My Road Less Traveled By

The Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  It is a 700 acre urban wildlife refuge.  The Sanctuary is open to the public year round and is a great place to take your kids.  Not only is it free, it is a ton of fun too!  It was started in 1935 as a waterfowl rehabilitation site.  It continues to receive over 3,000 injured, orphaned, and sick animals each year.  Their goal is to return as many animals back into the wild as possible.

There is a three story building there called Nature Education Center.  There are hands on animal pods, discovery rooms, and even an estuary room.  As you can see from a few of the pictures below, my kids truly enjoyed it!

The adults even got involved:

The Observation/Rehabilitation building has a conservation wing, live prey and waterfowl exhibits, animal nursery viewing, wildlife rehabilitation area, and shelled corn for sale to feed the waterfowl.  My kids love feeding the waterfowl.  At 50 cents a bag, you can’t go wrong!

If you are in the Green Bay Wisconsin area, this is a great place to take your children.  Besides the cost of the corn to feed the waterfowl, it is free.  There are 6.5 miles of trails you can hike besides the two buildings to check out.  You can picnic there too.  It is a great place to check out!

The Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  It is a 700 acre urban wildlife refuge.  The Sanctuary is open to the public year round and is a great place to take your kids.  Not only is it free, it is a ton of fun too!  It was started in 1935 as a waterfowl rehabilitation site.  It continues to receive over 3,000 injured, orphaned, and sick animals each year.  Their goal is to return as many animals back into the wild as possible.

There is a three story building there called Nature Education Center.  There are hands on animal pods, discovery rooms, and even an estuary room.  As you can see from a few of the pictures below, my kids truly enjoyed it!

The adults even got involved:

The Observation/Rehabilitation building has a conservation wing, live prey and waterfowl exhibits, animal nursery viewing, wildlife rehabilitation area, and shelled corn for sale to feed the waterfowl.  My kids love feeding the waterfowl.  At 50 cents a bag, you can’t go wrong!

If you are in the Green Bay Wisconsin area, this is a great place to take your children.  Besides the cost of the corn to feed the waterfowl, it is free.  There are 6.5 miles of trails you can hike besides the two buildings to check out.  You can picnic there too.  It is a great place to check out!

Jason’s Deli is available nationwide.  However, this review is being done on the Jason’s Deli in Oak Lawn, IL. (This review is also being posted over at Lisa Cooking.)

I went with my two kids on a Thursday night about 6 pm by myself.  (Needless to say, my hands were full).  I found that staff there the most helpful.  When you walk into the door, there is someone there to greet you and let you know how this all works (since this was my first visit, I was pretty clueless).  She got me a highchair for Will (my one year old), so I didn’t have to hold him while we were standing there trying to figure out what we wanted.  The high chair had wheels, so I was able to roll him around quite easily and get him where we needed to go.  I was able to take a menu, sit down with the kids, decide what we wanted, and get back into line, so we could order (which is what I did).   Ordering was painless.  After you order, they give you a number and your drinks, so you can go sit down.  They then bring your food to you when it is done.  The restaurant is a very open concept.  You can see where they make the food.  Another thing that impressed me was that the apples and apple juice that I ordered with the kids meals were organic.  Also, everything that they serve is free of artificial trans fats and MSG!  I personally found the prices quite reasonable.  Granted, it would have been cheaper to take the kids to McDonalds, but we would have been hungry an hour later (and this was not all that more expensive either!  Maybe a couple of dollars is it!)  They have an excellent kids menu too!  If you can’t find something for your little one off their kids menu, they are too picky.  They even have a dessert menu!  Madison (my 4 year old) wanted an ice cream cone, but since she didn’t finish her food, she didn’t get one, so I can’t comment on how good their ice cream is.  Our food came quickly and it was good.  The sandwiches were much bigger than I expected!  There was always somebody walking around cleaning off tables or checking on how you were doing, so you could definitely get help when needed (for example, 2 napkins just doesn’t cut it when you have 3 people and 2 of the 3 are under 5!).  I easily was able to get more napkins for us.

The food was great (and healthy!).  The service was great!  Jason’s Deli also has a blog which makes them stand out even more for me!  If you are looking for a great alternative for fast food, you definitely need to check out Jason’s Deli.  It is a five star place in my book!

Jason’s Deli is available nationwide.  However, this review is being done on the Jason’s Deli in Oak Lawn, IL. (This review is also being posted over at Lisa Cooking.)

