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Chain O’Lakes-Spring Grove, IL

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We took our first camping trip this past weekend. We received a lot of camping gear, including a tent, for our wedding. So..we decided on Chain O’lakes because it was pretty close, only an hour and a half away.

So..we left Chicago around 5:30 pm on Friday night. Traffic was terrible. I was getting worried because we had to set up our tent in the dark most likely. We stopped at Mcdonald’s for dinner and ate on the road.

We finally got to Chain O’Lakes around 7:20 pm and got checked in. We still needed to get firewood so we went to gas station nearby. Our car was so packed to the top!

When we finally arrived at our campsite another couple was starting to set up their tent at the campsite right next to us. We were both confused as to which campsite was ours. So between the 4 of us we just decided what looked like our campgrounds haha. Right before we set up our tent we saw a big animal run across the road. It looked like a small bear cub haha. I don’t believe it was, Don was convinced that it was.

It was starting to get dark as we set up our tent. The tent was pretty easy except for the rain cover part. It was so confusing and bugs were biting and it was dark! But now that we have done it we will know for next time.

Then we made a fire and relaxed by it for awhile and then went to bed. The campground was not very busy so it was really quiet. Cassie had texted earlier saying that they had decided to come Saturday morning and camp out. This was exciting!

Sleeping in the tent wasn’t so comfortable and it was pretty cold. Luckily, my sleeping bag kept me really warm. I was woken up around 730 am by sunlight and birds. I couldn’t get back to sleep so I decided to check out the showers. The showers were a short walk away from our campsite. On my way there I saw a few other campers getting up from sleep.

I was impressed with the showers, they were nicer than campground showers I remember growing up. The water was hot too! When I got back to the campground Don went to take a shower. I arranged and organized our site, put a tablecloth down, and brought stuff out of the car. Then I sat in the sun and read a little bit. Mostly I enjoyed looking out at the lake we were camping near. There were so many birds! It was so pretty.
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Once Don got back we made some sausages and ate a bit. Then we just relaxed and waited for Cassie and Ian to arrive. I spread out a blanket on the ground and read and got some sun. It was getting a lot warmer than the weather said it would be. Soon I was changed into a tank top and shorts. The weather was awesome.

Cassie and Ian got to the campground around 1. They brought their dog Westley. They set up their tent then Cassie and I went to the store to get more water. When we got back we could see the guys moving a picnic table. We were confused but soon found out that a new couple had arrived next to us and said we were in the wrong spot. We decided to move the tents over. This was kind of crazy but we were able to get our tents moved without taking them down.
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Then we started cooking. We made cheeseburgers, sausages, vegetables and steaks. We had so much food! Cassie and Ian made mac and cheese on their little stove. I think it was called a WhisperLite. It was pretty cool. After we ate we decided to play Small World. Then we made smores. During this time we saw a raccoon trying to get into our garbage. It came right up to our campsite! We got it to go away. Then we played Pandemic. I had been so excited to play Pandemic while camping. Why? I don’t know, it sounded fun.
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All throughout the game the raccoon kept coming back. After the game (we won) we decided to go to bed. The campground had gotten really packed throughout the night, all the sites on our road were taken. I could not get comfortable and neither could Don. When I finally got to sleep I was woken up by Don getting out of the tent. It was about 130 am. There was a lot of commotion outside the tent. Then I saw Ian come out with duct tape and he taped the coolers shut.

When Don came back in he said the raccoons had opened Cassie and Ian’s cooler and took out a package of cheese and ran. Then they were fighting over the cheese. I couldn’t believe they got in the cooler!

We woke up again around 730 am. One of the families a couple of campgrounds away from us were so loud! The kid was yelling and loud. We found out they had left the back of their van open and the raccoons had eaten all food they could get to! I went and showered. This time I took Don’s advice and used the handicap shower. It was so much better than the regular one haha. When I got back to the campground we all talked about how we got no sleep. Then Ian made us Scottish Eggs. Don made the rest of the sausages and we reheated the food from yesterday. We had so much food.

After we ate we started packing up. It was so hot! I was ready to be home and take a nice real shower haha. I think choosing Chain O’Lakes for our first camping experience was the right choice. It was really great. We had a lot of fun on our first camping trip and we are already talking about where we should go next!!

