Travel day back to Havana and the United States! Kirsten gave everyone an 8 am call to be ready and packed. And to our surprise, the minors were packed and ready. We had breakfast and waited for our 9 am ferry. Trying not to sweat our butts off. We had texted our cab driver who took us to the port on Wednesday to confirm that he could still take us to Havana. We got nothing from him so Kirsten got the receptionist to book us a taxi to the Havana Airport. We were still worried that our original guy might show up and were relived to not see his car when we got to the parking lot. Our new driver had Megan’s name and our room numbers on a piece of paper and we were excited ... read more

All our meals at this all-inclusive resort were buffets. We could handle that for three days. What we didn’t realize is that it was going to be the same exact thing each time. Not just the same type of food, but the actual food from the previous meals (leftovers). Breakfast was eggs made to order. So we had omelets with ham and cheese every day. The fresh fruit was awesome: pineapple, mango and bananas went fast. There were many things we just couldn’t bring ourselves to try. The meat sat out unrefrigerated by the grill and the following meal it was cooked and the third meal it was cut into smaller pieces. The bread would get more stale with every meal. The challenge became finding the 1 or 2 foods items that were new to that ... read more

Today was another travel day. We were up early as our driver arrived at 8 am to take us to Viñales. We have been told it is anywhere from a two to four-hour trip. The good thing was that most of our luggage including backpacks fit in the trunk of our car, but we had no A/C. So everyone had a seat for the trip. The drive was long and slow in the old car. The old cars are nice to look at, but when every trip you take is in an old, uncomfortable car, the novelty wears off. The backseat has springs and cloth to cover them and nothing else. While Chester was sitting high on the hog in the front seat, Megan, Riley and Kirsten had springs up their butt and bounded to the ... read more

First full day in Cuba. With our Air BnB, for a few extra dollars, Lidia will cook us breakfast! Yes. Scrambled eggs, toast and fruit make for a good meal. Kirsten has booked a guide and driver. Edinson is our guide and Michael is our driver. It is a little tight in the back seat, but the four squeeze into a blue Ford from the 50s that Michael found and restored to working condition. In restored we mean make run. The front seats were 2 bucket seats from a late 90’s Toyota. Like every old car in Cuba it definitely had a stereo system. And maybe some added electric windows. There’s no A/C, but we were not in the car that much. Basically, Kirsten and Chester would sit with one cheek on the seat, while Riley ... read more

After a year's hiatus from the blog, we are off on a new adventure and we are taking some virgin travelers (get your mind out of the gutter) for their high school graduation gift. Kirsten's niece Riley and her best friend Megan are traveling with us to, wait for it....... CUBA!!!!!!!!!!!! We are spending a week touring the Caribbean island that is still stuck in the 50's. Planning has not been easy with their limited internet access and they do not accept US money, so we are hiding Canadian dollars in every crack and crevice. Travel has only recently opened up for Americans to the island, so we are hoping to get the full taste of the culture before the Western timeshares take over the landscape. We will not likely be able to update the blog ... read more