RV'ing to Orlando to see the Kings

We are on the move, yet again! We headed back to Orlando but this time with Annie Too. We are meeting up with friends, Rob & Kris King. We are excited to spend a week hanging out with them and seeing what kind of trouble we can get into with them!

Ft.Myers Beach Fun

Our time at the beach was really enjoyable. Tricia, Hector and family stayed with us both weekends in the condo. It was fun spending time with them and the kids. Most days we swam at the pool or beach, the kids and men played ping pong or pool while the girls relaxed by the pool or watched movies. We grilled out, went to a few restaurants but all in all just enjoyed laughing a lot!

Since we weren’t able to have the condo for Tricia’s birthday, we celebrated early. We took the adults on a sunset cruise on the water where Michelle and Rafael joined us. That night was so much fun, lots of drinks and even more laughter!!

The guys were hilarious, but then again, this is always how they act together.

On Tuesday night I was happy to be able to meet up with my ex-step brother, Matt, and his wife. We spent several hours catching up, sharing old stories about childhood and laughing. It was nice to see him and I enjoyed the time spent with them. Really hoping the relationship will grow as I miss him and his sister from my life. ❤️

The next day we had to pack up and head back to Ocala for a few nights before we hit the road for a mini trip to Orlando with the pups and Annie Too. We plan to see Rob and Kris and ride some rides at Universal. Can’t wait!!

Seeing Friends is Why We Are Here

The whole idea of traveling to Ft.Myers was purely about seeing friends and family. Yesterday and today were perfect days to do just that.

First off we had the opportunity to see an old boss of Keith's from the Coast Guard. He and his wife, plus 3 friends met with us for dinner. We met right outside Sanibel Island at a bar called Bimini Bait Shack, which was super cool! They had live music on an elevated stage, the bar was an actual fish tank with live fish and the seats were swings. 

Today, my best friend of 25+ years and her family joined us at the condo for a day of beach time, grilling and swimming. The kids played ping pong and pool before we grilled burgers for lunch. Then we all walked over to the beach to watch the guys and kids wrestle and bury Hector in the sand. Keith forgot how old he was and chased the kids all over the beach - pretty sure he is going to be sore tomorrow! ;)

We all walked away sun burnt and happy and I can't wait till they come back next weekend for THE WHOLE WEEKEND. It's going to be so much fun!!

Myrtle Beach for the Win

As you know we were in Myrtle Beach for a week visiting friends. So, one of the highlights of the trip is we ended up trading in Annie for a larger model. We spent a day looking at campers and found one at Camping World we loved. Plus, throw in an offer we can’t refuse and we walked away with a 34’ Rockwood 2902WS. This thing has 2 slides, an actual shower we can move in, outdoor kitchen, more counter space, bigger fridge, fireplace, queen size pull-out sofa bed, a queen size bed not jammed in the wall, tons of storage and loads of space for Lionel. We named her ‘Annie Too’. I’ll post more about her later.

Besides upgrading our digs, we also explored the area with our friends. For Kris’s birthday we spent the day eating, drinking, visiting a cemetery to visit the haunted grave of Alice Flagg, we attemped wine tasting (apparently the last tasting is an hour before closing and they wouldn’t honor our Groupon, I wasn’t happy), an amazing seafood buffet full of crab legs, and watching karaoke at a local beach bar. That was just one day. I think she had a great day - we were thrilled to have been apart of it! 

On our last day, we had tea at a southern plantation owned by a signer of the Declaration of Independence. But not to be forgotten, we also had pedicures, massages, the guys played golf twice, shopped many times and enjoyed an array of non-Keto food and Jell-O shots. I’d say it was a great trip, but now it’s time to get back to Keto!

Since we are now pulling a larger RV we opted to stay a night at another campground mid way home vs driving the 8 hours, which would end up being longer. Plus we were on the move so much in Myrtle Beach we wanted another night to enjoy our new toy. We stopped in a small town in SC called Yemassee, which has pretty much nothing but gas stations. Our campground is fine but I think I’ll be removing it from our return list... no WiFi, nothing close, no grocery stores. Its part of our Thousand Trails membership so its “free” but I think we’ll find something closer to Savannah for our May trip. 

