Where Did We Go Wednesday? Devil's Lake State Park

Isn't the view from near the top amazing?

I'm not going to kid you this was no easy hiking to get to this spot. There was an easier route, which we took down, but it went through the woods and I really wanted to be overlooking Devil's Lake as much as the road took us.

Devil's Lake state park is in Baraboo Wisconsin which is near Wisconsin Dells. We met some family in Wisconsin Dells for the weekend but we left earlier so that we could do additional things besides water parks.

Hiking on this was a bit much for some of us and we should have brought along a lot more water than we did. Actually, it was the adults who remember to grab water bottles and the kids did not. We had severely underestimated the intensity of the hiking.

And is definitely worth checking out the state park if you are in the Wisconsin Dells area and want to get away from all the hubbub of water parks and shopping and tourist attractions.

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is a place I have wanted to go visit and see for a long time. I am sure it is One place that is on many people's travel bucket list. Even though I have captured these awesome images on my camera and some on video as well it is hard to really grasp the hand massiveness of the Grand Canyon. Once you are there you are overwhelmed with how expansive it is. We had only done the southern rim and went to the stops on the southern rim. Someday we may get there and tour the northern rim and do some hiking in the canyon. When we were there in June it was quite hot and even though we had our hydration packs doing a lot of hiking was not on our agenda.

We took full advantage of The Trolley system that they have that runs through this National Park. I was very impressed with all of the signage and busing that were in place at this National Park. They were very sure to make sure that people were aware where the trolley stops were, bathrooms that were available, and water Outlets. It seemed there was enough places to fill up water as needed along the Route. Again we wore our hydration packs and throughout the strip we learned that my daughter drinks a lot of water and had to continually refill her hydration pack or she would drink out of hours because she consumed so much water. 

We arrived early enough that it didn't take too long to get into The National Park and find parking. I had read the tips about getting on the bus transfer outside of the park and we had attempted to do that but didn't make it quite in time and didn't want to wait for the next one to show up so we took our chances had to getting there and finding parking for ourselves. By 10 a.m. there We're many buses of tour groups that had been showing up. We had gotten there before them so we didn't have to wait as long and places because we started on our trolley stops before they got there.

We didn't just do the trolley stops we did do some hiking in between a few of the stops because we wanted to be able to see some of it from the trail perspective rather than just from the stops.

Getting in was really quick and easy because we had our national parks pass. We bought one when we went to Death Valley National Park. After our Fall Road Trip to the Badlands National Park we will probably be breaking even on the cost of the national parks pass. We were also able to use our national parks pass when we were touring the different rock formations in Sedona, as they accept that pass for payment.

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Sedona Red Rocks Jeep Tour

I have to tell you that taking a Red Rocks Jeep tour in Sedona Arizona was one of the best way to see a bunch of the formations and learn about the area and the Red Rocks. It was our family of four and another pair of adults that were on our tour. We did our tour through a day in the west. Our tour was called the Lil Rattler and it is a more mild tour meaning that you aren't bouncing around as much as you are in some of the other tours. It was a two-hour tour and we taken out among the rocks and given information about the history of the area, the Rocks, the plants, and some of the people that live and have lived there. The two were partly goes into Coconino National Forest.

We wore our hydration packs and also had cool it bandanas. We happen to be on our vacation in Arizona in June this past year when the flights were getting cancelled out of Phoenix, ours was one that got cancelled on the first day but we managed to get out a day later. I found that by wearing a hydration backpack it was easy to take a drink while we were riding and not worry about holding onto a water bottle. The cool-its work amazing as long as they are wet. We stopped once on the tour and when we stopped we rehydrated hour bandanas because they had dried out.

We would probably not have seen all of these formations had we not done the Jeep tour. It doesn't bring you to all of the formations that you might find listed on TripAdvisor that you need to go see, it takes you out and about to lesser-known places. We did make it to most of the other formations that we're highly rated on TripAdvisor but not on this tour. Those are easy enough to drive to yourself and have parking lots whereas we were on trails that required you to have 4-wheel drive in order to navigate them when on this tour.

Prepare to get dusty from all of the dry dirt and if you have a phone or camera out while on the tour make sure you have something along to keep it covered when not taking pictures because the finder can get into small areas.

If we find ourselves in Sedona again I would not hesitate to do another Jeep tour but next time I would choose a different tour only because I want to see more areas I haven't seen before. And if you are looking to save some money on doing this tour or any other Red Rocks tour check out Groupon first. We saved about 35-40% off the regular price by buying a Groupon. You do have to pay the taxes once you get there which is in the fine print on Groupon so it is not quite the price you purchased on that website. There are other companies that also have Red Rocks tours in Sedona and they all seem to be highly rated. The pink Jeep tours that are there theme to cost a little more and I did not find any deals for that company. This company claims they are the oldest Red Rocks tour company in Sedona.

