Summer Bucket List 2018 | Camping in Utah

Our family enjoys being outdoors. We like to go hiking and take walks at the park. Jason and the kids like going on bike rides and as you know, I’m a runner. However, we just recently started going camping as a family. I guess you can say we are officially “outdoorsy” now 😉 To check out my 5 tips for camping with kids, go HERE!

Anyhow, we’d been camping twice and both times to the same place, Navajo Lake in Utah, so for this year’s camping trip we decided we’d try someplace new. We made reservations to a campsite in Central Utah called Kents Lake. We went with 3 other families, all of which had also been with us on our last camping trip. We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and spent 2 nights sleeping in tents and enjoying the fresh air. The weather was a bit warmer than our last trips, but we appreciated it at night. We had one afternoon of showers and hail, which put a slight damper on our lunch and made Elysse freak out, but it cleared up pretty quickly and all was well again!

The main highlight for our family was Diego catching his first fish on the lake! It was so special to see his face light up! Huge thanks to the family fishing next to them for sharing their secret weapon with us and helping him figure out what to do once he’d caught it.

The camp site was fine, but I wouldn’t recommend it as it didn’t have flushing toilets. Now, I understand we’re camping and all, but flushing toilets are a basic necessity for me. They had vault toilets, which is really just an outhouse. Also, compared to Navajo Lake, there wasn’t too much to do around the campsite or on the lake. Of course, when you’re camping with 13 other people and you are all good friends, you don’t need much more than that! We still had a really good time with lots of laughs and new memories were made. We can’t wait to go camping again together, just not at Kent’s Lake this time. We’re thinking of changing it up and doing some beach camping in Southern California next summer. What’s your favorite camping spot? Have you been camping at the beach? Let me know in the comments below.

Self-Doubt Before Race Day | Rock N Roll Half Marathon Nashville

So, as I type this I should really be packing for my trip to Nashville, since we’ll be out tonight. My flight leaves at 6am tomorrow, so I have an early wake up call. Anyhow, I’ll get to it before I have to get into mommy-driver duty!

I’m super excited to be running the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Nashville this Sat. Not so much because I love country music, hilly courses, and humidity, but because I’ll be running alongside my BFF since high school! This will be her first half marathon and I’m thrilled I was the one who motivated her to sign up. I was asking if maybe she’d like to run the 5K, but she surprised me and said she’d join me in the half marathon! You can imaging my excitement!!! She’s been training for about 12 weeks and I’ve been supporting her via text messages and phone calls. This got me thinking about my own first half marathon and how my cousin, who’s an avid marathon runner, came to run alongside me for my first half marathon. I remember how happy I was to have someone with all of her experience running with me and supporting me. It really helped make my first half marathon experience such a good one! As excited as I am to now be the one paying it forward and being the “experienced” runner, I’m also nervous about my own performance. Hills aren’t my jam, I mean, let’s be honest, they aren’t anyones jam! I’m also not as fast or fit as I was a few years ago and it’s messing with my head (see what I did there?). I’ve put in the miles and ran hills in my training, but I’m afraid I’ll be seen as a fraud. Like, yea I call myself a runner, but then I’m huffing and puffing at mile 10. I’m afraid I won’t be the best support for her or worse yet, that she’ll be the one supporting me! Won’t that be embarrassing!?!

I’m working on keeping a positive mindset and trust that I won’t fail. I need to trust that it’s going to be a fun experience, no matter the outcome. I admit, this is hard to do. It’s hard to feel your best, when you know you could do better because you have done better. Ok, I know I am overreacting to a hypothetical situation and it’s silly, but it’s the truth and I can’t be anything but honest. Have you ever felt this way before? Be it running or another aspect of your life, I bet you have. I can also say from experience that things aren’t usually as bad as you think they’re gonna be. Am I right? So, I am leaving it all here on the blog. I’m typing it out here but then I’m going to think of how happy I’ll be seeing my best friend, who I haven’t seen almost 5years. I’m going to focus on how awesome it is that I’ll be running my 14th half marathon in 2 days. I’m excited to visit and explore a new city and eat some pretty good food too!! And, I’m gonna go pack…

