Traveling in a Winter Wonderland

What’s up everybody?

Well Christmas is right around the corner.  This can be a stressful time for us, but it can take on a new level of stress for those that have to travel.  For this post I thought that I would change it up a bit and give you some tips that might help get you through. 

Do your research:

Whether you are traveling by car or plane it is always a good idea to make a plan.  For air travel its a good idea to shop around for the best deal.  Be wary though, the cheapest may not always be the best.  Cheaper flights can be plagued by problems.

If you are traveling by car, it is a good idea to look into alternative routes.  Unexpected delays can pop-up, having these contingency plans can get you there faster and be less stressful. 

Stay Connected:

Download your airlines latest app.  This will give you all the information about your flight.  There are other independent travel apps that can be helpful as well.  Be sure to call all those that are awaiting you at your destination.  Inform the about any delays, change of plans and time that you are expecting to get into town.

Stay Informed on the Weather:

There is nothing like getting half way to your destination and getting caught in a blinding blizzard.  A good idea to check your local weather as well as your destination and anywhere you stop along the way.  This way you can plan for unexpected delays and other issues.  It will also help you pack.

Pack Smart:

When flying, try to stick with carry on luggage whenever possible.  Wear heaver clothing to save on room.  Ship present instead of bring them with you.  We all know that there is a possibility that your luggage could be lost is transit.  If you do have to bring your presents wait to wrap them.  If security sees something that seems suspicious they will not hesitate to look inside.

Have Plenty of Food and Drink:

Packing your own snacks can help you avoid the troublesome airport lines.  Try avoiding candy bars and other quick releasing sugary snacks.  Take fruit, sandwiches or another hearty snack to fuel your body for the trip.  Get plenty of water.  Unfortunate you take water through security.  You can take empty bottles with you though.  Using the drinking fountains to fill your bottle is a cheep and time saving option.

Keep Yourself Entertained:

Nothing helps relieve stress like getting lost in your favorite music or win a few rounds of Candy Crush.  Electronics can be fun, but I would suggest having some non-electrical options as well. You may need to reserve your battery life.  A good book and some card games can be great options.

If You Become Stranded Know Your Options:

When flying check with your airline to see if you qualify for compensation.  This could be a comped room, flight or meal voucher or other possibilities.

Driving can be a completely different story depending where you get stranded.  Before you leave make sure that your car is up to snuff.  If you are not mechanically inclined, there are plenty of qualified and trustworthy shop that can help.  You should also make you a travel survival kit for your car.  Place in it some essentials like: blankets, a trusty flashlight or headlamp, gloves, hats, ice scrappers, and some food and water.  These items can help you make it through if the worst happens.

If you get stuck don't panic.  The best thing is to call for help, whether it is AAA, OnStar, a towing company, or local law enforcement.  If you get stuck in the snow, do not try to overexert yourself by digging yourself out.  Your body is already in a stressful situation in cold weather.  A loss of precious calories put stress on muscle as well as your heart.  With the loss of heat your body shuts down all non-essential blood flow and directs it to the major organs.  This can lead to frostbite and eventual hypothermia.  

Never leave your car.  Your can easily get lost in poor weather.  Your car can shelter you from the elements.  If possible, run your car for small periods of time.  I would say no longer the ten minutes.  If you do this make sure that you check your tailpipe for debris.  A blocked pipe can cause CO2 to back up and make its way into the cabin of the car. Create a whole new set of problems.  Best thing for times like this is to keep your head.

Be kind:

This maybe a no-brainer, but we all have that possibility to blow up is stressful situation.  I know I do, just ask the wife.  Airline personnel, tow truck drivers or whoever is trying to help you are doing their best.  Cursing and pitching a fit doesn't make the situation any better.  So remember a little kindness goes a long way.

So these are a few tips for you.  Hopeful you find them useful or at least makes you think about it.

From your friends here at the Adventure Diaries.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

                                                                                                           Josh, Erin and Odin

California Amusing!

What’s up everybody?

Sorry that we haven't posted in a bit.  It has been kind of hectic with the holidays upon us.  But we are back and excited to bring you another great adventure.

Since we moved out to Chicago, its has become harder to visit with our families.  Phone calls and FaceTime can only do some much.  I know that some of you can relate.  So when we get a chance to fly home we try to jump on it.  Unfortunately my tribe has been in California, for the past seven months or so, for work.  So its been extra hard to see them.  With an invite to come visit, we backed our bags and headed for the golden coast.

