Tag Archives: Travel

Punta Cana 2009

“The Tradition Continues”

This post is definitely late given that we returned from Punta Cana on July 18th. Busy times lead to prioritization of efforts…the Wykleville blog has taken a back seat. Needless to say, the trip was a hit! As can be seen in the above picture, only two couples (Wykles and Noltings) from the 1st annual adult vacation were able to make it. The Robertsons had family related issues that precluded them from attending the 2nd annual trip. However, in an effort to keep the tradition alive, a flat version of Tina and John made the trip. The “Flat Robertsons” had a blast also! You can see their escapades in a separate photo album here.

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Given the great success of last year’s trip, the group decided to return to the same resort Grand Palladium Punta Cana Resort and Spa in the Dominican Republic. The resort was the same and the weather cooperated perfectly, with only 30 minutes of total rain fall during our 7 days. The following pictures are a few shot from our first evening in Punta Cana.

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Before leaving the mainland, we decided that we would again go on the Saona Island excursion due to the immense fun that we had last year. We were not disappointed, as the trip proved again that it was a nice distraction from the daily resort laziness. Our videographer turned out to be the same guy from the previous year. Ricardo claimed to remember us from the previous year…I’m not completely convinced, but it made for a cool instant connection.

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This year we decided we would try and venture out and meet some other vacationers. We were quite successful and met many nice Canadians and a group of brothers from England. Here are a couple of pictures of our new vacation friends.

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Conclusions – The second year was as memorable and delightful as the trip last year. We left the island vowing to make the trip again next year. The 7 days of rest and relaxation is therapeutic for both Shelley and I. After 11 years of marriage and kids, it is easy to loose ourselves in the day to day grind and forget about what made us who we are. Love, fun, and sun for us all!!!

To the Capital We Go!

Given our close proximity to our Nation’s capital while in Maryland attending Corey and Jodi’s wedding, the Wykles decided to make a detour to DC. After the ceremony on Saturday we grabbed Nana and hopped in the van and headed south toward Obama headquarters. It took about 2 hours to arrive at our hotel in Alexandria, VA. Shelley had booked us in the Washington Suites. It turned out to be a older apartment building that had been converted into a hotel. Our room included a full two bedrooms, two baths, and fully functional kitchen. The kitchen appliances were circa 1970’s, but functional and came in very handy to prepare the quick snacks and a few diners.

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Our first day touring was Sunday. We hopped the Metro blue line at the Van Dorn Street station. 45 minutes later and we arrived at the Smithsonian stop. We decided to start off with the Gray Line double-decker bus tour. We hopped the bus at stop #3 on Constitutional Ave and jumped off at the Lincoln Memorial.

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The tour took about 2 hours to see most of the popular DC sites. The weather was gorgeous! The next stop took us to the Natural History Museum. We also met up with a HS friend (and family) of Shelley’s that happened to also be traveling through the area. Both families strolled casually through looking at all of the cool exhibits.

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The first full day of touring took at a lot out of the troops. Here is what a full day of sight seeing can do to a person.

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The second day of touring started off with a great start. We set up a guided tour of the Capital through Representative Davis’s (R-KY) office. Intrestingly enough, the intern that was assigned to give our tour was a former student of Shelley’s…what a small world!

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After the Capital tour, we headed to the American History Museum. Next we hit the Crime and Punishment Museum. Lastly, to round out the day we ended up at Madame Tussauds Was Museum. The kids (and adults) enjoyed this attraction the most. The figures are unbelievably realistic.

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Corey and Jodi Get Hitched

Last weekend, the Wykles made a trip to Hagerstown, Maryland to attend the wedding of my brother Corey Morgan and his lovely finance Jodi Bowman. We left early on Friday to make the 7.5 hour car trip to Hagerstown. The trip was uneventful as expected. The ceremony was planned to be a small and intimate with only immediate family and a few close friends. On Friday evening we all headed over to Corey and Jodi’s house to check out all of the byproduct of all of the sweat/tears that has been invested in their 1920’s home. After a tour, the group headed out for dinner and then back to Corey/Jodi’s house to unwrap some wedding gifts.

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Saturday arrived and the big day was here. We got moving early and decided to get a little exercise prior to heading over the ceremony. The kids hit the pool and Shelley and I tried to keep up with a little treadmill and P90X action. Needless to say, we didn’t execute our timing as we had hoped. We were late leaving the hotel and didn’t realize that the ceremony was 30 minutes away from Hagerstown. Time to drive like a bat out of hell! We arrive at what we thought was 20 minutes late at the Purple Iris at Hartwood in Martinsburg, WV. Thankfully, we made it in plenty of time and a service didn’t kick off until shortly after 12 PM. Whew! That would have been a had one to live down.

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The venue was beautiful and the weather was picture perfect. The couple provided a string trio for everyone’s musical enjoyment. The ceremony was an outdoor service and was delivered in an expedient fashion. The ceremony was officiated by Pastor Debra and featured a hand fasting ritual.

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After the ceremony many pictures were taken of all of the attendees. I have included a few of my own that were taken along side the professional photographer. Many more can be located in the photo album.