Who’s been to Nashville? Any recommendations on must-see or must-eats? I’ll be back next week to let you know how it went and if you are struggling with feelings of self-doubt too, stay strong and know you aren’t alone. XO

2017: A Year in Review

Here we are at the end of yet another year. Most years go by really fast for me but, I think 2017 didn’t go by as fast as other years. We definitely had some busy seasons with work and travels, mostly during the summer and October, but the rest of the year felt smooth and less rushed than others. I’m so not complaining about that! I am not one to glorify busy and enjoy taking time to enjoy my days and not feel rushed.

A big highlight of the year for me was becoming part of the Rock N Roll Marathon Series ambassador program, called Rock N Blog and I’m excited to be a part of the team again for 2018! This definitely set the tone for my running schedule for the year. I ended up running 18 races! Seven of these were virtual 5Ks, but they still came with some awesome race bling!! One was the Run Love Virtual 5K by Running Skirts and the other 6 were with the Rock N Roll Race Series! I also did a fun non-competitive community 5K with the kiddos. And 2 more 5Ks, one at Rock N Roll San Diego and the other at Rock N Roll Las Vegas as part of the Remix Challenge. I ran 2 obstacle course races, the Vegas Spartan Super and the Badass Dash. Lastly, I ran a total of 6 half marathons this year. By far, the most half marathons I’ve ran in 1 year! My favorite was the San Diego Half Marathon, not because I PRed or anything, but because it was such a fun race! If you want to check out any or all the race recaps, you can do so HERE!

Traveling and getting out to explore new places, near and far, is a big part of our lives. This year, 3 of our trips were race-cations! We traveled to San Diego, Seattle, and Napa for me to run half marathons + we got vacations out of it too, I’d say it was a win-win for everyone! For Spring Break we visited the Getty Center in Los Angeles, Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Malibu. We took our summer family vacation visiting the Pacific Northwest. We spent 2 days in Seattle and rest of our week was spent in Oregon. We stayed in Portland and saw the main sights in the city, as well as visiting the Oregon Coast and the Colombia River Gorge, including the famous Multnomah Falls. We also took a kid-free weekend getaway trip to San Diego, mostly to run the Rock N Roll 5k + half marathon but also to unwind a bit. It was great. Another trip we took was to the Sonoma/Napa Wine Valley. That was a fun trip we took with our friends without the kiddos too. I ran the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon and the rest of the time we visited some amazing wineries and ate some delicious food!

We also planned smaller weekend and day trips throughout the year to Southern California, Valley of Fire, Willow Beach at the Arizona border, and Sand Hollow State Park in Utah. We had a great Summer Bucket List, full of activities and even though we didn’t finish everything on the list, it was a ton of fun! This year we also celebrated my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary!

This time of year, I always like to reflect on all aspects of my life and really take note of what worked, what didn’t, where I can improve, and start planning for the upcoming year. It can be difficult to balance life and I know it’s impossible to get it all right, all the time. The best I can do is learn from my experiences, grow, and start off with a good plan. I hope you too take the time to reflect and learn from this past year and not just dwell on what didn’t go right, but really embrace and appreciate all the good too! XO Jessie

Seven Tips for Making the Most of Your Next Racecation

What exactly is a “racecation”? Well, it’s a race + vacation in one! I love to travel and I love to run races, so racecations are the best of both worlds for me! For others, it could be a dream race they’ve had on their bucket list or part of their goal to race in every state. Whatever your reasons, if you’re traveling for a race, I say bring the family, stay a few extra days and make it a vacation!

I’ve traveled to quite a few races and with a little planning it is totally possible to run a great race and enjoy the sights! Here are my Top 7 Tips for planning your next racecation!

