Category Archives: Travel

Family Travel Conference, Dallas

6 Replies
After I moved to Texas, I was taking road trips and attending events however I felt as if I couldn’t fully share how great these adventures were with my family back in Vermont. In 2011, Down Home Traveler was born. Since then, it’s generated into not only a way to share my adventures with my family and friends but with all readers alike. Still, something was also missing. I didn’t feel as if I was really connecting with other travel bloggers who shared my same passion. Lately, I’ve felt like I’ve been in a bit of a “traveling rut”. I’m so glad those days are over!
Let’s fast forward to last weekend. I had the privilege of attending the Family Travel Conference at the Omni Hotel in Dallas. I’ve spent the last couple days trying to find a way to put my experience into words. The event opened my eyes to the world of other travel bloggers, educational and business training but I most importantly I gained new relationships with not only businesses but with other travel bloggers. I can not tell you how grateful, excited and proud I am to be a travel blogger!
The Family Travel Conference was held at the Omni Hotel. Although, I didn’t stay at the hotel during the conference, the Omni staff was phenomenal during my visit. I will need to write more about the Omni in another post in order to try to even touch upon how great they made this experience. One special event was when the bloggers split up into groups and went on a different tour of the hotel. Keep an eye out, I’ll be letting you in on my special tour!
We had some great speakers! Not only did they present and speak to us regarding their successes and passed on their wisdom, they stayed all weekend. This provided us with an opportunity to not only know and learn from their experiences but gather connections that we probably wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. We touched upon how to use social media to grow brand / blog, how to capture our audience thru storytelling and video, learned how to edit and create our own video (which was terrifying as I am NOT tech savvy) and travel trends.
This probably sounds like a lot of “work” related experiences, but the entire weekend was filled with a whole lot of fun! For starters – let’s talk about the Dallas Zoo!
The Dallas Zoo was open just for us. We got to see various animals, feed the giraffes, attend the lion show and eat dinner next to the elephants!
I have a friend who literally just got back from running the half marathon at Disney World this past weekend and I had to tell her that Saturday there was more than one “happiest place on Earth”. The second place was in a conference room at the Omni. Not only did we get to meet these two but Disney gave away two trips to Disney World / Disney Land!
Saturday evening we took a little field trip up to the Galleria Mall. Did you know it’s one of the most visited places in Texas?! I surely did not but I do love the mall this time of year. You are about to see why.
Although there are palm trees on the outside, within the doors you will see the World’s largest indoor Christmas tree! (You can read more about the tree and events from when I visited the Galleria last year.)
Finally, what did we eat? Well, it felt like we were royalty and it was all fat and calorie free (so I told myself)! And yes, it was all more delicious than it looks! Believe it! At one point during dinner, I found myself at a table where others were also taking pictures of the food. I pointed it out as I’m usually the only one. Grace Duffy said “You’re with your kind now.” It felt so good!
What resonated with me the most is something that Krista Parry (SnowMamas) said – we are doing this “for the greater good”. We’re not here to compete with one another, to see who can get the most sponsorship or make the most contacts. We’re here to encourage each other as bloggers and to encourage our readers to get out there and experience travel with family and friends. I love blogging because I love to travel. They go hand in hand for me but more importantly I hope that I encourage my readers to go out and try something new. I try to provide the resources and references so anyone can do that, families, couples, single people, girls getaway weekends, etc.. I hope that I am able to do that for all of my readers.
Thank you to Family Travel Conference for inviting me to attending this conference as a local. Thank you to the sponsors and organizers for creating an absolutely amazing event and unforgettable experience! Thank you to my fellow bloggers for getting me out of my blogging rut and giving me the encouragement that I needed. I look forward to continuing my relationship with so many of you. Finally, to my readers –  thank you for letting me do something that I truly enjoy!
Family Travel Conference is founded by Kim Orlando (Traveling Mom), Kyle McCarthy (Family Travel Forum), Eileen Ogintz (Taking The Kids) and Joanne Vero (Travel Media Showcase).
The speakers of the event were outstanding. If you have an opportunity to visit their blogs or look into their work, please do. Genevieve Brown (of ABC News), Rob Burgos (Full Circle Post), Valarie D’Elia (Travel With Val), Paul Eisenberg (Micato Safaris and Shermans Travel), Christi McNeill (Southwest Airlines), Melanie Nelson (Blogging Basics 101), Krista Parry (Snowmamas), Wendy Perrin (Conde Nast Traveler) and Kaleel Sakakeeny (New Media Travel).

Update: 28 in 28

6 Replies

So today marks the three month mark since turning 28. I thought it would be a good time to revisit my 28 in 28 list to see how I’m doing!

Here’s the update!

