Indecisive Excursions!

Have I mentioned I love my fiancé? 

Wednesday, as I drove to the office at 6 am - 6.A.M! - Henry calls me to say he wants to go on a trip until next week. I was completely taken off guard, and having a mini-party in my head with all the possibilities. Only problem, I wanted to go to a beach in Florida, he wanted to go to the mountains to escape the heat in New Mexico.  

 When it comes to international travel, I don't think we could ever disagree on where to go. However, when it comes to the good 'ole US, we couldn't disagree more. Boo. Since I grew up in Houston, I am use to being close to the ocean. The smell of the ocean, the calming sounds of the ocean waves, the delicious and fresh seafood....I can't get enough of those things.  I would be perfectly happy moving to an island and retiring as a beach bum - fishing and drinking piña coladas 24:7  It may not be your dream, but I'd be so happy! Don't rain on my parade. Henry on the other hand is fond of mountains, rivers and lakes.

 So, Henry voted for Red River, New Mexico. I voted for childhood favorite, Destin, Florida. I am not fond of New Mexico, period. It kind of drives me crazy thinking of going there. Henry and I took a 3 week long vacation through Colorado and New Mexico when we first met, NM I wasn't impressed with, Colorado I LOVED. Especially, Durango and Telluride! Holy Smokes are those gorgeous, fun towns...But Henry shot down Durango....Red River he was set on. 

Standing on the edge of a cliff in New Mexico, July 2009 - Henry as he "jokingly" acts as if he is going to toss me off the cliff. Such a great foundation for a budding relationship haha!

 We flipped a coin, 7 times!! It landed on "beach" 5 of the 7, but still couldn't agree. Then Henry set up a mini-craps game for us. After near 30-40 minutes of Craps, I won. BEACH IT WAS! Yippee!! I found a gorgeous campground for our new RV, for $110/night. We were all set to book when she mentioned no dogs on the beach front sites. Ok, fine, what beach is close by where we can take them? No where! It's a county law in multiple counties!! Part of this trip was for our two Aussies! "Thank you, but nevermind." Red River it was again. Ugh! I know, I know, a vacation is a vacation, I should be thankful to even take one. But what can I say? I'm stubborn, and grew up as the oldest, I want MY way dangit!! 

The cardboard, dice and quarters we used to play our game - The cardboard was really to protect the wood from the dice corners.
:-]

 Luckily, Red River's park we stayed in two years ago was now a mobile home park. Yuck. The other two, booked solid. Yay! Next town in line, Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Yet again booked, or ridiculous pet fees. Boo! Next town, DURANGO! Guess what park had an opening?!?! The first park we stayed in on our first trip, right on a beautiful part of the Animas River! Oh ya! Even better, the only spot available was #23! My lucky number. It was meant to be! Haha  

Standing on the Animas River bank in front of our cabin on our first trip, July 2009 <3

My first Henry Weinhard, Henry's favorite! They make and bottle them 30 minutes from where I live now, but you can rarely find them in this area. However, they are EVERYWHERE in Colorado. 

 Now here we are, on the road to Durango, Colorado for a few days! :-) Looking forward to renting a jeep, four-wheelers, white-water rafting, hiking, and local breweries! Oh and this amazing Mexican restaurant on the edge of town with great Margarita pitchers!  Hope y'all have a fabulous weekend! Cheers! XoXo

Local brewery in the next town over, Silverton. Outside they have a slew of fun, very interesting beer facts. This particular brewery had a beer Henry loved so much, he bought some to take home.

Wedding Inspired Wednesday {No 14}: The Get-Away!

        The Get-Away - this is the moment at the end of the wedding when everyone waves farewell as you depart to your hotel/honeymoon! If you love photos, like me, this is another perfect opportunity for fabulous photos....so choose wisely!
        I have seen people drive away in numerous things such as these:

Vintage pick-up - Source: Brides.com

Classic Car - Source: Sincerely Yours Online

Eco-Friendly - Source: Candles and Such

Romantic Horse-Drawn Carriage - Source: Martha Stewart

Personalized - Source: Martha Stewart

        However, I do believe our get-away vehicle is one personalized vehicle! One thing I love about Henry, he is a fellow Aggie, my Aggie-Sweetheart. I think he put it perfectly when creating our wedding website, "I couldn't imagine marrying anyone outside of the Aggie family which is why Heather is perfect for me. She doesn't look at me funny when I "whoop" at the TV when we're beating the hell outta t.u. and she understands why I still haven't thrown out my lucky A&M hat that I wore to my first football game six years ago, even though it's falling apart. She also didn't think it was odd that we had to walk under the Century Tree together before I would marry her. Outsiders don't get these things." 
       It's true. Outsiders don't always understand our crazy, whacky traditions, but Henry does. So, when I found our get-away vehicle to present to Henry he was just as excited as I was. I show random family members and they just kind of give that half-hearted, "Oh....cool" - but fellow Aggies usually respond with a whole-hearted, "That's awesome! How did you figure that out!?" haha
        Sooooo.....Here is our get-away vehicle! 100% Personalized 100% Aggie 100% US! I couldn't be happier! :-)

Oh yes! Fightin' Texas Aggie BUS 12!! WHOOP!