I went with my two kids on a Thursday night about 6 pm by myself.  (Needless to say, my hands were full).  I found that staff there the most helpful.  When you walk into the door, there is someone there to greet you and let you know how this all works (since this was my first visit, I was pretty clueless).  She got me a highchair for Will (my one year old), so I didn’t have to hold him while we were standing there trying to figure out what we wanted.  The high chair had wheels, so I was able to roll him around quite easily and get him where we needed to go.  I was able to take a menu, sit down with the kids, decide what we wanted, and get back into line, so we could order (which is what I did).   Ordering was painless.  After you order, they give you a number and your drinks, so you can go sit down.  They then bring your food to you when it is done.  The restaurant is a very open concept.  You can see where they make the food.  Another thing that impressed me was that the apples and apple juice that I ordered with the kids meals were organic.  Also, everything that they serve is free of artificial trans fats and MSG!  I personally found the prices quite reasonable.  Granted, it would have been cheaper to take the kids to McDonalds, but we would have been hungry an hour later (and this was not all that more expensive either!  Maybe a couple of dollars is it!)  They have an excellent kids menu too!  If you can’t find something for your little one off their kids menu, they are too picky.  They even have a dessert menu!  Madison (my 4 year old) wanted an ice cream cone, but since she didn’t finish her food, she didn’t get one, so I can’t comment on how good their ice cream is.  Our food came quickly and it was good.  The sandwiches were much bigger than I expected!  There was always somebody walking around cleaning off tables or checking on how you were doing, so you could definitely get help when needed (for example, 2 napkins just doesn’t cut it when you have 3 people and 2 of the 3 are under 5!).  I easily was able to get more napkins for us.

The food was great (and healthy!).  The service was great!  Jason’s Deli also has a blog which makes them stand out even more for me!  If you are looking for a great alternative for fast food, you definitely need to check out Jason’s Deli.  It is a five star place in my book!

Towards the end of our trip in Arizona, we visited the Verde Canyon Railroad. This was, I think, a four hour train ride into the wilderness of Arizona. We were able to see areas of Arizona that you would only see if you were on the train. There are two classes of tickets you can buy for this ride. First, there is coach which will run you $54.95. When we booked this, they didn’t have any coach available, so we had to buy first class tickets which ran us about $79.95 a piece. First class does include appetizers and a glass of champagne. Honestly, I wish we could have saved our money and went coach. We spent a ton of the trip on the outdoor car where you could see out better.

This is a trip that older people and people with kids would want to do. I also recommend doing this trip early in your vacation. By the time we did this, we were almost sick of seeing the “red rock” since that’s all we had done for six days at this point. However, this did end up being a great relaxing day.

The customer service here is excellent though. We got lost on the way there (since this is located in Clarksdale, and we were staying in Sedona). Their customer service representative stayed on the phone with us until we got there.

The Verde Canyon railroad (formally the Verde Valley Railroad) was financed by Senator William Clark. It was built in one year for $1.3 million dollars in 1911. (Today, the cost would be $38 million). The railroad was not used for several years until Dave Durbano bought it. To quote him,

“I purchased the rail line from Clarkdale to Drake, sight-unseen, based on freight figures alone. Like many of the railroads built at the turn of the century, I knew this one had played an important role in Manifest Destiny, but when I made my first trip through the canyon, I was awestruck at the natural beauty and undisturbed wilderness through which we passed. I knew others would want to see the Verde Canyon in this same, unique way, where history was only a part of the journey.”

The views are beautiful from the train.  Here are few of the pictures that we took:

If you are looking for a nice relaxing day, I would recommend the Verde Canyon Railroad.

Towards the end of our trip in Arizona, we visited the Verde Canyon Railroad. This was, I think, a four hour train ride into the wilderness of Arizona. We were able to see areas of Arizona that you would only see if you were on the train. There are two classes of tickets you can buy for this ride. First, there is coach which will run you $54.95. When we booked this, they didn’t have any coach available, so we had to buy first class tickets which ran us about $79.95 a piece. First class does include appetizers and a glass of champagne. Honestly, I wish we could have saved our money and went coach. We spent a ton of the trip on the outdoor car where you could see out better.

This is a trip that older people and people with kids would want to do. I also recommend doing this trip early in your vacation. By the time we did this, we were almost sick of seeing the “red rock” since that’s all we had done for six days at this point. However, this did end up being a great relaxing day.

The customer service here is excellent though. We got lost on the way there (since this is located in Clarksdale, and we were staying in Sedona). Their customer service representative stayed on the phone with us until we got there.