Taking Geocaching to the Next Level

 I was hoping that we would have done some of this earlier this year during the summer when we were out and about but we didn't. I had bought the ammo can to start our own regular cash this summer but we still have it. Still thinking about where we can ask to place it.

Midday do quite a bit of Geocaching here and there this summer and I now am up to 60 found Cash's, which in the grand scheme of Geocaching isn't a whole lot but it's a start and we are ready to continue. I finally decided to break down and buy some travel tags. I bought mine on Amazon because they came shipped free with Prime. They do cost $20 for a pack of four and these are the cheapest ones. There are some special designed ones that cost even more.

I know there are even more trackables out there that I haven't learned much about. We received our first trackable geocoins this summer and I know there are other items as well.

The small containers are to start micro caches. I have registered all of my travel tags and found one fun keychain to put on one of them. It is a keychain I made from pressed wildflowers on a trail up north by our cabin. I think I will call this one flower power

We are excited to start having our own Cashes to track and watch people check into them and follow our trackables.

You can read more about our first Geocaching Adventures and see where we started. Also, as a related thing of a future next level -- some day it might be fun to go to GeoWoodstock. I only stumbled upon it because the geocoin we placed up in Duluth was retrieved by someone who included a link in their post about this event. Sounds fun!

FREE Road Trip Paper Game at McDonald's

Are you taking a road trip with your kids? Or maybe you are are just driving an hour to take them to a zoo or museum or to visit grandma. Well, next time you are in McDonald's check or ask to see of they have this road trip game "There's a Red One!"

The top part separates in to 2 game pieces for 2 players and the bottom has 2 vehicles that pop out and fold together to make 3D vehicles.

I picked these up at the McDonald's in Aitkin, Minnesota.

#ad 10% off Wisconsin Dells Attractions!!!! Plus My Review of them

My readers can get 10% off admission and popcorn using the code GREEN to Wizard Quest, Ripley's Believe It or Not and Oodlesmack Popcorn in Wisconsin Dells.

I received free passes to or samples to Wizard Quest, Ripley, and Oodlesmack in order to facilitate a review. All thoughts, opinions, and photographs are my own. No monetary compensation was received.

Wizard Quest

I had no idea what to expect when we went to Wizard Quest as this is not something I have really heard much about. When I explained it to my husband he said this would be the time when all of his video gaming skills where applicable to Something in real life. When you get there you get to choose from a variety of missions that are listed as being easy medium or hard. We chose one that was medium. You first have to complete your first mission then you are given for more submissions, or at least we got four more with the one we chose, to complete within 75 minutes.

If you answer something wrong on your Kindle that you are using to complete your mission, you will lose five minutes of time for each incorrect answer. Luckily we didn't answer incorrectly for anything. We had gotten through almost all of the submissions but we're not quick enough on answering the very last one which we were kind of bummed about.

On the mission was myself, my husband, my ten-year-old daughter and my six-year-old son. We had a lot of fun but some places are not very conducive 2 the height of my husband, which is 6'4. So he found himself getting frustrated because he kept hitting his head as we went through quickly trying to solve everything. In the end though he said it was actually a lot of fun. I could see us all going back here again to try the next medium mission.

Oodlesmack Popcorn


Free popcorn samples! They do offer free popcorn samples, but we opted to just let me pick out what one I really wanted which was birthday cake. I wouldn't say it was my top choice but considering I was with my family I figured it would be a choice that we all would agree upon. I really wanted something that was sweet instead of savory. And birthday cake was something we all enjoy. It did not disappoint at all. We all loved it and got to the bottom of our bag way to quickly. The coupon code included is for any readers to purchase popcorn online. It does not appear that the birthday cake flavor is available online but in the picture I have included you can see all of the flavors for purchase online.

Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum

I had not been to a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum since I was in junior high and we were on a vacation in Florida. I loved it then and I loved it now. My daughter has several Ripley's Believe It or Not books and was quite excited to see some real-life replicas in a museum and not just read about them in the book.

One of the nice things this location has to offer is it has a couple of secret passages and there are secret buttons as well. One of the rooms is sort of like in Indiana Jones Mission. There are rooms that come off of that where you have to find things. They had a lot of fun being able to be interactive. There were quite a lot of amazing things to view their and we had fun. We told my sister and her family who were vacationing with us that they needed to check it out next time they come to the Dells.