We aren’t surprised, I think others are, but we are loving RV life! ❤️

Shagging in Myrtle Beach

Get your head out of the gutter, the shag is a dance in South Carolina! If you saw the movie Shag you would know what I'm talking about. (Side note, I loved that movie and want to go see the movie sights while here...).

Anyways, we drove 7/5 hours from Ocala, FL to get here and we are glad we did. It was a lovely reunion with friends from Mexico, Rob and Kris King. We are staying in the very large RV resort, Ocean Lakes Family Resort. Being that it is off season it isn't packed at all, which is nice. We are right near the beach so a nice breeze is always blowing.

For our first night we started with margaritas at their RV. However,  after our beach walk we opted to head into town for drinks and appetizers. It wasn't a late night as we were exhausted but I anticipate several longer evening ahead of us this week. 

I googled 'odd things to do in Myrtle Beach' and found a few places I'd like to go. I found 2 wineries (one with a white Merlot), tea at the home of a Declaration of Independence signer, a restaurant with goats (the goats may be on vacation though since it's winter), Shag lessons, Alice Flagg's grave and a fried bologna sandwich. Might have to check a few of these out.

I'll post more at the end of our trip about what we ended up doing. If you have suggestions, send them our way. Happy travels!

Visiting Friends in Ft.Myers

Keith and I have been staying with my Mom for several weeks so we decided to give them a break, and us, and head South to see friends for the weekend. The dogs even came along... Gotta love La Quintas!

We arrived on Saturday afternoon, checked into our hotel and then headed straight to Hector and Tricia's house to meet up. Their daughter Naomi had a dance competition all weekend so we decided to tag along. We had no idea what we were in for... LOL! 

We met Michelle at the school and grabbed seats for everyone. The competition had over 300+ girls dancing to various styles of dance. I believe the first night was mostly solos, but I'm not positive. Naomi did an amazing contemporary dance solo - we were so proud of her! 

After all the dancing, we headed back to their place to chill out, socialize while enjoying pizza and wine. Michelle's boyfriend, Rafael, met up with us and the night turned out to be a lot of fun! FYI: I have known these ladies since 4th grade!!

Sunday we headed to Cape Coral to see Michelle's new home, which is beautiful! Then back to dance competition. It was groups on this day and there were hundreds of performances... Naomi's last was was number 410. Her team won several platinum's and did an amazing job! 

After dance we all just went to dinner and ended the night with tons of hugs and pictures. We love those guys so much - we look forward to seeing them again in late March for 2 weeks.

Our First Night in the RV

We arrived in Nashville around 4pm at Nashville Shores RV Park. Keith quickly setup everything with only the hot water heater giving him a bit of frustration. The first setup was a bit stressful but after he got the pilot light lit and had some time to relax, it felt do-able. The dogs weren’t really sure what to think of the space. Lionel looked displaced due to his size. We had planned to use the table but that plan quickly changed. I removed the table and made Lionel his own cubbie. Once he has his own space he stopped pacing and relaxed.

We had planned to go eat dinner out with friends but the plan changed and we went to their home instead. This plan was perfect as it great to see their new home plus it was more relaxing than a restaurant. Thank you to Sonia and Tommy for opening up their home to us. As always, I love seeing and spending time with them! Another great surprise was having Melissa, Brian and their daughter, Grace, join us. We all had the best time in college so I’m always happy to see them and catch up! Lots of wine and laughter made for a terrific evening!

We headed back to the RV around 10pm and fell asleep rather quickly. The bed is a queen but we decided to sleep on it horizontally so we had more room. We both agreed we slept pretty well so we may try it again tonight... our feet hang off but I think that’s ok, we both sleep somewhat balled up. The dogs slept great, so there’s that...

This morning Keith went to Starbucks rather than making coffee. We will eventually “cook” but today wasn’t that day. He then came back and we slept till 10am. Tonight we head to Murfreesboro to see friends! ❤️

Long story short, things have gone well but we do know one thing... Next one will be much bigger!