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To wrap up the perfect day, the couple hosted a lunch reception inside the beautiful Hartwood Mansion. Ordeuvres were served and the attendees were encouraged to sign the guest plate. The plate will capture all of the signatures and will be fired in order to preserve the memory.

Glacier National Park

I was in Spokane this week attending a meeting at Itron headquarters. A few of us decided to head into Montana (4 hour drive) to visit Glacier National Park in Northwest Montana. It is another breathtaking national park that I will recommend to anyone looking for an all inspiring trip. We left early Friday morning and headed towards the park. We checked into the McDonald Lake Lodge and then did a quick hike on Avalanche Lake trail.

Avalanche Lake Trail: It was a nice 1.9 mile trail and ended up at a lake that is created by snow melt. Avalanche Lake has an exit that runs down toward McDonald Lake. As shown below, the water is running with considerable force and has cut trough solid rock. Really cool color that is created by pulverized rock minerals.

The next morning we got moving early and headed over Logan pass to the Many Glacier area. About 9:30am we started a 4.9 mile hike into Iceberg Lake.

Iceberg Lake Trial: This trail starts at Swiftcurrent and leads you 4.9 miles Northwest heading towards the Ptarmanigan Wall. I’m not sure of the change in altitude during the hike, but it was quite gradual. The weather could not have been better. 60-70F during the accent and 70-80F during our travels back. The total round trip travel time was approximately 5.5 hours. As you can see by the pictures below, the views are incredible and well worth the effort.

After the Iceberg hike, we hopped in the car and drove back to Spokane.

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Trip from HELL!

It has taken me 24+ hours to recover and get up enough gumption to write about the Wykle’s most recent road trip to visit Nagi and JPop in Orlando.

June 11 – We started the day off like a well oiled machine. Everyone was up and ready for our early start and left the house by 5 AM. This would clearly allow us to make it to Orlando by 7 PM. Everyone piled in the car and off we went down interstate 75 heading south. Shelley, Natalie, and Eli where all snuggled up in their blankets sleeping away while I was focused on navigating the sparse traffic until the sun broke the horizon. About 1-1/2 into the predicted 14 hour trip, a loud “POP!” broke the drone of the grooved pavement. Quickly the sinking “thmp thmp thmp” sound echoed through the cabin. FLAT TIRE! I jumped out and swapped the donut for the flat with a 3″ gash in the middle of the tread. This isn’t starting off to a good start.

Given that it was only 6:30AM it was obvious that it was going to be hard to find a tire repair shop. We decided to keep heading south on the donut and look for a Walmart later in the morning. We sped along keeping our eyes pealed once the clock hit 8. We found a Walmart Super Center in Knoxville that would be our savior. 45 minutes later we had a new Goodyear and upbeat spirits.

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Fast froward 11 hours…

The GPS was reading only 65 miles left to salvation. Then it happened at 70 miles an hour. The van lurched and then the engine revved. I quickly noticed white smoke coming from under the hood. I quickly pulled the van onto the shoulder and rolled to a stop. Upon lifting the hood, white smoke bellowed from the engine compartment. Their were signs of liquid all over the right hand side of the engine. Something had given way and spewed liquid and then quickly turned to steam under the heat. We made a few calls and decided to try and make it to the next exit only a 1 mile away. The van started right up and made it to the exit. After talking with a few of the locals, we landed in a Wendy’s parking lot with a toe truck on the way. Nagi met us and we loaded what we could into her van and then had the car hauled to Blount Honda in Leesburg. The whole ordeal ended when we pulled into 380 Hamocks Dune Place at 10:45PM. 17:45 minutes after the start of our trip.

June 12 – We just received a call from the service manager at Blount Honda. “Full transmission failure” is the diagnostic code that has been determined from the “all knowing” computer. The only option at this point is to put a new rebuilt transmission into the 2004 Honda Odyssey with only 80K miles.

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You can guess how this news was received. Holy S#$T and we will not have a van until next Wednesday. We are going to be stranded and out nearly $5,000!

The real shame in this whole fiasco is my utter disappointment in Honda’s failure with this van. This was the 4th Honda that Shelley and I have owned over the years. Up until now all of the vehicles have been worry free and only require PM and the scheduled maintenance. I have 165K on my 2001 Accord and we also got 190K out of another 1990 Accord. We pay more for Honda’s because we expect more. I will now have to seriously think about our next purchase given our new found experience with Honda.

This last picture says it all.

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The Grand Canyon

I was in Phoenix this week attending the American Gas Association trade show for work. After I could take no more of the classes and demonstrations, a group (Nicole, Scott, and I) decided to make a run to the Grand Canyon. On Thursday morning we got up at 5:00 AM (8 EST) and left for the Canyon. It took us a little over a 3.5 hours to get there and the temperature dropped 30 F. The entry point for the Canyon is at 7500 ft and was a little overcast with a fair bit of wind to go along.

All I can say is WOW! Not much can prepare you for the overwhelming size and beauty. The pictures do not do it justice, but I still will post a few here. You can see the album for more.

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