Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

~Carmen

2018 was spent mainly in the US with more camping and mountain biking trips.  Joe and I spent 2 weeks abroad, traveling with my brother and sister-in-law across northern Italy.  We didn’t get as many blogs posts written (goal for 2019), but I worked on improving my videography and photography skills, while Joe kept me sane and plugging along.  Read on for our 2018 Year End Review:

Our YouTube sample of 2018!



So here is our 2018 Year End Review:

January

  • Buffalo Headwaters Challenge-  This is an annual mountain bike “festival” in northwest Arkansas that loves to attend.  Meanwhile, I spent time with my daughter Rachel while Joe was freezing his butt off on his bike.  Buffalo Headwaters Mountain Bike Challenge

February

  • Fried Catfish- Not much going on this month, except we started reviewing fried catfish restaurants in Memphis. No, we’re not finished.  Must eat more catfish!
Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

Get a great plate of catfish at the Soul Fish Cafe!

March

  • Tennessee Road Trip-  This month always brings my spring break (1 week of no school) and my birthday.  For spring break, we hit the road, along with our oldest, Lauren, and traveled 835 miles crisscrossing our home state of Tennessee.  The Ultimate Tennessee Road Trip
Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

The roads in the Great Smoky Mountains are some of the most scenic in the USA!

  • Eureka Springs, Arkansas- Easter weekend, Joe and I spent a romantic weekend in one of Arkansas’s most unique towns.
Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

Take lots of sunscreen when visiting the Hoover Dam. It was HOT!

April

  • Family Wedding-  The first weekend in April, we flew to Las Vegas to celebrate the wedding of Taniesha Ferreria-Elzie and Ryan Matthews, Joe’s side of the family.  I was born in Las Vegas and was thrilled to see my parent’s old house.  We also hiked around Red Rock Canyon and saw the Hoover Dam.

May

  • Tallahassee, Florida-  The first of May marked a milestone for my daughter, Lauren.  She graduated from Florida State University with a Master’s in Art History (Debt Free!).  We went to Tallahassee, Florida to see her graduate and get her moved back to Tennessee.  She now lives in Little Rock, Arkansas and works for the Arkansas Arts Center.  She also helps us with the blog from time to time!  Lauren’s latest blog post- Hiking Pinnacle Mountain
Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

So proud of Lauren for earning her Master’s Degree.

  • Petite Jean State Park-  Memorial Day weekend, we went camping at one of our favorite camping spots in Arkansas.
Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

Sunrise at Petit Jean Mountain, overlooking the Arkansas River.

June

July

Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

Oak Mountain State Park Mountain Bike Skills Camp

 

August

  • PhotoCon 2018- The first of the month was super busy for me.  The school where I teach 6th grade moved to a  new building,  plus I attended my first photography conference with my dad!
Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

PhotoCon 2018 in Memphis, Tennessee

 

  • Chattanooga’s Raccoon Mountain and Enterprise South Nature Park-
Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

Raccoon Mountain

September

  • Fayetteville, Arkansas- Labor Day Weekend, we went to see a University of Arkansas football game and visit daughter Rachel.
  • Mountain Bike Riding at Lake Leatherwood Eureka Springs, AR
  • Race Between the Bridges, Memphis TN and West Memphis, AR-
Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

Race Between the Bridges

 

October

  • Texas Fall Break Trip (College Station & San Antonio)-  Each October, I get a week out of school for Fall Break.   This year, we traveled to Texas to see longtime friends, Laurie and Dwight McArthur.  We attended our first Texas A&M football game, which was quite the experience!  We also spent several days in San Antonio, seeing all of the tourist sites we could fit into our schedule.
Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

Texas A&M Football!

 

  • Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee- Mid October, we spent the weekend camping in northwestern Tennessee.  It was Pelican Weekend at Reelfoot Lake State Park.  I learned real quick that I need to practice photographing birds because my pics of pelicans were a bit amateurish!
Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

Taking a sunset kayak tour at Reelfoot Lake

  • Fayetteville, Arkansas-  We went back to northwest Arkansas to see daughter Rachel again and to see a University of Arkansas game.  After the game, Joe did some mountain bike riding at Mt. Sequoyah Woods and Blowing Springs Loop, Bella Vista while Rachel and I shopped and took some campus photographs.

 

November

  • Memphis India Fest-  Every first weekend in November, Memphis hosts a huge Indian festival.  Joe and I love Indian food and go every year that we’re in town.
Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

Getting our Indian food fix at Memphis India Fest!

 

  • Maumelle, Arkansas- Celebrated Thanksgiving with family.

December

  • Arkansas-  We traveled to Arkansas 3xs this month!  The first weekend in December we traveled to see my nephew marry his college sweetheart.  Next, we went back to the University of Arkansas to watch daughter graduate with a degree in business (Debt free!).  Then, we spent the Christmas holiday with family in Maumelle.
Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

Congratulations, Rachel!

 

So there you have it!  Does this seem like a lot of travel to you or is it pretty doable when working full-time?  Please comment your opinion below!   We’d also like know some of the places you traveled and things you did.  Please comment below!

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~ Carmen

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Pack Your Baguios 2018 Year End Review

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