The Verde Canyon railroad (formally the Verde Valley Railroad) was financed by Senator William Clark. It was built in one year for $1.3 million dollars in 1911. (Today, the cost would be $38 million). The railroad was not used for several years until Dave Durbano bought it. To quote him,

“I purchased the rail line from Clarkdale to Drake, sight-unseen, based on freight figures alone. Like many of the railroads built at the turn of the century, I knew this one had played an important role in Manifest Destiny, but when I made my first trip through the canyon, I was awestruck at the natural beauty and undisturbed wilderness through which we passed. I knew others would want to see the Verde Canyon in this same, unique way, where history was only a part of the journey.”

The views are beautiful from the train.  Here are few of the pictures that we took:

If you are looking for a nice relaxing day, I would recommend the Verde Canyon Railroad.

The Tuzigoot National Monument is another site in Arizona that you have to go see. Tuzigoot mean crooked water in Apache. It is the remnants of a Sinagua village. They figure it was built between 1125 and 1400. This picture is of me looking up at the ruins The original pueblo was two stories high with 77 ground floor rooms. These next two picture will be looking down:

The above two pictures are what it looks like in pueblo houses. Except for adding a floor to it, they pretty much left it unchanged. They had to add the floor because the dead are buried underneath (and usually only about 18 inches too!). People got into the pueblo houses with ladders through openings in the roof. As you can tell, there are very few exterior openings. The village started with a small number of rooms that housed about 50 people for the first 100 years. In the 1200s, the population doubled. The population doubled again they took in refugee farmers who were fleeing the drought. No one knows why the Sinagua disappeared, but they left us a marvel to look at.

The Tuzigoot National Monument is another site in Arizona that you have to go see. Tuzigoot mean crooked water in Apache. It is the remnants of a Sinagua village. They figure it was built between 1125 and 1400. This picture is of me looking up at the ruins The original pueblo was two stories high with 77 ground floor rooms. These next two picture will be looking down:

The above two pictures are what it looks like in pueblo houses. Except for adding a floor to it, they pretty much left it unchanged. They had to add the floor because the dead are buried underneath (and usually only about 18 inches too!). People got into the pueblo houses with ladders through openings in the roof. As you can tell, there are very few exterior openings. The village started with a small number of rooms that housed about 50 people for the first 100 years. In the 1200s, the population doubled. The population doubled again they took in refugee farmers who were fleeing the drought. No one knows why the Sinagua disappeared, but they left us a marvel to look at.

Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon before? Up until February of this year, I hadn’t. I wondered why anybody would want to just see a hole in the ground. When we got there, it was all of 37 degrees and crazy windy. There was snow! I seriously couldn’t believe it. Yes, we all know what snow looks like, but I couldn’t believe there was this much snow in Arizona. I ended up having to buy a hat and gloves! I never thought in a million years I would have to pack that!

When Bill decided to stand here so I could take his picture, I thought for sure that he was going to get blown off. The crazy thing is that the rangers told us it was a light wind that day. Being from the Windy City, we know wind and this was no light wind! My fear of heights didn’t help either. However, by the end of the day, I was able to walk closer to the edge (not as quite as far as Bill). As you can see from the background, the Grand Canyon is a beautiful site.

Pictures don’t do this place justice at all. There are no words that describe how beautiful it is there. The part that amazes me the most is that when the Indians were living here it looked pretty much the same. It truly makes you feel insignificant. You feel like a speck in the history of the world (which is really what we are). It took millions of years to make this glorious site, and it is just awe inspiring.

The really cool thing about the Grand Canyon is that you can literally spend days there. We only planned for one, so we had to squish a lot of things in a short time period. There are several stops along the outside perimeter that you can visit. They actually have a map you can a follow and a sidewalk to hike on in some places. You also are able to hike into the Grand Canyon if you so desire. There are even signs telling you how long each trail is, how long it will take you, what you should pack with you (water and sandwiches), etc.

Even though each spot is still the Grand Canyon, it is truly a different view from each stop. Something that I didn’t know was that you can actually camp on site. The other thing that I had no idea is that there are actual hotels on site too! How awesome would it be to stay in one of those? The other cool thing was that you didn’t have to walk between stops either — there was a bus you could take for free! Bill and I walked most of the Grand Canyon, but by the end of the day, you get really tired. Plus, the last part of the trail was covered in snow, and we were in tennis shoes. I never thought to bring boots.

Running into the elk was very cool (not literally, of course!) We were driving in between stops and were very surprised to come across these elks!