Visiting Friends in Texas

Now that we are back on US soil we headed for Paige, TX to see two friends from Mexico, Haril and Karen. They were so kind to offer a place to stay with our two dogs. Plus, they planned a full day of awesome sights in Austin.

Austin is a really cool city with lots of unique local art and eclectic shops. After roaming around getting coffee, candy and having lunch, we went to tour the capitol building to learn the history behind Austin and Texas as a whole. It was a great day and it made me realize we need to visit Austin again for a longer trip.

The next day, Keith and Haril did some target shooting while Karen and I stayed in and caught up. It was a lovely visit and we look forward to seeing them again very soon.

Next on our agenda was heading to Ft. Worth to see more friends from Mexico, Vince and Annette. On our drive up Annette had mentioned we should stop by Magnolia Market to check it out as it was on the way. Since I am obsessed with home decor these days, that is exactly what we did. If our car wasn't already completely full I may have walked out of there with more than a few candles...

Oddly enough, we were close to the site of the Branch Davidian location in Waco, TX. We had just watched a documentary on it, so I wanted to go and pay our respects to those who lost their lives and gawk at it a bit as I was curious. It is currently still owned by some survivors and it seems they still operate a church there. It was sad, odd, interesting and creepy all at the same time. We just drove in and drove out - we never got out of the car. There is now a new church building built in the location of where the compound once stood and you can see some of it's footprint. After gawking and stopping to see some cows, we headed to see our friends. 

We met with them at their home where the dogs were very excited to see their pugs again and had a great time playing. That evening all of us we went to dinner with two more friends from Mexico, Greg and Amy, at a really tasty Tex-Mex restaurant (what can we say, we all love Mexican food?!). 

The next day we went to explore Ft. Worth by going to the stock show. We started petting animals at a petting arena and then moved on to the bigger animals - I even had my picture with a 1,400lb steer named Outlaw. The day was really fun and introduced me to a world I wasn't familiar with at all. Keith enjoyed himself and left wanting a truck. We JOKED that maybe in 5 years we will end up in Texas with a giant truck living next to Vince and Annette. Who knows... ;)

The next morning we had a delicious breakfast with our friends of home made biscuits and gravy (not keto) and then we hit the road to Missouri. We had a 8-9 hour drive ahead of us and then a week to relax in one place. We are looking forward to getting there.

Our Last Lol-Ha Happy Hour for Awhile

We have only one week before we take off for our big road trip - we are very excited and nervous! 

Since last night was Friday, we decided to visit one of our favorite hangouts, Lol-Ha, for happy hour with many of our expat friends. It was great to see so many familiar faces so we could say good bye for now and not for good.

It was a beautiful night and we opted to have dinner with our friends, Dave and Randi, at Lol-Ha. 

We are really going to miss everyone but we feel this little getaway will be good for us and just make us miss Mexico. Hasta luego, Mexico!

The Seattle Invasion of Mexico Has Arrived

Two great friends of ours from Seattle, Tommy and Regina, came to visit us and we made sure to try and show them as much as possible in 1 week. Sadly for them, the water here is a bit cold right now as it is "winter" in Mexico. I think the consensus was though that it was still beautiful and much warmer than Seattle.

We managed to hit Xpu-Ha beach in Akumal, explore Playa Del Carmen for a day, drive to Vallodolid to see the city and Chitzen Itza, swim in Ik Kil Cenote, Explore/shop in Tulum, take a Catamaran trip to Isla Mujeres with snorkeling and eat many great meals!

Chitzen Itza was somewhere we hadn't been before so we were very happy to check that off our list of things we should have done but hadn't. 

We stopped at Ik Kil Cenote on the way back from Chitzen Itza and it did not disappoint. It was extremely beautiful but VERY cold. I didn't manage to get any photos but look it up online, it's worth a visit.

We were really happy they loved it here and they say they are planning to come back Summer of 2020 (it will be MUCH WARMER then!). Can't wait!

Safe travels!

