As you leave Santo Domingo it’s open fields with mountains all around you in the distance. Blue skies & sunny when we left… so clear we could see the top of the snow capped mountains.
Walked through green rolling hills. Hit a couple little towns. A sign on The Camino.
It’s unusually cold here for late May with temperatures in the 40′s & 50′s. 46 degrees today & light rain almost the whole way.
Made it to Belorado in 6 1/2 hours.
Walked out of the city & into a part that was like the metroparks, shaded tree areas with picnic tables, past streams. There was a pond with guys fishing.
Vineyards for days… that’s all I’ve been seeing lately. No mountains today… yay!!
Stopped in Nararrete for lunch (almost the halfway point).
With Najera in the distance, you could see snow capped mountains on the left & flat mountains on the right.
Walked 7 hours today.
The way started with rolling hills. It rained for the first hour. It’s been in the 50′s… good temp for walking. Passed lots of vineyards. Walked through a valley which was the coldest part of the day.
The dirt trail was intertwining with the road around the mountains. Once we reached the top & it straightened out we saw Vienna ahead. There were old stone churches & crescents in the main plaza, Plaza de Flores. Stopped at Cafe San Juan to rest.
5 hours of walking today we took a taxi to Logrono… it was about 9km away. Saw pilgrims walking the trail when it ran close to the road.
I’m getting more accustom to the terrain & the walking for hours.
Spent a whole day in Logrono. It’s full of narrow streets (similar to Pamplona), with cafes, bakeries, hotels & different shops. And plazas with massive stone churches, monuments & fountains.
Same trails… uphill & downhill. When you walk through the town of Cirauqui there a stand with a stamp to punch your pilgrim passport. The place you stay at (either hotels or alburgues) will stamp it. And when you stop at a bar/restaurant ask if they have a stamp – most of them do.
Passed lots of horses. When we reached the highest point it started raining so we had to break out the ponchos for the 1st time.
We walked by gardens & olive trees. Reached the town of Villafuerta & I was done. My feet were hurting so bad. I just wanted to rest them for a good hour but didn’t. Two full days of walking is the longest I’ve traveled.
Got to Estella & our hotel was allll the way on the other side of the city:(
I can’t tell you how everyone warned us that the 1st day is the hardest & IT IS! Walking through the mountains, uphill with a steep incline. You’re taking dirt paths, grass, rocky paths & some paved roads. The highest point was about 1400 km (850 feet).
We meet 2 girls, Erin & Alex who are from West Palm Beach & Boca Raton! So we started walking with them. I find all the walking to be easier when you start talking to someone – you walk faster & get further.
The Camino does a great job of guiding you in the right direction with lots of yellow arrows on trees & the camino shell either in the trail paths or in cement post. Also letting you know how many kilometers til the next restaurant or town. But… there was this one part that split off in 2 directions & Mark thought it was the one where the Camino guide from the Pilgrimage office told us to take the left path because it’s a more scenic route. And, it wasn’t the right path! We walked up & around this mountain, came to snow! It was the windiest, coldest path we’ve experienced so far… FREEZING! We walked down the mountain & luckily there was a family getting ready to hike the local trails so we stopped & asked them cause we we’re seeing any Camino shells. He pointed us back the mountain we had just came from! It was about an hour & a half to get back on the Camino.
Then the worst part was going down the mountain paths. It’s so steep, your toes are being pushed to the front of your boots. This is where all of us started hurting. My knees & feet hurt. Mark started getting blisters.
We got to our hotel at 7pm. Dinner was being served – a side salad with oil, local trout (bone in) & potatoes. This is how you lose the weight so fast on the Camino. The food is all local & fresh.
Total hours walking: 10 hours!! (And all the Camino people tell you 7-8 hours of walking. No one said they did it in that time.)
There are so many mansions on the ocean here in So Florida. It’s exciting to look at them, each one is so different & you see something new every time. We’ve seen them from the road driving by, on a boat from the ocean & we found a chopper ride specifically for looking at all the mansions from above so we had to do it.
This was our 4th ride in one. Our first trip together was to Miami & we rode in one there, then Grand Canyon out of Vegas & Hawaii twice. Mark loves choppers. I get kinda scared. I feel like I’m on a roller coaster… sometimes I can’t even look out the window cause I feel like something’s going to happen. Our pilot knew it & dropped the chopper down it almost gave me a heart attack! Mark knew all about the houses here… who lives where, what that person does for a living, who’s building what house…
We never knew this house was on it’s own lil island.
And here’s our faaaavorite house on the water.This picture doesn’t do it justice but it’s all glass in the back & that’s the guest house being built on the right…..You have no idea!!
We took Payton, Sam & Roslyn to Cedar Point for the day. We drove up there & spent the night at Great Wolf Lodge. We got there late & left after breakfast for Cedar Point so we didn’t spend that enough time there to go to the indoor water park that’s there.
I was so excited for everyone to ride all the roller coaster but I wasn’t going on them. I’m scared of ‘em :/ Mark, Payton, Sam & Ros went on all of them (Ros went on the ones she was tall enough to go on). There was the The Millennium Force, The Mantis, Power Tower, Corkscrew, Blue Streak (picture), The Raptor & The Dragster. Can I just tell you about the Dragster… I think it’s the highest, fastest roller coaster there. Mark & Payton went on it. It goes 120 mph & 420 feet in the air!!! All it is, is one straight shot in the air! I was scared for the people that were on it. Mark said some girl was crying getting on it. I went on one roller coaster, Iron Dragon (not that big of a roller coaster), Sky Ride, Bumper Cars (loved… it was so funny), Ferris Wheel & Wind Seeker (swings that go like 300 feet in the air).
