Archive for Travel

Photo of a Pueblo in Taos NM

February 21, 2010 Family, General, Interesting, Travel No comments

Pueblo in Taos NM

Here is a nice photo of a “living” Pueblo in Taos, New Mexico. This Native American community still lives and works on this site, with the beautiful mountains in the background. This Pueblo has been here for over 1000 years.

Ryder was playing a drum near one of the “homes,” and the tourists thought he was one of the local Native Americans. One woman wanted to tip him. He thought it was funny and decided to play the part – he is such a ham.

We had a great time relaxing in Taos with the kids. The art galleries were incredible and the food was tasty.

After Taos, it was off to Sante Fe before heading back to Denver. We have other photos of the trip on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bignestegg/

Pancakes in Amsterdam

July 29, 2009 General, Interesting, Travel No comments
Tim Berry with Pannekoeken Met Stroop

Tim Berry with Pannekoeken Met Stroop

If you have not had the pleasure of eating a pancake in the Netherlands, then you are missing out on one of life’s little treats.

As I was planning my recent trip to Amsterdam, I started salivating just thinking about “Pannekoeken met Stroop.” While most tourists think about Dutch architecture, art museums, coffee shops, and the Red Light District, my mind was on just one thing – Pancakes!

For me, the best time to enjoy a Dutch pancake is mid-afternoon, but really I have yet to discover a bad time for them.  Seriously!

Ok, there are definitely other things to do while visiting Amsterdam.  For one thing, I got to catch up with a lot of my good Dutch friends.  During this recent trip, I was taken to some hard-to-find, locals hangouts (ones not listed in my Top 10 Guide to Amsterdam).  It was really fun as far as I remember…

There are a lot of great museums, including the Rijks Museum (my favorite), the Van Gogh Museum, and Stefelijk Museum.  There are many others, but I haven’t taken the time to visit them yet.  Whether you like art of not, you will feel deep inspiration when surrounded by paintings from the masters.

Another favorite of mine are the street performers.  The quality was down a bit during this trip, but overall they are quite enjoyable.  My favorite ones are the break dancers.  I have videos that I will be posting soon with plenty of entertaining performances.

Top 10 Things to Do in Amsterdam

Top 10 Things to Do in Amsterdam

Right now you can really save money when booking your trips. This particular trip was a last minute whim (or pancake craving) and I booked my hotel and flight less than one week prior to the trip.  The airlines showed my tickets ranging from $3000 – $23,000 round trip, however I was able to find a package deal on Expedia for just over $1000!!!

So what did this last minute travel package give me? Well, I stayed 6 days in a 5 Star hotel, plus I flew business class over the Atlantic and back (this is the same seating as First Class).  If I would have made reservations through the hotel’s internet site and the airline, I would have paid a minimum of $13,000 for this same package.   So I figure I have an extra $12,000 to use on my next trip, which looks like Costa Rica in a few weeks…


Summer in Telluride Colorado

July 15, 2009 Family, General, Life, Travel 2 comments
Telluride Summer

Telluride Summer

Since our Mexico vacation was cancelled due to the Swine Flu outbreak, we decided to do a family vacation roadtrip through Colorado and Utah.

We started by driving to Glenwood Springs, CO and staying in a cabin along the river in Glenwood Canyon.  We did some mountain biking along the river trail and also hiked the “most hiked trail in Colorado” to Hanging Lake.  This was a beautiful lake on the side of a mountain.  The hike was just over a mile to the lake, but the trail was steep with an average grade of 33%!!!

Next we drove to Ouray and stayed in a hotel along the river.  Ouray is known as “America’s Little Switzerland.”  This is an amazing place known for some of the world’s best ice climbing and jeep trails.

From Ouray, we drove around the mountain to Telluride, my favorite Colorado mountain town (and where I will probably end up once the kids are grown).  We stayed at the base of the gondola in a hotel that normally costs about $1200 per night in ski season for only $129 per night.  The gondola connects Telluride to Mountain Village by crossing over the top of the ski mountain – see the picture above from the top of the Gondola.  We just relaxed, ate good food, and enjoyed the laid back town of Telluride.

Finally, we headed west to Moab, Utah.  We had no idea how the kids would like the desert, but they loved it.  In fact, we stayed an extra 3 days.  The best part was that the kids conquered Slick Rock, the world famous mountain bike trail.  It is basically a solid world of exposed rock along a 12 mile trail.  Before  we left town, the kids had to get in one last ride.  Debra and I were shocked how great they did.

Family road trips are great and this one was one of our favorites so far.