All in Travel

Remembering Our Summer Vacation to Washington DC

Remembering Our Summer Vacation to Washington DC

Jody Yarborough
Travel

Even though there has not been a lot of traveling for us in the last year and a half, it’s fun to look back at some of the wonderful vacations we have taken over the years. In fact, it almost makes it even more fun. After every vacation I have very good intentions of coming home and reflecting on the previous days’ adventures. But more often than not, I’m too exhausted, and then life and all its to-do lists keep me from actually following through. Thank goodness we have the pictures to remind us. Below are a few of my favorite snapshots from a trip we took to Washington DC in the summer of 2013. Although we did go by it, there are no photos of the White House in this collection. Rather, some moments that made this trip one of my top five vacations of all time. Enjoy!

Summer 2018 Vacation Roadtrip to the PNW: Victoria B.C. and Oregon (Part Two)

Summer 2018 Vacation Roadtrip to the PNW: Victoria B.C. and Oregon (Part Two)

Jody Yarborough
Travel

This post is Part Two about our 2018 summer vacation road trip adventure to the Pacific Northwest and Canada. You can read Part One here.

I hadn’t been to Victoria since I was a kid. Andrew had never been at all. Part of the reason we wanted to head north of the border was to have the excuse to ride on the ferry. The other was to go to Butchart Gardens. I’ve heard it is a breathtaking tourist attraction and I wanted to go see if for myself.

When you want to take your car to Victoria by ferry, there is only one option: take a vehicle passenger ferry that leaves out of Port Angeles, WA. Thankfully there are several trips made per day. Accessibility on a vehicle ferry is tricky because of the way they load the cars. They pack them in so tightly there is no room to let down the van ramp. We hadn’t made arrangements prior, so on the way over we had stay in our van and ride over in the belly of the boat. It wasn’t the most ideal, but the trip was only like 90 minutes, and we were just thankful to be headed on our way. (Going home we were able to load our van first so we could exit it before other cars got parked in around us. So we were able to scoot upstairs via the exterior ramp to the passenger/viewing levels.)

Summer 2018 Vacation Roadtrip to the PNW: Heading North to Washington State (Part one)

Summer 2018 Vacation Roadtrip to the PNW: Heading North to Washington State (Part one)

Jody Yarborough
Travel

It had been about six years since Drew and I had taken a proper road trip to the Pacific Northwest. My family lives in Washington State, and he has a sister who lives in Portland. Every time we make the trek we always make time to see both. But because we had more time for this vacation we wanted to add something new into the mix: head even further north to Canada!

In our planning phase we were initially torn between going to Vancouver or Victoria. Drew thought it might be easier just to drive north into Vancouver. But I really wanted to us to experience the ferry, and I wanted to revisit Victoria. I had been there a couple times as a kid, and I wanted to go back and share that with Drew. Additionally one other place we knew we wanted to visit, that was new to the both of us, was Butchart Gardens. I have several family members who have gone there who said it was breathtaking, and sure enough, it lived up to the hype. But more on that in a minute.

All Aboard! Riding the Rails is a Reunion I am Relishing

All Aboard! Riding the Rails is a Reunion I am Relishing

Jody Yarborough
Travel

It has been five years since I rode Amtrak. It has been ten since I really rode Amtrak. Five years ago, my husband Andrew and I took a relatively short (in train time) trip from the Twin Cities to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The longer trip, five years prior, was from Washington State to Connecticut. Yes, I rode Amtrak all the way across the country. At this point, I could interject about my flying issues, but that is not what this blog is about, so I won't. I will say, however, that I have flown in recent years; Atlanta to San Francisco and back, New York, Washington, Minnesota, Texas. But lately, the skies have not seemed so friendly to me, so I'm in a self-imposed grounding. So when my Dad announced he would need hip replacement surgery, and I had the vacation time at work, the clickity-clack of my old friend the train echoed in the back of my mind.