Car Rental Information

Oak Ridge Shooting Range

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Chandrapaul) — Sat, 01 May 2010 17:30:00 +0000

There's never really a great amount of time when I have a lot of spare time just sitting around, however yesterday was a different story. I pretty much had the entire day with absolutely nothing to do so I did the only thing any guy would ever want to do, go to the gun range! I own a bunch of rifles and there was no way they could all fit in my car, and the friend I was going with had an even smaller car so there was no hope, the only people we knew with bigger cars were busy and were not able to come so it was a pretty tough situation to get out of. We figured if we wanted to use all of our rifles then we would have to find a bigger car somehow so we looked online to see if we could get a great deal on a rental car, and sure enough we did so we rented a 2010 Ford F-150 from the Hertz at Orlando International Airport and drove a few miles over to the closest shooting range. Once we got to the shooting range we were like little kids in a playground unloading all of our rifles and making our way into the range.

We had to pick out our targets and that was probably the most fun of the entire trip mainly because there were pretty funny like the Michael Jackson Thriller Zombie target and the guy that looked like he was trying to mug us target. We first used my Ruger 10/22 and we were just blasting away for fun the only thing that we didn’t like about this range is that they did not allow rapid fire, but then again no range really does and when you factor in the safety involved its almost necessary for them to have that rule. After we got warmed up on some of the funnier targets we had a little competition to see who could shoot the best at a more serious target. After going round for round on these targets we defnitly started to get tired, plus all of the safety equipment was getting really annoying and the ear protection started to get pretty painful for some odd reason, but you couldn’t expect us to go through 550 rounds of ammo in a day alone because shooting things can only be so fun.

After we got done shooting our rifles we made some friends with some guys that were in there using their handguns and of we switched off for a little (under supervision of course) and it was such a great experience there is a lot of benefits involved in just being a nice guy sometimes! After our arms were sore and we felt like we couldn’t move anymore, we felt like it was time to head home. After we left the range we went to go eat at a local Chic-fil-a so we can refuel ourselves, for some reason shooting targets always makes me hungry so we ate and had just enough time to get back to the airport to drop the truck off so we didn’t have to pay for an extra day, I must admit it is a pretty nice thing to rent a truck for just one day, we got everything done and over with and we didn’t have to inconvenient ourselves at all, the best part is that it didn’t even cost us much, in fact it was probably cheaper than filling up my tank of gas! It was a great trip and I actually plan on going back sometime in the near future, like next week or something. If you are ever in the Orlando area and looking to have a lot of fun without spending a lot of money make sure you pay a visit to the Oak Ridge Gun Range its not expensive at all and for the experience you get its well worth it. Not to mention everything you’ll learn from those around you!

Birmingham Alabama

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:11:00 +0000

So we were invited by some old time friends to come up to Birmingham Alabama for a week and stay in their guest house. So in a matter of no time we had a Chevrolet Impala and we were speeding our way down the highway. We actually spent a lot of time researching the area this time, because we wanted to see all the attractions we could find. It really took no time at all to realize that Birmingham was chock full of fun stuff to do.

When we first arrived we spent an entire day with our friends, just relaxing and talking. They live on a lake which was fantastic; we ended up sitting out on the dock for hours. However I would be lying if I said I wasn’t more exited about visiting some of the local attractions. We had read that the Birmingham Zoo was an absolute must if you were visiting the area. They have over 800 animals, and something you don’t see at every zoo, an Albino tiger. We spent almost the entire next day exploring the zoo, and it was really fun, even if we aren’t kids anymore!

The next day we visited the McWane Science Center, a really cool museum that showcases… well, everything science. There are several stories of exhibits, each with their own unique interactive entertainment centers. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I really enjoyed the place, it really is a playground for adults. They even had a massive aquarium in the building! Mcwane Science Center is something I really hope to get to do again if we ever visit.

Our friends took us to “The Peanut Depot” the last day we were there. The small place is a really unique experience that supposedly can be found no where else in the United States. At The Peanut Depot you can get a huge variety of peanuts, roasted, toasted, baked, boiled and just about whatever you can think; it was great tasting them all. They roast them in old fashioned and authentic grills and boilers, and they have been doing it for 100 years!

We really like Birmingham Alabama; if they ever invite us back we will do it in a heartbeat. We had a really fun time, and we didn’t even get to see all the stuff that is in the area!

Zephyr Stadium

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 22:50:00 +0000

So we are on our way back from the Play-Offs in Oklahoma when we are about to pass through one of our favorite cities again, New Orleans. Now we took our grand daughter here about a month ago, we wrote a blog about it and everything. Anyway we found a bunch of restaurants that we really love so we figured we would eat at one on the way through. However when we got to Metairie which is just north of New Orleans we were talking to a gas station clerk when she asked if we were in town for “The Game.”

Now if you know anything about me I like sports… and my wife enjoys spur of the moment rabbit trails. So when we heard that there was going to be a game in town, we had to ask what they were talking about. Apparently Metairie is home to the New Orleans Zephyrs, a Triple-A baseball team that was playing on their home field that night. Since it’s a small town and the stadium houses over 10,000 fans; we had the opportunity to buy tickets.

However, before we went to the game we stopped and ate at Chad’s Bistro, a fantastic gourmet restaurant that we absolutely loved the first time we had come here. They serve an amazing lobster, some of the best steak that has ever touched my lips and some incredible wines. We are going to make it a point to eat here every time we pass through.

Despite the fact that I mentioned it was a small town, the stadium was jam packed with screaming fans. The game was as energetic as any MLB game I have been to, and the Zephyrs won with a score of 3-1. We talked to a fan that was next to us the entire time, he kept mentioning how great it was that the Zephyrs could come back and dominate the league despite their league issues they had in late 1900s. Apparently they had trouble transferring leagues, and completely disappeared off the radar for nearly a year before re-entering and taking a league championship in 1998.

We had a really fun time, and were about to head back on the road to home in the morning. Now I am not a huge fan of Triple-A baseball, but it doesn’t really matter, as long as I get to see a game I am happy!

Oklahoma City Play Offs

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:53:00 +0000

We are here in Oklahoma City enjoying the playoffs, it took a lot of convincing but my wife finally gave in when I promised her we would make some shopping rounds while in the area. We got tickets to see the Los Angeles Lakers verse the Oklahoma Thunder, and we anxiously awaited the game.

To get here we ended up renting a Chrysler Sebring (again) from a National back in Florida, and then we hit the open road and we were in the crowded streets of Oklahoma City in no time. Trust me when I say crowded, we went into a McDonalds to get a bite to eat the first day we were there and had to wait for almost an hour to eat. The streets are filled with stalls just full of team colors; I mean any sport lover would be in heaven here.

