Málaga: El Comienzo de una Adventura en España

On March 6, 2017March 17, 2017 By apadams223In European Travel2 Comments

Towards the end of June 2016, Scott and I took our first transatlantic flight as a couple and traveled to the Southern coast of Spain. We met his mother, grandmother and little sister there for a week of exploring El Costa del Sol before continuing on to Ibiza, Paris and London just the two of us. While in Southern Spain we visited several cities including Málaga, Gibraltar, Ronda, and Cádiz. Since Málaga was our home base during this portion of the trip, it seemed only fitting to start the “Spain Series” here.

After a full day of travel, Scott and I were the first to arrive in Málaga. We disembarked from our plane, painstakingly collected our rental car without assistance, and drove straight to the beach in our travel clothes. We parked on the side of a crowded city street that bordered the Mediterranean ocean, changed into swimsuits in the back seat of our tiny, black Euro-car, and walked barefoot straight into the ocean. We were exhausted but couldn’t wait another minute to feel the Spanish sun and the spray of the ocean.

During the short time we had to ourselves before our family arrived, Scott managed to burn himself to an extent that I hadn’t yet seen. The picture below hardly does it justice, I guess his Pacific Northwest skin wasn’t prepared for the intensity of the Mediterranean.

After I realized how red he was getting, we decided to cover up and hit a beach cafe. Right next to where we had left our rental car was a cafe with crepes and gofres (Spanish for waffles). We sipped on cafe con leche and fresh orange juice while I attempted to order from the waitress in Spanish. I quickly realized how much work my conversation skills were going to need if I was going to continue to order things at small, authentic establishments such as this one. Something that was most surprising to me, was how much your foreign language skills will improve in just a week.

Finally, the rest of our group arrived and we could see the resort which would become our home for the week to follow. Scott’s grandma had a timeshare with two bedrooms, a kitchen and a TV that played nothing but international news. We were forced to follow the events of Brexit more closely than we wanted to. There was a lovely courtyard and a refreshing swimming pool which would become our favorite place to end a day of touring.

The view from the back patio of our timeshare

Standing in the courtyard of our hotel ready for our first day of exploring

On this first day of exploring our home-for-the-week, we walked to a near by beach called Calahonda. Raynie (Scott’s little sister) and I, were dazzled by bright red flowers that lined the streets leading to the ocean.

We found a rocky beach hidden down a gravel path where locals brought their small children to play.

Twice during our time in Málaga, we drove the short distance to the neighboring town of Marbella to visit the luxurious Puerto Banús. This marina/shopping area was described by our concierge as “a place for the rich and famous”. Sure enough, there were more designer clothing and jewelry stores than I could count and six figure European sports cars everywhere. There was a marina filled with the most impressive yachts I’d ever seen (until visiting Ibiza later in this trip) and women walking around with their men carrying dozens of their shopping bags.

Our first visit to this bustling boardwalk included a meal out to Pizzeria Picasso (recommended by the aforementioned concierge). We ordered rich and delectable drinks and a few unique and exciting pizzas and watched the wealthy stroll by on the streets.

13507100_10209780302570421_6879456585660207066_n — Posing on a patio in Puerto Banús

13524438_10209780296450268_829646167995693550_n — Waiting for some crazy milkshakes to show up at Pizzeria Picasso

Our second visit to Marbella involved a classic favorite: Hard Rock Cafe. We enjoyed some American food while ordering in Spanish.

Finally, we took Scott’s family back to the beach and the cafe we visited on our first day after our flight. Scott’s mom, sister and grandmother (with a little extra convincing) went swimming in the Mediterranean ocean for the first time.

Stay tuned for posts about our excursions to the other Spanish cities during this week and tales from Ibiza, Paris and London after that. Our 2016 trip to Europe is part of what inspired this blog and I’m so excited to finally be sharing these stories with you all.

-Lexi

Note: About half of these photos were taken by Scott as usual, but the other have were taken by his mother, Tonie Jenkins 🙂

Taking Alaska Inland

On February 20, 2017February 20, 2017 By apadams223In U.S. Travel3 Comments

As promised, this post chronicles the second half of our Alaskan adventure. After disembarking from our cruise ship one last time, we traveled by bus and train throughout the vast and wild landscapes of Alaska. We visited Anchorage, Fairbanks and Denali State Park and were humbled by the wildlife and picturesque landscapes to be found here.