1. Plan Ahead. This may seem obvious, but it’s important to note. Make sure to check out all the race details and final emails for any transportation logistics, last minute changes, and any race add-ons, such as carb loading dinners, seminars, or VIP Packages. Some of these can sell out, so be sure to sign up early if you plan to take advantage of them. It’s best to print any waivers or forms beforehand, so you don’t waste time once you’re there. Believe me, your family will thank you for it. Some race sponsors also offer discounts or deals to race participants, so it’s good to go to the race website and see what’s available. I’ve found great prices on hotels and even a good deal on a city tour in Seattle this way! Also, know where the expo is being held! Sometimes it’s at the start/finish but other times, it could be in a completely different area, so map it out and know where you’re going!

2. Book a Nearby Hotel. Like I just mentioned, most races will have a list of recommended lodging and they may even offer a discount to racers. I’d check these out first, but if they are no longer available, as these do tend to book up soon, look for other nearby hotels. It’s up to you if you prefer to be near the start or finish line and it may also depend on what you’ll be using for transportation. A lot of races do offer buses to the start line from specific locations. Personally, for my racecations, we’ll book a hotel near the finish line, so my family can easily meet me with me afterwards and they don’t have to ride in the car with stinky mom for too long!

Use Eagle Creek Pack-It Sport Cube. This post in not sponsored by Eagle Creek, I just really love their products. As a Rock N Roll Marathon ambassador, I was given a Sport Tote to try out and I really liked it. Then, when I saw their booth at one of the expos, I purchased the Pack-It Sport Cube and it’s since been with me for every overnight race and racecation! I pack everything I need for race day in it: sneakers, Garmin, hat, top, bottoms, socks, sport bra, undies, glide, gels, Nuun! Even a change of clothes for after the race! Basically, if I need it for race day, it’s going in that cube. It keeps me organized and I love knowing that it’s all together. Plus, the cube is small enough and fits nicely in my suitcase. I highly recommend them to everyone!!

Don’t Arrive Too Early. I’ve learned from experience that it’s best to run your race and then start your vacation, not the other way around. Leaving the race for the end or even the middle of your trip may give you added stress and who needs that! You’ll possibly worry about things like getting enough sleep or worry about walking too much and running on tired legs. You may even have to plan a short training run. There’s also things like your diet to consider and let’s be honest, we all like to indulge a bit while on vacation, right? I’ve noticed that the best time to arrive is 1-2 days before your race. I prefer to arrive the morning before the race. This gives me enough time to visit the expo, pick up my race big, settle into our hotel room, grab dinner, and have an early bedtime. However, if you’ll be traveling to a different time zone and will experience some jet lag, then plan to arrive 2 days early and use that day in between to relax and acclimate to the time change.

Stick to your Pre-Race Routine. When we’re traveling, we tend to go on hyper-mode and want to do and see everything! I speak from experience! Since most races are super early in the morning, you’ll want to be sure to get to bed early. Then, stick to your morning routine as much as possible. I always make sure to get my go-to race day breakfast of a banana and a Justin’s almond butter packet the night before. I also lay everything out the night before, so I can just go into auto-pilot and get dressed, grab my things and go. It’s usually to early for me to think straight, so doing it the night before gives me peace of mind on race day!

Use Waze. This one only applies if you’ll be driving to your race. If so, then rather than using Google Maps, I suggest using the Waze app. It’s free to download and since it’s crowd sourced, the road closures due to the race will show up and it will give you better routes to take. It’s been really helpful for us!

Enjoy the Race. Most of us who plan racecations do so because it’s a new city or new place we want to explore. Running through a city or park we’ve never been to is exciting, so don’t forget to look around. Don’t get so focused on just running the race and watching your pace that you forget to look around and take in the new scenery. This was probably the reason you signed up for the race to begin with! Enjoy the race and scenery and think of all the fun you’ll be having after your race is done! You’ll get to see and visit new places because running got you there! And, that is pretty cool!

Summer Bucket List 2017: In Review

Summer has come and gone and we’re finally out of the triple digit temperatures here in Las Vegas! Kids have been in school for a month and our days are packed and busy again. Anyone else out there ready for a break already?!?