       This bus is well equipped. It plays the Texas Aggie Fight Song, has a rooftop that can hold 10 people, and can drive around with about 20 people inside. It will take Henry and myself, along with 18 other people in our wedding party, around the A&M campus for last minute photos before dropping us off at Northgate where we can relive the first night Henry and I met, and where Henry proposed. From Northgate, we will take our beloved Carpool to our hotel. :-) It's a night full of Aggie love and tradition. I couldn't be more excited, no matter how little you may understand. haha
       

Wedding Inspired Wednesday {No 13}: HONEYMOON!

       If you didn't already know, Henry and I plan to spend our honeymoon in Greece and Italy....for 3 WEEKS! Whoop! Our honeymoon is one of the main reasons we have been engaged for 2 years and 1 month - and will be engaged for 2 years and 6 months by the time our wedding rolls around.

        I know every couple has their own individual priorities post wedding, such as, buying a house, having a baby, etc., that prevent them from taking a honeymoon. However, Henry and I wanted to make sure that after our wedding we were able to take the best honeymoon ever! We didn't want to say, "We will take one later", because quite honestly, "later" rarely happens. We wanted to make sure we put US first. The first few days of being married are crucial, you at least owe it to yourselves to spend a few days together. Even if it is in a hotel down the street!

         Our itinerary is to fly from DFW to Athens, then take a smaller plane to the island of Mykonos, where we would stay 3 nights. Then we would take a boat from Mykonos to the island, Santorini, for another 3 nights. Then fly back to Athens for two nights. From Athens we fly to Naples and stay in the Amalfi Coast for 5 nights (and my birthday WHOOP!). Following Amalfi, we take a bus to Rome for a few nights, then train to Venice for a few nights, then back to Rome to fly back to DFW. Total time: 3 weeks.

Source from top left to bottom right:

1. Mykonos

2. Santorini

3. Amalfi Coast

4. Rome

5. Venice

         We set our travel budget for $10,000.  When we started researching flights, my jaw dropped. $10,000 was not going to be near enough! The flights from DFW to Athens were around $2,000 for the both of us after taxes. Flights from Rome to DFW were a little over $5,000 for the both of us after taxes. That is $7,000 for flights round trip. That didn't include our small flights to the islands, boat rides, bus rides, train rides, places to stay, food, etc.

        So, I started subscribing to tons of travel sites. I monitored flight price changes using a website called, Yapta. I subscribed to Vayama, another travel website, that sends you deals for international flights. I got Travel Zoos Top 20 e-mails once a week - which we will definitely be using for later trips. Once a week you get this e-mail that enlists the top 20 travel deals for around the world. These are amazing deals, some including airfare to places like Ireland, Thailand, CUBA!, Spain, Costa Rica, etc. They are great deals you can pay for now and then use at a later date. Definitely worth it if you have the money available and know for a fact you plan on taking a trip somewhere, anywhere. They range from $300 to a couple thousand. Then there was Gate 1 Travel deals. I wish I had not subscribed to this one so late, we could've booked a lot of awesome things through this site. It is similar to Travel Zoo, but their vacations are more pre-planned.

        Future recommendation, make a completely separate e-mail for all your wedding stuff. HAHA You subscribe to so many things at Wedding Conventions, different vendors for pricing, travel stuff, etc. Your e-mail gets on overload. 

        Anywho, all the subscriptions paid off! Vayama came through on its amazing international deals. We were able to book, round trip DFW --> Athens --> Rome --> DFW, for both of us, taxes, fees, everything for a little over $2,000!! We were even able to get trip insurance in case something happened later. WOOHOO!

        After browsing numerous flight websites, we were able to get our island flights and flight to Naples for about $1,000 total for both us using Momondo. A website similar to Kayak, where it pretty much acts like the google for flights, searching several different website's flight prices, and bringing all of them to one page for you.

        Overall, I think we made out like a bandit to get all our flights for $3,000! Patience is a virtue, and it definitely paid off. If you know of any other great travel websites, please comment below or e-mail me! We want to step a foot in each country, so any help in doing so is greatly appreciated.

-Alana XOXO