This trip was for our 3rd Wedding Anniversary. We decided instead of buying each other things, we'd spend it on a get away. So after Luray Caverns, we stayed the night in Charlottesville so that we can explore the city some more. Charlottesville is where UVA is located at (University of Virginia). The campus is definitely something I wasn't used to seeing. A pretty campus indeed! John & I went wine tasting at Jefferson’s Vineyard, then headed off to Monticello the following day before heading back home.
On the drive up to Monticello! Thomas Jefferson's home. It was neat being able to go inside his house and his property. The house, compared to today's standards, wasnt the biggest, but Im sure back in the day it was a mansion! I imagined how life was like back in his days, no cars, travel by horses. Oh boy! The property was pretty and there was a farm and all these other agriculture related things. It started pouring for a good 15 minutes so we were stuck inside one of the little house around the property, before catching the bus back to the visitor center.
The caverns were breathe taking! I thought I’d feel claustrophobic in there, but it was surprisingly very big and spacious! The drive to Luray was like driving to nowheresville! Lol! I loved the drive through the Shenandoah Valley, but after that I just went to sleep.
And then toward the end, there were these wishing wells where a bunch of people had already thrown coins in.
It was a little chilly when we got down to the caverns! It was about a 2 hour tour of the entire cavern. The waters were so still, they looked like mirrors with the way the cavern was reflecting off of them! So beautiful! There was an organ/piano in the middle of the caverns and it started playing music. Pretty neat!! We didnt get to capture much pictures because we didnt realize that the memory card was full! Lesson learned, always check the memory cards and batteries!
And then toward the end, there were these wishing wells where a bunch of people had already thrown coins in.
Okay, so I said there weren't any pictures from the Swim with Dolphins we did, I decided I'd post a video with it on here from our youtube channel. :)
Our first time on a cruise! 5 days 4 nights on the Carnival Sensation. We drove to Port Canaveral, and whew! That was a long almost 12 hours drive! Totally worth it though! Our first stop was Freeport, Bahamas and then Nassau, Bahamas where we swam with Dolphins!! I recommend going on at least one cruise in your life time. This will definitely not be our last! We want to do a Disney Cruise in the future!
Nassau, Bahamas - It started to pour just before we got on the boat for Blue Lagoon where we had reserved for the Dolphin Swim. The boat was delayed for a few minutes, but we still got to the lagoon in time for our session! The session started with a brief 15 minute class informing us of what we should expect and the safety's. Swimming with the Dolphins was the highlight of this trip! Its been on my bucket list. I dont have pictures cuz John mostly took videos.
Freeport Bahamas - We didnt have anything specific planned except to wander and explore the island. It was gloomy at first, but the sun eventually came out. It was also super windy, but not chilly. The water was this aqua color. It was nice and warm, and very salty! For lunch, we grabbed some daquiris served in a coconut! It was delicious! We also tried some Conch ceviche and oh my goodness, I still crave it some times! I wish we had bought a whole tub of it and brought it home with us! It was that good!
Nassau, Bahamas - It started to pour just before we got on the boat for Blue Lagoon where we had reserved for the Dolphin Swim. The boat was delayed for a few minutes, but we still got to the lagoon in time for our session! The session started with a brief 15 minute class informing us of what we should expect and the safety's. Swimming with the Dolphins was the highlight of this trip! Its been on my bucket list. I dont have pictures cuz John mostly took videos.
Off to NYC we went again! This was my third visit to the city and I swear there's always something new to do. We went for New Years Eve with another couple (our housemates). They're foodies, so we did a lot of eating and trying new food, plus his cousin was showing us around, which helped! It was hard walking around cuz it was freezing and snowing! We only stayed until the day of New Years Eve because we didn't wanna join all the crazies and the large crowds! When we take a trip up to NYC, we typically stay in New Jersey and take the subway to Time Squares. Its such a hassle, but saves money specially during this time of the year!
I've always wanted to come to NYC during the winter! We walked around central park and watched the people ice skate at Bryants Park as well as the skaters at Rocafeller center! It was so magical with the snow falling! It was definitely the New York I've always watched on tv during the holidays!
This was our first time visiting the 9/11 fountain/Memorial, the first few times we went, these were all still under construction. I remember the first time we went, I cried behind the fences of the construction site. This time, the feelings were the same. They did amazing with the waterfalls. I had no words. I just stood there for a brief moment in silence.