I thought I’d go back and relive a little bit of our summer fun! As you all know, we’ve been putting together a summer bucket list for years now, but I think this year’s was a little too ambitious and it’s no surprise we didn’t get to do everything on the list. Some things we didn’t do together as a family, such as the grandparents taking the kiddos to Dave & Buster’s while we were away in Napa and Jason taking the kiddos to the drive in movies while I had book club. Diego got to go to Wet N Wild water park with some friends and I took Elysse to Gravady Trampoline Park last weekend with her friend. Sure we didn’t get a chance to try rolled ice cream, but we did enjoy plenty of ice cream this summer, including the famous Salt n Straw in Portland! YUMmmm! Although we didn’t get to visit Zion National Park, we did visit Sand Hollow Sate Park in Utah.

We’ll have to try to get to doing some ice skating this winter, try to get a camping trip in this spring, even if it’s close to home in Mount Charleston, and Spring Mountain Ranch Super Summer Theater will be back on the list for summer 2018!

Hope your summer was fun and that you got to spend time together as a family and make some messy memories together!! XO

Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon Race Weekend

Last month I ran the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon and although it was one of my slowest half marathons to date, our weekend in wine country was amazingly fun and a much needed summer getaway! This post is much more about the weekend than the race itself! OOPSY!

We have some really good friends who flew out with us to show their support of my running and cheer me on during the race! HAHAH Who am I kidding, they came along for the wine tasting!! Either way, it was so much fun having another couple to enjoy the weekend with. We arrived to San Francisco Friday just in time for lunch! We picked up the rental car and made our way to Francis Coppola’s Cafe Zoetrope for lunch. Such a nice treat! Afterwards we walked around Chinatown and couldn’t resist picking up some steamed dumplings and sticky buns at our friend’s favorite spot! We took the food to go and seriously enjoyed them during our long drive in traffic up to Napa.

Saturday morning we went straight to packet pickup right when it opened at 10am. The location was so pretty and it was a nice expo with some good vendors who handed out some nice samples 😉 That’s always a plus! Once I had my bib + shirt and my fair share of samples, we were off to do some wine tasting!

Our first stop was our favorite winery, which we are also wine club members, Benzinger Winery. They use bio dynamic and organic farming, which is such an interesting process and we learned so much more about their history and sustainable farming practices during the tour. Afterwards we enjoyed wine tasting in their private members only tasting room. We lost track of time chatting and tasting, but our tummies soon let us know it was time to eat, so we bought a bottle of wine and found a nice picnic table with some shade to enjoy the snacks we had purchased earlier. Had the weather been just about 10 degrees cooler, it would have been perfection!

Our next stop was their sister winery, Imagery Estate Winery, which was such a cool artsy place and the grounds are beautiful! It was packed inside because it was just way too hot to be sitting outside by then, but we found a nice spot in the members only area and enjoyed a bit more wine tasting and fun conversation.

The last stop before dinner was Domaine Carneros! I absolutely love bubbly wines and pinot noir so I’d been looking forward to this visit for a while. Plus, the grounds were so pretty! We ended up sitting outside and again if only it had been 10 degrees cooler, it would have been so dreamy! The view of the vineyards from the terrace were beautiful and the flights of champagne were super yummy! By this point in the day, we were really getting hungry so we ordered a small charcuterie plate to enjoy while we finished our flights. Thank you so our server who recommended the best place for us to grab a casual, yet delicious dinner, which of course included lots of water and my go-to pre-race meal of…PIZZA!!

Unfortunately, for as much as I tried to stay hydrated during wine tasting on Saturday, it was still not enough! I started off ok. I wasn’t going for any PR or anything, but I was hoping the idea of another fun-filled wine tasting day would be enough to make my legs go fast! The race course was beautiful and running alongside rows and rows of vineyards was amazing. The weather was unseasonably warm and I soon started struggling with the heat and the sun beating down on me. After I saw the hubs and friends at mile 7ish I got some renewed energy and I was doing good and keeping a nice pace till about mile 9 or so. At that point my calves started to feel super tight and by mile 10 they were cramping terrible. I was dehydrated and in pain! I managed to pull through, but I had to slow down and even walk those last 3 miles. I felt bad and was so disappointed in myself. After I limped my way across the finish line, I chugged some coconut water and stretched my legs as best I could. I met up with the hubs and our friends, plus some running friends from Vegas who ran the race too and together we grabbed our wine glasses for post-race wine tasting festival! Soon enough, my pain was gone and I was back to feeling great! lol