Day of Relaxation at an All-Inclusive Resort

Photo courtesy of Linda

Every now and then it's nice to escape the ever day priorities and head to a local all-inclusive resort. With high season just now starting you can get good deals on hotels before it begins, so we did just that... Our friends, Paul & Linda, invited us to join them for a night at El Dorado Seaside Suites for a day of relaxing with great food and drinks.

After dropping Kevin & Jessica off at the ferry in Playa Del Carmen, we headed to the resort and checked in. The resort is BEAUTIFUL and they have some of the best food in the area. 

We were able to get a beach Bali bed as our room wasn't ready - all that means is laying in the warm sun while sipping cocktails to the relaxing beach sounds. Honestly, it's pure joy!

Keith taking a nap

We get laughed at when we post photos from resorts as people say we already live a vacation life, why do we need another vacation. Living in Mexico is nice but just like anyone we have errands to run, bills to pay, laundry to fold... So yeah. sometimes it's nice to get away from the norm and just do nothing.

Our little vacay consisted of eating, drinking, lounging, eating and then drinking more... It was delightful and not keto at all. Totally worth it!

Thanks Paul and Linda for the invite - as always, it was fabulous hanging out with you two! I am still dreaming about that dinner... #delish

Our 2nd Set of Seattle Visitors to Mexico

We were thrilled when our Seattle friends, Kevin & Jessica, reached out to come and visit for a few days. We hadn't seen them since we left Seattle over a year ago so it was exciting to welcome them to our new home.

After picking them up in Cancun we took them to one of our favorite local hangouts, Jungle Fish Beach Club, for dinner. We had our first (and only) "are you Keith and Tarah from House Hunters International?" moment. We all got a good laugh at that as it made us feel like celebs, for just a moment.

On Monday we went on a float through the Mayan canals, which was a first for Keith & I. We had no idea they were even there. We drove past Tulum about 15 minutes and met up with a guide who had us follow him on his scooter down the road a bit more and then down a dirt road heading towards the water. Once we parked we walked down the road another 10 minutes to a lagoon with some of the bluest water I have ever seen. We all hopped in a boat with Felix, our boat driver, and he drove us about 45 minutes into the lagoon to a dock. We all hopped out and were directed to check out the old Mayan trading post ruins. It was amazing to see how small the doorways were - we asked about that and Felix told us Mayans were very small and the doors show you just how small they typically were. Think 8 year old height... small.

The canal had a nice current so we all popped our life jackets on as diapers and jumped in. The water was a wee bit chilly but we adjusted quickly. I kept asking about snakes and alligators but was told they don't live there... OK, I'll go with that. I wasn't able to take any photos as I left my phone in the car to stay dry but these folks have a great write up about the float with amazing photos. 

The next day we all decided to go the Xcaret for a day of swimming and eating. We had never been there either and it was more fun than I had thought. Once we arrived we had a little wait to work on getting our local discount on our tickets but surprisingly we were able to get it and our tickets were 1/2 off the normal price.

The park contains a lot of birds and animals but the flamingos were my favorite as I had never seen them in real life. They are beautiful and weird birds. Xcaret was similar to our float but their canals don't have a current. You do wear a life jacket but if you just float on your back it's less effort of swimming through all the caves. The 4 of us had a great time. 

Kevin & Jessica were off to Cozumel the next day so we drove them to Playa Del Carmen to catch the ferry. Next up for us, El Dorado Seaside Suites for a night.

Happy Thanksgiving from Mexico

We have now celebrated Thanksgiving #2 in Mexico with friends. This Thanksgiving we enjoyed dinner at our friends, Randi and Dave's. 

Our local restaurant/beach club, Jungle Fish, made our turkey and we all brought our own sides. We actually had the opportunity to go a week before and try the turkey. They were kind enough to make two for us to try. We went with the traditional with white wine gravy but both were great! Tony is an amazing chef and comes up with great recipes.

I was in charge of bringing two desserts (brownies and a keto pumpkin cheesecake), but sadly, one (cheesecake) just didn't turn out as I had expected so Keith ran to the store and bought a cake. He's a life saver!

