Québec City, Québec, Canada

January 2, 2024January 2, 2024 ~ Crystle ~ Leave a comment

We are back from our holiday trip to Canada! Our visit to French Canada started off in Québec City and ended in Montréal. We have been to Yukon and British Columbia before, but this is our first time to Québec, where French is the official language. Historic Québec City is a UNESCO World Heritage site, held in high esteem for its colonial era fortress structures and preserved ramparts.

Initially I was concerned the language would be a substantial barrier as my French skills are very poor. But I do recognize many shared vocabulary words from the English and Spanish languages, making it easier to slough through transportation change posters, and menus. It didn’t really matter in the end because in literally every retail and hospitality situation we found ourselves in, we encountered bilingual staff. So I wouldn’t make it an imperative to re-learn all the French you studied in high school and college. A local to Montreal suggested on TikTok that Americans simply say Bonjour without an emphasis on French pronunciation when entering a place of business to signal that we are respectful to the local language, but identify ourselves as English speakers. I said “bonjour-hello” as a rule, and always showed gratitude with “merci beaucoup”. That also seemed to work.

We planned this trip to see colonial architecture and to check out the German Christmas Markets where we were delighted to find warm drinks, sweet treats. We tried rabbit poutine and rabbit leg at Le Lapin Sauté, and had desserts at Smith Café. The markets were busy, and festive, and just cold enough (highs of 30-39F). While we were expecting snow on the ground, we were met instead with a few frozen-melt snow berms. The hills of the city were unrelenting, so we were ultimately pretty grateful the streets and sidewalks were clear.

We also explored the Musée des plaines d’Abraham, Montmorency Falls, and had amazing French Onion soup. We shared a ride up the hillside tram with a couple from Round Rock of all places, and the world felt small, but only briefly. I would recommend the Musée de la civilisation to learn more about First Nations, and for the Children’s playhouse on the basement level (recommended ages approximately 0-9).

Québec City is timelessly beautiful, with incredibly nice and helpful locals, and tons of amazing food. It’s also exceedingly interesting from a historical perspective.

Travel often brings out a few threads of curiosity in each of us. This time Isaac and I both became equally enamored with New France, and Acadian history. We watched Barkskins on the tablet in the hotel after the kids went to sleep, and listened to a couple of podcast episodes about the Great Peace of Montréal in 1701 and then the expulsion of the Acadians from 1755-1764.

Every day (especially while traveling) I learn something new, and learn how little I actually know!

Dallas, Texas

February 15, 2023February 15, 2023 ~ Crystle ~ Leave a comment

A weekend well spent in Dallas, TX. Family fun time at the Perot museum and Deep Ellum on Saturday, then a solemn Sunday morning spent at the Dealey Plaza. The Perot museum was a multi-floor STEM focused museum. Hunger drove a quicker pace through the final mechanical engineering floor, so if we revisit, we will start from the bottom up on a full stomach.

I recommend visiting Deep Ellum in the daylight hours, it turns into a party area at night, with bar culture that spills into the streets. We ate Tacos, and attempted to ride the bus back to our hotel – but after waiting at the stop, and watching our bus speed past us without a glance in our direction, we chose to walk. Parking in downtown Dallas is reminiscent to any major city, where paying to park at every location can eat into your travel budget in the most frustrating way. I once paid $30 to park for two hours in a parking garage in Los Angeles, never again. When we travel, we walk, or we try to use public transportation to avoid tons of parking fees and sketchy parking situations. Downtown Dallas is more walkable in some areas than others, so just plan accordingly.

The JFK Assassination site and Sixth Floor museum visit was an austere examination of a painful moment in American history. Though a dark and tragic entry point to the life and legacy of JFK, the assassination site experience solidified for us the lasting impact of his work, and provided a meaningful place for reflection on the highs and lows of American potential. Our propensity for both good and evil is expressed to both extremes, often. Explaining this to children in a way that emphasizes the good can be a challenge, but we work hard to highlight the instances of love we see in every bad situation. When witnessing tragedy, it’s prudent to “find the helpers,” as Mr. Rogers says.

We look forward to visiting Dallas again soon, but perhaps Houston should be our next travel destination — I’ll take any travel tips you have for the biggest city in TX!

White Sands National Park

January 31, 2023January 31, 2023 ~ Crystle ~ Leave a comment

When we moved from Arizona to Texas at the end of 2020, we made a stop at White Sands National Park. We had a great time sledding down the hills, ascending and descending various peaks, and collecting gypsum in nearly every seam of our clothes. White sands is a misnomer, the powdery substance covering the 115 square miles of the park is gypsum, a fine mineral that resembles sand. Believe me when I say I was vacuuming gypsum out of my car for over a year after this, and it’s still embedded in those shoes.

We were grateful to have an outdoor travel opportunity during our mandatory move amid the Covid-19 pandemic. It was incredibly stressful traveling during a time when vaccines were still in development, and nobody was really sure how susceptible children were, and how risky the symptoms would become. Every trip into the public was rolling the dice. Who else is relieved the darkest days of the pandemic are behind us? We still have not had Covid, and with 3-4 vaccines each, we’re hopeful we will never get it.

I highly recommend a visit if you find yourself in southern New Mexico or West Texas, and strongly suggest you also see Carlsbad Caverns!