When we watched the game the crowd was just ecstatic the entire game through. The Thunder took on the Lakers winning with a score of 110-89, and you wouldn’t believe how loud the crowd got. I would assume this is because it’s their home town, most of the people in the stadium live in Oklahoma City, but wow what a rush. We got to shake hands with the team and hang out in the stadium just about all day long. Now I don’t love the NBA as much as I love the NFL but wow was this exhilarating. Every time I am at a sports game, whether in the stadium or watching it on the television I feel connected, even though my screaming from the living room clearly doesn’t help the team in any way.

We plan to hang out in the Oklahoma City area and see what other games we can catch. Besides, I remembering promising my wife we would do a little shopping, and “If momma ain’t happy, no ones happy.” Besides I love this place, I really enjoy talking sports with anyone and everyone, and as you may have figured out, everyone here understands what I am talking about.

Calistoga Ranch

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:12:00 +0000

We recently got an email from some friends telling us about their vacation to California. They went on and on about how romantic and luxurious it was and alls we could do was raise an eye brow. However, when we emailed them back they said that the reason it was so great was because they stayed at Calistoga Ranch, a beautiful resort in the mountains. When we went to their website we were dumbfounded by how beautiful it looked. So we checked to see if we could afford about three days up there and guess what? We could; so in a matter of no time we were on a plane speeding for California.

When we landed in California we went to the nearest Hertz and rented a vehicle. Now since we were living in luxury we had to get a luxurious car, so we rented a Chevy Camaro, and wow did that thing turn heads. We got a sleek black cover, and I loved the thing, although the space for all our stuff was pretty limited. We road to Napa Valley where the Calistoga Ranch was located, the scenery was just gorgeous, I mean rolling planes and huge mountains in every direction. The sun was beaming down making the perfect photo opportunities everywhere we went.

When we got to the Calistoga Ranch my jaw just about dropped out of our Camaro. We kept reading in their guide that their 157 acre ranch was “Majestic,” and wow… they were beyond right. I mean every single place we went on these hills looked like it was a postcard photo. We kept just throwing on our sandals and walking for hours. The pool was gorgeous, overlooking the meadow below with the mountains on all sides. The service was great and we just kicked back and relaxed.

Our rooms were beautiful, everything was a rich red wood and tropical plants. The place was clean, fresh and full of fresh fruits. We enjoyed the large porches that overlooked the trees around the ranch. We will definitely be coming back to Calistoga Ranch, this is the mother of all resorts.

A Trip To Pensacola 2010 Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Chandrapaul) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:37:00 +0000

For most of my road trips Pensacola has been just a little pit stop so I could stretch my legs and grab a quick snack or something to drink. But since it was one of the very few weeks left of the school year I decided I would take a trip up to Pensacola with a good friend Dixie to see my good friend (also Dixie’s sister) Abbie, who is currently attending the University of West Florida. We didn’t really need to rent a car for this trip but we did anyway so we could keep a lot of room because we were sure that Abbie would want us to bring back some of her junk on the way back home so we rented a nice 2010 Ford F-150. We left fairly late in the day for an 8 hour trip but then again we weren’t in a rush for anything, most of our plans revolved around a surprise birthday dinner that was in the night so we had plenty of time for this 7 hour drive. We left at about 11:30 and drove up to Gainseville to stop for a little snack, one of the first unique restaurants we saw was Crispers so that’s where we decided to eat. I ordered a sandwich and Dixie ordered a salad.

Once we got back on the road the traffic was still clear for the most part we had absolutely nothing to worry about at all, our next stop was in Tallahassee which we found ironic that we stopped in the two biggest rival cities in Florida, it was a huge difference when we went from seeing huge Florida Gator stickers on cars to seeing huge Florida Seminole stickers on cars. Once we got up to Tallahasse we weren’t really feeling the hunger like we originally thought we would but that was the good thing because I planned on eating like a pig once we got to Pensacola. So we stopped to stretch our legs and all and were back on the road in no time. Once we got into Pensacola we had to check into our hotel, which was a fairly easy process that only took a few minutes after that we hopped in the shower and got dressed to surprise our friend Abbie. The whole plan was to make her and her friends believe they were going to T.G.I.Fridays to eat dinner, but have them all get in one car and follow us to Foley, Alabama to eat at Lamberts Café.

Once we got there Dixie had to surprise her sister at the restaurant by playing an out of the ordinary birthday song and singing and dancing! The look on Abbie’s face was priceless and well worth the 8-hour drive. Once we told her friends the plan they had to love it or leave it, and one friend had to go due to time restrictions but that was no big deal since I didn’t really know her anyway. After we established our secret master plan we got to the restaurant and had a seat. This Lamberts place was probably the most entertaining place I’ve ever been to eat in my life because you don’t just order rolls, they are thrown to you (or at you) when you put your hand in the air. After a we were all done catching rolls Abbie decided it was time to open her presents, of course the girls did their usual girl things by “awing” at everything that came out of a brightly colored bag but I was more interested in the food at the time. When my food came around it was game time, I was eating everything I got handed or thrown to me until I almost became painful to eat anymore. Once that night was over we all went to go to bed to wake up the next day and have even more fun! The next day I woke up and went to the beach for a few hours, there’s not much to say about the beach besides the fact that all you do is run walk and swim, for lunch we went to a local Chic-Fil-A and then dinner at a place called the Mellow Mushroom where I ate one of the meatiest pizza’s I’ve ever had in my entire life. It was actually called the Mighty Meaty and had just about every animal that ever existed on it. After that wonderful dinner we had a scavenger hunt which deserves its own blog by itself because it was the most fun and action-packed fun I’ve had even though it was only an hour of my life.

Outer Banks North Carolina

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:55:00 +0000

So we have gone to the Outer Banks in the past, I think I have even written a blog about in the past. Anyhow we stayed in this beautiful and large house that some friends offered us for a week, and when we got a phone call with them offering us the house again… well we couldn’t refuse. So we packed our bags and rented a vehicle from a National Rental Car at the local airport. We decided to rent a Buick LaCrosse because we hadn’t even road in one, and knowing how much cars we rent, that’s a huge surprise.

Driving up to North Carolina was easy, the LaCrosse purred like cat, smooth as can be. Now the Outer Banks are a string of Islands of the east coast of North Carolina. The Islands are about one mile thick and maybe twenty long. So on one side you have the beautiful North Atlantic, and on the other you have the calm bay. When we arrived in the middle of the night we got into the house in no time, and decided we would just sleep and decide what to do in the morning.