The night was a lot of fun! We ate and drank so much we left feeling happy yet overly full. It was a great day with friends and I am thankful to have been a part of fun a fun celebration! Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving too!

Our First PGA Tour - The Mayakoba Classic

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go to the Mayakoba Classic to watch Matt Kutchar win the PGA tournament.

Keith is an avid golfer, and after seeing what they win, I wish he was a professional golfer. Matt walked away with $1,296,000.00! 

Anyways, Keith was in hog heaven watching all the golfers and seeing many golf idols! I thought it would be boring but I had a lot of fun, more than I thought. Our friend, Dave, gave us passes to get in as he volunteered for the tournament and had a few extra. Our other friends, Kathy and Dan, came too. I think it's safe to say we all enjoyed the day.

We decided to go to the 18th hole to just watch everyone roll in. I am glad we did as we had the best seats in the house. Plus, if you go to PGA Tour on Instagram or their website, you will see our faces right behind Kutchar as he celebrates his win. Our faces ended up making several papers, Golf Digest and the PGA website.

Twenty Day USA Trip Wrapped Up

Keith and I left on September 21st to fly to Ohio to see my family and to go see John Mayer in concert at the Bourbon & Beyond festival.

My wonderful father let us use his car to drive to Louisville on Saturday to see the festival. It had rained the whole day and just kept on raining. Check out this video to see what I mean... Lenny Kravitz and John Mayer were amazing!! The festival ended up being cancelled for day 2 due to the park being destroyed from all the rain. It really was a nightmare in regards to the water and mud - music wise, it was awesome!

My worst nightmare came true at the festival... I dropped my cell phone ON THE FLOOR of a muddy port-o-potty!!! Muddy floor. Toilet. At a festival of 1000’s of people. (My brain was screaming bloody murder) 😱 I know what you’re thinking, “are you sure it’s mud, Tarah ?” It’s mud, shut up!!! Besides this horror, we did get back to Ohio and realized the next day someone had hit my fathers car... Our affordable trip just became much more expensive for us as we plan to pay to get it fixed for him. I can't believe someone hit us and drove us... Jerks!

During the trip we decided to make a side trip to Lake Ozark in Missouri. We have been wanting to buy a 2nd property for awhile and with Lake Ozark offering more lake front property than California we decided to check it out. We spent two days there exploring the area and with a realtor. 

We are happy to report we found a place and hope to close in early November! If you haven't been, you should. It's a beautiful area that revolves around lake living. My dream!! I blame my grandparents as they had lake front homes and boats and it was a life I dreamed to have as it was always so enjoyable!

Our adorable grandkids

On the 30th we flew to Nevada to rent a car and drive to Arizona. We were so excited as the grandkids, Alexis and Zavier, as they are in Nevada. We were thrilled to see them and their mother, Miranda, for breakfast. It was so much fun seeing them and catching up. They are getting so big. Alexis has started school and Zavier is so much more chatty than when we last saw him. We miss them so much so seeing them was a highlight of our trip!

After seeing them we drove to Lake Havasu City where Keith grew up. He showed me his high school and the house he grew up in. We also were able to see several of his high school friends for dinner, which was really nice. While there we also saw our Pruvit team members, Chris and Dani Webb. They are so inspirational and they really do live a life of health and wellness, one we'd like to emulate. 

While there, it was our 2 year wedding anniversary (October 1st). We decided to go to dinner at Shugrue's. We've had the most amazing time together in these 2 years of marriage - I can't wait to see what the next 40+ years bring!

We wrapped up or Lake Havasu trip with breakfast with Lester, Keith's HS buddy. We then drove to the Grand Canyon to stay with another HS friend, Sara, for 2 nights. She and her husband live and work in the park. First night there we met Sara for sunset over the Grand Canyon - I had never been there before so it was quite the sight. I knew it was big but it is BIG!!! So glad I was able to experience it!

