Going to Montreal

So, it is now official we are going to Montreal. Scott is working there for the week of January 4th. Chance can not go because even newborn babies need passports to leave the country now and since we have been lazy and not gotten Chance his own passport yet then he will have to stay behind with my mom. That is not really a problem for me because I could use a week off with Scott. Also it is going to be so cold I don't think he would have much fun anyway. I am flying to Montreal from New Orleans on Monday the 5th and we are both flying back together on Saturday the 10th. We have to drive to Fort Myers to drop Chance off and then drive back here to catch the plane. The company is paying for our tickets so that is why we are flying out of NOLA instead of Fort Myers.

Does anyone know anything about Montreal?

If so what is good to see and do there? I am looking for things to do since I will be alone most days while Scott is working. From what I have found on the internet Montreal looks like a beautiful place with a lot in common with New Orleans. I want to eat good food and buy lots of cool little souvenirs to bring home and give to everyone. I am so looking forward to the whole trip.

Big Boxes

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” - Mark Twain

I firmly believe this and that is the number one reason I want to take Chance all over the world. Hell that is the number one reason I want to travel all over the world. I have a love of travel that came from traveling as a child and being part of a family that traveled all over but I continue to travel and want to satisfy that urge to travel because I don't want to be in a small box. We all live in our own boxes or bubbles and some people's are very small making them narrow minded because they just can not expand past the walls of their box. I want my box to be big so large I can't See the sides so I travel to expand my world and to ward off the prejudices that creep into your head when you are not looking.

This guy is awsome

I am talking about Rahm Emanuel. He was recently chosen as Barack Obama's White House Chief of Staff. He is the first political person I have actually had lots of fun looking up their history. The guy mailed someone a dead fish. That's right he sent a dead fish to a pollster who upset him. I personally would never send a dead fish to someone but that is the kind of spunk I like to see in a politician. I have heard he is a bit of a hard ass and according to Webster that means he is a tough, demanding, or uncompromising person. Now that might not be the kind of guy I would want to be best friends with but as long as at heart he is a good guy he is exactly what we need.

I am sure that since Obama picked him he must be a good guy. As I type that I wonder how I can think that since I do not know Obama and can not say for sure that he is a good guy. I guess I just hope, and that is the catch to the whole thing we all have to put our hope in something or someone sometimes.

not so fast...

Sometimes seeing the world doesn't go as fast as one would hope. The one I am thinking of is me. This year I wanted to get remarried in Vegas and I wanted to go to Paris and maybe even work a train trip in there somewhere but I didn't get to do any of these things. In fact I did not go anywhere new this year. Ok wait that is sort of a lie even though I had been to South Carolina I had not been to Myrtle Beach and we spent ten days there in August/September so I guess that is somewhere new. Though after you have been to another country and after you have lived in South Florida for over 20 years Myrtle Beach, South Carolina doesn't pack much of a punch.
Well, I plan to do more good solid traveling next year. Why am I talking like the year is over? Because it almost is and because I don't see a way to get to any of these places in the few weeks that are left in the year.

Here is a new travel website I found that I like,l it is called Dave's Travel Corner.

just passing it along

I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change. -- Jim Rohn

I found this quote on a travel site I had never been to before but find it very interesting. 1000tips4trips.com

Richmond, VA maybe going maybe not

I am currently debating a trip to Richmond, Virginia. Scott will be in Richmond for work form the 9th to the 24th of October and now I am just wondering if I should drag the baby over there and if so should we go by car or plane. As with before the plane is still more expensive but the car takes longer. With travel there is always a debate like that especially when money is tight. I'll let you know.

pack for all weather

Just a reminder to check the weather channel before you take a trip. It is in the 80's here everyday and most nights but in Albany, New York where my husband just flew on Monday a cold front went through and now it is in the 40's at night and low 70's during the day.

In your blood

Travel is in your blood. It fills your life and if you do it right it fills your mind too. I feel this need to travel that I can not explain. When I do it I am happy. No matter where I go or what circumstance takes me there I am happy. That was so true in Troy, AL we were there because of hurricane Gustav but I was totally happy being there in a hotel for days with nothing to do. I had a wonderful time with my husband and toddler just finding things to do.