When we left, this was the sight to see. The sunset was so beautiful. I highly recommend stopping at the Grand Canyon if you are in the area. I wish we would have planned for more than one day there!

Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon before? Up until February of this year, I hadn’t. I wondered why anybody would want to just see a hole in the ground. When we got there, it was all of 37 degrees and crazy windy. There was snow! I seriously couldn’t believe it. Yes, we all know what snow looks like, but I couldn’t believe there was this much snow in Arizona. I ended up having to buy a hat and gloves! I never thought in a million years I would have to pack that!

When Bill decided to stand here so I could take his picture, I thought for sure that he was going to get blown off. The crazy thing is that the rangers told us it was a light wind that day. Being from the Windy City, we know wind and this was no light wind! My fear of heights didn’t help either. However, by the end of the day, I was able to walk closer to the edge (not as quite as far as Bill). As you can see from the background, the Grand Canyon is a beautiful site.

Pictures don’t do this place justice at all. There are no words that describe how beautiful it is there. The part that amazes me the most is that when the Indians were living here it looked pretty much the same. It truly makes you feel insignificant. You feel like a speck in the history of the world (which is really what we are). It took millions of years to make this glorious site, and it is just awe inspiring.

The really cool thing about the Grand Canyon is that you can literally spend days there. We only planned for one, so we had to squish a lot of things in a short time period. There are several stops along the outside perimeter that you can visit. They actually have a map you can a follow and a sidewalk to hike on in some places. You also are able to hike into the Grand Canyon if you so desire. There are even signs telling you how long each trail is, how long it will take you, what you should pack with you (water and sandwiches), etc.

Even though each spot is still the Grand Canyon, it is truly a different view from each stop. Something that I didn’t know was that you can actually camp on site. The other thing that I had no idea is that there are actual hotels on site too! How awesome would it be to stay in one of those? The other cool thing was that you didn’t have to walk between stops either — there was a bus you could take for free! Bill and I walked most of the Grand Canyon, but by the end of the day, you get really tired. Plus, the last part of the trail was covered in snow, and we were in tennis shoes. I never thought to bring boots.

Running into the elk was very cool (not literally, of course!) We were driving in between stops and were very surprised to come across these elks!

When we left, this was the sight to see. The sunset was so beautiful. I highly recommend stopping at the Grand Canyon if you are in the area. I wish we would have planned for more than one day there!

This is a must do activity while you are in Sedona. The tickets were $75 a piece for the Broken Arrow Tour, and it was worth every penny. The Broken Arrow Trail is only used by the Pink Jeep Tour company (they have other tours you can do for other prices — some more expensive, some less expensive). There is only permit given out for this trail a year, and they have it. You will not see these views anywhere else! However, if you are pregnant or if you have back problems, this tour is not for you. It is a tad rough (and that is an understatement!). They are open year round - 7 days a week in all weather. They go out in pretty much any kind of weather too. Where else could you get pictures like these?

Here a few more of the picture we took while on the tour (click here to enlarge):

This is a must do activity while you are in Sedona. The tickets were $75 a piece for the Broken Arrow Tour, and it was worth every penny. The Broken Arrow Trail is only used by the Pink Jeep Tour company (they have other tours you can do for other prices — some more expensive, some less expensive). There is only permit given out for this trail a year, and they have it. You will not see these views anywhere else! However, if you are pregnant or if you have back problems, this tour is not for you. It is a tad rough (and that is an understatement!). They are open year round - 7 days a week in all weather. They go out in pretty much any kind of weather too. Where else could you get pictures like these?

Here a few more of the picture we took while on the tour (click here to enlarge):

Another great place to visit if you are even in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is the Wildlife Sanctuary.  You are able to watch the trails there through the woods.  They also have a small zoo and a spot that you can feed the ducks.  You can buy corn for 50 cents a bag.

They also have a small building that houses some of the animals that can’t stay outdoors.  They let you actually touch some of the animals too.  Last time we were there, Madison got to touch a snake and a turtle.

This is a cheap and fun way to spend the day with your kids!

Another great place to visit if you are even in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is the Wildlife Sanctuary.  You are able to watch the trails there through the woods.  They also have a small zoo and a spot that you can feed the ducks.  You can buy corn for 50 cents a bag.

They also have a small building that houses some of the animals that can’t stay outdoors.  They let you actually touch some of the animals too.  Last time we were there, Madison got to touch a snake and a turtle.

This is a cheap and fun way to spend the day with your kids!