Bidder No. 4
You are playing Minute to Win It games.. Games cost $2 and you can earn 5 points per game if you finish the challenge in 1 minute. You turn the points in to buy antique-type prizes that start at 10 points. You can also get your name on the leader board if you are faster than someone else up there.

What to do with a weekend in Vancouver, CA

If you only have 3 full days in the Vancouver area, here are my recommendations based on our trip there to spend those 3 days soaking up as much nature as possible.

We went all out and bought the Ultimate Experience on Grouse Mountain, but there are 2 levels of admission below this price point if this is too much of a splurge. We weren't sure when/if we will get back here so I wanted to experience everything we could.

We decided to experience the Howe Sound on our own and rented a boat just for us. Luckily for us, my husband is familiar with driving our boat so this was an option for us. For the same cost of a 90-minute guided tour we were able to take a boat out for 4 hours and witness even more sights including harbor seals. The waters and mountains are just breathtaking.

So, if you are going to rent a boat on the Howe, you will need to go to Horseshoe Bay Park where you can also catch a ferry, play at a playground, eat a your choice of several venues and go shopping. If you are waiting to catch a ferry to a nearby island or waiting for your guided tour or for a boat to come back in to rent, you will find yourself enjoying all that Horseshoe Bay Park has to offer.

Lynn Canyon Park and Suspension Bridge is a fantastic find and is FREE! Hands down, this would be the one place I would recommend to anyone going to Vancouver to check out if they only had time for one place .

Another free find that we enjoyed was Whytecliff park, where we saw Harbor Seals while sitting on shore as well as pelicans. We had a lot of fun exploring on the logs and the rocks.

Top 20 Places to Visit in Seattle, Washington

Top 20 Places to Visit in Seattle, Washington

Space Needle

Seattle Center Fountain

Pacific Science Center

Artists at Play Playground at Seattle Center

Olympic Sculpture Park

Chihuly Garden and Glass

Seattle Monorail

Westlake Center Urban Park

Pike Place Market

First Starbucks Store

Market Theater Gum Wall

Seattle Aquarium

Argosy Harbor Cruise

REI Flagship Store

Woodland Park Zoo

Fremont Bridge Troll and Interurban Dressing Sculpture

Gas Works Park

Discovery Park

Alki Beach

Lunchbox Laboratory 
PLUS......6 other random weird finds in the Seattle Area

New Blog About My Travel Adventures

I have decided to start a travel blog about My Adventures in Travel, starting with our recent trip to Costa Rica. Please go check it out.

#ad Review: Dock and Bay Microfiber Towel

This Dock and Bay Microfiber Towel really is an excellent product and I am not just saying that because I was asked to review this product at a discount price (all thought and opinions and photographs are my own). The first thing I want to mention is that I love the large size, the large is a 63x31 size which is significantly larger than other microfiber towels we have. They even offer an extra large size that is 78x35, which I totally want to get for my 6'4 husband. This is a nice smooth microfiber so that sand can easily be brushed away or shook off. I love that there is a loop in the center to make it easy to hang, which is great for use in the locker room and you don't have to worry about it slipping off a hook on to the went shower room floor.

 We also plan to use this to pack in my daughter's swim team bag. It rolls up quite nicely and is more compact than the cotton towel that she had been using, plus it dries out much more quickly that her cotton towel. It comes in a variety of striped colors, I just liked the blue best.

Buy on Amazon!

#ad Review: #gonature Microfiber Travel and Sports Towel

I agreed to review this product and purchased it at a discount (no monetary compensation was received, all thoughts, opinions and photographs are my own) because I have really enjoyed using the other microfiber products I have and wanted to start trying out towels that we will need for upcoming travel adventures.

This is the Go Nature Microfiber Travel and Sports Towel that you can purchase on Amazon. It is currently priced at $14.99 and that seems like a decent price for a microfiber beach towel. The size is 30"x50". I have quite a few microfiber cleaning cloths and hand clothes and had a hooded baby blanket that I bought for a much higher cost that this towel.

Here I wanted to show you that the towel folds up and goes in to a case that is about the height of a quarter, so it really is ideal for traveling. You can see in the other 2 pictures just how big the towel is and how small the case is. It folds up quite small and I have folded it up several times already and zipped it back in the case easily, so it does fit back in the case.

Don't be fooled by the beach ball.....it is a mini one, probably about 1/4-1/3 the size of a normal beach ball. I was starting to get ready for our winter vacation to a beach destination and am gathering up everything we need to pack and the kids will need a ball or 2 to play with. There are beach towels for us where we are staying but I am not sure how many and I like that this is a smooth microfiber and sand is not going to stick in the fibers.