vacation

How to see Yellowstone in two days

Yes, that’s right I said you can see all of Yellowstone National Park in 2 days.  That’s exactly what my husband and I did a couple of summers ago.  We were already in Boise, Idaho for a wedding, so we decided why not drive another 6hrs to Yellowstone!  It was very last minute, and we were lucky we even found a room close to the park, we only had two days, so we decided to cram seeing the park into those two days.  Here is a little travel itinerary, tips, tricks and photo diary of our last-minute road trip to Yellowstone.

Yellowstone National Park Photo Diary

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our road trip through Yellowstone National Park.  You can read about the trip here!

 

 

hot spring

tower fall

river

early morning

sunrise at yellowstone

steam

canry spring

mammoth hot springs

sunrise

falls

deer

All-Inclusive in Loreto Mexico

On our first family vacation in over five years, my parents surprised us with an all-inclusive trip to Loreto, Mexico.  We stayed at Villa del Palmar Loreto.  It was so much fun that my husband and I went back with our parents after we eloped to Bora Bora.

Loreto is a quaint little fishing village about 3 hours north of La Paz on the Baja peninsula.  Once you arrive at the airport, you are greeted by the friendly staff from Villa del Palmar.  A perk of the resort was the affordable airport shuttle service.

Once you arrive at the resort, you are greeted with hibiscus tea, and the lobby looks out onto the luscious gardens and the ocean.  You’ll want to make sure you book for the all-inclusive and grab your bracelets at check-in.  Our first trip with the family we had three couples, so we stayed in one of the 3-bedroom suites.  The suite was insane all the bedrooms had an on-suite bathroom, lanai, and view of the ocean.  When we went back for the second time, we had a one bedroom, and it was fantastic with a full kitchen, laundry, and a soaking tub.  With a lanai and a view of the ocean.

Loreto sunset

Bora Bora Top Ten Tips

My husband and I eloped to the island of Bora Bora to have a private ceremony and explore the island.

When we decided we were going to elope we knew it had to be a once in a lifetime place, so obviously Bora Bora.  An added bonus is that it was not as far away as many people think, it was only 8hrs from LA.

We ended up with a top 5 excel spreadsheet because I am a nerd at heart and have to make pro/con lists and map everything out.  (I will share my excel spreadsheet on the blog soon!)  In the top 5 were the usual suspects, the Four Seasons, The Ritz, Le Meridian, Sofitel, and The Intercontinental Thalasso.  With our list together we set out a budget and immediately a few came off.  It was down to the Intercontinental and Le Meridian.  What sold us on the Intercontinental was the size of the huts over the water and the newer modern finishes, plus we got one of the new huts with our own swimming pool, figured it was worth the splurge since it was our wedding and honeymoon.  We also preferred the InterContinental’s wedding package as well.  It was very easy to customize and on the day of they had everything planned out we didn’t have to worry about a thing.

Tropical drinks await

Let me just say this resort did not disappoint it was everything a 5 star resort should be (although it was our first time staying at one).  There were kayaks, paddleboards, snorkeling, and they would book any other excursions you wanted.  We literally didn’t have to lift a finger if we didn’t want too.  The staff was so sweet and beyond helpful.  All of the restaurants were very good.  Our favorite meal was at the Reef restaurant, they had a braised lamb shank that was to die for and they paired it with a bottle of amazing red wine.  We loved it so much we had it twice while we were there.  The happy hour at Bubbles bar was so much fun they had great craft cocktails and appetizers with the perfect atmosphere.