I really want a vacation.  But with some family changes that just took place this might be some time before I get to go anywhere.

I have always wanted to go see a different part of the country.  Often when you do plan for a vacation a lot of people tend to think of sun and beaches but over look some of the other destinations.  I was doing some checking and ran across this place in Tennessee.  Gatlinburg vacations in the Tennessee mountains, looks like it has a lot to offer.  I think it would be fun to take a road trip over there.  From North Texas it cannot be too bad of a drive.

After going over all of the attractions and things to do, I want to make sure that I keep this on the radar so when we can actually take a road trip I will remember this place.

Unlike my wife the school teacher I do not get to have my summers off.  In fact right now I really only get 10 work days of vacation.  Usually most of those days are used to fly to Seattle to see my family.  What I would really like to do is go on a real vacation.  Of course ‘real’ vacations cost a bunch of money so the decision has to be a wise one.  This summer I think the best we are going to get is a 3 day weekend at a bed and breakfast.  However maybe next year we can check out Orlando vacations. I have heard there is a ton of things to do including Disney World. I have never been to Disney World, but have been to Disney Land (CA). I suppose once we make the decision to head to Florida, I’m sure we will have to stay a week to check everything out in that area and just enjoy our time.

Some other places I would like to see (in the US):
Washington DC
New York, NY
North Carolina
Chicago, IL

We are trying to figure out what we should do this summer.  We usually make an annual trip up to Seattle to see my family.  Now we have or maybe I should say I have thought about it, but there is so much going on I’m not sure we can get away for at least one week and head up that way.  Also thought about checking out some Las Vegas hotels since my cousin still lives in Vegas. Hmmm, another idea was to head down south to Fredericksburg, Texas to a bed and breakfast. (I found a Gluten-free one)

I really wish we could go one a REAL vacation, but we are trying to save up as much money as possible since we are hopefully adopting a child this year.  Maybe we should just take a few short weekend trips, instead of expensive long range flights..  Hmmm  we will have to continue the debate on this one.

Anything but work, lol.  But seriously I have been thinking about cruises.  I have always wanted to go on one.  Back in the day when I had my stint as a travel agent (only lasted 2 years) I have always wanted to experience a cruise.  Now one time in Seattle I was able to tour a cruise ship that was in port, but it never left, lol.  I just think it would be really fun.  See all the different places, and do various things on the ship, I think it would be a good vacation.

However my dream must come to an end.  As I have Celiac Disease, I can imagine that it would be tough for someone like me who has this disease to eat for 7 days on a ship and not get sick.  But it’s always good to dream.  Speaking of dreaming, it would be nice to not have any bills also…  =)

Do you ever go to the gym or fitness club when you are on vacation or away for a long weekend?

I’m just curious on what people do.  People of all fitness levels usually work out on some type of routine when they are close to home.  From the casual workouts types all the way up to the bodybuilding supplements types.  Next to my hotel this weekend was a 24hr fitness.  So of course I thought about working out, but just shrugged it off and laughed.  Probably cause I knew I was really busy with my soccer team and being on the go with 3 games and 18 miles that separated the fields and the hotel.  So needless to say I didn’t get to participate in any fitness this weekend.

Last spring I went to Seattle to visit my parents and to be there for my mom’s surgery and they had a 24 hour fitness right down the street and I still didn’t go.  So …  Do you or would you really workout if you are on vacation or out of town?

The other day I was talking to my cousin who lives in Vegas (She moved there for a teacher job) and we talked about how fun it would be to fly out there and visit her.  If we are lucky we only get to see each other maybe 1 time per year.  However the drawback is the cost of the flights.  We thought about just staying with her in her apartment but Leslie never really has experienced Vegas like I have.  So if we go I think we will check out the new las vegas hotels.

The last time I was there was years ago, probably at least 8 I would say, except to connect at the airport (where I won $100, lol).  There have been quite a few new hotels that have popped up since then and I would love to go check them out.  And it is such a huge place we better take some walking shoes too.  I think I will start planning a little trip maybe this winter or spring.

Before I get started, I think this is somewhat funny.  I have Google alerts set up for my name [tazdog] so I get this email that has [tazdog] tagged and I was like, weird, I haven’t posted anything.  So that Google alert led me to BioTeck’s site were he tagged me for this Four Things Meme..   SOOO this meme is about four things in various categories that you need to share and then tag a few others…

So here we go:

Four jobs I’ve had

1. IT Systems Administrator
2. Car Wash Attendant
3. Travel Agent
4. IT Desktop Support

Four movies I can watch over and over

1. The Transformers
2. Office Space
3. Breakfast Club
4. Black Hawk Down

Four places I’ve lived

1. Renton, Washington
2. Tacoma, Washington
3. Grand Prairie, Texas
4. Arlington, Texas

Four TV shows I love

1. So you think you can Dance
2. E.R.
3. Crime 360 and the First 48 (I know it probably counts for 2)
4. 24

Four places I’ve vacationed

1. Disneyland – California
2. Hawaii
3. Leavenworth, Washington
4. Oregon

Four of my favorite dishes

1. Steak
2. Pizza (except I can’t eat it anymore)
3. Spaghetti
4. Smoked Brisket (Beef)

Four sites I visit daily

1. Google
2. EntreCard
3. Various Tech Sites
4. Friend’s Blogs and RSS Feeds

Four places I would rather be right now

1. Mexico (on the mission trip with my wife and church)
2. Hawaii
3. New York
4. Sleeping (in my bed)

I’m going to go ahead and tag a few blogger peeps:

1. Everydayrandomness
2. Mysinglemomlife
3. Peak9
4. BrainFoggles
5. Mamaflosatx

So the wife and I were sitting around the other day talking about taking a vacation. There are so many places to go, the decisions are almost endless. How do you choose? One you make that decision then you have to decide what type of accommodations you want to stay in. So we put our heads together and came up with a few ideas.

So we started talking about it, and first we thought about motels, hotels or resorts. Most destinations have these all around. Then you have the all-inclusive places which can run too high but they include everything. But we overlooked one. Yep, the condo hotel. So with this many decisions I guess we have to go back to the drawing board to make this huge decision.