We almost had forgotten how beautiful this house is, there is a large tower on one corner of the house that goes up about four stories. At the top of it is a small dining room, the perfect place to see everything on the island, including the sunrise and sunset. The beaches were crystal clear; I mean white sand and clear water… just perfect. My wife was taking picture after picture and all I could think about was fishing. Every time a large wave would rise up you could see the glimmer of bait fish swimming in the surf… and where’s there’s bait fish larger fish are sure to follow. We ended up eating in one of those beachside shacks you always see in the movies. Burgers and fries on a deck that overlooks the water.

The Outer Banks really isn’t home to large attractions or night life like most vacation destinations. It’s just a relaxing getaway, a paradise for us old people. This beautiful house just takes the cake when it comes to relaxing, it’s a full on resort and you will probably be hearing about another vacation to this area from us if the vacation presents itself.

Maui Hawaii

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:48:00 +0000

We got invited on vacation with some old friends recently so we told them “Wherever and whenever.” Well they choose “wherever” and asked us when, so we set the date and they said we were going to Maui Hawaii. They showed us the fantastic resort we would be staying in and the paradise that would be just outside our backdoor. Of course our wives were all exited about shopping and the complimentary massages that we would all get when we got there. Of course I had other plans knowing about the Haleakala National Park located right next to our resort, oh yea, ocean views from the mountains.

We flew in and rented a car from Hertz, would you believe they have a rental car company all the way in Hawaii? We rented a Toyota Rav 4 because we needed to fit all our luggage and our friends. When we got to our resort it was just jaw dropping. I mean every inch of this place looked like an oasis paradise. We set about check out local attractions immediately. The coolest part was the fact that all the walls in our resort were made of bamboo, at least overlaid in bamboo, it gave it a really neat feel.

The next day we went snorkeling on the reef. The waters were crystal clear and we even saw a shark. I though swimming with a shark would be a nerve racking experience but it really wasn’t that scary. We saw an abundance of sting rays and whenever a school of fish came through you would just be flooded with colorful waves of shiny reflections. We really enjoyed the reef, probably the most out of our whole trip. However, I later realized how much I also enjoyed the massages on the beach we got every night, I slept like a baby every night.

We visited Haleakala National Park the next day; we took the mini van and just started driving our way to the top. Unlike other national parks this is one has dirt roads running all the way through it. We got some really good pictures of the other islands from the top of the mountains, and the pictures of coral reefs from that high up are really interesting. The islands look huge when you can see them from up there; I was really surprised at their enormity.

We plan to stay here for another few days, we really are enjoying it. I want to get back out there on the reef. This is just luxury at its finest, I’m already planning attractions to visit next time we visit because I just cant get enough of the exotic foods they have here!

Hood River, Oregon

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:03:00 +0000

We recently were reading about the enormous overflow of fish coming down the White Salmon River heading towards Hood River. Now Hood River boarders both Oregon and Washington and apparently was a huge benefit to Lewis and Clark when they trekked across the U.S. All history aside I really wanted to go fishing in this so called Salmon River, however I never really was a fan of incredibly inhabited areas when it comes to fishing. So we spent a lot of time looking at places where we could get away from the large crowds of fishers and enjoy the outdoors.

Turns out there is a city with a small population called Hood River; after the river. We also read that white water rafting was popular in the area, and suddenly my plans for fishing were over, I wanted to go white water rafting. Now I am getting old so the whole idea of getting on the water like that is quickly escaping me, I had to do this before I’m being tube fed in a hospital bed. So off we took a plane to the little town of Hood River and booked a time to go white water rafting. We rented a vehicle from National right after we landed, we got a Toyota Sienna and that minivan made its way around the hillsides just great.

We spent two days roaming the area, my wife found just about every shop with every expensive item to buy. We also ate at some of the local restaurants and enjoyed some of the high end cuisine. When the day came to go white water rafting I must admit that I was kind of scared. It was even more frightening when we got to the rapids and you could hear the massive roar of the water below your feet. Our guide was a young man who seemed all full of himself, and that scared me even more. So we got into our raft in a calm section of the river and he we rowed around for a little listening to his instructions. It was a really beautiful area but the closer we got to that roaring sound the more and more I began to car less about what was on the shore and more and more about what was in front of me. I really don’t think there are words to describe how riveting the experience was, when you’re slamming through the water and in danger of falling over you just focus on holding on and rowing.

White water rafting is definitely an experience that everyone should have to go through, just because I did. And if your looking for a river to go rafting on I suggest Hood River, it was really enjoyable.

Singapore 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Chandrapaul) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:21:00 +0000

Since I’ve had a lot of time off recently I decided that I wanted to go somewhere unique that was far away from Florida. My first idea was Tokyo but that seemed a little to easy and a bunch of people I already know have gone to Tokyo and even though they were greatly impressed with what they saw there, I figured that it would be just another common trip that everyone has been on. To set myself apart from everyone else a few friends and I decided we wanted to go to Singapore. Before coming to that decision we did a great amount of research and found out that the entire city could be toured in as little as 3 days, and since we had about 5 days we agreed that this would be the perfect trip. Since this was hands down the longest flight I’ve ever had in my life but I was prepared with a pillow and all. We found a bunch of great rates from Orlando but we found some unbelievable rates leaving from Austin, Texas. Unfortunately we don’t live in Austin which seems like it can have its ups and downs at times but luckily we’re only a rental car away and with 3 drivers we could alternate sleeping and we wouldn’t have to stop anywhere if we were all able to man up and sleep in the car. After we all decided and confirmed that we would be leaving out of Austin it was simple, all we had left to do was go to the Orlando International Airport and rent a car and just drive out, using my new idea of packing al of our clothes and being ready to go saved us a bunch of much needed time because we didn’t have to make a trip back to each of our homes and get our things ready, a friend of ours dropped us off and after we rented a car we were off faster than you could have imagined. It was a good thing we rented a nice Dodge Charger from Thrifty so we had a bunch of room for everyone and our luggage, and to determine would would be the lucky driver we played an intense game of heads or tails, after a few ties we finally got the results of the game luckily I was the first driver so I was able to use all my energy for driving and didn’t have to worry about falling asleep and waking up short of time to drive again, I did my leg of the trip with no problem and then we switched drivers in Pensacola. Right after we switched I fell right asleep and didn’t wake up until a good 9 or so hours later when it was time to switch again. Since one of my buddies is the slowest driver in the world we actually lost some time but its okay, we still stuck to our original plan and were doing great on time, we got to Austin and had enough time to grab a nice hardy lunch which was a great thing because we were all starving and pretty much only running on fast food! Once we got done with our lunch we went into the airport and started to check in, we sat at our gate for an hour or so and then we took off I fell right asleep again as I prepared for this 20 hour flight. Once we got there we were amazed at the architecture that we saw though it was late in the night or early in the day depending on what kind of person you are, we really did not have anything to do at that point in time so we went to sleep we are now going to begin our tour later on today and can not wait!

