Tag Archives: Wing It

The Life Bus Hits Portugal

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Anyone ever been to Portugal?   Believe it or not, I found only 2 friends who could offer up advice on the topic.  This fact has made it a difficult trip to plan….North or South? Rent a car or take the train? How many nights in Lisbon? How about a side trip to Spain? Good lord my head has been spinning. One of my buds used to live there and steered me North in a rental car. Spain is out, mostly because I would like to have more time to explore that amazing country and the stay in Lisbon is going to be limited to one night on arrival and the night prior to flying home.

The trip has not yet been kicked off – 2 more days to go before we (Greg and I) hop on a plane and cross the seemingly never ending Atlantic ocean.  We have 12 glorious days to explore this untapped country and plan to head North through the wine country, wind around to the Eastern boarder with Spain and drive as far South as we can.  The route currently mapped out is shown via google maps.  This whole trip is about 22 hours of driving over 12 days – that seems pretty doable assuming map reading skills are fully utilized.

Where are we staying you ask?  Have no idea.  2 reservations have been made, one in Lisbon and the other in Porto – everything else is going to be full-on gypsy.  Should be a wildly interesting experience, one I am anxious to share with you when I get back.  Stay Tuned.

 

 

Beachfront Oasis in Tulum, Mexico

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The first time I vacationed in the Cancun area was in 1990 and I had just broken up with a boyfriend. I knew back then I was not a fan of Cancun – not really sure why, as I had not been anywhere interesting at that stage in my life. Then again, it could have been influenced by the break-up – it totally sucked.

Back then, Tulum felt like a VERY long drive away from Cancun and seemed way beyond my reach. I was too chicken to rent a car and drive South on a solo expedition – if only I knew then what I think I know now. Fast forward many, many years and Greg and I pay a visit to Playa Del Carmen.

We thoroughly enjoyed Playa, but in typical Life Bus fashion, we were in search of an adventure. We took off in our rental car and headed South to Tulum to find one of the famous Cenotes to explore and see some ruins. I had nothing with me except my phone camera, a towel and a bathing suit. We drove for a couple of hours without incident and found ourselves in downtown Tulum. I could not for the life of me figure out what was so exciting about this town. I knew there was something else around the corner – I could smell it.

After circling around some back roads of the downtown area and discovering an amazing old cemetery, we found a sign that pointed to ‘la playa’. We took the turn and headed along the coastline. OMG – the experience was night and day. All of the lodging along the Boca Paila Rd. towards Punta Allen consists of small, interesting non-chain bungalows and 98% are located on the beach front. The range included all the way from very basic to the very posh.

We came across an obscure lodging option called the Encantada Beachfront Boutique Hotel, fairly close to the end of the road prior to reaching the Punta Allen State Park. You cannot see anything particularly special from the road, but, the signage for the hotel was lovely and seemed to be very upscale. I convinced Greg to stop and take a tour of one of the open palapa style rooms. It was love at first sight. Next thing I knew, we booked a night at the hotel, ordered up some margaritas and enjoyed a cool beach breeze on our private deck.

The hotel is one of my all-time faves. The details the San Francisco based owners put into this resort are UNBELIEVABLE, all the way from the fresh water jug in the room, to the shower tiles, deck chairs, beach lounge chairs, bedding, and the outdoor lights in the trees around the property. An added bonus provided by Mother Nature is the sand on the beach – white and as fine as powdered sugar. The water temperature and the waves are completely enjoyable and oh so addicting. Any time I feel stressed I imagine my experience in this little oasis – a lot of sunshine, soft sand and pure relaxation.

To top it off, the food at Encantada is de-lish and is served in very large portions – easily shared between 2 people. The room rate comes with a great breakfast of fresh local fruit, pastries and yogurt – the good stuff, not yoplait.

There are a total of 8 rooms with 4 directly on the beach front. I would do my best to secure the beach front rooms as you are nearly guaranteed to have a lovely ocean breeze to keep you cool. Warning: This is an eco-friendly hotel so they do not have A/C. It could be hot and humid in the dead of summer so take that into consideration when booking a room.

