Category Archives: Travel

4 Days in Death Valley – What to see.

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Dan and I journeyed to Death Valley this past February and it was completely stunning.  Shame on me for not knowing this but when I thought of Death Valley, I had always imagined it to be just a vast desert with tumbleweeds blowing by every hour.  I could not have been more wrong!  We saw so many different colors, landscapes, and interesting places.  We went in February which is during peak season and it was sunny but quite cold.  The average annual rainfall is 2.36 inches…  Therefore, it’s not likely you will get rained out of any outdoor activities :).  You do need to bring lots of water though since there aren’t many places to fill up your water bottles.

We had a goal in mind of going for walks and exploring photography so if those are of interest to you, here is what our itinerary looked like and is absolutely possible in 4 days:

  • Day 1 
    • Rented a car in Vegas and drove to Death Valley.  The drive is beautiful!  It took us about 2.5 hrs.  Pro-tip: make sure to check what time the rental car company opens if you go this route, we flew in early in the morning and had to wait (not long) for the company to open up to get the car.
    • Stopped at Zabriskie Point on the way in as well as a few other unmarked spots for photos.
    • Checked into The Ranch at Death Valley.  This hotel is OK.  It’s in a great location but for how expensive it is, not worth it.  Hopefully some of the money goes back to the park.  The Oasis is a really upscale hotel in the park which looks really fancy and then there are campgrounds so there are three spectrums of choices to choose from.  Camping would be really fun but the temperatures are sort of extreme in both directions so I was glad we ended up in hotel after we saw the campgrounds were sold out.
    • Went for sunset at Badwater Basin which was awesome!!  You can walk for miles and miles around the lowest point in North America.
  • Day 2
    • Sunrise at Zabriskie Point.  This spot is great.  Easy to access by car with a parking lot and you can walk up a short path to enjoy the view or hike around.
    • Second stop was the Mesquite Sand Dunes.  Quite a bit of walking and trying to walk uphill in sand but very beautiful.  We enjoy hiking so it was fun to get out in the dunes and see a sea of the beautifully soft rolling hills.  We also saw a big group of kids who brought sleds and they were having a blast.  That was really fun to see.
    • We ended with a sunset at the Ubehebe Crater.  Very unique and beautiful spot to see and hike around!   I should mention this full day entailed a lot of driving to each point of interest so just FYI in case you suffer from car sickness.
  • Day 3
    • We rented a jeep from Farabee’s Jeep Rentals.  Very friendly staff, extremely easy to rent, and very close to the campgrounds and the Ranch where we were staying.  They gave us maps and explained all of the places we could potentially take the jeep.  That helped us decide to go on an adventure through a long, 4WD drive through Titus Canyon which was amazing.  Beautiful vistas and it’s a one way drive so you don’t have to worry about any other vehicles coming around blind turns towards you.
    • Sunset at The Artist’s Palette.  The mineral colors here aren’t as stark as some of the photos you will find online but as soon as the sun dropped and there was a shadow cast on the mounds, the colors really started to pop.  It is suggested to come here at sunset and I’d agree with that.  You will find many other people here at this time.
  • Day 4
    • Breakfast and then hike through Golden Canyon Trailhead.  Nice and easy with great views of these red cathedrals.  So interesting how big some of these features are but fragile.  They are all made of minerals and light, sand type materials.
    • After the nice morning hike, we packed up and headed on our road trip back to Vegas.

Important things to consider when visiting Death Valley:

  • Time of year for temperature purposes.
  • Having a car is crucial.  Everything is really far apart.  On the plus side, there’s a gas station conveniently located near the campgrounds.
  • Bring your own food and water.  This isn’t a necessity but I wish we would have.  There are stores and a few restaurants in the park but they cost a bit more and the quality isn’t great.  In fact, I got a stomach bug from one of the restaurants so I wish we would have brought a lot more snacks to make on our own.  Also, when we’d drive to each different location, we hardly ever encountered water fill stations.  That’s not common in a desert type of environment like it is in mountain settings.
  • What you want to see in what time frame.  The park is massive so figure out what are the top sights you want to see and try to map it out by location.
  • Logistics are key.  There are very few places to stay actually inside the park so you will need to book in advance especially if you are going during peak time (mid-Oct to mid-May).  This also goes for activities like renting a jeep or booking a tour.  I would say this park was not as busy as Yosemite is in the Summer but I think that’s just the nature of how spread out Death Valley is.

