Travel Archives - The Salt Stories

adventures of everyday, moving further up and further in

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The Salt Stories: Roo Trippin Vol 7: A Grand Petrified Albuquerque

Posted by Amy

· October 30, 2016

Roo Trippin Vol 7: A Grand Petrified Albuquerque

It was time to leave the big city and head back toward Texas, but what else could we possibly see with a squirmy two-year old on our way back through Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas? Well, a whole lot, and the Roo is here to tell you all about it.

After the mountains, caverns, and sand dunes of our first leg, and the Saguaro and Joshua Forests of our second, it was now time for something truly grand. We woke up Sunday morning for an early church service with our sweet California hosts, the Tierney’s, before offering hugs and thanks and hitting the road again. Read More →

Categories : Family, Travel, Uncategorized

The Salt Stories: Cacti Motivational Posters

Posted by Amy

· October 27, 2016

· 8 Comments

7 Cacti Motivational Posters

About 7 years ago I became friends with a few ladies from the southwest and I will never forget the day they asked me what my favorite cactus was. In that moment I stared at these three lovely ladies blankly, with truly no answer. They posed the question as if asking, “what’s your favorite color?”

They each proceeded to list different cacti and why they enjoyed them, and I blinked a few times and nodded to assure my new friends I was listening. Read More →

Categories : Faith, Family, Life, Seeking Truth, Travel

The Salt Stories: Roo Trippin Vol 6: The One with All the Peculiar Plants

Posted by Amy

· October 18, 2016

· 4 Comments

Roo Trippin Vol 6: The One with All the Peculiar Plants

The Great American West is full of some rather peculiar plants, I can’t wait to tell you about it. Anna Roo back again for a part two recap of our great western road trip. When we last left off we were still marching west and had just arrived in Tuscan, Arizona

Ants Marching – Dave Matthews Band

Saguaro National Park and Tucson

We woke up in Tucson ready for some new adventures. We headed a few miles south of town to Mission San Xavier del Bac. This is one of the oldest churches in the Americas, completed in 1797. The Baroque architecture, clay mortar and Spanish artwork made for a unique experience. We walked through the church and museum before trying our hand at a docent guided tour. We made it 10 minutes into the tour before I bumped my head and proceeded with a slight meltdown. At this point we bowed out gracefully and attempted to calm down.

Categories : Family, Travel, Uncategorized

Posted by Amy

· October 5, 2016

· 3 Comments

Roo Trippin Vol 5: Headed West

Annaroo here, back with another installment of Roo Trippin. This is likely the last road trip before our new baby arrives. Last year, we headed east for a tour of the south and a few months a go we took a quick adventure north to Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Now, it is time to head west for cactus, friends, and hopefully some ocean.

After watching daddy jigsaw all the luggage in the car we loaded up for the adventure ahead.

Endless Texas Road

Being the expert roadtripper that I am, I immediately asked for food and entertainment. We settled on animal crackers and Peter and the Wolf music. I ask for the ‘wolf song’ as often as I think of it, mom likes this version, on Spotify, narrated by David Bowie. Read More →

Categories : Family, Travel, Uncategorized

Posted by Amy

· June 24, 2016

· 1 Comment

Roo Tripping Vol 4: Colorado Edition

Anna Roo here, for another installment of my rootripping adventures, this time almost a year wiser and sitting forward in my car seat.

You may remember when I headed out on my first road trip, visited the smokey mountains, and was welcomed by family and friends on our tour of the south last year. This rootrippin adventure took us to colorful Colorado, for more family time and mountains. Read More →

Categories : Family, Travel, Uncategorized

Posted by Amy

· October 12, 2015

· 5 Comments

The Wisdom of the Mountains…

We just got back from our crazy road trip, and were lucky enough that part of the adventure was spent in the mountains. For some people mountains are part of their everyday life, a typical geographical feature as common as trees, highways, or if in Texas, armadillo roadkill. But this is not my experience. These tall protrusions of the earth’s crust are novel, awning, and rare sitings for our family.

While driving or visiting these regions we never get used to the views and shout every 5 minutes “look look!” Requiring the other to look out at our view of the slightly different formations. It feels like we are sitting in the presence of giants.

Have you ever had this experience, whether you were hiking, driving, or even flying over head? The experience where you try your best to keep your head up the whole time because you don’t want to miss anything. The experience where you look around and the size of the mountains makes you look straight up as they reach in to the skies. I suppose, for you, this post could be “The Wisdom of the Forests,” or prairie land, or desert even. But for me, it is the mountains.

Categories : Faith, Life, Printable Prayers, Seeking Truth, Travel

Tags : mountains, quotes, travel, wisdom

Posted by Amy

· October 8, 2015

· 4 Comments

Picking up souvenirs while on vacation… why magnets? (7QT)

You have been there before. In the middle of a small store filled wall to wall with racks of souvenirs, trying to figure out what is worthwhile. Knowing that you don’t need more stuff, but wanting something to remember the experience. We just returned from our cross-country road trip and put away our souvenirs. I am not a fan of cluttering up our house, so souvenirs were an issue that I had to be decisive on.

Categories : Family, Home, Travel

Tags : consumerism, magnet, stuff, travel

Posted by Amy

· October 7, 2015

· 3 Comments

Roo Trippin: Vol 3

Little Roo here, today I saw my room for the first time in two and a half weeks, that’s almost 3% of my entire life. Our trip sure did go by fast. When we last left off I was exploring the fine delicacies of central north carolina. We have seen mountains, forests, rivers, waterfalls, lakes, and cities. Next stop the beach.

We made the trek to the fine coast of North Carolina to explore Atlantic beach. We were all anxious to finally dip our toes in the ocean.

Categories : Travel, Uncategorized

Tags : travel

Posted by Amy

· September 25, 2015

· No Comments

You know your on a road trip with a young child if…

We are on the road with our little one still, along the way we have had several new experiences. Maybe you can relate. So without any further ado, you know your on a road trip with a young child if you…

1.) Bring twice as many clothes and toys as you need. Just in case. You can fit all your adult-sized close in a moderate size bag, but the little one needs one twice as big.

2.) use snacks as the cure all. Kid is fussy, no toy is making her happy, luckily a snack never fails. Maybe in your car a grape works, but sometimes you pull out the big guns… cookies.

Categories : Family, Mom Musings, Travel

Tags : kids, travel

Posted by Amy

· September 24, 2015

· 3 Comments

Roo Trippin: Vol 2

Anna Roo here, we are still on the road so I thought I would update you on the travels we have made so far.

When we last left off I had just shed a tick I found in the Great Smokey Mountains. So we will pick up there.

We stayed in the greatest place in the Smokey Mountains, the Lodge at Buckberry Creek. It was very close to the park and still within Gatlinburg city limits and very Roo friendly. We woke up to the mountains peering in from our balcony and ate breakfast on a dinning terrace with sweeping views of the Smokey Mountains. Mom and Dad loved it and I liked the breakfast sausage.