After the race, it was back to the room to shower and get ready for round 2! We visited my hubby’s favorite winery, Sequoia Grove. Talk about another good time tasting, laughing, and making new friends! Afterwards we had some time to kill before our dinner reservations at Ad Hoc, so what else is someone to do while in Napa waiting? We found a wine bar, enjoyed another charcuterie platter and waited patiently 😉 Dinner at Ad Hoc was amazing! Thomas Keller’s take on family style casual dinning was spot on. We just wish we would have had more room to fit more food in our bellies!!

The next day we started our trip back to San Francisco! We spent some time walking around Fisherman’s Wharf and enjoyed some clam chowder and some delicious Irish coffee from the iconic Buena Vista. Then, as all good things, our trip came to an end and it was time to catch our flight back home to our little ones!

I learned a valuable lesson on this trip: Although I love running and I love wine tasting, the two shouldn’t really be paired up! At least not for me!!! The next time I go to Napa, it will only be for wine tasting. And the only drinking I’ll do on race weekend, will be my post-race celebratory beer! Live and learn, right?

Summer Family Vacation Part I: Seattle, WA

As I mentioned in my last post, I got to run the Rock N Roll Seattle Half Marathon last month. And, having never been to the Pacific Northwest, we decided to make it a family vacation, adding Portland and the Oregon coast to our trip. Today, I’ll be sharing all about our weekend in Seattle first and Part II will go into our 4 days Oregon.

Since our trip ended in Portland, that’s where we flew into. Whenever we have trips where we are visiting a few cities or doing a road trip once we land, I prefer to fly into the city we’ll be visiting last. The main reasons I prefer to do this are 1: Renting a car one-way is a lot more expensive than returning it at the same airport. 2: It’s less stressful to be near your airport at departure than having to calculate for a few hours drive. I’d hate to miss our flight due to unforeseen traffic or getting lost.

The drive to Seattle from Portland took longer than anticipated due to traffic, but we had plenty of time to pick up my race packet at the expo and then make our way to Pioneer Square for our walking tour by Beneath the Streets. We’d heard about these tours from some friends and when I saw they were giving 1 complimentary tour to Rock N Roll runners, I figured we’d give it a try. We don’t normally do group tours on vacation because I prefer a more authentic vibe, plus with little ones, you just never know if they’ll find them interesting. Well, to my surprise the kids, who aren’t so little anymore, did enjoy the tour. They found it interesting and even asked some really good questions to our tour guide. Afterwards, we stayed in the area and enjoyed some of the fun games they had in the square.

Our next stop was Pike Place Market. The market was closing when we arrived but it was still super crowded. I know this is an icon Seattle tourist spot, but I wasn’t really impressed. I think there were just way too many people walking around aimlessly and being, well, tourists. We originally planned to walk around the market, watch the famous fish throwing, and eat from a few of the popular food places. With the market closing, we didn’t get to see much and we only made it to one place Beecher’s Handmade Cheese for some mac n cheese. It was cool to see the cheese making process through the window, but it wasn’t really amazing mac n cheese. The best part was seeing all the beautiful flower stands.

Afterwards, we checked into our hotel room for the night and we were all so tired & a bit cranky from waking up early for our flight and walking around all day, that we just ordered a pizza and salad and had it in our room.

It was another early morning for me on Sunday to get up and run the half marathon. It was a great course and I really enjoyed it and the VIP lounge area. You can read the race recap on my previous post HERE. After the race, we made our way to Seattle Center for a closer look at the Space Needle and to grab some lunch before making our way to Portland! I wish we would/could have spent more time in this area. I would like to go back and check out some of the museums, but we still enjoyed our time walking around the pretty gardens and the kids had a blast at the playground there. Our last stop was to go see the Fremont Troll under the Aurora Bridge. Such a quirky spot and I’m so glad we got to see it!