OK if you made it through all of that, now you will see some of these amazing places through a few photos I snapped.

img_0274Badwater Basin

img_0301Zabriskie Point at sunrise

img_0308Ubehebe Crater

 

Jeep adventure through Titus Canyon.

img_0400Hike through the canyons that lay below Zabriskie Point called Golden Canyon Trailhead.

img_0163The drive in as we started to see interesting features pop up, we’d pull over to explore and take photos.

img_5338The Artist’s Palette was easy to access and the colors were stunning!IMG_0436You can hike around in The Artist’s Palette which is so fun to get up close to the beautiful pastel colors.

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Here’s Dan hiking another mound near the Artist’s Palette to get an elevated photo.

IMG_5155The Mesquite Sand Dunes.

IMG_5178The texture of the Ubehebe Crater was so unique.

IMG_0200More views driving out of Death Valley.

There were of course a few more things we could have seen in the park but I was happy with the amount of time we spent there and all of the locations we went to.  It was a trip well worth it!

 

Otavalo Market, Ecuador

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(All photos by Daniel Nevares – @danieljtravels)

I’m not a huge shopper but I was in shopping heaven when we strolled into the Otavalo Market in Ecuador.  It’s about an hour and a half drive from Quito and it is well worth it.  Apparently, they have been promoting this market a ton so there were a bit of tourist in the area but that didn’t matter.  There was so much culture and so many beautiful things, it didn’t disappoint.  I had been brushing up on my Spanish before this trip so it was also a great opportunity to practice the language.  I ended up with many, many things from this market and I would go back in a heartbeat.

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The colors were stunning.  I love bright colors so I was drawn to all the fabrics.

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I had to stop at every vendor.

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My first purchase was the hat you’ve seen in many posts now.  I love it so much and got it from this stand.

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I had to try on a lot to find “the one” and this woman was great with my broken Spanish and indecisive nature.

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There were so many options!  Honestly, if they were easier to transport I probably would have bought so many.

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And then I found the one I loved the most that has now graced many of our blog posts :).  I was so pleased I looked to Dan in excitement only to see he had been taking photos of us the whole time.  His Spanish is great so whenever I would get stuck on what to say, I would look to him with this exact expression like “come help me with a word!”

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With my new hat, we carried on.  There were many other things I was interested in like the food and some colorful ponchos.

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It seemed I needed one to match my hat and this is where we found this adorable woman who insisted on helping me try them all on.  Of course hoping I would buy them but I’m a sucker for cute locals with beautiful merchandise :).

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After settling on this poncho and a blue one (oh and multiple others for family members), we felt pretty good about supporting the locals.  Things were not expensive and the quality is great.

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Here I am with a backpack full and multiple other bags but don’t worry, you will see how much I wear all the things in previous and future posts.  I hate to be wasteful or own things I don’t wear and sometimes I struggle with buying things wondering when I will ever wear them.  My Ecuador finds though have become my staples and I just love them!

Vinales, Cuba – 3 must do’s!

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What can I say, by now it’s probably a bit obvious that I’m a sucker for farm towns.  I’ve just returned from spending a week in Cuba (mainly in Vinales) and after all of the research I did before the trip, I wanted to share my learnings and some of my favorite spots/stops from the trip.  Throughout the week, I hope to help debunk some of the rumors and also help in the planning of your trip or inspire you to visit Cuba!

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  1. Horseback ride through Vinales Valley!  There are so many places to link up with a horseback riding guide.  We were lucky enough that there was a spot right next to our Casa Particulares in which I would highly recommend.  For $25 CUC, we spent hours riding horses through the valley where we took a tour of a tobacco farm, a coffee farm, a cave, and a restaurant with a look out over the entire valley.  You pay for food and drinks along the way but that was to be expected.

    IMG_13982. Eat the local fruit!  You will likely get a taste of this from your host if you stay in the Casa Particulares and have breakfast with them but we also stopped and bought a massive bowl of mangos for $1 CUC.  They were delicious and the fruit is just so tasty on the island.

    IMG_12953. Eat at Finca Agroecologica.  This is not somewhere you will see locals eating so it is quite well known by tourists but it’s truly an amazing experience.  You can walk the farm and see them growing everything you will eat.  It’s a beautiful farm to table experience in one of the most epic sceneries.  We loved it so much, we went twice!  You will get more food than you can ever finish.  My favorite thing was actually a special smoothie type drink they made with peppermint, local honey, pineapple, coconut, and more.