Most of the transportation in Alaska has to be done by air. We were told that the majority of Alaskan citizens get their pilot’s license as Washingtonians get there driver’s license: at age 16. Regardless of where we went, we saw tiny airports and water ways crowded with personal aircrafts.

We, however, took our first long trip on a passenger train through historical mining and Native lands. We were served meals and cocktails as we peered through a glass dome ceiling at the landscapes beyond.

Scott’s dad, Tracy, and his girlfriend, Cindy, taking in the sights.

Scott was able to get some great shots through the glass walls of the train.

Eventually, we needed a better view, so we took to the caboose and felt the invigorating speed of the train and the terrain whooshing by.

In addition to the breathtaking wilderness, we were also awestruck by some man-made marvels throughout this stretch of countryside.

Our next excursion was a bus tour through Denali State Park which was my favorite part of the inland portion of this trip (even though I was car sick on the bus). We caught glances of moose, caribou, fire weed (a purple wild flower that grows rampant throughout Alaska), ground squirrels, and ptarmigan (Alaska’s state bird).

After trekking through the state park, we had a guided river boat tour which took us through a sled dog training camp and a reenacted Native American village. We watched sled dogs howl with excitement as they go to pull their trainer on an ATV, saw Natives in their traditional homes and garb, and even saw a few more caribou. We also tasted some of the BEST smoked salmon dip we’ve ever had. We are still kicking ourselves for not buying a case of the salmon that was in it.

One of the coolest parts of this trip was experiencing the extended daylight hours that Alaskans experience during the summer months. We would be out sitting by a fire or drinking beers in lawn chairs until 4AM and have ABSOLUTELY no idea. This is how we spent our final night of the trip, drinking on a patio watching a river flow by with a “LOVE ALASKA” sign in the background, and then proceeded to have one of the worst flights of our life back to Seattle the next day (hungover flights are something I would not recommend).

Next time we visit “The Last Frontier”, which we will definitely do again in this lifetime, we will be hunting for those Northern Lights.

-Lexi

Cruise Ships, Helicopters, and Trains! Oh My!

On February 9, 2017February 9, 2017 By apadams223In U.S. Travel, Uncategorized3 Comments

I’ve been excited to write about our cruise to Alaska (summer of 2015) for a LONG time. Alaska was really never on my list of must-see destinations, and yet, it was one of the most stunning and wild places I’ve ever seen.

We began this journey by flying to Vancouver, BC and getting on a MASSIVE cruise ship.

We ran through this ship like kids in Disney Land. There was a casino, multiple restaurants, a spa, an art gallery, multiple pools and hot tubs, and very few places to get away from the multitude of patrons aboard this vessel. Our serenity became the small balcony attached to our room from which we saw puffins, dolphins, humpback whales, seals, bald eagles and some of the most vibrant sunsets I can remember (Scott took a lot of photos of me watching the sunset).

The itinerary for this cruise included stops in Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Skagway, Hubbard Glacier, and Seward. We then took a train inland to Anchorage, Denali State Park, and Fairbanks. This was an adventure TRULY based around visuals (and good company)! We spent so much of our time cruising, flying, riding or touring and never got bored of the sights and views of this amazing terrain.

In Ketchikan, we saw our first several eagles. We never thought we would get sick of seeing these powerful birds, but they are EVERYWHERE in this part of our country!

Almost as plentiful as the wildlife, is the Native American history. Since we were traveling with a big group of Natives (Scott’s dad and family), we spent a lot of time exploring sights like the one below.

Icy Strait Point was the one place we visited that we hadn’t hear of AT ALL. This is just more proof that word of mouth doesn’t always reach the best destinations. We had some beers on the rocky beach and took a ride on one of the largest, single zip-lines in the world.

The zipline allowed us to sore through the air above pine trees that scraped the sky. After this feeling of being on top of the world, we were incredibly humbled by the size and power of humpback whales. We were lucky enough to have a whole pod breeching, playing and putting on a show for us.