Before we left we found raccoon footprints on our car!
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Bloggings, Reviews, Reviews - Travel, Travel

Leaving El Nido Headed to Quezon City

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This morning we got up and made sure we were packed because we were leaving El Nido. It was sad to leave. This place was so beautiful and relaxing. We got our breakfast and then our van came to pick us up at 9.

I was worried what our van experience would be like since our trip here was not so good. Luckily, the company we were originally supposed to do our transfers with got their van fixed. The hotel booked our ride with Day Tripper.

The van was really nice. The seats were roomier it was just more inviting and friendly. There was a water bottle for every passenger and even a little snack! The snack was dried pieces of banana…they were kind of like eating chips. It was really good. There was one passenger in the front seat and then one passenger in the next row of seats. We sat in the next row. Later though Don moved to the row behind me since there were only 4 passengers we could all have our own space! It was awesome!

I was able to look out the window more on the trip home because the driver was much better. I didn’t feel car sick. It was a complete upgrade from our previous experience. It was comfortable and it made the 5 hour ride back to the airport much easier.  Here’s some pictures from the ride.

You can see in the last picture that people would ride on top of buses. It was crazy.

When we got to Puerto Princesa Airport there was a line outside the door. I thought that this would mean it would take a long time but it really didn’t. Once we got checked in we realized our flight was later; it had been moved. That was a little annoying for me because I hate waiting. But we made it.

Tito Rom and Tita Nitz picked us up at the airport in Manila. We picked up Robbie on the way to their house in Quezon City. Once we got to their house we got settled into our room and saw RJ and Regan. Regan showed us his pets. He has a ball python named Sally, a tarantula named Brownie, and a scorpion (can’t remember his name). Crazy pets! I held the snake but wouldn’t touch the tarantula. After we had got settled in a bit we decided it was time to go out.

We got to meet Robbie’s girlfriend, Bambi, and we also met up with Franz. Then we went out to the first bar, it was on a rooftop and had a view of Manila. It was a nice place. Then we went to the next place and we all drank a lot. RJ ordered 2 Filipino cuisines, pig ears and pig intestines. Of course he made us try them before he would tell us what they were. The ears were okay. But I did not like the texture of the intestines. Very weird haha.

After awhile Regan kept saing we should do karaoke. People were ready to leave though so he said he had karaoke at his house. So we went back to the house and started up the karaoke video. Regan and Don were singing songs. They stayed up to around 5 am. I went to bed at 4….so tired.

Bloggings, Reviews - Travel, Travel

St. Maarten :(

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Today we got up early because we really wanted to check out beaches in St. Maarten. I wanted to go to the beach that is known for low flying planes near the airport and hopefully get some snorkeling in on our last day. We went up to deck 9 for breakfast and we noticed the boat was still moving and there really wasn’t any land in site.  It was kind of cloudy and we knew that weather was a topic the night before so we thought maybe we were just delayed.

Then during breakfast it was announced that there was a tropical storm called Rafael that had popped up over night and was now over St. Maarten.  We would not be going to St. Maarten we were going to have a day at sea and try to get away from the storm.  This was really disappointing.  We were so pumped and ready to get off the boat and now we would have to spend the entire day here on the boat. It was hard not to be upset but at the same time there was nothing we could do. The crew did their best to come up with more activities for people to do and they made a new itinerary for the day.

So we started off our day by laying out for awhile by the pool.  I brought my book and was reading. Don was kind of resting.  There was some sunlight.  The captain kept saying he would try to get us to some sunlight.  It was getting pretty hot so we went inside the boat and went to the library.  It was a first time there and we rented the game Scrabble.  We took it to our room and started playing.  It got my mind off my disappointment.  Don wanted to go to the Coral Cafe to see what the puzzle and games thing was at 11 am so we paused our scrabble game and went.