Some how I managed to live without a toothbrush and in a wet bathing suit for about 24 hours. It was worth the fuzzy teeth and butt crickets. I absolutely cannot wait to go back and enjoy some tasty food, margs, waves and a fine sand beach.

Glow Worm Caves in New Zealand

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In 2005, I left a job that was toxic to my soul.   This is one of the rules of the Life Bus – under no circumstance is it ever acceptable to stay at a job that nearly pushes you to the brink of insanity.    As part of the healing process from this ordeal, I decided to go on a 3 week solo road trip around New Zealand (NZ).  One thing to note, I was not a photographer back then, so the only photo I could find to attach to this post is one of Jersey cows meandering on the side of the road.   Jersey cows = glow worms.

Lexi had been to NZ a few times to visit an old boyfriend and mentioned the Waitomo Glow Worm caves…sounded interesting to me so I looked into it.  Waitomo is about a 3 hour drive South of Auckland and is known for the infamous Glow Worm caves.   Visually it looks like something out of the Lord of the Rings – very ‘shire-like’. The tour Lexi took included a repelling component – I happily skipped that part and found an option less terrifying.  I booked a tour with the Blackwater Rafting Company and buckled my seatbelt for a pretty cool adventure via the Black Labryinth Tour.

Once my comrades (4 other tourists) and I paid the fees and filled out the necessary legal paperwork, we took a small bus to a shack to gear up.  And by that, I mean don some VERY heavy wetsuits with extra padding on the knees, butt and elbows.   I made the mistake of not pulling up my wetsuit appropriately and had a saggy crotch for several hours – not recommended.   We were also given some very attractive white booties and a hard hat with a headlamp attached.

We then all lined up like ducks, walked across ‘the shire’ in our getups to a mysterious crack in the earth and climbed down into the darkness.   Once we were situated in the cave, our guide Nikki tested our ability to handle the adventure – i.e., were we claustrophobic and going to have a panic attack?   We were asked to crawl, twist and turn through a VERY small ‘test’ cave – I think we had our photo taken – perhaps to see the potential terror (or not) on our faces.

I am proud to say, we all passed with flying colors and moved on to start the tour.  The first thing we saw was a 3 foot eel – it had to have been a plant (at least that is what I told myself).   The next 2 to 3 hours were spent swimming, climbing, and tubing through the immense cave system under the earth.  The water was about 10 degrees Celsius so it was definitely chilly at times.

After what felt like eternity, we stopped on a large rock and turned off our headlamps – we finally got to see what we came for – the glow-worms – they literally covered the roof of the cave.   Contrary to their name, they are not really worms but larvae that grow long, sticky tendrils.  Insects get trapped in the tendrils and are subsequently eaten.   When the glow-worms are excreting toxins, their light shines from an organ which is the equivalent of a human kidney.  The light is what ultimately attracts the insects as they believe it is the light shining at the end of the tunnel and is perhaps, a chance to escape from the cave.

I have to say the caves were cool, but I was 100% ready to see the light at the end of the tunnel.   It was pretty evident I was a little stressed down under as my wetsuit reeked of B.O. when I stripped it off.   All in all, the experience was truly amazing and I am glad I did it.  The world we live in is an incredible place with new adventures around every corner in the most unexpected places.

If the thought of crawling down into a crack in the earth makes your skin crawl, then this trip is not for you.  I believe they have boat tours that may suit you better and would still be amazing.   If you are remotely excited about the thought, jump on the Life Bus and give it a go, you will not be sorry!

The Gypsy Road Trip – Yosemite National Park

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Let me start by saying this, I rarely (if ever) go on vacation without at least securing lodging reservations ahead of time. My internal logic believes it is not prudent to waste precious vacation time hunting for a place to lay my head at night. The last thing I am interested in is sleeping in the car or ending up in some sort of rent-by-hour motel. This road trip was different. In the spirit of the life bus philosophy, Greg and I decided to throw the lodging logic out the window and wing it like gypsies.

Let’s talk about Yosemite for a moment. This National Park is, as you would expect, a complete jewel.  Yosemite is by far, one of the most beautiful National Parks we have in the continental United States. Unfortunately, I am not the only individual with this opinion – I read a statistic that on any given day in the summer, there could be up to 20,000 visitors. Winging it in Yosemite is a risky endeavor.