One of my birthday gifts from John in 2012 was some outdoors fun. We went Stand Up Paddleboarding for the first time! I forgot where we did it, but it was somewhere in Virginia Beach at the Oceanfront area. I think it was closer to where the light house is. Anyway, we did a 2 hour paddle board along a lake, which was cool because I didnt have to worry about waves. Our instructor was from California and so he told us stories from when he was working out in Pacific Beach! No one fell, thank goodness! I remember it being scorching hot though and wanted to jump in the water just because!
Here's another video diary i'd like to share! It was from our first long hike out east!
It's a little long because its an actual 'vlog.' For more videos visit our channel: adventuresofejje.
Cedar Run / White Oaks Trail:
6.5 hours of hiking, waterfalls and natural water slides. It rained on us in the middle of our hike and for a few minutes we were lost and I was so scared because I didn't know if we’d make it out. It got so dark in the woods because of the clouds and rain. Branches were falling off and hitting the ground, we were basically dodging them. We walked near a deer, but luckily didn't see any bear like the rest of the people did. I never thought id be excited to see our car after that! It was a fun experience nonetheless. The views from the top were awesome. We met some cool people who lead us in the right direction.
I took John out for some nature fun and zip lining adventures for his birthday. This was when we first started to document our travels and adventures via 'vlogs' and its also how we came about the name (& now hashtag) 'Adventures of EJJE'... it was originally our youtube name. I haven't kept up with the vlog. I used to do daily ones, but work and life got in the way! Ha! Now I just upload travels. Vlogs <-- click here for more videos.
This was both our first time out here and zip lining! I was nervous but excited at the same time! We had to go through several tree top course, some were harder than others, and at the end of each course we ziplined our way down to do it all over again. The last course ended with a 600ft zip line through the woods! It was a fun experience and I definitely wanna try a higher one in the future!
Took a trip to Colonial Williamsburg for the first time when my dad came to visit us. I felt like I traveled back to the 1800's or something! There were people in costumes, and a canon show. It was like being inside a history book for a quick moment!
This trip was for our 2nd Wedding Anniversary, and it was magical! We started our trip with a 10 hour drive to Orlando! Whew! Our first park was Magic Kingdom on the day of our actual anniversary. We wore matching ‘Mr & Mrs’ shirts and Mickey and Minnie ears as you can see in the pictures. We had a lot of compliments that day and congratulations (they thought we just got married, lol). It was pretty neat, I felt all the love. We even got those cute anniversary pins! :)
Day 2 was Animal Kingdom. My favorite was the safari ride and seeing the Giraffe real close! I got a kick out of trying to find all of the characters at Animal Kingdom!
Day 2 was Animal Kingdom. My favorite was the safari ride and seeing the Giraffe real close! I got a kick out of trying to find all of the characters at Animal Kingdom!
Took a quick day trip to the Outer Banks (OBX), North Carolina. It wasn't too far from where we lived, maybe an hour to an hour and half drive. We went during the spring so it wasn't as crowded as it would be if you went during the summer. We mainly stayed in the Corolla area.
John & I took a quick trip home for our housemates wedding. They're from San Diego too. So while we were there, we took the opportunity to visit John's family in Las Vegas and took a quick drive to Hoover Dam with my family. It was our first time at the dam, pretty interesting! On our way back to Vegas, we got lost and ended up in Arizona! Haha! We eventually figured it out.
These were from 2010 and 2011 - Our first visit to the nation's capital was back in 2008, and I have no idea where the pictures are.
^^ November 2010 - I wasn't used to the cold at this time and I was so not dressed for it!
This isn't our first trip to Disneyland, but I cant seem to find any of the ones from all the previous years we went. This trip was after our wedding and we took our family who was visiting from Australia. They were all so excited because it was their first time in America.
Edited (March 27, 2015) --
I FOUND THEM!! I was looking through my extran hard drives for other pictures and ended up finding them!
I think this trip was our first trip to Disneyland together. Circa 2005? I cant remember. But we went with John's family for Josh's birthday. Yes! Wait I do remember. This trip was a few days after my first major car accident! My mom wasn't gonna let me go, but I was all better by then so I insisted on going. Im glad I did. I remember it being such a fun trip!