We spent a bit of time at a park right on Highway 231. You can't miss it, there is a huge helicopter on top of a pole in the park. We had a good time wondering around this park reading all the plaques and monuments dedicated to fallen veterans of Troy and Pike county dating back to the revolutionary war. A great place to let the little one run around and some shade can be found under a tree or in the gazebo. It looks like they may have small performances there of some kind.

On the road again - Gustav

We have evacuated to Troy, Alabama.


If you want to keep up on what is really going on in New Orleans and with its residence check this site often. I write for this site too and one of our authors stayed behind in his Restaurant in Uptown.

Doggie Day Care in Myrtle Beach

On our trip to Myrtle Beach a few weeks ago we took our 11 week old puppy which turned out to be a problem when The Company put us in a hotel that did not allow pets. We could sneak him in over night easy enough but getting him out during the day was difficult as the temperature seemed to climb higher and higher each day we were there. We tried to board him but being so young he did not have his rabies shot and so was not even allowed to walk through the door at most kennels. Finally after much searching we found Canine Command Center. Only a few miles from the hotel off of highway 707 it was a great location and best of all they were willing to take him for doggie daycare considering he was too young to receive his rabies shot they logically did not make it a requirement. You would have thought someone at one of the many kennels and boarding facilities I talked to previously would have figured this out but the nice people at Canine Command Center were the only ones willing to work with us. We dropped our little pug puppy off with them everyday around 8:30 am and picked him up just before 6:00pm when they closed. He played and had a wonderful time. By the end of the first week he was running into the building to say "hi" to the staff, we could tell he really enjoyed his time in doggie daycare.
I had heard of doggie daycare programs before we placed our puppy in the one at the Canine Command Center but it always seemed like they were trying to reach out to people going to work or school all day who left their animals home alone. This never made much sense to me for multiple reasons but a big one is the cost as an everyday expense, when your animal could be happily lounging in his own home but in a situation like we were in doggie daycare turned out to be a Godsend. This experience opened up a whole new world of places to travel with our pet. I encourage anyone and everyone to look into doggie daycare when traveling with your pets. Many kennels offer some type of animal daycare program. If you are ever in the Myrtle Beach area checkout Canine Command Center, they have a great facility full of friendly people and lovable animals. Two thumbs up, way up.

Hanging in Florida and Fay

So on a complete spur of the moment decision I packed up the car, the baby and the dog once again and headed to Florida. My family is in Fl. and that is where I was born and raised, also where we used to live before moving to New Orleans. When Scott got called away on business I figured we would go for another little trip. At the time I made that decision I did not know there was a hurricane coming for the state but I do not think I would have changed my mind since it is only expected to be a Category 1 when it makes landfall. A Category 1 is nothing to mess with but when you have lived in hurricane prone areas all your life you learn what is doable and what is not, and a Cat 1 is totally doable. We have locked down everything that can fly away and now we are just waiting. I love storms. Really I love all parts of a storm, the part we are in now is the foreboding part. The sky is completely overcast giving everything a grey tint, it is just starting to mist outside, not full on rain just yet and everything is perfectly still. No wind, No birds, No bugs, nothing. You can actually feel the world preparing for the storm. Nature Knows.

Travel Podcast 1 City Park NOLA

Here's our first travel podcast check it out here!!

The Road Home.

Our trip home. We are taking lots of pictures and videos which I will post here and We will have enough video to start up our podcast when we get back home so look out for that too.




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Driving to Kentucky

As I mentioned before we will be driving to my family reunion in Kentucky. We dicided to leave a day early to give us some extra time to get there since it turns out it will just be me , the baby and the dog driving over. Here is the map of our journey I will not be able to update while I am there since I will not have a computer but will update you all as soon as I get back to the house on Monday.