1. Get Christmas cards out on time! (I get kind of close every year!)
2. Visit one new place each month.
August: Gruene, TX
September: Bardstown, KY
October: West End, Dallas, TX
3. Sign up / walk for Alzheimers Walk. (Completed)
4. Let’s go for 12 crafty projects. (0/12)
5. Start a private blog for my niece. (In Progress)
6. Save money.
7. Get this wardrobe together. (In Progress)
8. Revisit music scene. (It’s coming up – look at the schedule!)
9. Run 5k.
10. Get blog to 6,000 views per month.
11. Hike Enchanted Rock.
12. Try one new recipe per month. (3/12)
August: Dr. Pepper Crock Pot Brisket
September: Chicken Enchiladas
October: Broccoli Rice Casserole
13. Organize recipe book.
14. Find a new, more challenging job.
15. Lose 10 pounds.
16. Start etsy shop and sell some photos.
17.
18. Send one 12 handwritten notes per month. (Check your mailboxes.) (1/12)
19. Get a dog or pet (I’m going to say sea monkey’s count).
20. Buy a watch.
21. Get a new phone. (Completed)
22. Find and attend one Texas antique car show. (Completed)
23. Do something out of the ordinary, on a whim.
24. Write one children’s book.
25. Go horseback riding / visit a ranch.
26. Go canoeing / kayaking.
27. Keep on traveling!
28. Focus on me. (In Progress)

NASCAR! The American Sport

7 Replies
Is anyone else sick of hearing about the election?! So in honor of giving it all a break, let’s talk about something else American… NASCAR! Yes, I’m serious. Yes, I am hooked.
First off, it’s important to grab ahold of opportunities when they present themselves. Case in point – this weekend. A friend had an extra ticket to the NASCAR Sprint 500 race at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) so I jumped at the chance to go. It was about a month ago that I was saying how much I would like to check out a race here – wish granted! So rather than fighting with traffic Sunday morning while heading to the track, I went in for the full experience on Saturday night. The outcome – I CAN’T WAIT for next year!
NASCAR comes to TMS twice a year, once in April and again in November (it’s the two big races). So typically when the races come to town, you make an entire weekend out of it. Friday night are truck races, Saturday is a car race and Sunday is the “big race”. Saturday night is also a huge party night. After the race, you can party down on the infield of the track. A lot of people are camping out in their RV’s (which is totally the way to go), some inside the track but the majority on the outside of the track. That’s what we did. I was lucky enough to be invited to stay in an RV and subsequently would now like one of my own. Everyone sits around, builds a fire, has a beer (or two, or ten) and just has a great time. There was even a group of people behind us that had a band playing. Everyone is incredibly nice, you feel safe, parking is FREE.
Sunday morning, you wake up, hope you’re not hung over and get ready for the big race. This is what the parking lot looked like around 10:30-11am. Already packed. The stadium is a lot farther away than you think!
Closer to the stadium, you can peruse. The Speed Channel was there, of course. You could stand behind them and get seen by the thousands of people at home.
And you can check out the buses and buses and buses of merchandise for each of the drivers. They all have their own trailer (or so it seems) and you can find pretty much any item you are looking for. The best part is all the merchandise is all reasonably priced. Hats range from $5-$25, t-shirts from $10 to $25. Seriously beats the $40 t-shirts I’m use to seeing at baseball games.
Then it’s time to head into the stadium! Honestly, one of the best experiences ever. Bags are checked but you can bring in your own cooler, which means your own beer and food. You can also buy food inside the stadium (that was pretty good from what I had). Again, parking is free. Basically, this event can be as cost efficient as you’d like it to be. You can pretty much come just for the cost of the ticket. Yes, there’s a crowd but everyone was pretty nice to each other. Sure you’d see a few strange ones every once in a while (we are at a “redneck” event) but it’s a great people watching experience!
Before you find your seat, there’s an important piece of information that you need to know. It is super important and will greatly improve your experience if you get a headset (hearing protectors) and a scanner. The headset will reduce the amount of noise you hear but it’s also hooked up to the scanner. The scanner will greatly improve your experience as you can listen to any driver converse with their pit crew. Case in point, Danica Patrick. She and her pit crew are awesome. She is full of sass (and I’m not just saying that because I’m a fellow lady) but if you’re a woman out there with a bunch of men, you’ve got to pull your weight and then some. She wasn’t letting anyone push her around and quite honestly, it was pretty amusing. I definitely didn’t realize how much the drivers rely on their pit crew to let them know what’s going on, how little they can actually see and how to strategically place their car out there. Pretty cool to listen to and definitely makes being at the race all the more entertaining (and something you can’t hear at home)!
Before the race starts, the drivers drive around the track and prepare for the race.
The best part is when they all get into their cars and you hear “Gentlemen, start your engines!”!
Seriously, how do you get that job?!
 Here are some pictures of the race!
I was pretty excited!

Line ’em up! Let’s start this thing!
Our seats were great – right after turn four in front of the entrance to pit road.

Kasey Kahne, #5.
Dale Earnhardt Jr, #88.
 
Jimmie Johnson, #48.
We weren’t the only one’s there….

Another job I wouldn’t mind doing. What does one have to do to be the one waving the flag?! TMS, if you ever need someone do to this (or start the race) – let me know!
There were a few cautions during the race. Here you can see everyone stopped at once…. and left at the same time too! A few of them were cutting it pretty close! I’m guessing insurance premiums for the pit crew are pretty high!
As the sun begins to go down – what a view!
Jimmie Johnson was leading for most of the race. Within the last 10-15 laps there were 3-4 cautions called so it really came to a two lap finale. Jimmie Johnson won. Below you can see all the cars headed back to their garage.
Jimmie Johnson in the Winner’s Circle.
The final standings!
What a great race and a great event to attend. I’m seriously on a kick and can’t wait to go back. Thank you so much to my friends for the ticket and for allowing me to stay in the RV! If you haven’t been to a race, I recommend! I recommend! I recommend! Don’t knock it until you try it folks! Best of all – it’s definitely affordable! What a fantastic day!I guess next on my Bucket List will be to drive one of these around the track!For more videos, please check out my YouTube page, here.