Meteor Shower in Iowa 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Chandrapaul) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:55:00 +0000

Going to Iowa has never been a great vacation for me, in fact now that I think about it I never even stop in the state unless I wanted some fast food or someone just couldn’t hold it in and had to use the bathroom. I’ve been in the market for investing in a new telescope and checked a few online forums for review I saw a bunch of regular Joe’s speculating a Meteor Shower but there was no official person saying that it was true. I figured since these things are pretty much unpredictable we might as well make a trip up there and check it out for ourselves. I’ve never had the chance to see a meteor shower except once when I was a kid but it felt like as soon as I stepped outside it all ended. Since I don’t have many friends that would want to go to Iowa in their spare time I went on this trip by my lonesome, there wasn’t really very funny moments or memories made, I just heard the same Miley Cyrus song play on the radio about a million and a half times. When I made my way out to the airport to rent a car I realized since I was by myself I could rent the smallest more fuel efficient car they had. Since it really didn’t matter to me where I rented I went to the Thrifty Car Rental and checked out all of the cars they had to offer. I ended up going with a Hyundai Accent which wasn’t that bad of a car, actually I enjoyed it a lot.

I was surprised at how little gas it used and couldn’t believe how comfortable it was. Not only was it cheaper than all the other cars it also cost a lot less to fill up! After I got done with the check out process I was on my way, I didn’t really need to bring much since I packed all my clothes in a duffle bag and my state of the art telescope came in its own carrying case, that’s probably a trick I’m going to use next time: bring everything I need to the rental car location so I save a trip back to my house. As I zoomed off I noticed that the weather was beautiful and there was absolutely no traffic, that’s one thing I love about Florida driving except on some days the traffic is unbearable but when its nice, its one of the best driving experiences one can ever have. I started in Orlando and made my way to Georgia in no time, when I’m driving by myself it definitely doesn’t take as along because I don’t have to make stops for other people and there’s never a backseat driver telling me to slow down every time I go over the speed limit (that has its ups and downs) In Georgia I made a little pit stop and made an order at a fast food restaurant, stretched my legs and took off once again. Another thing I love is I didn’t have to wait for anyone once we made stops too! The next few states were a since I didn’t make many stops, and I didn’t really need too either.

The fuel consumption on that car was completely unbelievable so I rarely had to stop and fill up. My last stop before I got to my destination was Kansas City, it was only a few hundred miles away from the hotel I was staying at in Iowa and I was doing good on time, just as I started to get excited because I was so close there was more traffic then I could imagine. Backed up as far as it could go. So I sat and waited it out and finally when I got to the hotel I checked in, since I didn’t have much to do I set my bags down and took a nice little nap when I woke up it was a nice dark clear sky so I could use my telescope and see anything in the Solar System. All off a sudden I saw a flash from the corner of my eye and as soon as I turned my telescope over to see what was going on I saw a ton of meteors falling almost like it was raining, it was a great sign to see and even though it only happened for about 15 minutes it was worth all that time driving because I never know when I’ll be able to see that again in my life. Overall it was a great trip and if I ever had to do it again I would in a heartbeat. Once I got back home most of my friends were pretty jealous that they didn’t get to see this spectacular event, and I didn’t have any picture to prove I was there but at least I got to see them with my own eyes. And it was worth every second of it.

South Padre Island, Texas 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Chandrapaul) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:44:00 +0000

Since its getting a lot nicer out these days we decided that it would be a great idea to go to some of the beaches around the United States. After a quick search online we found out that the nicest beach in the United States is one of the most unlikely places that you would expect a beach to be, that’s why when I told all of my friends in Texas that I was going to Texas to go to a beach they all looked at me like I was a complete idiot. For some reason, we instinctively think that Texas is nothing but dessert and sand but from the pictures I’ve seen online there was a whole bunch of blue waves and white sand, definitely not something I would expect in Texas. I’ve drove to Texas plenty of times and I’ve never really had the opportunity to stop and roam around the state and see all that it had to offer. So now was our chance to take a tour around a state that we’ve always overlooked, the first thing we wanted to do was camp out on the beach but after looking at local laws online for hours on end we could not figure out if it was illegal or not and not wanting to take any chances we just reserved a nearby hotel room so it would be a lot easier to not go to jail on our trip.

Now that we realized we wouldn’t need any of our camping gear for this trip we came to a conclusion that we wouldn’t need to rent a large SUV, in fact if no one complained about not having much leg room we could probably just get a away with renting a sedan. Not only would that eliminated all the extra space we wouldn’t be using, it would save us a bunch of gas money as well! Before we knew it we were on our way to the Orlando International Airport to rent a car. We decided we wanted to go with Hertz which is almost impossible to miss at the airport because you can see a line of gigantic yellow busses lined up along the outside of the location. Since my information was already on file because I’m a Gold member it only took about 10 minutes to rent my car and leave! And before we knew it we were on our way to the big Texas. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to stop in Jacksonville because it was very out of our way but I have found a great love for the city of Pensacola we actually spent the night there because after 8 hours of driving we were just exhausted and could not move further anymore.

Once we got up the next morning we zoomed through Alabama faster than you could have ever expected, usually that would be the state I like to stop and roam around because the food is great and so is the over all feel of everything. The next thing I knew I fell asleep and we were in the great state of Texas and only about 20 minutes away from the beach. Once I got to the beach the only thing I wanted to do was sit down and relax the weather was beautiful there was almost not one cloud in the sky and it almost felt like I took a tropical trip to Mexico instead of going to Texas, of course we were already close enough. I didn’t even want to leave once we got there so everyone went and checked into the hotel and I just relaxed on the hot sand about an hour later I woke up to a cold saltwater sensation to my face, my friends splashed a bottle of saltwater in my face to wake me up and usually when I wake up I move pretty slow but this time I hopped up like a ninja and ran into the water and we had a splashing fun time, once we got done and the sun went down I went into the hotel and fell asleep in a few days we’re headed back home but I honestly don’t want to leave!

Metairie, Louisiana

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:42:00 +0000

Now we always say that we would love to go back to some places, well now were going to double around and head back into Louisiana. We visited New Orleans for a few days on our way back from Texas, and we really wanted to visit for a little longer. We decided we would go back but this time to a small town called Metairie which is located just miles north of Metairie. We decided to take our granddaughter this time; she is only twelve so we figured we would give here a treat.

We rented a nice Toyota Yaris from an Enterprise near our house. It had a lot of trunks space for all our stuff and plenty of room in the back for our young friend to enjoy the nine hour ride. When we got to Metairie we went to the hotel we had rented right from home off the internet. We got a really big room so that there would be space for all of us. The ride up was easy, not a tiresome peep at all from our granddaughter, she is just a good kid.

