Lessons Learned From Vacation

We got back from our yearly (seems like anyway) trip to San Antonio. We went to places that we've been before, stayed at a hotel that we've stayed at before, ate at places we've eaten at before. Did we learn anything from this trip? Sure we did:

• We packed exactly what we needed to, no more, no less. Very efficient in terms of luggage. If you don't carry one of those pop-up mesh laundry hampers; you should. We've done it 3 times now, and it's been a revelation each and every time at keeping a hotel room tidy, especially when two children are along!

 

• I carried a power strip having learned from annoying experience that hotel rooms don't have enough outlets and that many are behind furniture. Also worked out great.

 

• The Best Western "Alamo Suites", which isn't all that close to the "Alamo" by the way is a perfect fit for us. It's close enough to the downtown/Riverwalk area without being down there with the noise, crowds and costs. I could get my wife down to the convention center each morning for her conference in 10 minutes. It has an indoor pool which was great for the kids and the rooms are large (with a full-sized fridge and microwave), plus breakfast is included. We got it at around $80 a-night. It's not luxurious in any way, shape, or form, but it was clean and did the job for what we needed.... besides, it's just down the street from out favorite place to eat....

 

• The Piedras Negras de Noche is our favorite Mexican food restraunt, bar none... and it's not close! We just don't go to San Antonio without going there. It's hard to find, hard to get to, and everybody looks at you when you come in because we're not hispanic, but we've loved it for about 8 or 9 years now. The first time we went, our son was still sleeping in a Pack-n-Play and he's 10 now. I'm a little surprised that Guy Fieri hasn't done one of his "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" on it yet. 

 

• The DeWeese's Tip Top Cafe, is one that Guy has done a show on and it was great again the second time there.... even if I didn't get the any pie this time. The kids even love it.

 

• It was definitely worth it to carry two cameras. The Nikon D300 with the 18-200mm "Superzoom" was just about perfect for the San Antonio Zoo, and it got some really nice shots. However, it was the Panasonic GF-1 that was the revelation! I surprised myself by taking it to Sea World and it was great for that; light, and quick reacting, plus this time I remembered to take the LVF-1 finder, so that when there was too much sunlight I could switch to that. The 100 degree heat and trudging the distances involved in that park would have made the D300 a burdensome carry. It was also perfect for Ripley's Belive It, or Not, and the Witte Science Museum. I'm VERY happy with that camera!

 

Anything not go right, despite the planning and familiarity? Yup! Remember me getting the portable access point ready in case we got a bad wireless signal in our room? I forgot to pack an Ethernet cable! However, even that was a case of using one of my "go to" strategies and having it work even in a relatively unfamiliar city. After our trip to the Zoo, and a great lunch at the Tip Top Cafe, I found a Goodwill up the street, swung into there and 5 minutes later, I had picked up 3 Ethernet cables for 99 cents a-piece. Try that at Best Buy! Although I found that I did what little internet access I needed to at the desk,and only used the cable to go directly to the laptop, it was WAY faster than the WiFi access. 

So yeah, that's it! I couldn't be happier..... other than getting home, and unpacked, and the laundry done, and everything put up.... that is!

Traveling Propellerhead

Tomorrow, we're leaving for what seems like a yearly trip to San Antonio. For many years, we went there because the kids were in the Sea World age. You know, too old to just go anywhere, but not old enough to do a lot, and certainly not old enough to have the attention span to go to adult types of attractions! Although, at 7 and 10, they are old enough to go somewhere else, we are headed back to good ol San Antonio because my wife has a math teaching conference there this year. Which is a good opportunity for me to discuss what a Frugal Propellerhead carries on a trip that involves many hours of car riding.

We'll start with the fact that the car involved will the the Civic Hybrid, so space will be at a premium. At least we're only going to be gone for 3 days so their won't be a ton of luggage. 

I'll start with my main camera; the D300, which I'll mount with the 18-200mm (27-300mm eq.) and the 50mm/f1.4 for low light situations. One of my main destinations will be the famous San Antonio Zoo as well as the neighboring Japanese Garden at Brackenridge Park. And of course, there will be the obligatory trip to Sea World as well, so these situations are ideal for that camera with a superzoom lens.

You can see in this comparison why, the Panasonic GF-1 will probably also make the trip as the evening "walk-around" camera as we stroll the Paseo del Rio.

 

....And as if there was a question; the X301 will go on it's very first family trip taking the place of the X300 which was the veteran of many over it's years. This in the company of the little Targus card reader and my 6G iPod will allow me to dump, review, edit and post pictures while we are gone. The iPod of course will function as my in-car music jukebox as well. 

Both of our ThinkPad Tablets will probably make the trip, serving first as "in-car" entertainment for the 5 hour drive, then for my wife to take notes on during the conference.

My son will probably want to take his Sony Bloggie along with his 3DS and my daughter will probably take her Nintendo DSi. These are what we call, parent sanity devices. 

You might be thinking: that's a crazy amount of electronics for a 3 day trip, but hey, look at it this way..... how much is quiet and serenity worth? Remember..... 10 hours in a small car and 3 days in a hotel room!