Our gypsy road trip in Yosemite spanned 7 nights. As luck would have it, we found a place to bunk every night we were in town. Please do your research on the lodging in Yosemite as I am not getting to the nitty-gritty details of each location and there may be things outside of my opinions that will further entice you. The best place to go to for further information is the official Yosemite lodging  website via the following link: www.yosemitepark.com/lodging.aspx.  All of the options I describe below are outlined in more detail here.

In my opinion, pickings are slim if you want luxury, however, the Ahwahnee Hotel will deliver. We did not stay here, but, we ate nearly every meal here as much of their food is fresh and homemade – just an FYI, you do pay a pretty penny for that freshness, but your hips, heart and blood pressure will appreciate you in the long run.

Key Tip: If you are looking for rooms inside the park for a just in time reservation, go to the reservation desks at ANY of the lodges. They all have access to the same reservation system as the Yosemite lodging hotline. (Don’t call this hotline, they don’t pick up in a timely manner and you may starve to death waiting). You may pay a little more for a room or get one near the toilets or elevators, but hey, it’s a roof over your head.

Tuolumne Meadows Lodge – Loved, loved, loved. We were about to stop and pitch a tent for the night, when we came across this lodge. It’s near the East entrance and is often used as a base camp for backpacking trips. This is a tented camp setup which means it is rustic, but, the tents are spaced far enough from each other, they have cozy, wool blankies, and a wood burning stove. The restaurant on site is family style, so I found it to be a great way to meet some really interesting people and uncover tips on things to do. The dinners were so-so, but the breakfast was pretty awesome. If you need more togetherness with strangers, they have a fire pit in the middle of the property.

Key Tip: Ask for a tent along the river, or at the back of the property. Your chances of seeing a wild animal will increase and it will keep you away from the hustle and bustle of the shared, central bathrooms.

Curry Village – Oh what can I say about this place that will make it seem cool? Unfortunately, I can’t think of a thing except that it has been around since 1899. This was my least favorite spot in the Valley. Every time we walked on site, my skin crawled and I immediately was thrown into a funk. I think because it reminded me of a refugee camp (no offense to folks who have had that unfortunate experience). People everywhere, bad canned food, tents within 3 feet of one another – BOO. We stayed in one of the tented cabins that were so close together we heard every conversation going on around us. We were convinced that the brisket Greg had for dinner was labeled as meatloaf the night before.

Wawona Hotel and Spa – The guidebooks were right on this one. This quaint B&B located near the South entrance of the park is lovely. The wonderful thing about this place is that the property is quiet and you can grab a cocktail and/or a good book and relax on the porch. The potential drawback here is that half of the rooms have shared central bathrooms.  Unfortunately, we could hear we our 30 something neighbors playing video games at the crack of dawn. I think the lack of soundproofing in our room had to do with the fact that we did get the last room available and I am certain it was not the most desirable.

Housekeeping Camp – As you are driving down the main road to get to the end of the Valley towards Half Dome, you may notice a shanty town on the left hand side of the road. Well, that is not a shanty town people, it is the Housekeeping Camp. These places have 3 solid walls and essentially a plastic curtain used as a 4th wall. I actually really liked this place, despite the strange odor in the ‘tent’, the rampant beggar squirrels, and the fact you felt as though you were sleeping in a bunker. My affinity for it was most likely due to the fact that I thought it had character – it is located right on the Merced River, it has laundry facilities, you can cook at the campsite, there are fire pits, and you have your own covered seating area. It was like car camping without the tent as there was one double bed and a set of bunk beds included. If you don’t bring your own sheets, they have them for rent – cheap – like $2 to $5 a set.

Key Tip: Do request a ‘tent’ right on or close to the river and do not think you are going to get a shower at 7:00 pm at night. No way Jose – you will have to wait an hour in line – pick another time or go to bed with dirty feet.

When you go to Yosemite – and I think everyone should – ignore the crowds and find a way to enjoy the magnificent scenery at your finger tips. It is truly a special place. ENJOY!