The next day we set about exploring the area for some food and fun. Everyone we talked to said we had to visit Chad’s Bistro for a good gourmet meal so put it on the top of our list. We spent several hours on the beach, which were beautiful white sand paralleled only by the crystal clear water from the Gulf of Mexico, a perfect contrast. We ended up eating at Chad’s Bistro that night, and alls I can say is “Wow.” The food was amazing, just the look of it made your mouth water; I mean steaks, lobster, pasta and just about everything else that could be put up there as gourmet food. We vowed to return there the next day we just had to try more of it before we went home.

We visited the Audubon Aquarium of the America’s the next day hoping to make our granddaughter remember the trip. This place is massive, I mean just huge, and you can see so much. What I mean by that is some aquariums are just a glass wall you look into, but not here at the Audubon Aquarium. If you want to see something from a different angle there’s a good chance that a tunnel runs through the tank in that direction. The signs kept pointing out how many awards the aquarium had won and how large each tank was. The aquarium holds hundreds of species of fish and our granddaughter knew just about every kind, that’s plus one for homeschooling.

We ended our day with another visit to Chad’s Bistro, gosh their steaks were great. We really like New Orleans, and we are going to spend another few nights here in Metairie. We keep hearing about cool new attractions, we plan to go on the Natchez River Cruise tomorrow, a real functioning Steamboat that sails the Mississippi River!

Florida Keys

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:58:00 +0000

We recently went down to the Florida Everglades and took a tour on a chartered boat. The tour guide kept telling us and the other family onboard about the Florida Keys and how great they were. We asked him before we left what you exactly do when you visit the Florida Keys and just what us first timers would enjoy while we were there. He said that after driving a hundred and twenty five miles onto the Island and getting a place at Key West we should charter a boat. So off we went planning our next trip to Key West on the southern most land in Florida.

We decided if we were driving all the way down south to the bottom of Florida and then driving another hundred and twenty five miles across a bridge we would rent a vehicle, as is our usual tradition. We rented a Nissan Versa from the Alamo near our house, and we really, really liked it. It had a lot of room and the back seats folded down so we could fit all our stuff. We decided we would go down there for three days, the first day and last day we would spend on the beach and the second day we would charter a boat.

When we got on the bridge leading into Key West my wife was all over her camera taking pictures of islands we passed and the crystal clear water you could see in all directions. The Island where Key West is really large and when we stayed at our hotel we asked if there was any small attractions in the area. The desk clerk pointed us to the “Little White House” a large home from the late 1800s that has seen its fair share of history. Apparently the house was naval headquarters for just about every war our nation has seen, and was used as base camp for our negotiations during the Cold War. It was also home to several presidents during the winter, so all in all, this place has its memories.

The second day we went to meet our charter guides, and wow was the whole deal a fun experience. We road around the Florida Keys, I mean we went from uninhabited island to uninhabited island. We saw manatee, dolphin and an abundance of fish everywhere we went. Our guide knew just where to go to find the sea turtles and just where to go to find the nicest islands. They fed us right on the boat under the beautiful Florida sun, I mean it was fantastic something we would definitely do again.

The beaches down here were small but great, the water was crystal clear and the palm trees shadowed just about everything. All in all the chartered boat was the best, and we will definitely come back in the future just for that experience again.

UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Chandrapaul) — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 19:09:00 +0000

Id like to consider myself a pretty big fan of UFC, and I was pretty excited a few months ago when I was able to purchase some of the tickets for this event. It was probably one of the fastest purchases that I ever made, literally there was no hesitation what so ever. I was imagining that it would be in Las Vegas like every other UFC event but in this case it was in Abu Dhabi which is such a random place. Either case it is a very impressive fight card and it was not something that I wanted to miss out on and just watch on TV so I decided I would round up some friends and we would all make another trip to Abu Dhabi. I went earlier this year with my brother in law who is helping build a roller coaster in the new Ferrari Land. Unfortunately we were not able to drive this very long distance but that’s okay because I couldn’t even imagine how long that would take, we had to fly over there which wasn’t such a bad thing because I needed to catch up on some much needed sleep anyway. We went to my house to get everything ready for the trip ahead of us which really didn’t take long it was pretty much toothpaste and clothes which was easy to get organized. Once we got everything we just made our way down to the airport, we stopped at a local park and fly and did just that. It was a lot cheaper then airport parking and they provided free shuttle service to the airport too so there was no losing in that situation! We went on into our gate and we could not wait to board we were so excited to be some of the only people that went all the way to Abu Dhabi just to watch the fight, word around the internet was that it was an outdoor octagon which would definitely be an interesting feat but there was only one way to figure out and that was to go there and see for ourselves. Before we knew it we were on the plane and I fell right asleep when we landed we quickly rushed out to the nearest rental car location we could find. Of course it was the same Budget that I rented from last time I came here. I rented a 2010 Ford Taurus and we drove over to our hotel. We weren’t aware that our hotel was such a far distance from Ferrari Land but that was okay it was well worth the drive because we were in such a nice area that we didn’t mind just looking around as we were driving. Once we got to the stadium it was game on, some of the guys were drooling over the event girls and everyone was pumped to watch these athletes do as they do best. Overall it was a great fight I was impressed by the results a lot. It was amazing to see two champion fights as well and since I don’t want to spoil it for those of you reading at home I wont mention any winning names just check the fight out you wont be disappointed!

Florida Everglades

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:48:00 +0000

We were reading some other blogs about other people’s vacations when we came across one that was pretty close to home. Apparently this time of the year the Florida Everglades are just gorgeous, and if you have been reading my last blogs your saying “Their going back to another State Park” and truth be told, your right. However unlike the previous times where we went hiking for several days this time we were just going to charter a boat and spend a single day down in the rivers.

We rented a Nissan Versa from a National Rental Car Company right next to our house. I know it’s just a short trip down to Southern Florida but honestly, our car is on its last leg, and we have this little tradition going and we are going to stick to it.

Now the Florida Everglades this time of year is supposed to be full of the clearest water. With currents always changing these hundreds of little islands are surrounded by the water that gets to them first, and has the most muscle to push around the other water. At least that is how our guide explained it. The area is known for its abundance of wildlife, with the massive expansion of residents in Florida all animal life is quickly being pushed into this large nature reserve.

