Vacation – The Teaching Texan

Wordless Wednesday: The Home Stretch

theteachingtexan — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 12:27:00 +0000

Hey y’all! I was just thinking the other day that it has been so long since I linked up with [Miss DeCarbo] for a Wordless Wednesday post – so let’s fix that!

This week we are knee deep in STAAR testing, and my mind has really began to wander to faraway places… Like summer. We still have 33 days, but we are definitely in the home stretch, and I am looking forward to recharging this summer!

Each summer we try to go on one bigger trip. It’s just so helpful to have something to look forward to, and we LOVE to travel! We haven’t set travel plans for a summer trip yet, but we are looking at either an adventure-style trip through REI (like backpacking in Yosemite!) or heading to Mexico again.

We still have time to decide, but my mind is definitely racing with travel possibilities! Do you have any exciting summer plans?!

Christmas Vacation: Mountains, Snow, Skiing, & Family

theteachingtexan — Tue, 30 Dec 2014 22:14:00 +0000

I hope everyone is enjoying their winter break! I don’t know about y’all, but I would be totally lost without these 2 weeks off! It’s such a fantastic time to recharge and hit the road hard in January with a refreshed mindset.

That, and it’s the perfect time to travel!

Speaking of travel, I wanted to share a bit of our vacation to Breckenridge and Denver last week. When we took our trip to Mexico this summer I felt like I took literally NO pictures, so I made sure to take plenty this round!

For some reason we chose to leave on Friday evening, just a few hours after school got out… That led to inherent CRAZINESS with trying to get home, packed (because I always do it last minute), and to the airport. This is our 2 suitcases, backpack, and tote bag BEFORE we called a friend to borrow another suitcase to separate some of the stuff from the large suitcase. No one needs to pay heavy bag fees…

Unfortunately the craziness didn’t end with packing… Our flight was delayed (many, many times) totaling 3 hours. The flight before us that was also headed to Denver was also delayed 3 hours – so we thought maybe we could get on standby for the earlier flight. We waited, and waited, and actually made it onto the earlier flight!

Our happy dance onto the airplane was short lived, though. We got on to find that the 2 seats we were given were already occupied. Come to find out the scanner had not read the 2 tickets for those passengers making them think they actually had open seats. So we un-happily danced right back off the plane.

Due to the delay we were going to also miss our shuttle from Denver to Breckenridge, and of course they couldn’t get us on another shuttle until mid-day the following day. Missing a day of skiing was NOT in our cards, so we were fortunately able to cancel the shuttle and rent a car.

Once all of this mess was out of the way it was time for our fantastic trip!

While we were in Breckenridge there was a winter storm for about a day and a half which totaled 24 inches of snow! You may say UGH, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the snow and it made for some awesome skiing!

To assist in keeping somewhat warm, we may have stopped ~~once~~ several times on the slopes throughout the trip for hot chocolate with a “spirited” peppermint addition! YUM!

This may have also given me the extra little courage to go down my first black diamond runs! For those who don’t know, a “green” is beginner, a “blue” is intermediate, and a “black” is advanced. This was only my second time skiing, but I was determined to go down a black and not totally wipe out!

By the 3rd day we were only doing black diamond runs. It was a GREAT workout and super fun! Certainly helped to solidify my desire to move to the mountains!

Anyway, that’s about it for the ski portion of the trip (minus the great food – but somehow I didn’t manage to get any pictures of it), so here’s some random scenery pics as we headed down the mountain to Denver!

The view while driving is just breathtaking!

Once we got to Denver we spent time with the mister’s parents and family. They are super fun to be around! (Again, I ended up not getting a ton of pictures while in Denver…) However, I did manage to snag this lovely photo.

If you can’t tell, that is a blanket wrapped around a tree! I guess it was cold? Completely random, I know, but I couldn’t resist getting photo evidence of this!

My favorite picture of the trip happened on our second to last day on the trip. We went with Dustin’s uncle, aunt, and cousins to a small mountain town to have lunch and take a train ride through the mountains.

It’s pretty awesome – even with Dustin’s uncle photobombing!

Well I think that’s about it for this trip. I’m feeling like I did a much better job snagging pictures this go round.

Only a few days of winter break left, and I plan on being super lazy!

AND, I almost forgot! I am throwing a sale in my [TpT store] from today until January 1st! You can head over and get a 15% discount off of everything! You can visit my store by clicking [HERE].

An Adventure in Mexico

theteachingtexan — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 20:59:00 +0000

You know what they say about Mexico right?

What happens in Mexico… ends up on my blog! Ok maybe it’s not a common saying, but today’s post is all about my trip to Riviera Maya. Disclaimer: I am ~~not so good~~ awful at taking pictures, especially while on vacation so there are only a few! Furthermore, this post has absolutely NOTHING to do with teaching!

Somehow our vacation package placed us in first class for the trip down to Mexico. Did I complain?

No.

I had actually never flown first class before this trip! I may or may not have taken advantage of it and had a couple of the above beverages which may or may not be just Sprite with a lime.

Another first for me was getting a massage! Ok, no, not on the plane. But we did get a massage at a little place right on the ocean. It was so relaxing to just listen to the waves!

These little guys were EVERYWHERE! They’re called coatimundi (coati for short). They really remind me of a cross between a raccoon and an anteater… Come to find out they actually are members of the raccoon family! The babies were just so cute! The pictures of the bigger one were actually taken right outside our room’s deck. He came right up to the concrete slab!

I didn’t get any pictures of the big iguanas, but they were everywhere also.

Some random pictures of greenery at the resort. I love all of the tropical plants!

We met some new friends while in Mexico, as well! One of my favorite parts of traveling is meeting people from other parts of the world.

And this is where we spent the majority of our time. Beyond this pool you can just barely see another pool. Beyond that pool is the ocean! And in that ocean, we went snorkeling at a reef! You might be thinking big deal… However, this was a huge fear for the mister and myself to be that far from land and in the water! When the boat finally got us out to the reef the guide told everyone to put on our goggles and flippers. Then he told everybody to jump out! This was the point where my heart was racing at least 500 miles an hour. But guess what! I did it!

I’m so glad we had the experience, too! The reef was gorgeous, and I never realized how many different creatures are down in a reef.

It was so nice to just relax by the pool! I was a good boy and wore sunscreen so I didn’t burn at all, but I did get an awesome tan. Isn’t it funny how different people can look when they have a tan?

That’s about it for the Mexico trip. I’m going to work on taking more pictures on our next adventure. We are hoping to go skiing again this winter.

Wordless Wednesday: Off to Mexico!

theteachingtexan — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 10:59:00 +0000

It’s Wednesday, and we leave for Mexico… tomorrow morning!

I’m linking up with Christina from [Sugar and Spice] for a Wordless Wednesday post before I get busy getting things prepped for the trip!

After you read my post and leave an awesome comment answering my question for today, you can head over to [Sugar and Spice] to check out other fantastic Wordless Wednesday posts!

First, a throwback to a Mexico trip a few years ago. I actually stayed at the same resort that the mister and myself are going to this time. My friends and I went to a Grease show at the resort one evening, and yes, we were those LOUD people who got pulled onto the stage to dance with the cast at the end of the show. So fun!

As you can see by my suitcase, I have quite a bit of packing to do today! I always put it off to the last minute – it’s just one of those things that I can’t do in advance. You can’t see it in the picture, but the tags from our last flight are still on the suitcase (a little superstition of mine). They can’t be taken off until we get the news tags at the airport!

I’ll be back next week with a post all about our Mexico adventure! Until then, what is your favorite summer vacation spot?