Our trip started with a short jaunt to Minneapolis to catch our connecting flight.  I have been in a few airports in my time, I do have to say that the Minneapolis Airport is one of the nicest ones that I have been in.  With nice tile work lining the halls, delightful architectural features and laid back feeling made for a very relaxing and pleasant layover.  Within an hour we were back in the air dreaming of sunny skies.

We had loosely planned out our trip.  We new that we wanted to see Disneyland and Universal Studios.  Once we were altogether we set up our game plan.  

The first day we decide to hit Universal Studios.  Sadly, some of us had to work and would try to meet up with us later in the day.  I had not been there in over a decade and Erin had only been to the Universal in Orlando, so it was almost a new experience for us.  The only thing for me that was a must was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  It was definitely a must see for any “Potterhead”.  The level of detail that was put into the design truly made it feel like it leaped from the pages of the books.  You can wonder the streets of Hogsmead and pick up some Every Flavor Beans from Honeydukes.  Need a new wand?  Go check out Ollivanders and pick one up.  We saved our favorite ride for last.  The Studio Tour or Backlot Tour is a great way to see what it takes to make some of your favorite movies and tv shows.  If you are luck you just might see some of your favorite stars.  While we were there they were rehearsing for the live show of Hairspray.

We debate one what to do on the second day and made the decision to see Knott’s Berry Farm.  Knott’s Berry is an amusement park located in Buena Park.  The park is like walking straight into a wild west boom town.  The park was a little busy so we were not able to ride all the rides, but the ones we did get to did not disappoint.  The park is also know for its jams and chicken.  I know what you are thinking.  Chicken?  Just outside of the gates lies Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant.  If you enter you will not be disappointed.  Come hungry, even their smallest plate is more than enough to fill you up.

The third day landed on a Sunday, so we decided that it would be an easy and quiet.  With no real plans we head out to wherever the road took us.  We ended up at the Santa Monica Pier.  We walked along the pier and looked at the shops.  Erin decide that she want to put her feet into the ocean.  So what did we do?  You're right.  We walked along the beach and Erin had her chance to dip her feet into the water.  From there we headed up the Pacific Coast Highway.  It seem to us, as we passed through Malibu, that Sundays are the time to take out your fancy cars and cruise the PCH.  Everywhere you looked were exotic, muscle and classic cars.  Quite a sight to see if you are a gearhead.  We did not travel all of the PCH.  We turned off and headed home which took us through farming country.  Orange, lemon and avocado trees lined the road.  A sight to see, to those not used to it.  When you find yourself here make sure you stop at one of the roadside fruit stands and pick up some of the freshest fruit you can find.  Once we made it home we all got together  and had a nice Sunday dinner.  Something we haven't been able to do in quite a while.

On our final day, we went to the happiest place on Earth.  Disneyland.  Yes!, Disneyland.  I’ve come to the conclusion that if you want to experience everything that Disneyland has to offer.  You have to spend more than one day there.  Don't get me wrong though, we had fun.  With large crowds and an occasional breakdown of the rides, you may not experience everything you would like.  We did get to say goodbye and ride the Tower of Terror one last time before they shut it down in January and convert it to the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride.   the revamp or Soarin’ is also a treat as it takes out of California and transports you all over the World.  All in all it was a good day.

As we packed up our bags, we reflect upon the weeks events.  Even though the parks were crowded and the traffic appalling.  The trip was not just about having fun but spending time and reconnecting with our families.  Fun was had and bonds strengthened.  Erin’s family is coming out to see us over Christmas, we are excited to have them.

I will leave this with you today.  Its important to make time for your family.  You may not always get along but they are the closest people that you will ever have.  A simple phone call can brighten up the darkest day.

Alright! That’s all that I have for you today.  It was a brief overview of our trip.  I plan  to elaborate in more detail on the parks late, so this will have to do for now.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by.

      Josh

Oh Yeah! Beware of free roaming Raptors.

A Walk in the Woods

Starved Rock (Morning)

It has been over a year since we moved from our little city of Salt Lake to the metropolis of Chicago.  With that, many thing have changed and some things have stayed the same.  

Erin has quickly adjusted to the area and seems to fit in.  She has also excelled in her new job and has made many new friends.

As for myself, I have become lost here.  It’s hard enough to find your place when you are comfortable but, if you are like me, that stress becomes ten-fold when you are in a place of unfamiliarity.  