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one thing not to do in Myrtle Beach

Ok we just discovered one thing not to do in Myrtle Beach. Go to the Children's Museum. I do not know the situation that puts the Myrtle Beach Children's Museum in a strip mall next to Office Depot but I do know that the items they have inside are not worth paying the $7 per person charge to get in to see them. We come form a big city, New Orleans with a really great children's museum which is one of the few children's museums I have ever been to and definitely the only one I have been to repeatedly so I fully admit that I am not an expert on museums for the kiddies but I do know one thing very well. We pay $7.00 to see three floors of play area in New Orleans with a separate toddler room and here in Myrtle Beach we paid the same price for three rooms, no separated toddler area, old equipment and a bunch of sandboxes which although enjoyed by kids are a breading ground for germs especially when you have a bunch of kids playing in the same sand all day.

Now lets move on to the good stuff. Although I do not recommend spending your hard earned dollars at the Myrtle Beach Children's Museum just yet I do want to tell you to keep your eye on them. The Museum has a new facility in development and from the sketches I saw it looks like the new place will definitely be something you will want to check out. Before you go check out their website here.

I hate to tell people not to visit local museums but on this one I would wait for the new facility to be built and if you live in Myrtle Beach then by all means get out there and donate funds or time or whatever you have available to make your local children's museum all it can be.

Stayin' at the Hampton Inn

So we have been staying at the Hampton Inn on 75th Avenue here in Myrtle Beach. It is a nice location. We are just two blocks from the beach, great walking distance. I like being off the beach when staying in a town like Myrtle Beach, there is too much crazy tourist foot traffic when you are right on the beach. On top of that when you are on the beach the extra sand that gets into your things is hard to manage sometimes. Also, we are a couple miles out of the really touristy area which I also like. We are close enough to have anything we might need but not so close that we are over run by crazies. My might notice I think of your run of the mill do everything brochure tells me tourist as a "crazy tourist" by crazy I mean they do everything they do at home (yell at the traffic, shop at the mall) but because they are in a new location they expect a different outcome. This is more like insane but I like the way the word crazy rolls trippingly off the tongue.

Little Parks - Myrtle Beach

When traveling with a family especially with a really little one, like, say...a 19 month old little boy it can be hard to find things to do that do not cost an arm and a leg. Sure you could spend a bunch of money taking him to an amusement park (Hard Rock Park) or fancy dinner theater (Medieval Times) but if they are not old enough to really enjoy those things then do not waste your money. When in a new place I want to get the most out of my money and my time while really getting to know the area I am visiting. I get the feeling that people think this type of traveling goes by the wayside when you have children but that is simply not true. One of the best places I have found to meet local people is in a neighborhood park these can usually be found on the local government's website such as this one for the City of Myrtle Beach's recreation department. So, far we have visited two local parks and these I found from just driving around, no website needed.
The first park we visited is at the Oceanfront and 54th Avenue. This park is known as the Myrtle Beach Woman's Club Gardens By The Sea and was built by the local Woman's Club. It is a great little park with a playground and landscaped walkways including a boardwalk to the beach. Baby, Puppy and myself enjoyed this park I think the baby enjoyed walking back and forth over the boardwalk to the sandy beach most of all then digging in the sand with some of the shells he found. Since it was after 5pm we took the puppy too. Animals are not allowed on the beach between 9am and 5 pm May through September. I also got the opportunity to talk to a local mom for some recommendations on what to do in town.
We also visited Chapin Park on Highway 17 business at 16th Avenue North. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed when streets do not have names but only numbers however it is actually pretty easy to get around here since the numbers actually work the way they are supposed too and by that I mean go up as you drive out of the city center. This park has a large playground area surrounded by a World Wall for Peace and lots of shade. Along two sides of the park there are front porch style swings hanging in the shade which is where I spent most of my time while the baby and the puppy ran around. While here we talked to a couple guys that looked like they spent a lot of time in the park. They were very friendly and reminded me a lot of New Orleans.
Pic 1 - Children's Walk at Myrtle Beach Woman's Club Gardens By The Sea.
Pic 2 - Peace Wall at Chapin Park.

Indie Travel Contest!!