Although it was a bit of a whirlwind, our weekend in Seattle was a ton of fun. Coming from Vegas, we welcomed the gloomy and rainy weather. It never really rained but we did have a few drizzles. Ideally, I think 3 days in Seattle would have been perfect and would have allowed us to visit a museum or two and not crammed so much into 2 days.

Have you been to Seattle? Besides the museums, what else would you recommend we do or see on our next trip to Seattle? What side trips would be worth a visit from Seattle? Thanks for stopping by and be sure to come back for the rest of our PNW trip!

Summer Bucket List 2017

This year Elysse is in a new elementary school and Diego started middle school and both are traditional 9-month schools. Before that they both were in a year-round school that had 3- week track breaks throughout the year. To say they are excited for this summer break is a bit of an understatement. With being in the middle of buying a new house and moving, I’ll admit last summer was kinda lame. We kept our list small and simple! This year we decided to go all out!!! Since I’m scheduled to run 17 races in 2017 (YIKES!!) the kids thought it’d be fun to keep the same theme going for our family summer bucket list. I think this may be our biggest and most ambitious summer bucket list to date! So, without further ado, here is our epic summer bucket list for 2017:

Each year we always find a fun way to display our list so we don’t forget what our plans are! Plus, it’s so much fun to see all the fun we’ve had and all the fun activities we still have to do. This year we wrote each activity on a note card and hung them along our dining room wall. We then plan on taking a photo with our fuji instax camera and trade it out for the note card as we do each activity. We hope that by Labor Day, we’ll have zero note cards and a wall full of fun photos of our summer adventures!

What fun activities and adventures do you have planned for this summer? If your stumped, get your family together and work on your own family summer bucket list this weekend! I promise it will make this summer one to remember. Check out my blog post HERE for tips on how to create your own list and follow the links there for some inspiration from our past summer bucket lists too!

2017 Spring Break in Southern California

I know, I know, it is almost summer and I am just now sharing our spring break getaway! But, better late than never and I’ve even got some tips on how to get away on a budget 😉

We have a busy summer coming up and we’ll be traveling in June & July without the kiddos (woop woop!) and our family vacation to Portland, OR is also in June. The in-laws will be visiting this summer as well for a few weeks, which means we’ll be getting away with them on some day trips too. What I’m getting at with all of this is that we’ve been saving our pennies for this summer! But, we also love to travel and it had been a few months since we’d gone away as a family and I think we all needed a change of pace and a change of scenery! So, this spring break we planned some fun local activities during the first part of the week, including a sleep over with friends, and then we took off on Friday morning to Southern California!

We were really trying to keep this trip as budget savvy as possible, so after a yummy lunch at Porto’s Bakery and Cafe, we made our way to The Getty Center in Los Angeles. After living in in Vegas for over 8 years and visiting L.A. countless of times, this was our first visit to The Getty. It’s been on my list of places to visit for awhile, but I just wasn’t sure if the kiddos would be interested in the art when they were younger. Even now, I was skeptical that they wouldn’t enjoy it but boy was I wrong! They loved seeing all the paintings, sculptures, and the gardens. They especially thought it was so cool to see some paintings by famous artists that they’d actually heard of, like Claude Monet! The Getty is located on a beautiful property, with several buildings and gardens and water features. To get to the center, we had to take a tram up the hill to where there are amazing views of the city below. The best thing about The Getty? It’s free admission. There is a parking fee of $15 but it’s totally worth it! We spent about 4 hours there and could have probably spent more time if it hadn’t closed!

After our visit to The Getty, it was time to make our way through the L.A. Friday afternoon rush hour to our hotel. We were staying in Ventura, CA because Saturday was another family first for us, Six Flags Magic Mountain Amusement Park! This was another thing we’ve been waiting on the kids, especially Elysse, to be tall enough to ride most of the rides. To save money, we purchased our tickets online a week in advance. This proved to be the biggest saving on admission tickets. Our hotel, Hilton Garden Inn Valencia, was also located across the street from the park and provided a shuttle to and from, saving us the $25 parking fee!