In the last few months the stress and frustration has been building.  I haven't been myself.  I’ve become more of a hermit than I usually am not wanting to talk or associate with anyone or even to leave the house to do anything.  Needless to say, I was not a pleasant person to be around.

It finally reached its breaking point and I decide that I had to do something about it.  I remembered that one of the things that I really enjoyed and helped me to refocus, was to get out in to the wild.  My family has always been big on the outdoors.  We like to go camping, ride atv’s, hiking and exploring our National Parks.  And, of course one of my unspoken favorites, rock crawling in the red rocks of Moab, Utah.  Sometimes all it would take would be to drive around town with the top off my jeep, the wind blowing through my hair, to calm me down.  Unfortunately the jeep did not make it out to Chicagoland with us.  So I had to find an alternative method.

Something out of a Horror Film

Lucky for me, about an hour drive from my house lies Starved Rock State Park.  The park lies upon the banks of the Illinois River and has a variety of hiking trails and overlooks.  I figured that I would take this time to check out the fall colors.  Not to take away from my home state, but the fall colors out here are suppose to be unreal in variety.  I was definitely in for a surprise, but not the surprise that you are thinking.  

On Friday morning I woke up, packed a lunch and grabbed my gear and headed down the road.  The traffic was fairly light for a week day morning.  Of course, I was moving away from the city so of course it was light.  Not much was happening, so I cranked up the radio and jammed out to the songs that were playing. I am not the best singer out there, but nobody else in the car was complaining.  If you have ever carved through Illinois you are aware that you crossover several rivers.  This is where things started to get interesting.  Before I left my house I had turned on the news on as background noise as I had got my things together.  The news had mentioned something about fog around the river valleys.  I didn't pay much mind to it. 

As the news had said, the closer I got to the river the heavier the fog got.  I have driven through fog before but nothing quite has thick as this wall of precipitation.  You could barely see what was going on around you.  I decided to take it safe and easy down the road, I didn't want to tempt fate, and moved over to the far lane and cruised down the road.

Wildcat Canyon

I finally reached my destination and slowly rolled into a parking stall and sat there for a moment and pondered.  When I finally removed myself from the car and looked around.  The fog was still relentless in blocking virtually everything.  I thought to myself that this trip was going to be a bust.  You couldn’t see anything.  I might as well go home.  I went back and forth for a few minutes and decided, well I'm here, I might as well make the most of it.

There is something eerie about walking through the woods in a deep fog.  I kept expecting Jason or some other horror creature to jump out and start chasing me down. Luckily for me that did not happen.  I hit the main areas of the park. Unfortunately all you could see was a few muted leaves, not the vibrant color that I has hoping to see.  So I found a map board and picked out a trail for me to explore.  I would exchange a few pleasantries to the other hiker foolish enough to brave to frog.  

I found myself heading toward Wildcat Canyon.  I use the word “canyon” lightly here. I’m not trying to take away anything from them.  They are just smaller than what I'm used to seeing back in Utah.  I walked into small canyon and I was actually taken back by what I was seeing.  A small waterfall was pouring off the rock walls into a small pound and the base.  This was actually a turning point of the day and for me.  

After taking it all in I decided that it was getting close to lunch time so I should head back to the car.  Its probably in my head, but with each step that I took out of the canyon the fog lifted until the sun had completely burned it away.  With that, the colors had finally reached its peak of exuberance.  

Starved Rock ( Afternoon)

I made my way back to the car taking in everything that I saw.  Watching as the forest critters were running around in the leaf litter and playing in the trees.  It was quite a different mood than it was earlier that day.  I reached the parking lot and retrieved my lunch and headed to find a place to eat.  I found a nice little spot down on the banks of the river.  This gave me time to reflect on the day.

I came to the conclusion that this day was a perfect allegory for what I have been going through.  My sense of purpose had become clouded and hard to see.  Much like the vibrance of the leaves that were muted and dulled by the fog.  But all you have to do is find that light that will help you burn through the fog.  

I may not be out of my fog yet, but at least I can see the sun burning through.  I am so grateful for my wife and the love that she gives me everyday.  I know that my bright day is close at hand.  I guess my advice for those out there.  Things may be bleak, but do not give up hope.  For the fog may cloud your vision, but there is always a ray of light trying to get in. Only you decide on how fast it can break through.  Find the things that make you happy and share your light with others.

We are excited about our new home that we have created here in Chicago.  We have new adventures on the horizon for us.  And we are excited to share them with you.

Thanks for stopping by!  We hope to see you again.

Josh