Ok so I am going to guess you like traveling because you are taking the time to read this and if this assumption is true then you should check out a contest that is taking place on the Indie Travel Podcast. They are giving away a Lonely Planet guide and what you have to do to enter ranges from super easy to as hard as you make it.
There are three ways to enter:

1. Join their mailing list, or

2. Send them an email, or

3. Send them video or audio clips from where you've been. (This one's worth five entries.)
you can do all of these things through their website just follow this link - Indie Travel Podcast
I have only recently begun listening to this podcast but so far I love it. It is full of interesting places to go, things to do and travel tips.
Anyway, take the time to check it out.

Myrtle Beach

We arrived in Myrtle Beach last night and checked into our hotel. A Hampton Inn on business 17 not US 17 or 17 bypass but business. Having all these 17's in such close proximity does not help the visitor get around and you would think that would be a priority here considering everything is so spread out. It's like Florida here and that is no surprise since the word on the street or more accurately the word with the people who actually live here is with the housing market the way it is and with Florida at the low end of the slump that Myrtle Beach has become the new Florida. We here people who move to Florida (snow birds) and them move up to Myrtle Beach are called Half Backs. As in they went from Ohio (or somewhere else in the North) to Florida and then they have come half way back up to South Carolina. From the look of things I believe it although we have only explored a few areas so far I see people I recognise all over the place. Really old people who wait till they are up to the register at Walgreens to find their pen which has become wedged at the bottom of their purse so they can write out a check for their Ben Gay and Depends and the floral print shirt wearing camera toting tourist families each child being equally ignored by their parents and forced to walk faster. I do not know these people personally of course but being born and raised in Florida means I know the type. Scott is working in town so he was off early today so the little one and I were off to entertain the puppy and ourselves. In looking for something to do with the puppy we visited the local Petsmart and had him bathed. While he was happily occupied we went in search of a local kennel. We found one not too far from the hotel that will take care of him from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm M - F so that will be perfect. He is going to start going on Wednesday and probably everyday they are open till we leave on the 7th it will just make things so much easier. After we picked him up from the groomer we grabbed some lunch at Mickey D's and headed back to the hotel for nap time.
As you can see we have not had much of an opportunity to tour the area quite yet but with all the driving around we did today so far we are learning our way around. We will be able to do more exploring after nap time then a lot more after the puppy starts daycare on Wed.
I found this photo on Flickr since I have not been able to take many photos yet either. It was taken by alan2onion.

forget the great debate

All plans have changed now we are leaving this weekend. Scott's job is sending him to Myrtle Beach and we are all going. I just found out about this Yesterday so I have been running around trying to pack and tie up loose ends like where to put the puppy. We can't kennel him because he is too young to get his rabies shot and so none of the kennels will take him. We can't take him with us because the hotel that the company is providing for us to stay does not allow pets. We also had to do a little pre travel shopping for things like a travel sized can of shaving cream and some more powder makeup for me. I know I shouldn't have to buy that but I do. I am going to work on that someday. Anyway this is our route to Myrtle Beach. We are then going to Slade, Kentucky on the 7th of August for my family reunion and then on back home to NOLA on the 10th but that is a different map.


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Drive or Fly

It's a hard decision these days. With gas prices going up the cost of both a road trip and an airplane flight have risen by leaps and bounds just in the last year. But driving is still the answer at least for this next trip we will be taking. We are packing up the family and heading to Kentucky. Our family reunion is held in Slade, Kentucky every year and so in a week and a half we will be off again. We have the option to fly of course but the closest we can get by plane is Lexington which means we would have to rent a car anyway or get another family member to pick us up and when you factor in the baby and figuring out how to carry a car seat with us on the plane plus the plane ride itself it just isn't worth it. Also since we have a mini cooper we get great gas mileage and even if we have to spend the night on the road it will still be less than flying. Round trip tickets for two (hubby and I, the baby is still free) it is $666.00 . In Goldie (the mini) the gas round trip will cost about $200 even at $4 per gallon . Factoring in the hassle of flying with the price there is just no way it is worth it to fly. Now all that could change if it turns out my husband can not go with us and then the prospect of just me and the baby alone in the car for 12 plus hours or two days worth of driving does not sound so appealing.

