

Odd.

Anyway, back to our travels.

While Little Man's arms were too short to reach into the petting pool, he watched these rays and horseshoe crabs intently at the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island. I think I overheard him mumble something about marine biology or scuba when we were looking at the shark tank.

While on Roanoke Island, we also visited the Lost Colony.

It is still lost, BTW.

How did we visit it, then?

Trickery on the part of the National Parks System.

There's a park where the Lost Colony might have been. Minor detail. It was an interesting place, and worth the visit even if the settlement really did just seem to vanish.

State three was New Hampshire where we visited a museum, college, state park and ogled the lovely fall foliage. Here, my two guys are at the top of a windy hill looking for raptors.

We didn't see any. I was glad. I had visions of a huge bird swooping down with giant wingspan spread, talons out, snatching my sweet baby.

That look on Beau's face? He's probably realizing he married a complete dork who thinks hawks snatch human babies on a regular basis. Poor guy.

So tell me, what kind of person are you? Beachy or mountainy? Which of our destinations would have floated your boat?

You Bet Your Cass

Beau, Little Man and I have done some recent traveling. Twice in recent weeks we have gone to West Virginia for a soon to be disclosed, but currently top-secret mission. (Oooh, the suspense. I know...) On our way home for one such top-secret, super suspenseful trips, we decided to make a spur-of-the-moment stop in Cass, West Virginia to ride the Cass Scenic Railroad. (Those of you who know Beau know that spur-of-the-moment is his forte!)

Frankly, it was pretty cool! Once upon a time, there were over 3,000 miles of logging tracks in the mountains of West Virginia. Now there are only 11, but they are 11 working miles that make up the Cass Scenic Railroad. An adventurous person can traverse all eleven miles of said tracks. We, however, skipped the four hour trip and took the shorter four mile, two hour trip to Whittaker Station. (While Little Man is an awesome baby, we thought four hours on a train might test even his patience.) 

 

 

Whittaker Station is home of a recreated, authentic logging camp. And some absolutely breathtaking views.

 

 

Here in Virginia, people sometimes say derogatory things about West Virginia and its inhabitants. I think those people need to visit places like Cass. Views like this will shut anyone up.

 

 

Anyway, back to the train. Our trusty guide was locomotive #5. Shay #5. It is the second oldest Shay locomotive in existence. It has been in service since November 1905 and it weighs in at a mere 90 tons. As we climbed the 7% grade, the locomotive billowed black puffs and soot rained down on us. I can't remember exactly how many pounds of coal we shovelled into the engine to produce the steam that powered it, but if I recall correctly, it was about 1500 pounds. I remember saying to Beau that the poor man had moved the equivalent of a Ford F-150 in the course of our two hour trip. Whoa.

 





 

At each railroad crossing, and as we approached the stations, the conductor would sound the ear-piercing whistle. My super brave son only got a little perturbed by it. There was a chin quiver at one point, but for the most part, the whistle was met with a look of sheer surprise mixed with a smidge of suspicion.

 

 

But, you know little boys...they love trains. Their dads do too. Beau is already planning on taking the four and a half hour trip to Bald Knob when Little Man is old enough to geek out with him.

 

Here are a few more sights from the trip.

 

 

 

If you happen to find yourself in West Virginia (like we did twice in one week...) I highly recommend stopping in Cass for a few hours. You might be pleasantly surprised at what West Virginia has to offer. This is just one of many wonderful adventures to be had in this fine state. (Over the course of the last few years, we've also rafted the New River, hung out at the Greenbrier, and visited/skied Snowshoe, so I feel that I can make that last statement with the utmost authority.)

 

And, hint, we hope to have many more WV adventures.

 

Have you made a spur-of-the-moment stop that turned into a great little adventure? Tell me about it!

 

 





Babymoon

My friends, it has been nearly a month since I last posted. That is unforgivable. I am so very sorry. I really don't have any god excuses for the time that has passed except for the last four days.

Beau and I took a wonderful babymoon.

We were toying with the idea of going away while we still can, but nothing really came to fruition. As the days leading to the week we decided would be best crept up, I started to worry that we were just going to call it a wash and stay at home. Fortunately, beau is an expert last minute planner and found a wonderful resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and booked it lickety-spit.

So, on Tuesday morning when the temperatures here were in the high 30's, we hopped on a plane headed south. We arrived in balmy Punta Cana in the afternoon and were so, so, so excited to be getting away together.