At the Coral Cafe we played Battleship together.  Then we played a pictionary game. Don was really good at drawing; I was horrible.  We did not win that game. We pretty much played games and trivia all day.  We tried to win $1000 from a game in the casino.  It was frustrating because it looked so easy but we could not win. We played Movie Clip Trivia, Sea Feud, General Trivia, Entertainment Trivia, and Picture Trivia on the big screen on the lido deck. We did not win any of these games. Don wanted to win so we went back into the boat and played another General Trivia game.  The questions were hard but this time we actually won!! We won a little trophy of the Carnival Victory Ship. The last trivia game was Food & Drink and it was ridiculously hard.  Then we went back to our room and finished our game of Scrabble. We started packing a bit and then went to dinner with Mike and Teresa.

For dinner I had a salad which was very good and Bacon Mac & Cheese.  It was pretty good.  I got Melting Cake for the last time but I could not finish it. After dinner we went to a comedy show and saw the same guy from the other night. He is really good.  Then we saw another guy who was not so good. We thought maybe he just couldn’t do family friendly comedy. There were a lot of awkward moments.

That was our last day. Tomorrow we will leave. I don’t know if I have been very impressed with the cruise. The food has been okay, not as good as I thought it would be. I think if we do a cruise again I would definitely want to try another cruise line. Carnival was okay but I think there’s better.

Bloggings, Reviews - Travel, Snorkeling, Travel

St. Kitts

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Today I had booked an excursion with Greg’s Safari.  This was the first booked thing we did that wasn’t through Carnival and I am thinking it was the best.  While we were waiting for Greg we were bombarded with guys with about 6 little monkeys.  The monkeys had diapers on and some had clothes.  Before we could discuss anything they were putting the monkeys on us and taking pictures with our camera.  Then they told us $20 a piece!  Don said he would give them $20 for both.  I think that was a rip off but we did get a lot of pictures.

We met Greg around 830 for our tour of Philip’s Rainforest.  Michael and Teresa came with us on this excursion.  I was excited because it looked like it was just going to be us 4 and then another couple but then 4 other people ran over to Greg and booked last minute.  Then when we got to the land rover there were already people in it. I was a little disappointed because I didn’t want a repeat of yesterday, but turns out the vehicle was pretty spacious and we had a good amount of room.

The tour started with a drive to the rainforest that was about 45 minutes.  It was a cool drive, very scenic.  Then we got out and started our hike.  Along the way Greg would tell us about the plant life.  It would rain and then it would be sunny.  It was pretty awesome.  We came to a waterfall and put our feet in the water.  The hike was pretty good, some of it was a little rugged.  While hiking I got bit near my wrist by some kind of ant.  It was painful, but didn’t look too bad. At the end of it Greg gave us some local fruits.  Then it started pouring and we got back in the land rover and made our way back. I will post some pictures of some things we saw on our rainforest hike.

On our way back we asked Greg if he would be able to drop us off at Frigate Bay to go to the beach.  He told us earlier it was a good place for snorkeling. He said that would be fine. He told us about a good restaurant there and to ask for Greg’s Special.  He also told us to tell them we are with his tour and they would let us use their beach chairs for free.  Then he even offered us a ride back to the boat later because he was picking people up from the beach at 430.  That gave us plenty of time to eat and snorkel.

We ate at Sunset Cafe which was part of Timothy Beach Resort.  We got Greg’s Special which was Conch Fritters and Rum Punch.  The fritters were delicious but the rum punch not so much.  I kind of just wanted a cheeseburger and fries but then decided I had to get an authentic meal so I got Stewed Chicken with Macaroni Pie and a Salad.  It was pretty good.

Don got the fish and chips.  Both meals I would say were great. We mixed it up and had a little bit of each other’s meal.

After eating we got in the water.  It was raining off and on but it didn’t bother our snorkeling. I would have to say I thought this was the best location of snorkeling we did on the trip so far.  There was a lot of coral and sea life.  Of course we didn’t swim with turtles but it was a really cool place to explore.  It had a dock that had a lot of coral and rocks with sea life.  Then out further there were rocks and the water got a bit rougher. Don did not want to go out that far but I had to see it.  As I was swimming I saw something pretty big in the rocks so I looked and it was a sea turtle!! I was so excited to see a sea turtle on my own!  I told Don but when we looked back in the water I couldn’t find it. Don had the camera so we also didn’t get a picture.  But it was so cool!  It was a bit creepy in this area of the water for some reason and Don was getting annoyed because he didn’t have his fins so he made his way back to the beach.  I went behind him a little bit after. I wanted to see if I could find the turtle again but I never did.  So then I slowly made my way back up to the beach.  I saw a sea snake!  I was totally freaking out when I saw it but I had to get a picture. Then I swam away keeping my eye on it.