We charted a large boat with another family while we were there. There was no point in renting a boat for nine and just the two of us going, so we split the cost with this other family. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable, and answered just about every question we could throw at him. The more and more we went down the rivers on the boats it made me wish I could fish here. I don’t know the laws behind this state park, but if you can fish here I will defiantly come back in the future. We saw an abundance of fish everywhere we went; the water was crystal clear so we could see everything. We spotted a few manatees, however we couldn’t get to close because the guide said there are very strict laws against approaching them. My wife took a lot of pictures of birds and other animal life. We saw a few crocodile as we went; I was surprised by how much wildlife was down here compared to the lakes around our area.

We really enjoyed our visit to the Everglades; we will definitely be coming back, especially if I can fish. This was a fun and relaxing trip, I liked the short experience a little better than spending several days here. The area was really beautiful and the charter was inexpensive, we really enjoyed our time in the Florida Everglades.

Tiger Woods Golfing 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Chandrapaul) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:00:00 +0000

I’ve never really been a big fan of golf but now that there is actually something interesting to watch I decided it would be a great idea to go check out the Masters Tournament. Of course I’ve been thinking about this for a while now because it would be almost impossible to find tickets for this event the day of, so it was a good thing I pre-ordered tickets months in advance with intent to sell them for a highly marked up price not knowing that I would later become interested in golf. One of the main reasons I decided to go to this tournament is because it was just a state away which is only a short drive so why not! We definitely wanted to rent a car before we went out there because I needed something with better gas mileage and none of my buddies wanted to put the miles on their cars. We went on down to the Budget at Orlando International Airport and rented us a nice Ford Taurus, This was one of the best cars that I’ve ever rented and unless I need otherwise this is usually the only car I would rent because it is very comfortable and it had a bunch of space for whatever you have to bring along. After we got back to my house from the car rental place we started backing our bags to head up to Georgia, once we got done we were on our ways faster than you can imagine of course we weren’t in a major rush we were about 20 hours a head of time but that means nothing to 3 guys in a car on an open highway. What we did do to kill some time was stopping to eat more than we ever have on any other road trip. Anyways we still enjoyed stopping as much as we did and trying out all the restaurants on the way up north because we always tend to just drive all the way up to Jacksonville and eat at the same places but now that we know a lot more about the restaurants further north of Orlando we can finally stop around a new selection of places which was a good thing because we all began to get tired of stopping at the same restaurants but don’t get me wrong, all of those family owned businesses that know us by first name are still great restaurants! After filling my stomach to the top I fell right asleep and the next thing I knew we were pulling into our hotel parking lot. After that I began to check in and we went up to our room to start changing for the event. Everyone was more interested in seeing Tiger Woods perform rather than the actual tournament itself and since he was going to be there we already know there would be a bunch of cameras so we had to freshen up and look good for them, the tournament was great and we look forward to seeing Tiger Woods perform his very best as well. Overall we drove a long way and hope there isn’t much to see that would make us disappointed or regret the fact that we drove all the way to Georgia to watch this event.

Surf Show in Cocoa Beach 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Chandrapaul) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:49:00 +0000

As a kid we’ve always visited Cocoa Beach for almost any occasion you can think of, if it was the first nice day of spring you would already know we would be at the beach. Most of the time we would just skip school and go to the beach but we never let anyone know about our special “sick days”. The best part about our trips to cocoa beach is the fact that there is a very long country road from our small town directly to the beach, it has perfect straight ways and very little curves and was perfect for us stupid kids with cars. I haven’t been to the beach in a very long time and we all decided that we would go and spend a few days at the beach. We looked online for special deals or any events that would be going on in the area and we were surprised that we found out that a very respected surf event was coming to down for the same weekend that we would be there, even though the event was pretty big we didn’t have such a big problem finding a room on the beach we actually never have. I think its mainly because when people go to such an event they just drive up there and drive home, I’ve always thought that Cocoa had a great location for everyone in the Central Florida area. Now since we found such a great deal on our hotel we decided we would spend a little on a rental car that day to bring back some old memories from when we were kids, the first place we wanted to rent a car from was Hertz for one reason and for one reason only. You may be thinking we found a great deal or their customer service is superior but even with those being correct the only reason we wanted to rent from Hertz is for their Corvette ZHZ the only problem was that it only had 2 seats and there was only 3 of us, we were trying to figure it out and just gave up, someone had to give up their spot in the passenger seat to ride in another car on the way there and then we could switch on the way back, one lucky driver got to take the car both ways! That lucky driver turned out to be me! The day before the competition we went to the Orlando International Airport and rented the first Corvette we saw, of course we had to it was bright and yellow! We got to the beach in almost record time, once we got to that one straight country road we put the pedal to the metal and just drove out as fast as we could. We got to the beach and it was packed with a bunch of people and tents all over and we automatically set up a spot and started to relax, shortly after we got there people started surfing little by little and the crowd was all enjoying the event it was pretty much awesome. Once the event ended that night it was pretty easy to fall asleep, being in the sun all day wore us out, the next day we woke up pretty early and went to the local Ron Jon surf shop and bought some skim boards, when other people do it, it looks so easy but whenever I decided to try it out I failed every time until I finally got around to getting the hang of it, by that time the surf competition started again and there was no use using the board anymore. For the entire day I was watching some alright surfing tricks it was okay but the waves weren’t as intense as some that I usually see on TV but hey for a free show I couldn’t complain any and since I couldn’t do any better myself I shouldn’t even complain!

Sequoia, California

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:44:00 +0000

Now if you have been reading the rest of our blogs you know that we have been spending a lot of time in National Parks. We ended up touring our last day of Yosemite National Park with another couple. All they could talk about was how Sequoia another National Park in California was more beautiful than Yosemite. We really couldn’t believe it, but we decided to go visit. We figured that if we were in California it wouldn’t hurt to stay a few extra days. We didn’t want to fly all the way across the country for a three day tour of Yosemite and then leave, so we made reservations to stay at a hotel near Sequoia.

We still have our Ford Escape that we got right in the airport terminal, and it’s still running just fine. It has worked exceptionally well, with all the cab space it’s comfortable and with all the trunk space its easy to get around with all of our stuff. Our hotel was nice, and we decided that the first day we were there we would visit the Park Center and learn a little about what we were getting ourselves into. The park is over 400,000 acres, so there was no chance we would get to see it all. The most popular attraction to the area is Mount Whitney, the highest point in the United States. Suffice to say you could see this mountain anywhere in the park.

We decided to get a guided tour this time, because we didn’t have the time to research the area as we usually did. The guide met us in the morning at the Park Center and we simply just started walking. The trees here are simply beautiful, they are named “Sequoiadendron” and yes I had to Google the name. They are really large trees that encompass all the hillsides and cast shade on everything.

Mount Whitney was the primary thing we talked about with the guide. Apparently he had climbed it several times, and generally that’s what people came here to do. He kept telling us that the mountain was 14,505 feet above sea level, now that doesn’t mean that its 14,505 feet high, we never actually got the chance to find out how tall it was, but yes, it was massive. The best part about the whole area though were the waterfalls, they were just gorgeous.