We went to the all inclusive Paradisus Punta Cana and enjoyed our four nights away thoroughly. The one thing I forgot to do before leaving home was charge the camera, so I was a little stingy with the photos. I wish there were more, but you'll get the idea from these. (Two nights before departure we discussed how anti-photo we both are and how we need to step it up to chronicle this babymoon. Figures.)

Here's what we arrived to.

The lobby has these raised wooden pathways over koi ponds. It was all open and breezy. Over to the left was the check-in, and over to the right was the lobby bar and seating area. We were greeted by a very freindly staff member who upgraded our room to a beach-front building near the pool and dining area so that we (read: I, the pregnant woman) wouldn't have to walk far to get to all of the important areas. A waitress soon brought us two non-alcoholic, tropical beverages to welcome us. Clearly we had arrived in paradise. The name of the resort is no accident.

Our room was absolutely lovely. I, of course didn't take any pictures of it, but thanks to the resort website, I can share our garden view room with you.

The weather wasn't perfect while we were there. The first full day we were there was too windy to sit on the beach. (I tried and got sandblasted...) The second day we woke to rain, but by the time breakfast was done and we went for a short walk, the weather was perfect. (When I say we went for a walk I mean we walked to the gym where beau worked out and  I got kicked out because I didn't have a doctor's note allowing me to work out.  I then took a nice long a walk around the resort to get some exercise.) By then the weather was pool\beach worthy and that is where we spent a good amount of our time.

Isn't beau about the cutest thing you've ever seen?

 There are multiple pools on the resort, but this one is a meandering lagoon type pool that I enjoyed greatly. There are plenty of sunny spots to sunbathe, and when that gets to be too much, there are tons of shaded and covered areas to lounge and read.

I flaunted my preggo belly in a bikini. I thought I might be a little uncomfortable, but no one seemed to really be concerned about it. At least no one made audible gagging sounds or pointed and laughed.

Somehow, though, when I went to the pool bar and ordered my virgin margaritas, they always made me the real thing. I'd slide that one over to beau and he'd make a big deal about making me stand up to bear my belly, point to it and say "no tequila, she has a bambino." The bartenders would look shameful, smile and make me sugary sweet virgin beverages that probably had our little guy doing flips in my belly.

Like I said, we also spent some time at the beach. The water was this magnificent color that I can't quite describe. It was somewhere between aqua and teal, but further out it was this deep midnight blue. Absolutely stunning. The photo below doesn't do it justice, but the photo we took on the beach right before we left comes a little closer.



Paradisus Punta Cana is all inclusive. There were numerous restaurants and bars that we enjoyed, but the food wasn't quite what we had hoped for. I've never been a huge fan of the buffet, and that's what breakfast was every morning. When we figured out that some of the restaurants were menued for lunch and dinner, we went to those. Despite being a buffet snob, there was nothing wrong with the food, and the location and feel of the restaurants was wonderful.  

While we dressed a little better for dinner (above), lunches were casual enough that we could leave our chaise at the pool or beach, cover up, and dine. Beau enjoyed the Presidente beers that they would keep bringing when his was empty. My water was almost as refreshing!

I am so very glad that beau wanted to do this. It was a wonderful chance for us to get away and relax. There is no one else in the world I'd rather be sharing these experiences with. To anyone who is undecided about the merits of a babymoon, I say give it a try. It may be a thinly veiled excuse to blow money on a vacation, but it really was worthwhile for us. We got to hang out together, do nothing and forget about the stresses of life for a few days. There was also much reading involved. Two book recommendations are coming soon...

When's the last time you were totally relaxed? Planning a vacation soon?

Weekend away

Hello friends. It has been far too long since I've posted anything. For that I do apologize. This weekend beau and I are in Florida. We spent two nights at his mom's cozy condo in Delray Beach and then drove over to Bradenton to visit with some Icelandic friends who are in town for a visit. What fun. We are staying at a very cute bed and breakfast called The Londoner. There will be a wedding on the lawn this afternoon. (No mom, not ours...) but I was thinking it might be fun to crash it... Maybe we can just creep on it from the lovely porch. I was going to insert some photos, bit the iPad and Blogger don't communicate as well as I had hoped. So, until I can get back to my computer you're simply stuck with words. Last week beau's dad and his sweet dog Lucy visited, so expect some fun posts about what we did. Needless to say it has been a busy few weeks. Until I can return with photos,have a wonderful weekend!