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    Miguel, the grounds keeper showing us the animals and around the farm.

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    If you can speak and/or understand Spanish, Miguel will tell you a lot about the property.

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    Just looking at these photos makes me want to go back!

    I would have also added climbing to this list but I know not everyone would be up for that.  I will dedicate a separate post for any climbers out there :).  Cuba was incredible but since it is starting to become easier for Americans to travel there, there are many things changing about travel to the country.  I read so many myths before our trip that I didn’t realize until we got there but also so many solid travel tips that I’m glad I was prepared for.  I will post those later this week.  For now, enjoy!

Air Attire.

DSC_0002Traveling can be stressful enough as it is without the added element of airport security. Nick and I recently honeymooned in Iceland and I decided to wear something that would be comfortable on a plane and easy to move through security in. The first thing that I wanted to wear were boots that zipped down the side, making it easy to take on and off quickly. Boyfriend jeans are great to wear on a plane because they are loose around the waist and aren’t constrictive. A light blazer keeps you cool but covered as you are dragging all of your luggage around- plus it is light to carry in the event that you get too warm.

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DSC_0008(Backpack- Kenneth Cole)

DSC_0009(My favorite brand of rainboots- Sorel)

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National Park Summer.

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This past weekend I made my first trip to Yosemite/Tuolumne Meadows and was in complete awe of the beauty.  I can’t believe it’s taken so long to get there and I can’t wait to get back.  Here are a few photo reasons to go.  Above is a more eastern view of half dome.

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Tenaya Lake.

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The stunning vista from afar.

More photos to come.  What’s your favorite national park?

Biking in Napa.

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 Rob and I spent last weekend in Napa hanging out after I won a free night’s stay at the Carneros Inn.  I know!  I used to be one of those people that said “I never win anything” until I won this great stay :).  The resort is beautiful and posh so if you’re looking for a fancy weekend away in Napa, this is definitely the spot.  We took the property bikes out for the day when we got there and spent some time pedaling around the back roads.  It was beautiful and it felt great to be cruising around the orange and red vineyards.

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Making sure we were following the back roads map 🙂

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Snapping pics along the way.

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24 Hour Fall City Guide.

Eventbrite had this fun idea to create a guide of all of the best spots in your area to go during the Fall months. Since we both love to get out and explore the Bay Area we thought this would be a lot of fun for us to share with you all! I live in San Rafael and Brittany lives in San Francisco and there are SO MANY things to do in our areas. One of the best things is to go out and explore Pt. Reyes because you can get out of the city and into nature. There are a lot of great restaurants to visit too. Here is our 24 hour guide to Pt. Reyes, California.

deb_sign.143135819_std (1)Breakfast: Station House Cafe. House made granola, enough said! This is a very popular spot so get here and grab your coffee early!

308Afternoon Hike: Abbott’s Lagoon. A very easy 2 mile hike with quite the reward. You’ll work up a small appetite, which you will need for what we have planned next!

normalized_stacks_cheese_pt_reyesLate Afternoon Snack: Cowgirl Creamery. World famous cheese, yes please! Grab the cheese plate and a juice to hold you over until dinner. If you are really hungry, grab a small sandwich. Mt Tam is the best tasting cheese so make sure you get a bite.

p462867440-3Sunset: Catch the early sunset at Pt. Reyes Lighthouse. An unbelievable area to park your car, take in the coast and watch the sunset from one of the most beautiful spots in the Bay Area.

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Dinner: Saltwater. Ok, so this is in Tomales Bay but the extra 5 minute drive is totally worth it. Even if you don’t like oysters there is something here for you. When my fiancee and I went to Pt Reyes a few months ago we went to Saltwater two nights in a row! Check out my review here. It is one of my favorite restaurants ever. The ambiance is INCREDIBLE, the food is STUPENDOUS, and the restaurant is fairly small so make reservations. 🙂

There you have it, the PERFECT day in Pt. Reyes. Soak up the last bits of sunshine because the rain is going to be here before you know it. Thanks to Evenbrite for this awesome concept! If you are ever planning an event in the future their event management software will help save you from all of those planning headaches! Maybe you could even plan a 24 hour tour of your own 😉