Here are some more pictures of the snorkeling…

Around 430 Greg picked us up along with some other people and gave us a ride back to the ship.  It was a great day.

Then we had dinner with Michael and Teresa in the dining room.  I had a Thai Chicken Appetizer. It was okay. Then I had Shrimp and Fries for my main course; it was probably one of my favorite meals on the ship so far. Don had Filet Mignon.  During dinner Mike and Teresa told us they got a notice that their excursion in St. Maarten was canceled due to weather. This got me bummed out because I was afraid of what the weather was going to do and how it would effect our day.  After dinner we went to a magic show and then to a comedy show.

Bloggings, Reviews - Travel, Snorkeling, Travel

Barbados

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Today we got up early to go on our Tiami Sail, Turtles & Beach Excursion that I booked through Carnival. We took a bus to the catamaran.  It was a really nice boat.  It had a bar that actually had fountain soda and a beer on tap.

When we got to our first snorkeling site we learned it was more like a swimming site.  The crew didn’t want us to wear fins because it scared the turtles.  We have snorkeled with turtles before and they didn’t seem to be scared by fins, but whatever.  Basically we just got off the boat and swam with turtles.  Don’t get me wrong, swimming with turtles was awesome.  We got some really awesome pictures and they are just amazing.  But when I booked the excursion I was under the impression we would actually be snorkeling and seeing more.  You can’t really beat swimming with turtles but if you plan on booking this excursion for snorkeling there isn’t any of that really.

After the swimming with turtles we got back on the catamaran and went to a beach.  The beach had the most expensive resort on Barbados. I believe the guide said the least expensive room was $1500 a night and the the most expensive was around $10000 a night.  Ridiculous.  There was no snorkeling at this beach.  We just swam and enjoyed the rum punch that the crew made us.  Don even did a rum punch bong through his snorkel. It was crazy! The beach was beautiful.  We saw a guy with a monkey on his head. He wanted us to pay him for pictures but I snuck a few without him noticing.  A rain storm passed through while we were swimming but then it was back to being sunny immediately after the rain.

On the way back to the port we had more rum punch and did a little dancing.  Of course everyone got crazy when Gangnam Style came on.  That song is so fun.  Once we got back we didn’t want to go back to the ship because we wanted to experience Barbados as much as we could.  We saw Michael and Teresa getting ready to go the excursion right after us.  They booked the wrong time; they had the afternoon excursion.

So we decided to explore Pelican Village in Barbados because we knew it was pretty close to the port.  We ate at a place called Sylvester’s Restaurant.  It was a buffet style place and it was delicious.  I had macaroni pie, which had a little spice to it, fried chicken and a salad.

Don had fried chicken, pork chop and rice. He tried a little bit of everything.

Everything was very good at Sylvester’s.  It was a nice change of pace to have some authentic food rather than just the very Americanized cuisine on the cruise ship.

After lunch we just walked around the area.  We ended up at a market called Cheapside.  Or maybe the area was called Cheapside, I am unsure.  It was so hot in Barbados.  Just completely miserably hot.  We walked around for probably an hour then decided to walk back to the boat.  Once back to the boat we got cleaned up and then decided to go back off the boat to the port terminal to use the wifi. The wifi worked at first but it was really slow and we didn’t really get to use it much.

Then we came back to the ship and went to a trivia game at the coral cafe.  After trivia we ate at the grill. We then laid out on the top deck and kind of fell asleep for a bit. It wasn’t comfortable and we were tired so we went back to the room and took a 2 hour nap. Then we got up to go to some shows in the theater:  Battle of the sexes, Liars Club and a Scavenger Hunt. The scavenger hunt was fun. We had to divide up into teams and find things in the audience like an empty purse, a bra, a girl who can doing the splits, etc.  And that was our day.