vacation Archives - Letterbox on the Lane

Jackson is 12!

Jackson turned 12 this year, and he’s now a 2nd Class Scout. Watching him grow up while we’ve been on the move has been one of the great joys of this season of life.

Adding Color to My Life

This year I continued to practice calligraphy and dabbled with watercolors – making cards and posters for my family, colleagues, and friends. I’ve been photographing the process and sharing it in a few places:

Pinterest: Letterbox on the Lane
Instagram: @letterboxonthelane
Etsy: Letterbox on the Lane shop

I’ve been learning so much, and honestly, just having fun with it.

We Traveled — A Lot

Christmas at Home

In February, Jackson and I flew to Phuket, Thailand for the Chinese New Year holiday. We stayed at the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa and had a genuinely lovely visit. The only rough patch? Leaving — it seemed like everyone else in Phuket was trying to fly out at the exact same time we were.

Spring Break: New Zealand and Australia

In March, we took advantage of being “in the neighborhood” and flew to New Zealand and Australia for Spring Break. Here’s how that trip unfolded:

Flew into Auckland, picked up a rental car, and drove down to Rotorua, where we visited a Kiwi conservation park and saw real kiwi birds.
Drove on to Wellington, stopping along the way at my favorite chocolate shop in Greytown — Schoc Chocolates, if you’re ever in the area.
In Wellington, we caught up with old friends, toured Weta Cave, and — because I’m that person — checked out the local grocery stores.
Flew down to Dunedin to look for glow worms and penguins. It was there that I learned we had lost Aunt Darlene. It’s strange how a trip full of wonder and a piece of hard news can land in the very same place. I’ve carried both with me since.
Flew back to Auckland to squeeze in a visit to Hobbiton before heading home.

It was, once again, an amazing trip — until it was time to leave. We hit heavy traffic on the way back into Auckland and missed the rental car return window before the location closed. Our flight home was the next morning, so I figured I’d return the car at the airport location instead. Two problems with that plan: it wasn’t open yet, and it turned out to be several miles from the airport. A fitting end to a very “us” kind of trip.

A Cruise to Nowhere

We managed to squeeze in one more adventure — a Disney Cruise sailing out of Singapore. It was a “cruise to nowhere”: three days at sea with no port stops, just sailing out and back. Simple, and surprisingly fun.

Heading Home for the Summer

By summer, it was time for the big transition. I packed up the house and said goodbye to our life in Indonesia, where we’d lived for four years — the longest I’ve stayed in one place in as long as I can remember, and the longest Jackson has ever lived anywhere.

Jackson went to visit his dad, and I helped my cousin Kelly clean out Aunt Darlene’s house, spent time with my dad, Jerry, and Josh. It was the first time I’d seen my older two boys together in about 14 years — a moment I’m still a little in awe of.

The Road Trip

I picked Jackson up in Charleston, and from there we hit the road for the Smoky Mountains. Highlights included Dollywood, the Titanic Museum, and — I can’t stress this enough — an unusual number of bear sightings. We met up with Kelly and Shawn a few times that week, spent a day at a water park, had dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse, and just enjoyed being together.

From there, the road trip kept going:

Pittsburgh, to see my brothers and their families — and one more visit with Jerry.
Washington, D.C., where Jackson attended a Young Diplomats training.
Paris, for a 24-hour layover before the next leg.
And finally, Kenya.

And Then We Moved to Africa

New house. New job. New school. New continent, really. It’s been an adventure from day one — and I have a feeling the next update won’t take quite as long to write.

Summer Vacation 2024 was filled with lots of warm and wonderful memories. It was another bittersweet trip home – so wonderful to see everyone, but my mom was not there.

We started with the miserably long trip: 7-hour flight to Tokyo and then a 13 hour flight to the U.S.

We transited through Tokyo/Haneda again and we went straight for the Ramen place. We shopped at the Japanese souvenir shop for some Japanese-style cookies, and then hit up the 7-11 for strawberry Pocky before settling in at our gate. This is becoming our routine.

The trip was uneventful and this time, we stopped in Washington, D.C. for a week-long rest before continuing on to South Carolina. We picked up our rental car and headed to our hotel.

Although I was completely shattered and wanted to sleep, Jackson was desperate to start Summer Vacation 2024 with a visit to the National Air and Space Museum at the nearby Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. This turned out to be a great choice! It helped with the jet lag and the museum was very nice! Jackson and I squeezed into the flight simulator, and he did a great job of not flipping me upside down! We walked around and saw the space shuttle and so many other cool displays. We hit the gift shop on the way out and took an Uber back to the hotel.