I think overall we like Sequoia more than Yosemite, that couple we toured with were defiantly right. I don’t think we will ever plan a trip to these parks again, but if we are ever in the area I couldn’t resist taking a day to walk in these forests again, we really love these National Parks.

Yosemite National Park

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:56:00 +0000

We have lately been getting into National Parks, both in the U.S. and even other countries. We went to Yellowstone last week with some friends and we had a great time. My wife is really interested in nature and she absolutely loves to take pictures of wildlife with her camera. She has about a million pictures of mountains covering nearly an entire wall, so we generally pick National Parks that are loaded with high and low terrain. Anyhow we were looking through a list of some of the most popular parks in the U.S. when we realized we had never been to Yosemite National Park in California.

Now this time we decided not to drive all the way across the country, instead we took a plane to an airport and we stopped at the closest Dollar Rental Car which happened to be directly in the terminal. We rented a Ford Escape to carry all our gear and went straight to our lodging. Now when I say lodging I really mean a lodge. We had read about nearly twenty places you could stay that was close to the park and above all the campgrounds and hotels in the Yosemite Valley are wooden cabins. We endeavored to stay in one of these for the entire three days we would be staying.

The mountains were beautiful, as we made our way to our lodge you could see them in the distance and when you finally got underneath these snowcapped giants it was just breathtaking. We ended up stopping every mile to get a picture of valley after valley and when we finally got to our room we were exhausted.

We spent the next three days hiking and relaxing in the beautiful woods. We decided not to take a tour this time, and unfortunately we really couldn’t travel all 1,200 square miles of this incredibly scenic park. The lakes and mountains are a perfect contrast, I would assume all year round it really is the beautiful. If we ever get a chance to go back to Yosemite National Park we will, I wouldn’t mind stopping in here if we were ever in California again.

Yellowstone National Park

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 21:54:00 +0000

Well this time we have some friends coming along with us to join in the fun. We have been talking about inviting them for awhile now and well… the opportunity just showed itself. We decided we only wanted to take one vehicle since we wanted to save gas money, besides talking to friends in the car on the way there would make the trip even more enjoyable. We decided to visit Yellowstone National Park this time in Wyoming and we booked our hotel way in advance. We decided to drive this time, it was a long way but as I said friends would make the drive go by faster, plus I could trade off with someone if I got tired.

Suffice to say the ride up went fine; we rented a Toyota Sienna a mini van with lots of space for the ride up. The vehicle was fine, the engine really wasn’t that powerful but the gas mileage was fantastic. It only took us two days to get there, we stopped at night around six the first day and got a well deserved meal and slept in a nice little hotel. Our lodging in Wyoming really wasn’t anything special, it had all the amenities we had expected but no palm tree shaded pools like we were accustomed to. Don’t get me wrong I was happy with the place it just wasn’t somewhere I would recommend to a friend.

The park is beautiful, we got a guided tour the first day we were there and we learned a ton about the area. The park was established in the late 1800s and was the first National Park ever. That’s just about what they told us every fifteen minutes, ensuring that we wouldn’t forget. We got to see Old Faithful after a short bus tour. That geyser shoots ridiculously high; my wife kept taking picture after picture of the spouts.

The trip was a complete success, having our friends around just made it that much better. I would definitely recommend Yellowstone National Park to anyone who is interested in the outdoors. It was beautiful and it wasn’t to hot and it wasn’t to cold, the perfect time of the year for such adventures.

April Fools Day 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Chandrapaul) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:38:00 +0000

Most people spend their April Fool’s day playing pranks on their friends, well I’ve done a lot of that in my years of growing up so I decided that this would be my last year. Then I realized that I’m never too old for some April Fools! Since I’m not such a great planned I realized that I would need some help on my pranks and I also didn’t even know who to play them on. My friend Brock and I decided that we needed to play a prank on Cesar, now that we had that part figured out we needed to come up with a great plan. After minutes of thinking we knew a long road trip would have to be involved but we just didn’t know to where. We also wanted to fool Cesar into believing that we were going to an important event that he would enjoy but doesn’t really exist. Our final plan was telling him there was a gaming tournament in Miami and we wanted him to compete, the grand prize was $30,000 cash. He believed every word of it and enjoyed the idea so much that he insisted on renting the car himself because he was so sure he would win this tournament.

Before we could talk him out of it we were on our way to the Orlando International Airport to rent a car. I must admit at this point I was feeling a little guilty for leading him on this far because he actually went into his pocket and rented a car, but I didn’t feel that guilty because he ended up finding a great rate online and it was probably as low as prices go so it wasn’t like he would be losing much, and if he did then we would happily reimburse him for his losses. His coupons took him to budget car rental where he rented a 2010 Ford Taurus, this car was one of the nicest cars that I’ve ever been in. It was actually so comfortable I fell asleep! And so did Brock! By the time we woke up we were just a few miles away from our Miami exit and the excitement in Brock and I was could not be described! We saw the Miami exit but oddly Cesar didn’t slow down, the GPS was telling him to get off at the exit and so were we he quickly brushed us off with a “I know a faster way to get there” so we believed him, we kept on driving and driving and an hour later Brock asked “Are you sure you know where you’re going?” and Cesar gave us one of the most evil looks on his face, we started to realize that he knew that we were trying to play a trick on him and that’s why he drove and that’s also why he went passed our exit, he had his own prank that he was playing on us!

After we realized we asked him for hours and hours where he was taking us but his prior military experience helped him block out our questions and reply with a stone face every time. We finally got to our location, Key West Florida. We both figured that it wouldn’t be that bad, what could be so bad about being in Key West? At this point in time we thought we were in good hands and Cesar just took us on a nice vacation for absolutely free, until 8:00 rolled by and he took us to a very sketchy looking house. After we got in we got suited up on these weird suits and night vision goggles. A voice came out of nowhere and said we were on a wild ghost tour, Cesar knew that Brock and I are afraid of ghosts and he took us to one of the scariest places on earth! For the rest of the night we were forced to walk around in ghost infested parts of buildings however we didn’t see a thing. Until the end of the night game around and we took our night vision goggles off and it was completely dark, we couldn’t even see a foot in front of us! We were on our way back to the car and we heard loud bangs and spooky sounds coming from the darkness in a frantic rush we all decided to run and leave but I was grabbed by what felt like the slimiest hand of all times and I was drowned in a screen of fog, the sounds got louder and louder and all of I sudden I heard a large shrieking voice saying “April Fools”. This prank was totally against the rules because that would be classified as a Halloween prank more than an April fools prank but either way I was fooled!