In addition to fulfilling my bucket list item of flying in a helicopter, our next stop in Juneau allowed us to walk on the jaw-dropping Mendenhall glacier and taste blue waters from the icy source.

standing on the glacier in our ice boots with glacier silt on our cheeks

As opposed to the Mendenhall glacier which we saw via helicopter as it snaked in between mountains, the Hubbard glacier can only be fully appreciated via ship and drops off into the frigid waters of the North. We watched from the deck of our cruise ship as seals dove from floating chunks of ice. We were startled by deafening cracks splitting the crisp air as pieces of the glacier broke away and crashed into the sea. Scott took some of my favorite photos while his family and I stared on in awe.

For the remainder of this journey, we said bon voyage to our cruise ship and traveled inland by train and bus. I believe that this portion of the trip warrants it’s own post as there are so many stunning photos of wildlife and scenery. For now, I leave you with a preview of our train and picture of us waiting for the ZipLiner.

-Lexi

P.S. isn’t my fiancé amazing at capturing these moments?! Going back through these photos makes me so proud of him. What a boss. The header photo for this story is one of my absolute faves!

A Christmas Trip to Colorado

On February 7, 2017February 7, 2017 By apadams223In Uncategorized3 Comments

This is, first and foremost, a travel blog. Throughout the three years for which we have been attached at the hip, we have been traveling. It seems only right that the first blog post would go way back to our first year together when the traveling began.

After Scott graduated from WSU in May 2014, he began a second Bachelor’s degree at Colorado State University and thus began a long distance relationship between us. During the year that we were apart we took many trips to several cities throughout the Pacific Northwest and the Midwest. The most eventful of these trips was our holiday adventure in Colorado which included stops in Fort Collins, Denver and Copper Mountain.

Upon my arrival in Colorado, Scott took me to the Denver aquarium, Six Flags and even the Denver zoo.

This is the first (and, so far, last) time I saw an aquarium with a HUGE tiger exhibit. I cannot explain the shock we felt after walking through an exhibit with sharks, barracudas, rays, and eels straight into a relatively small and damp room with two MASSIVE Siberian tigers right in the middle of it. It was the closest I’ve gotten to a tiger and the most surprised I’ve ever been to see one!

After our days of tourism in Denver, we engaged in one of our favorite pastimes: walking around “Old Town” in Fort Collins and getting just a little bit drunk. One of our favorite spots was called La Luz (http://laluzgrill.com) because we are suckers for Mexican food and a strong Margarita! If you’re ever there, get a Pomegranate Marg, trust me.

After Fort Collins we went to spend Christmas with Scott’s family in a rented ski cabin (more like ski mansion) on Copper Mountain.

This would be a place of many firsts: our first Christmas together, Bagool’s first candy cane bone, and my first time skiing. Day one of skiing: AWESOME! I’M A NATURAL! A SKIING PRODIGY!! Day two of skiing (after the runs were groomed and the skiing was much faster): Definitely not a natural, the soreness is unreal. The was also a very special Christmas because it was my first and last Christmas with Scott’s cousin, Adam, who we lost to a car accident in May of last year. Luckily, he comes up again in this adventure 🙂

We spent our first New Years wandering Old Town once again. We should have known that ALL of the restaurants would be full and we would be starving after a few cocktails. Out of pure luck we stumbled into a crazy good seafood restaurant and they had a reservation cancellation for two. We would not get to order off of the menu but would have to go with the pre-set couples meal. We agreed and have ZERO regrets! We tried true caviar for the first time and sampled lobster, crab, and some bomb vino. Would definitely recommend Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar (http://www.jaxfishhouse.com/fort-collins/).

Not only did we get to spend Christmas with Adam, we all got to go to our first game at Mile High Stadium!

This would not be the last time that Scott and I decided to squeeze in one more activity before one of us had to catch a flight. My flight back to Washington had to be rescheduled due to good beers, good company and a TERRIBLE loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the play-offs! Luckily, we are true Seahawks fans and the Broncos are only our #2 team, but when in Rome, right?

Eventually, I will be more up-to-date with my posts and not reliving old memories, but for now I am loving taking you all back to 2014 where it all began.

-Lexi

Adams Adventures

Author: apadams223

Málaga: El Comienzo de una Adventura en España

Taking Alaska Inland

Cruise Ships, Helicopters, and Trains! Oh My!

A Christmas Trip to Colorado