Julie Smith Travels

September 2020 I was originally supposed to be in Banff for my sister’s trip, but since the borders were closed due to COVID, I decided to take Mike with me to Lake Tahoe since it would be easy to social distance with all of the outdoor activities.  Since we decided to go the week of Labor Day, we planned to stay just north of Lake Tahoe the first couple nights since the beach would probably be more crowded with Labor Day beach goers. This was our first time flying since COVID and we weren’t sure what to expect. The New Orleans airport was empty, only a select few vendors were open. We had to wear a mask and no drinks were offered on the flight. We landed in Reno and picked up our rental car. The first stop was In-and-Out Burger. Neither of us have been so it was a “must-do.” The place had a drive thru line wrapped around the building. We went into order. They were busy, but luckily this place ran like a well-oiled machine. We enjoyed the food, then took the hour drive to Truckee a...

Belize, Honduras and Mexico For Rylie’s senior trip and 18 th birthday, we decided to go on a cruise to celebrate.  Day one on the boat was a bit of a blur. Between waiting to get in the room, then waiting for our luggage, the safety drill, our A/C in the room not working, etc., we were exhausted. That night was pretty low key. We did go to the karaoke bar for Rylie to sing a couple songs and make some new friends.  Day two and three were both at sea days. We tried to lay out by the pool, but it was either packed with people or too hot! We did attend more karaoke, movie night and a couple comedian shows on those days. Day three was actually Rylie’s 18 th birthday. I had our steward decorate our room and I had ordered a cake. Rylie and her new friends came up from the pool mid-day to have a piece and celebrate. That night Rylie went out to the “club” with her new friends since she was now of legal age.  Day four we finally got to our first stop, Roatan, Honduras. This da...