Adventure Tours Costa Rica—ATV’ing Riding ATV’s with my adult children is typically a must do activity when we travel. After researching different companies, I decided to book with Adventure Tours Costa Rica (ATCR). They had solid reviews, the going rate was about $95.00 US each for a three-hour guided tour with the destination point being …
Continue reading "Jaco, Costa Rica — ATV’ing (Part Five)"Costa Rica Waterfall Tours Part of Costa Rica’s allure is this idea of trekking through the jungle to find an exotic waterfall. Our group members were enamored with this thought, so I signed our group up for a guided tour (Costa Rica Waterfall Tours) through TripAdvisor. Our two English speaking guides arrived on time and …
Continue reading "Jaco, Costa Rica — Waterfall Tours (Part Four)"Overview The drive from San Jose to Jaco took approximately 1 1/2 hours. The two-lane narrow roads were surrounded on all sides by jungle flora and were clogged at times with buses, commercial trucks, and big rigs that meandered through the tropical terrain. Because the roads snaked through the steep mountain ranges, there were few …
Continue reading "Jaco, Costa Rica — Pura Vida Lifestyle (Part One)"Overview Turks and Caicos is an assault on every sense. Imagine you open your eyes after a restful nap lying on a comfortable deck lounger under an expansive white umbrella that opens to a broad blue horizon bordered by crystal blue calm waters: a shifting oceanic landscape complete with distant puffy clouds, black headed sea …
Continue reading "Turks & Caicos — Lounging in Paradise"San Ysidro (Crossing from America to Mexico) Parking near the San Ysidro border crossing was convenient and secure (for the most part). I found a parking place in Border Station Parking for $30.00 per day and made the walk across the San Ysidro bridge to the Mexico-USA border. The lights of Tijuana twinkled in the …
Continue reading "Crossing the Border–Rosarito, Mexico"Temple of Literature Located in the heart of the Old Quarter, this historical site dates back several thousand years and is the location of the first college. Within the brick walls surrounding the facility are large tranquil pools filled with koi fish and lotus flowers, well-manicured indigenous plants and trees, buildings containing statues of past …
Continue reading "Places to Visit in Hanoi (Temple of Literature, Museum of Ethnology, Hoa Lo Prison, Ngoc Son Temple)"Meydan Besiktas is the coolest hippest vibrant fun neighborhood we found while in Istanbul. It is located on the Asian side of the city and magically balances the traditional ancient architecture I came to expect in Istanbul with modern night life. Unlike Taksim Square, the throngs of mostly 20-30 year old hipsters crowded the narrow …
Continue reading "Meydan Beşiktaş–Istanbul’s nightlife mecca"The first night in Istanbul, I decided to walk the neighborhood and being searching for night life opportunities within a two-mile radius of the Double Tree Hotel Topkapi. You are probably thinking to yourself, “Why don’t you just look on the internet for suggestions?” Trust me, I did, and quickly learned COVID had decimated the …
Continue reading "Grand Makel Hotel Roof Top Bar"Traveling to Istanbul, Turkey happened on whim; a lark figuratively speaking. It was a Wednesday night, my friend and I were sitting at our usual table inside of the local pizzeria in Clovis, California having beers, a large mushroom and olive pizza when out of the blue the conversation turned to an acquaintance who was …
Continue reading "Istanbul, Turkey Here I Come…"Cabo San Lucas holds a special place in my heart. When my children were younger this was our last stop during a week-long Disney cruise. Our first stop on the cruise was Puerto Vallarta. In my experience, I was a little turned off by the touristy sections of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Not that Puerto Vallarta …
Continue reading "Cabo San Lucas reflections (Pueblo Bonito Sunset resort and Off roading adventures)"