Blue Ridge Mountains

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:40:00 +0000

Now if you remember just a short time ago we went to Georgia and hung out in the mountains. Well my wife was recently reading about other places we could go for an affordable price when she came across another destination in the Georgia Mountains. The Blue Ridge Mountains are some gorgeous paradises that you can explore all year round. Now last time we were up there it was snowing on and off and there was a lot of sleet in the rain. However now it’s beginning to get warm and the storms are beginning to clear up, so we decided we would head to these beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains for a relaxing vacation after our visit to Italy.

The resort we stayed in was beautiful; it had a warm countryside feeling with all the conveniences you would expect. We decided to drive up so we rented a Ford Focus from Budget while we were in Orlando. Now we have had a Ford Focus before so it wasn’t a stretch to get used to. We got to the beautiful mountains with no incident it was about an eleven hour drive from Central Florida.

This hills and mountains are gorgeous. Since all the snow started melting the rivers are overflowing with crystal clear water. To be honest it’s more beautiful than the Val Gardena we just visited in Italy. The resort where we stayed has these nature trails with beautiful bridges and waterfalls that are just jaw dropping. It rained once while we were there, but the most common thing was the fog. Well… I call it fog but truth be told we were just high enough up in the mountains that it was actually clouds flying in. When the clouds came into the mountains it just made the waterfalls all the more beautiful, it was just picture perfect moments one after the other.

There was a horse back riding school here and my wife and I jumped right in. They take you along the nature paths and down into the valley. My wife and I have done horse back riding a lot in the past so it was nothing to be worried about. I can tell you one thing though; it’s a lot easier going up hill on the back of a horse than walking it yourself. If you get the opportunity to go to Blue Ridge Mountains than do it, even if its just for a short period of time its an experience I wouldn’t mind doing again.

Val Gardena Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Snow Bird) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:17:00 +0000

We have been considering this trip for over a year. As you know we usually stick to the states, however we have been getting a little ambitious about going out of the country. We were looking fro exactly what we wanted to do while we were in Italy. Now we had been there before and seen all the sites, all the capital buildings and the beautiful canals and we kind of just wanted to explore the outer regions of the country. My wife had talked about the more rural areas, the farm lands and such. So when we landed we rented a Ford Mondeo Chia and booked it out of the city to the countryside.

We headed for Val Gardena a large formation of mountains, and around this time of year rumored to be more beautiful than anything you have ever seen before. Apparently the heat is just starting to melt the snow off the slopes and the bright green of the trees are just peaking through the deep snow. The entire way up to the mountains you could see the Val Gardena looming in the distance, the beautiful mountains surround you on all sides when you get to the basin. Now the closest you can get to the mountain is the ski lodge, at least in terms of places to stay. Suffice to say we actually stayed at the ski lodge and the rooms were surprisingly very luxurious.

The Val Gardena is located in the valley known as the Dolomites and basically the entire area is dedicated to skiing and snowboarding throughout the winter. However with the snow melting most of the skiers and snowboarders were begging to leave. However, a lot of them continued to ski the slopes in the morning before the snow became very wet. I really can’t describe to you how beautiful the area was, we kept going on nature trail after nature trail all day long. The staff at the lodge continuously supplied us with interesting places to eat and fun little restaurants to dine in.

All in all the Val Gardena in Italy is a must for anyone who enjoys the great outdoors. We couldn’t have been more relaxed than our time in Northern Italy. If you get the chance to head up there I recommend enjoying sometime in the Dolomites valley its definitely worth it.

Visiting The Titanic 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Chandrapaul) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:59:00 +0000

One of my favorite movies of all time has always been “titanic” after seeing it for the first time as a child I was fascinated with the story behind such a large ship that was deemed “unsinkable”. After a quick search online I was able to find a tour company that was offering tours to the sunken ship. When I wanted to sky dive I was able to find so many friends that wanted to join me on my journey but now that I wanted to go to the bottom of the ocean there was almost no one that wanted to go with me! Aside from the fact that you are way below sea level in the coldest water you can imagine, the price wasn’t very low either. None the less I still found someone who was willing to go and we were more excited then I’ve ever been. It wasn’t just any journey we were making, we were doing a once in a life time expedition to the most famous ship wreck of all time, almost everyone knows what the Titanic was but very few get the opportunity to go down deep into the ocean and see it in person. We found a great deal on airfare that would get us from Maine to Newfoundland and Newfoundland back to Orlando for next to nothing, with such a great deal we decided to drive on up to Maine. Since we couldn’t just leave our car in Maine we decided to rent a car and drive it all the way up there and drop it off when we got there. We rented a car from the Avis at the Orlando International Airport and before we did anything else we were on the highway ready to make a move towards Maine.

Luckily we rented a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro so it was a fun drive all the way up, we used our radar detector the whole way and it felt like we were just zooming through states, by the time we got to main we were bummed, it was actually our first full night’s rest before our flight and I could barely sleep. When we got to the airport we boarded the plane and left quickly, it was nothing like the busy MCO or JFK airport, it was very laid back and relaxing and was probably the most stress free time I’ve ever spent in an airport. I tried not to eat or drink much on our way there because it was explained to us that bathroom access is very limited, but you cant complain when you’re 2.5 miles towards the bottom of the ocean. We didn’t waste any time, once we got to the hotel we dressed in our warmest clothes and went to the diving location. It was a pretty nice day out and I was sweating in all of the clothes I had on but it was all necessary because it would get really cold at the bottom of the ocean. We were among a group of about 15 and I was very surprised that other people were as fascinated with the Titanic as we were. We got onto a boat and the put us into submersibles and we descended into the bottom of the ocean. If you think you would like to go on one of these, make sure you realize that this trip is not for the people who get motion sickness because there is a lot of rocking around involved and its very easy to get sea sick.

Once we got to the bottom we couldn’t really see much besides a group of barnacles but once the light from the submersible shined brightly on it we were able to see the shape of the ship. Every one was taking a ton of pictures and we were all so excited to see what we’ve traveled so far for. After seeing the movie I can honestly say that this ship was almost an exact replication of the ship I could remember scenes of the movie just by looking at the ship alone! We circled around the ship and saw every piece of it from front to back. We were so interested in this ship but the time for the tour was running short and we had to ascend back to the top of the water, it got warmer and warmer the higher we went and almost no one wanted to go back up, everyone wanted stay but due to time and fuel that was almost impossible. After we got back we got a few briefings about the trip and we were all surprised at the interesting facts we learned about the Titanic. There was a lot of things about the ship that the movie doesn’t tell you but for the most part it was very accurate in portraying all that the ship has done. If I were to ever go on a submarine trip again the Titanic would be my first trip hands down.