One day was perfect. We spent 8 hours there with a Fast Lane pass so the wait to get on the rides was shorter. There’s also a water park in Cedar Point. If you want to do that too, I think you should get the 2-day passes with the Fast Lane.
It’s finally here…. we’re going to Disney World!! After trying to plan this for almost 8 months, trying to take Payton, Samantha & Roslyn to Disney for their Thanksgiving break, Christmas break & Spring break… this summer we’re all going to Disney World! I don’t know who’s more excited me or the nieces, Payton (11), Samantha (10) & Roslyn (8).
I went online to research all about Disney. I can’t believe all the different sites, books, groups… everything you can find online about Disney. It can get crazy … or people can go crazy planning a vacation here 
This is all the information & huge discounts I found to be helpful while planning our trip to Walt Disney World.
The Different Parks:
Walt Disney World is a total of 4 different parks; Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studio’s & Animal Kingdom (and 2 swim parks, Typhoon Lagoon & Blizzard Beach). Magic Kingdom is separated into 7 different themed sections: There are Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Liberty Square, Main Street USA & Mickey’s Toontown Fair (the favorite park of many grown-ups). Epcot is separated into 2 sections: Future World (mostly science) & World Showcase (small-scale walk around the globe). Hollywood Studios is themed around movies (rides). And Animal Kingdom is themed around animals but not a zoo (has rides, shows or live animal exhibit).
I found different guides for different age ranges for all the different parks (3-8 years old, Tweens 8-12 years old, Adults, Seniors & the Whole Family). This tells you what age appropriate shows, rides & things you should see & do. This will save you time in the park so you won’t just be roaming around not knowing what to see.
Hotels:
With all the Disney Resort Hotels I thought that was the only way to go. There are some “perks” of staying at them but I don’t see it that way as you’re going to pay around $300-$400 a night with you & your family in one “room” with a bathroom. I read some benefits to staying at a Disney Resort: 1. Extra Magic Hours 2. If flying in, Disney Magical Express Service (picks you up at the airport) 3. Babysit/Day Care Options 4. Guarantee theme park admission 5. Free parking 6. You get to buy Disney tickets with a “food plan” (Food plans include food cost for only certain things & the price comes out to about $30/day per child. We didn’t need this since I read & heard that you can bring food into the parks (and having a full kitchen I’m going to stock up on food & water in our room). We decided to stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort since we have points here. This resort is timeshares. So the rooms are like condos. The smallest room they have is a 1-bedroom which has a full kitchen & a washer & dryer in the unit. And you are in the Disney “gates” so it’s a quick (and free) shuttle ride to and from all the parks. I also booked my Mom a room here when she went last month. I contacted VacationStrategy and booked a 1-bedroom through them for under $100 a night (price depends on length of stay, season & size of the unit). And when she checked in all they had available was a 2-bedroom so she got that for no extra charge! Non-owners have the option to attend a timeshare meeting for an hour. If you have the time to do this one morning you will received a $100 American Express gift card.
You can also find rooms for Wyndham on EBay & VRBO.com (some other vacation rental sites). They are discounted, since you’re still going through personal owners & not the resort.
Tickets:
You can just get to Disney and get your tickets that day to walk right into the park. For us the best tickets were the 5-Day with Park Hopper (“Park Hopper” means you can go to more than 1 park per day). If we were to get them straight from Disney when we got there that ticket is $325 + tax. Florida tax runs about 7%. Since I belong to AAA, I called them to get their prices. A little bit cheaper $299.99 + tax for each adult (children ages 3-9 was $280.99 + tax).
Then I went searching on EBay and found tickets even CHEAPER! One woman was selling an adult 5-Day ticket with Park Hopper for $303 (and that INCLUDES tax). For a kids ticket it was $283 (that INCLUDES tax)! Not only that, she will ship your tickets to you for FREE in the U.S. She had the best deal so we went through her. On EBay I suggest you contact the seller before bidding or buying the tickets. She got back with me right away and was very helpful.
What to Pack:
I’m not packing for Payton, Sam & Roslyn, but it’s obvious Florida in June is hot & humid so bathing suits, shorts, tank tops & summer dresses for dinners. And comfortable shoes for walking (sandals, crocs, flip flops). You could be walking 5-8 miles a day! Here’s what I’ll be carrying around in my bag for anything we need: water, umbrella, sunscreen, bug spray, sanitizer, band-aids, tums & children’s Tylenol (kept in our room), chapstick, kleenex, hand wipes & gum.
Snacks:
You can bring food into the parks. I’ve read of people even bringing in coolers full of food. I’m just bring snacks that I can carry in my bag. My plan for snacks is keeping it some what on the healthier side. I made a list of some ideas… (not sure what I’m going to do and what the girls will eat): popcorn, organic string cheese, pita chips, bananas, nut/raisin trail mix packs, sunflower seeds, apples, strawberries, whole wheat pretzels, carrots. For stuff that needs to keep cool I plan on freezing our bottled waters & keeping the food in a bag with them.
I’ll let you know how it goes & what we LOVED & what you should definitely do when you take your trip to Walt Disney World.