If that happens then we might just fly to Atlanta and have my mom pick us up on the way up from Florida. With all the logistics that traveling entails you would think it would be a turn off but traveling is the one thing in which the ends almost always justify the means. I guess that is how you know you truly love to travel, if all the problems and changes and nitty-gritty planning of a trip excites you just as actually traveling does.

Travel Videos

Here are some videos I have seen recently about travel and packing that I found interesting.





Most Forgotten Packing Items





Biggest Packing Mistakes

Travel Websites.

Here are some of my favorite travel websites.

1. Anthony Bourdain's Blog - why? because he is awesome and for more on that see this post.
2. Lonely Planet - They make great guide books and their website has real substance and not just flash.
3. Metblogs - You might not think of this one as a travel site but if you are thinking of traveling somewhere or moving somewhere after you have checked prices this is the next stop find out what is going on at the ground level. What the people who live there do for fun and even drop them an email or comment to ask them what they recommend directly.


Ok that is all for right now. We shot and edited the podcast. I have to admit it isn't our best work but for a first podcast it will work and I have seen a lot worse. It will be up soon.

Travel Tip

Today I want to share with you all a cool travel tip. I made this up a year or so ago when I stayed in a hotel with my then 8 month old son. He has always been a great sleeper but he has slept in his own crib in his own room from the beginning so when I set up the travel crib in the hotel room next to the bed and expected him just to go off to sleep it wasn't going to happen. If he could see me there was no way he was going to fall asleep. This is what I did and what you can do:

- Carry a few thumb tacks (at least 2) in a candy tin (like Altoids) in your luggage
- Get an extra sheet or blanket from the front desk if there is not one in your room
- Identify your best location usually the bathroom area or the hallway to the front door
- pull crib into this location
- Secure the sheet/blanket to the wall with the tacks covering the entry to the bathroom or hallway creating a barrier between the crib and the rest of the room

Remember

- If you choose the bathroom remember to have everyone staying in the room to finish up their nighttime bathroom routine before putting the baby to bed
- If you choose the hallway leading to the front door hang the do not disturb sign on the outside of the door (you don't want the maid knocking on the door at 6am) also take advantage of all locks and chain type devises. Also, make sure you have everything you need out of your car before putting the baby to bed.

Happy traveling!!

And the trip goes on

I have wanted to shoot our first podcast for the last few days now but the weather is not on our side. It looks like it is going to rain again today. Oh well, I'll get on my negotiations with the rain Gods to quiet it down for a few days so we can get something going here. Oh yeah, and big plans to share in for about our trip to Boyce,LA. It is going to happen I promise.

Podcast in the works

We set about today figuring out just how a podcast would work and how we are going to put it together. We are thinking of making our first location Jackson Square just because it s close by and relatively easy. A good place to get our feet wet in the whole podcast thing.

Our first trip since starting thie blog will be to Boyce Louisiana. We leave on Friday and will come back on Saturday spending the night in a Hampton Inn in Alexandria, LA. It is about a four hour drive from us here in New Orleans. We are driving up to pick up our new pug puppy from the breeders.

Hello, Hello,

Currently I have traveled to 48 of the United States as well as Mexico, Canada, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Australia. I love to travel and so this blog will follow my future travels as well as travel tips, tricks and things of that nature. n the not to distant future I want to start a travel podcast which you will also see here.

A Little About...

...Rayna (that's me). I currently live in New Orleans with my husband and toddler, the terrible twos are upon us. We moved to NOLA in November 2005, yes after the hurricane. This picture was taken when we were on a river cruise last Christmas. I picked this picture because the Portland look is so hot right now. Everyone "going green" and all (me included so who am I to talk).

Two things fill my heart with joy traveling and writing and so I do them much and often like laughing in that poem. Speaking of poems I like to write those too as well as this blog and a couple others. I am here to entertain you and myself with my witty ramblings. And to share info on travel, where I'm going, what I learn while I'm there and other travel related information.

I did not return to my job after giving birth to the aforementioned baby and so spend most of my days desperately trying to find something to fill my schedule. Oh yeah and trying to avoid becoming a complete fat ass from lazing around the house. So far it's working out, I'll keep you posted...