wanderlust

Favorite Swimsuit Brands

Since spring break, my upcoming trip to Maui, summer and the upcoming return of Victoria’s Secret swim,  I thought I would bring you guys some of my favorite swimsuit brands!

To start off, I want to say that I look for swimsuits that are cute but also functional.  I mean I do like to lay by the pool.  But for the most part, you will find me in the ocean snorkeling, body boarding, wakeboarding, and wake surfing. Not all swimsuits can handle those types of activities so here are the ones that truly pass all of the tests.  I may have a couple, not functional ones that are just too cute not to throw in.

Top Activities on Maui

MAUI!! This is one of my favorite places to vacation too; I’ve been going since I was a little kid.  I’ve been almost 20 times, so I’ve tried a lot of different charters and activities.  When going, we always try to find a new activity to do.  Here are the top four activities that we’ve done several times, and I always tell people they should do.

Don’t worry I’ll be doing separate posts on beaches, snorkeling, and where to eat as we get closer to our next trip to Maui in May.

Hiking and Photography atop Mt. Erie

In the last post about Washington we went to Eastern Washington, this week we are going to stay close to my current home town in Western Washington.  I live on Whidbey Island, which is in the Puget Sound, about 40min north of Seattle.  To do something quick for a morning hike or a short road trip we like to drive up the island to a small, short, mountain in Anacortes Washington, Mt. Erie.

Valentines Day Traditions

Happy Valentine’s day!!

I thought I would come on here and share our wedding ring tradition with you guys since we don’t do anything special for valentines day.

Our tradition is that for every vacation we get new QALO rings.  It all started when we eloped to Bora Bora.  I didn’t want to worry about my fancy engagement ring, because I knew we would be doing a lot of water activities.  We decided to go with white QALO rings for the ceremony, and they looked perfect.  I didn’t have to worry about losing my ring or putting it in the safe.  For the rest of the elopement and the adjoining trip to Loreto, we had aqua and black for hubby and me.  Mine glowed in the dark so way cool!

wedding ring white wedding ring

The reason we went with QALO is that we can wear these during all our activities while on vacation.  I don’t have to worry about sand, sunscreen, or losing it in the ocean.  We also wear these around the house when we are doing yard work or working out.  They come in a cute carrying pouch, that is perfect for travel as well.

About six months later we went to Maui and decided we needed a new set for this trip.  So, after scouring their website, we both decided to get the gray/silver rings.  They weren’t identical in color, but they were close enough that it was cute!

silver wedding ring wedding

We are about to go back to Maui in about three months and are trying to figure out what color we should get this year?  I was thinking pink, but they don’t make a men’s pink ring unless I get him the largest women’s size!  So maybe marble?  Or they have new ones that you can customize and are two-toned in color?  So many options can’t wait to share what we picked!

What are your Valentines’ traditions?

Not sponsored just truly love the rings!

What to see and do on Kauai

A couple of years ago my husband and I finally made it to the island of Kauai.  We went as an extension to our winter break from work, to find some much-needed sunshine from the gray Seattle weather.

Finding a deal during December on any of the Hawaiian Islands is hard to do, but somehow, I found one!  We booked about 5-6 months out and were able to find a cute VRBO at a resort in Lihue town, Aqua Kauai Beach Resort.  It was such a good deal we couldn’t pass it up. It had amazing views, three pools, and a long uninterrupted beach.  You have to get the adult shaved ice. We didn’t realize this was an actual thing until our last day and were super sad about it, because who doesn’t love Koloa rum and shave ice!

Here are the places I would recommend for some of the best food and drinks on the island.

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