Our last stop on this 20 day tour was Phoenix. We had found out the Foo Fighters would be performing there and Keith has always wanted to see them. We were lucky enough to see one more HS friend, Tiffany and her husband, for dinner. the next night we met with another Pruvit team member, Shelley, she also was an inspiration. After this trip we feel so empowered by this company and are looking forward to building our business. That night was the Foo Fighters concert and it was GREAT! 

I fell in love with Arizona and can't wait to go back!

We flew home on October 10th during hurricane Michael so our flight was a bit delayed - thankfully we were able to get home safe and sound. The dogs were happy to see us after being gone so long - we really did miss them!

Can't wait till our next big trip!! :)

Our First Mexico Independence Day

Keith, Carlos, Ernesto & Tony

Most people think May 5th is Mexico Independence Day, that would be false. It is actually begins September 16th. In honor of this, we went to one of our favorite establishments in Mexico to celebrate with them. 

La Palapa is an amazing restaurant run by brothers Tony, Carlos and Ernesto. They really are the kindest people we have met. 

Many of our friends and neighbors were also there so to say it was a quiet party would be a lie - it was a full night of music, dancing, drinking and eating. 

Here's a great video to show just how much fun Keith had that night. (Don't worry, I drove us home) ;)

Our European Cruise was AWESOME

Look at us looking all cute in France

We thoroughly enjoyed our 12 nights at sea with our friends the Chillihead Beach Bums! With this being their first cruise we were excited to show them all a cruise has to offer.

Our trip began in Barcelona where we boarded our boat. Once we set sail, our first stop was Nice, France. We explored the French Riviera and Monaco - talk about money!! I have never seen such large yachts! #lifegoals
I had no idea Monaco was it's own country, so I learned something new. Did you know that?

Pisa/Florence, Italy was our next stop. We took the day to see the leaning tower of Pisa, of course! Surprise, surprise, it was leaning. 

Rome was next and we decided to do an all day tour of Rome and the Vatican. Keith was just in awe of Vatican City as he grew up Catholic. Our tour was a skip the line tour and it was by far worth the extra money as those lines are LONG. As morbid as this is, the most interesting thing to me was seeing the dead priests they have laying inside the temple. It was so interesting seeing how they have preserved the bodies to honor them. 

The Amalfi Coast

The Amalfi Coast is beautiful and was next on our stops. I have been there before so I was excited to go back. We did a tour of the whole coast which was great as we were able to see so many cities versus just staying in one. Ravello is still one of my favorites as it is such a cute town with a spectacular view. The roads are long and winding but we managed to snake our way through the hills and enjoy a lovely lunch with wine. 

Croatia was our least favorite stop as we weren't sure what to expect - I had heard it was beautiful but we just didn't see it there. Split is a very touristy area and we just didn't really see it for what the rest of Croatia probably possesses. We did a tour of the area but after it was over we headed back to the ship for lunch. We just weren't feeling it.

St. Marks Basilica

Venice was the one stop we all were looking forward to. The ship stayed overnight so we spent two days there instead of the typical 1. We did a ton of walking all up and down the streets. The best tour we did was a food and wine tour that took us to obscure places tourists wouldn't have visited. We loved it! Venice really is a great city to just get lost in - you can find so many cool buildings and streets. Keith and I really want to go back there for at least a week next time. The food we found for dinner was ok but I think we would have rather stayed up till the wee hours of the night and gone to a more local stop, but we were all starving by 5pm... Seems the locals eat more around 10pm. Next time! The next day Keith and I ventured off on our own for a local walking tour of hidden places - our tour guide was amazing and we found ourselves still finding more hidden places to eat and shop. If you haven't been, go! It's a city worth visiting!

Montenegro was our last stop and it was probably our biggest surprise. We didn't know what to expect as none of us had really ever heard of it before. It was amazing! We took a boat tour where we swam and ate and just enjoyed the very salty water of the Adriatic Sea. Floating was so easy but it was chilly. The views were amazing! We did venture into the town for a bit for some gelato and cocktails. It started poring on us so we eventually made our way back to the boat. It was a great day!