We drove from Washington, DC to Pennsylvania and stayed at the 7 Springs mountain resort for a week. This was our hotel of choice when they offered deep discounts for summer stays, as it is near-ish to family and friends, with plenty to do. The discounts aren’t as great these days, the hotel needs refurbishment, and we’re noticing that some of our desired amenities are disappearing (the laundromat is gone, daily room cleaning is gone. Our room was only serviced once, after 5 days – and this is post-Covid). This has become a tradition for us, so we still go. We did get the breakfast buffet included this time, and it was plentiful. However, one day we were given menus to select from; the blueberry pancakes were amazing, and were a nice treat from the morning buffet. We found the summertime activities to be quite expensive, although a lot is included. $66/day: mini golf, Alpine Slide, bowling, etc. My older brother and his family came out to hang out with us. (I can’t believe how fast my niece is growing up!!) We splurged on mini-golf for everyone and then we enjoyed the pool and hot tub. We ordered pizza – and it was really good. Then stopped at the ice cream shop for sweet treats and coffee. It was so nice to get to spend time with everyone.

In looking for an activity that Jackson could do while I visited with a friend, I discovered a flight training school with a simulator. I booked him a lesson. Then I looked at the map and realized that the school was too far out. We ended up stopping in at Oakmont Bakery for breakfast and a good catchup with my friend, whom I’ve known since we were five years old!! We ordered fancy coffees, and I got a delicious breakfast sandwich that I was dreaming about days later. Then Jackson and I continued north to the flight school – High Flight. He had an amazing lesson – the best day of his life, as he tells it.

During this trip, we were so close to the Flight 93 Memorial, we made time to visit. I’m glad we did. We’ve been once before, but Jackson was a baby. This time, Jackson got the Junior Ranger book, and we focused on the items in the book, keeping the visit age appropriate. He picked up the I Survived book in the gift shop on the way out and read it on the road.

We saw signs for a covered bridge, so naturally, we followed them! We stopped at Glessner Covered Bridge for a few quick photos. I was more impressed than my travel companion – who was engrossed in his new book.

He did enjoy lunch at Eat n’ Park, and a visit to the movie theater after our heavy morning.

I had a nice catch-up dinner with my friend Missy. (Another friend from my childhood days.) The jetlag caught up with Jackson, and he slept all through dinner.

Meeting up with my younger brother and his family, we had an amazing day at Kennywood Park. So much good family time. Taking turns riding with each other, sharing a meal together. All the things we miss out on while living overseas.

I love going to my favorite Italian shops when I go home. DeLallo is ‘my’ Italian grocery store. I love to pick up some olives from the ‘olive bar’, and I always grab a pepperoni roll and some pizzelles. Moios Italian Patry Shop is another favorite. I consider the chocolate torte cake my birthday cake – a moist chocolate sponge with chocolate pudding in the middle and topped with fudgy chocolate frosting. So, I must have a slice along with cannoli. Jackson was excited about the Italian ice when he saw the sign advertising it. When he ordered, he was not so excited to hear that they only had the lemon flavor, but once he tasted it, he was all in!

Moios Italian Patry Shop - Cannoli in the bag! — Moios Italian Patry Shop

As my time in Pennsylvania was about finished, we met up at Cracker Barrel for a farewell breakfast. The blueberry pancakes were amazing, as always – but it was really so special to spend this time with my family. I got to visit a bit with my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson…who has grown so much since I last saw him!! It was hard to say goodbye, but it was time for me and Jackson to head south to see ‘our dads’.

We drove back to Dulles airport, returned the rental car and flew to South Carolina.

In South Carolina, we grabbed our bags and another rental car, and off we went to see Grandpa.

The next day, I drove Jackson to Greenville, SC, for his two-week visit with his dad. This is tougher on me than it is on Jackson.

I spent the next week hanging out with my dad. Running errands, cooking, cleaning, squeezing in a Hallmark movie here and there. I did my best to fill up on Starbucks and Chick Fil A, and I enjoyed the flora and fauna on the Lane.

Life has a strange serendipity and I ended up in Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and Assateague Island National Seashore during the pony penning festivities.

Assateague Island horses - pony penning — Assateague Island horses – pony penning

From there, I continued back south and visited Aunt Darlene for lots of hugs, planning for our trip next summer, and remembering my mom and Uncle Wilson. These visits are never long enough.

As I traveled further south, I popped into Buc-ee’s for some gas, fudge for my dad, and a quick shop around. This felt like Disneyworld for grownups. I immediately felt the excitement when I walked through the doors!

Back in South Carolina, I went for a morning visit of Congaree National Park. After battling all the golden webbed spiders, I was treated to a sighting of a Barred owl. I’ll be honest, the spiders had me freaked out. They were EVERYWHERE. I ended up turning back on the path and I found another visitor with a tri-pod set up – viewing/filming something in the trees. He pointed to the owl! I would have never found it on my own…I was too focused on the spider webs.

When Jackson returned, we went to Edventure children’s museum. One of his favorite places to visit. He loves the airplane built into the wall, and Eddie!

For our very last adventure, Jackson and I flew to Washington state to visit Josh and see Olympic National Park. We had a wonderful visit! Lots of catching up and exploring the beauty of the national park. This visit was much too short!