Holy Smokes...er, Smokies

One of the highlights of our trip was a hike in the Great Smoky Mountains. After the balooning bust and our subsequent nap, beau and I decided to take a little road trip into Tennessee. We chose to take U.S. Route 441 through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Our destination was Gatlinburg, TN. We have tossed around the idea of a cabin in the mountains and I heard that Gatlinburg was a nice place. I did a mini-research session and liked what I saw. When we pulled in to Gatlinburg it was not quite the quiet mountain retreat I was expecting. Have you ever been to Ocean City, MD or Virginia Beach, VA at high tourist time? That's pretty much what the downtown area was like--only with a mountain flair. (Which is my way of saying woodsy looking kitsch rather than beachy kitsch.) There were people ev-reee-where. Swarms of them.

Despite the over-the-top main drag, we drove to the visitor's center, got some ideas from the nice lady there and went off to do some hiking.

While hiking was a must on my weekend trip, I thought we would actually end up doing that on Sunday. That's why my footwear was not appropriate for hiking anything. I think they are made of cardboard. They ave approximately no traction.

 Did we let that stop us? Of course not.

Off we went to the Rainbow Falls Trail. Here's the description on the National Parks Services website: "Between trailhead and falls, Rainbow Falls Trail gains about 1,500' in elevation. The 5.4 mile roundtrip hike is considered moderate in difficulty. The Rainbow Falls Trail continues for approximately 4 miles beyond the falls to the summit of Mt. Le Conte."

For the record, I do not recommend hiking 5.4 miles of moderate trails in Roxy flip flops. Likewise, I recommend bringing water along with you. Durh.

What did I have? My trusty camera. While there wasn't a ton of water rushing over the falls as advertised, the hike itself was quite stunning and worth the minor excruciating foot discomfort. The following photos are my testament to this lovely hike.

Had we actually planned for this hike, we could have made a reservation at the lodge, spent the night, and hiked back in the morning. We'll perhaps put that on our to-do list for a future visit. We'll pack the right shoes, too.

I bet you are wondering about wildlife. Don't worry, there is lots of it in the Great Smoky Mountains.

I suppose this sign exists because there are people who actually do approach wild, hungry bears. Those people are idiots who watch far too much "reality" TV. I, however, am smart enough to know that if there is a bear in my path, I go the other way. Quickly. I don't want to experience that serious injury or death the sign mentions.

While no bears were in sight for us to approach, I did see this little guy. He's hiding under the bark of a fallen tree.

He probably has an enormous poisonous spike on his tail and is waiting for me to get closer so he can strike and take me, the flip-flop-wearing novice, down. Obviously, I lived to tell about it, but it was close.

But on to the pretty parts of this hike...

I hope you enjoyed our hike from the comfort of your home--you know, where flip-flops are appropriate footwear.

What is the most athletic thing you've done in flip flops?

A Bunch of Hot Air

I promised an exciting post if you crossed your fingers for good weather.

Who didn't cross his/her fingers???

Here's how the weekend was supposed to go: Friday beau and I were going to take a nice leisurely drive to Asheville, North Carolina where we would spend the night, get up early and take a HOT AIR BALLOON ride. Whooooo! So much fun.

Here's how it really went: We got a late start Friday because of kitchen madness and got to Asheville at about midnight. We got up at 4 in the morning to meet the balloon pilots and our group. We all piled into two vans and went to a site (and by site I mean gas station) for the pilot to call the weather people. The weather jerks people gave us a thumbs down. Beau and I went back to the hotel and slept like normal people.

We tried this about a year ago and didn't get to fly because of bad weather. It was a wonderfully romantic gesture on the part of beau, and round two was going to be a little like reliving that first trip. Only, obviously, we were supposed to actually go up in the balloon to achieve that romantic moment this time.

Anyway, here's what should have happened:

The above image is taken directly from R.O. Franks Aviation website. And, as we did not fly with them (again), the following images are also stolen directly from their website. I had every intention of taking a gazillion photos for you. Don't worry, though. We have a credit with them and WILL go hot air ballooning at some point. Even if it kills us. Uh, forget that. Bad choice of words...

The beauty of those images makes me forget that I am deathly afraid of falling and don't function well without something solid under my feet. I want to get up there soon! Aren't the Blue Ridge mountains absolutely stunning? You can't even see the bears from that height.

Hopefully we'll be luckier than the two girls in our group who were there for their SIXTH attempt.

If we move to  Asheville it will simply be because purchasing a home there is more economical than weekend stays to try to balloon. Really, though, the town is a quaint place. Check it out. And while you're there, check out R.O. Franks Aviation. But if you get up on the first try, keep it to yourself, please.

Despite the ballooning setback, I do have some weekend adventures to write about. They'll have to wait until tomorrow. This gal is sleepy.

Anyone out there ever been up in a hot air balloon? Or had the weather ruined really exciting--and potentially romantic--plans?