As always, Royal Caribbean was a spectacular way to travel and they never disappoint. The crew we interacted with was amazing and took great care of us. Keith and I ended up booking 2 more cruises for 2019 and 2020. Looking forward to those trips.

Keith's 45th Birthday Celebration

Keith has been wanting to go swim with the whale sharks since we first visited the Riviera Maya. June - August are the most popular months as they are here feeding. So, yesterday, for his birthday, I wanted to make sure he got exactly what he wanted. (We stopped buying gifts a few years ago and just do experiences.)

On the Monday we met with 12 friends for dinner and drinks at one of our favorite locations, the Jungle Fish Beach Club. We love the guys who run it and were thrilled to be able to support them for Keith's birthday dinner. As always, they were amazing to us and we had a great meal. Keith was offered the largest lobster I have ever seen. He ate the hell out of that thing!

As for the whale sharks, I was excited to be able to find 6 friends willing to go with us - trust me, when you say "swimming" and "sharks" in the same sentence people tend to back away.

Rob, Kris, Annette, Vince, Chris (it was also his b'day), Jodi, myself and Keith got up super early to grab our 5:20am shuttle to Cancun.

After a quick briefing, some snacks and water we headed out on the boat for about an hour. The area where the whale sharks are feeding was really busy with other boats and people. You are only allowed 2 people per boat at a time but it was still a bit chaotic. The whale sharks are spectacular and very large - they are just eating plankton and minding their own business. You basically jump in, swim around them, don't touch them or swim under them and then you are back in the boat. Everyone had 2 jumps - I opted for one but Keith did both of his and each time was just in awe of these animals. 

After we were done snorkeling, we headed over to Isla Mujeres for some lunch and swimming. 

It's definitely a birthday he will remember!



Rob put together a video of all of our footage - enjoy!! :)

Our Roadtrip Across the US

Our roadtrip started September 9th from Seattle to FL last 32 days and was over 6500 miles. We visited 25 States.  Weleft Seattle on September 9th with all we could fit in our Hyundai Santa Fe along with our two dogs, Lionel and Chance.

I won't bore you with details of each stop but I will lay out where we went:

Seattle, WA - (drove through Idaho) - Montana - Wyoming - South Dakota (we drove by Mt. Rushmore) - (drove through Minnesota and Wisconsin (we stopped for cheese and a pink elephant!)) - Illinois (we went to see our friend Jessie and to see a Cubs game) - (drove through Indiana and stopped at our favorite candy company) - Ohio (we stayed here for 10 days with my folks - we went to a Reds game, drove to KY for a day, went to a beer festival and spent lots of time with the fam) - Pennsylvania (Stayed in Hershey and then stopped to see the Flight 93 Memorial) - Connecticut (Lunch with Keith's Coast Guard buddy, Bill, and then dinner at Mystic Pizza) - New Hampshire (stayed in Salem by accident, apparently there is more than one Salem in that area. Either way we still visited Salem, MA. We also made a day trip to Portland, Maine where we had the BEST lobster roll and oysters. On our way back to the hotel we spent a few hours in Kennebunkport. We spent one day in Boston as well where we went to a Red Sox game. One the way to RI, we drove through Cape Cod so I could see it.) - Rhode Island (We went to the Coast Guard base to look for the Willow, but it wasn't there... We had dinner at one of Keith's old hangouts when he lived there.) - New Jersey (We had breakfast with our friend Bonnie and lunch with Keith's Uncle, we drove through NY and saw Manhattan from a distance) - Pennsylvania (We stayed in Philly but had dinner with one of Keith's friends) - (drove through Maryland and Delaware)  - Virginia (We stayed in an airbnb in a cute house on the water and we visited with friends in the area) - Tennessee (we stayed here several days so I could show Keith where I grew up, my college, high school and my friends threw a BBQ for us) -  (drove through Gerogia, planned to stop in Savannah for a night but hurricane Irma was happening so we skipped it and went through) - Florida (our final stop in Ocala at my Mom's)

Cubs game with Jessie!

Red's game with my dad!

BBQ in Nashville with friends!

BB