Being spring break, we were fully expecting the park to be busy and it was, but not so much so that we couldn’t enjoy our time there. We also met up with my sister and her family and another family we’re friends with, so it really made it for a fun time for the kiddos. They really enjoyed being able to ride the rides and hang out with their friends. Amusement parks are not my favorite thing to do on trips for all the usual reasons: they’re crowded, long lines for rides, and bad over-priced fast food. But, aside from the Disney theme parks and Legoland, the kiddos hadn’t been to an amusement park with big roller coasters and had been wanting to go. It worked out great and I’m so glad we went with a group of friends and family to make it even more fun!

Sunday was our last day in SoCal before heading back to Vegas, so the kids spent the morning in the pool and then we made our way to Malibu Beach. We couldn’t come all the way to California and not at least see the ocean! The best thing was the fruit carts on the side of the road that make your bowls to order! So delicious!! Our time in Malibu was quick, we ate on the pier at the Malibu Farm restaurant. I highly recommend it! Then we walked along the beach for a bit before the long drive back home.

This trip was much needed for us! It was a quick getaway from our routine, we saw the ocean, ate some yummy food, got cultured at The Getty, and screamed so much on roller coasters we woke up hoarse the next day! Yup, a seriously well-rounded and diverse trip for our family.

I know it’s late, but how did you spend your spring break?

Our Trip to Peru: Sacred Valley, Cusco, and Lima Days 5-7

Waking up the next morning after getting to cross off one of your major bucket list items sure does feel good. However, waking up after walking for miles up and down uneven stone steps made by the Incas hundreds of years ago sure does hurt too! Jason and I were so ridiculously sore the next day we were pretty much waddling instead of walking. Not only were we sore, we were so sun burnt! Our bodies were tired and weary but we still had one more thing to see before we left the Sacred Valley and that was the Archaeological Park in Ollantaytambo, the town we were staying in.

I will be completely honest here and say that we didn’t spend as much time here as we originally anticipated. We were seriously beat so we cut it short and found ourselves a colectivo and got our ride back to Cusco. We got dropped off at a plaza not too far from our hotel, but we were so tired, we got ourselves lost – seriously going up and down the same street the hotel was on! We needed naps. After we settled into our room and rested a bit, we had to go back out for our last night in Cusco and grab a few souvenirs for family and say goodbye to this amazing city.

Next morning we were refreshed and ready to fly out to Lima and spend the day exploring Peru’s capital city. Avianca Airlines, however, thought we might enjoy spending most of our day at the airport instead! Our domestic flight was delayed and we didn’t leave Cusco for about 4 hours later. Nobody was happy about the situation, but I was just glad we didn’t have to catch our flight home that day.

Once we finally made it to Lima, we got an Uber and made our way to our hotel in the Mira Flores district. At this point, it was mid afternoon and we didn’t have much time for sight seeing. We ended up checking in to our hotel and simply grabbing some appetizers and drinks at a restaurant in the nearby Larcomar Shopping Center. The shopping center was right on a cliff overlooking the water and had tons of American stores, like Gap, Victorias Secret, and restaurants like Chilis. It felt like we were at an outdoor mall in Miami! We walked around there a bit after we ate and then walked some more around town. We ate at a Chinese restaurant, which is popular in Peru and called Chifa, fusing both Peruvian and Chinese ingredients and traditions.

We arranged an Uber to take us to the airport the next morning and off we were to make our way back home. At this point, we were pretty exhausted from all the traveling and ready to sleep in our beds and enjoy the first world comforts we take for granted, such as clean water and toilet paper!

Thanks for sticking around and ready all about our adventures in Peru! In the coming months I plan on sharing a few useful tips on planning your own Peruvian trip, like the best time to see Machu Picchu, transportation, and must-haves. Let me know if there’s something specific you’d like me to share and I’ll be sure to do so!

The best greeting from our little one when we got home!