Becky's Travels

WhirledPeas

I originally created this blog as a travel journal for my backpacking trip in Europe in May of 2006. Using the blog was such a positive experience--it became a log of my itinerary and allowed friends and family to follow me on my travels--that I decided to keep it going. My vacationing experience has evolved from traveling with friends to traveling with my husband to traveling with our children. I hope you enjoy reading about my travels, and please feel free to email me with any questions.



Travel Blog Posts


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WhirledPeas
April 10th 2012

Before setting out on our drive to the San Antonio Airport, we strolled along the boardwalk for a final goodbye to the beach. When we reached the end of the boardwalk, we chose to go down and comb the water's edge for more critters instead of staying on the boardwalk. The day before, Andrew and Gene had found live sand dollars on the beach, and I wanted to see them for myself. Unfortunately, the only ones we found today were dead. It was still interesting to see the creatures in all of their teal fuzziness instead of just the skeletons. The Sargassum seaweed still littered the beach. Carol told me that bulldozers come occasionally to push it all back into the dunes. I didn't find the seaweed to be a nuisance. Actually, I liked it because ... read more



Scoopy's

Published: April 11th 2012North America » United States » Texas » Corpus Christi
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WhirledPeas
April 9th 2012

After we put the kids to bed for the night, we gave Andrew's parents the sound monitor and ducked out to get some ice cream together. Our destination: Scoopy's. From North Padre Island, we headed to the causeway towards Corpus Christi. Just before going up on the bridge over the bay, there was an exit to the right. It was a little frontage road, unlit, that wound past some docks and under the bridge. There was ocean to the right of us and puddles of ocean to the left of us, giving it a swampy feel. As we drove under the causeway, we saw a restaurant with its name, Snoopy's, on the roof top. We pulled up and discovered that the restaurant was literally on the ocean. We walked next door to their sister restaurant--an ice ... read more



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WhirledPeas
April 9th 2012

Today's plans took us to the Texas State Aquarium. We drove back over the causeway from North Padre Island and into the heart of Corpus Christi. There were numerous souvenier shops and discount motels painted in bright colors. It reminded me of Mexico. Just off the shore of the bay was the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier from World War II that now remains afloat as a museum. Not minutes from the USS Lexington is the aquarium. To enter, we walked underneath a waterfall raining down onto a glass archway. Our first stop at the aquarium was the sea turtle exhibit. The turtles swam up to us! It was tempting to try to reach in and feel the turtles, but the signs warned that the turtles bite. Andrew told me they could easily severe a finger, ... read more



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WhirledPeas
April 8th 2012

After a dinner that included some delicous cheesy grits (they were actually quite good!), I stayed behind with Joanna while Oliver dyed Easter eggs outside. He dyed a dozen and a half eggs, and then they let him throw confetti eggs. Confetti eggs are real eggs that have their ends chopped off. The eggs are blown out of the shell, and the shell is filled with confetti and sealed with tissue paper. The whole thing is dyed in bright colors, and confetti explodes from them when they're thrown or (as it was described to me) cracked over people's heads. I asked if confetti eggs were a Southern thing. I was told they're more of a Hispanic thing. Colorado has a pretty large Hispanic population, but I've never seen confetti eggs. I'm not sure if I've just ... read more



Whitecap Beach

Published: April 8th 2012North America » United States » Texas » Corpus Christi
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WhirledPeas
April 8th 2012

After much anticipation on Oliver's part, we finally set out for Whitecap Beach this morning. Whitecap Beach is technically part of Corpus Christi, although it's over the causeway on North Padre Island, where we're staying. From the condo we rented (in the same complex as Andrew's aunt & uncle's beach condo), it's about a block and a half to the shore. When we reached the sand, I was surprised to discover vehicles parked up and down the beach. Many were parked within twenty or thirty feet of the water's edge. We had to hold Oliver's hand until we were right on top of the water because cars cruised by. I wasn't sure how I felt about the cars on the beach. On the one hand, Andrew's cousin was able to drive right up to the shore ... read more



Autumn in Colorado

Published: September 24th 2011North America » United States » Colorado » Georgetown
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WhirledPeas
September 24th 2011

Autumn comes early in the high country. The best weekends to go up and see the fall colors are the last weekend in September and the first weekend in October. One of the most scenic drives to look at the changing aspens is up Guanella Pass. You can get up to Guanella Pass by going through Georgetown, which is a cute little mountain town directly off I-70. If we wanted, we could have taken Guanella Pass all the way south to 285 and back home, but we didn't want to make the drive too long for our toddler son. Instead, we took the pass up for only a few miles to Clear Lake. The drive was gorgeous. None of the aspens were red yet, but the bright yellows and oranges contrasted beautifully against the green pines. ... read more



Wimberley, Texas

Published: March 23rd 2012North America » United States » Texas » Wimberley
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WhirledPeas
April 16th 2011

We took a very quick, two day trip to visit Andrew's extended famiy in Texas. The weather was perfect, and we felt right at home.... read more



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WhirledPeas
March 6th 2011

We woke up this morning to a beautiful view of North Beach. We quickly dressed and grabbed a free coffee and danish from the downstairs lobby of our Days Inn hotel. There were no guava danishes, only the usual selection of cheese, cherry and apple. I chose cherry. We took our breakfast with us to the shore (the hotel is on the beach). There were a few families splashing in the waves. Aminta and I decided we had to at least touch the ocean while in Miami, so we scampered to the shore line. Stasa pointed out a washed up, dead jellyfish to us and warned us to stay away. I would have no idea that it was a jellyfish if she hadn't pointed it out; it looked like plastic. We quickly spotted more jellyfish--half a ... read more



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WhirledPeas
March 5th 2011

I can't believe how much we've gotten to see and do in Miami in a short time. This afternoon, we met up with Andrew's cousin, Megan, for lunch at an Indian restaurant in downtown Miami. The food wasn't the best I've had (bharta is my favorite food, but theirs wasn't anything spectacular), but the company was the best. We enjoyed our meal together and then took a stroll north in search of a coffee shop. We found a cafe around 23rd and each ordered a coffee. We sat outside, sipping our drinks, sharing stories, when two black labs darted across the busy downtown streets toward us! The shop keeper came out and called them over. He started petting them, and they seem friendly, but then they tried to run back out into the street again. Drivers ... read more



Wynwood Art

Published: March 7th 2011North America » United States » Florida » Miami
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WhirledPeas
March 5th 2011

Stasa took us for a drive through Wynwood District in Miami. It's a Puerto Rican neighborhood that is very poor. It also has the most amazing graffiti art I've ever seen. We drove through a dozen streets that were covered in stunning portraits. Apparently, the art changes all the time, too. Here are some images from our drive. My favorite is the tattooed Mona Lisa.... read more






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