Road Trippin’ in Pennsylvania

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PA Tourism. All opinions are 100% mine.

Summer is coming and with the warm weather, plenty of people are packing up their shorts and their kids and loading the car with games and food to take a traditional road trip – and also saving money by staying closer to home and not flying to a destination. Gas prices may be high, but they’re definitely cheaper than airfare, so travelers are willing to make the sacrifice. Of course, there is a lot of fun to be said for road trips. You travel slower, but you see everything in between your house and where you’re going. It gives you the opportunity to get out of the car and see a lot of cool stuff along the way. I always loved family roadtrips and we took a lot of them. As much as I love flying, I will always love a good, old-fashioned journey in the car.

While I have yet to experience the magic of the New England states, I am always finding something fun-sounding and adding to my ever-growing list to see/do when I make it there. I may have to stay for 3 weeks! If, unlike me, you are making your way to Pennsylvania by car this year – or driving around the state in search of entertainment for your family – then you totally want to check out the Fantastic Roadtrip-a-Matic from VisitPA.com. They have a ton of pa-roadtrips to choose from in the state that start with the type of trip you want to take – everything from trips for the history buff, art critic, nature lover, the romantic and everything in between.

I immediately was taken by the title “Small Town Charmy” and clicked on Big times in small towns. I adore small towns and am always searching for their unique qualities and activities. Almost every town has some sort of attraction – maybe not those with only 210 residents – that makes it worth visiting. VisitPA has taken the guesswork out of finding such awesomeness, though, as they gather all the information you want and need and put it right at your fingertips!

I could take a 2-day road trip centered on the Great Lakes Region. Day One starts in Erie and Day Two sees me off to Meadville, Cambridge Springs and North East. Not only do I check out an art museum, but I’m going to tour an art-deco theater, see a play, shop some local merchants, taste some wine and a whole lot more! I even get maps and suggestions on where to stay and dine. Love it! And, because I’m taking my own car, I can spend more or less time anywhere I want. If I want to expand my 2-day road trip into a 3- or 4-day one, nobody’s stopping me. VisitPA’s Roadtrip-a-Matic makes it super easy to plan activities, find accommodations and get your eat on, since the great outdoors makes one H-U-N-G-R-Y. It’s all that fresh air and exercise!

Show of hands for who hates vacation planning! Okay, I can’t really see you, but I bet it’s a lot. I am in the minority of people I talk to that love planning trips, but I with a site as comprehensive as VisitPA and their Roadtrip-a-Matic, I feel like a quick search on the site would give me options for anything else in the area I would want to do and then I could pack my bags and go. Print out your road trip(s) information on PDF, gas up and get out of Dodge! It’s so easy. It takes the guesswork out of vacation planning and saves you all that time you didn’t have anyway. Spend less time hearing “I’m bored!” and more time hearing “Yay!” when you declare “Yes, we are there yet.”

Hiking a Lava Cave 6.6.12

Over Memorial Weekend, while trying to find unique and cheap activities, we headed out to Lava Cave National Park and spent $5 on a parking pass to wander down into a deep, dark cave with uneven footing and small shafts and winter temps. We could have spent an additional $5 to rent a lantern from the entrance, but chose to bring our own emergency light from our house to guide us and kept that Lincoln in our pockets to use towards lunch.

A lava cave or tunnel is formed when a river of lava rages through and the lava on top forms a thick crust from being exposed to the air. The 2,000 degree lava continues to rush under the crust – and in some cases over it and forms a new shape – and leaves behind an arch that forms a cave. The flooring can be quite rocky, but eventually it gets covered in a layer of sand. Halfway into the lava cave in Bend it became fairly leveled out and had a thick sandy floor. It was like being at the beach, except cold and super dark. So, pretty much like any evening at the Oregon coast, just without actual water.

The cave is only open in the summer, as it is home to bats all day in the winter time. The inside temperature is 42 degrees all year long, so it could be warmer inside than outside during the cold months of the year and is a great activity to do when the desert heat is pounding down on you in the summer. As long as you bring some good walking or hiking shoes with you and layer up to keep out the chill, you are good to go. It’s an activity fit for almost everyone that is sure on their feet. We shared the cave with experienced rock-climbers and hikers and also with families that had small children in tow.

I would not suggest doing this after watching a movie like Decent or The Ring, but perhaps you’re braver than I and are not afraid of monsters hiding in the shadows (or, in this case, everywhere) that will attack and eat you or scare you to death. Being afraid of the dark, it was sometimes disconcerting when it was just you and you couldn’t hear or see anyone in any direction. I could only imagine how eerie the cave would have been if we had not been visiting during a particularly busy time.

Some of the cool things we saw and learned were ice sculptures that formed at the mouth of the cave (this used to be a tunnel, but the one end has been filled in with sand deposits) and then the sand formations seen further into the cave. Water drips from the roof, just like in a regular cave and forms structures called lavacicles instead of stalactites. Water from outside the cave seeps in and forms lavacicles and sand. You can also see the layers or rock that were formed by the lava when you examine the cave walls. Pretty cool.

Bend isn’t the only place you can hike a lava tube, though it is the longest continuous tube in Oregon. Want to visit a lava tube, too? Some of the more popular ones worldwide, according to Wikipedia, are:

• Iceland
• Surtshellir - For a long time, this was the longest known lava tube in the world.
• Víðgelmir - Another long lava tube of Iceland.
• Portugal
• Gruta das Torres - Lava tube system of the Azores.
• Spain
• Cueva del Viento - 17 km lava tube. Tenerife, Canary Islands
• USA
• Lava River Cave in Arizona's Coconino National Forest
• Lava Beds National Monument - The site of the largest concentration of lava tubes in the United States
• Kazumura Cave - Not only the world's most extensive lava tube, but has the greatest linear extent of any cave known
• Ape Cave, Washington - May be the third longest lava tube in the continental United States

There are also caves that aren’t shown in the list above in Utah, Hawaii, New Zealand and many more places. You just have to seek them out.

Have you ever hiked a lava tube/cave/tunnel?

Live Like a Londoner

When I travel to London, one of my “musts” is an apartment or a hotel with a kitchen. The city is one of the most expensive in the world and the easiest way to save is by cooking some of our own meals. We always eat in for breakfast, because a bagel or cereal will keep us full until lunchtime and will also save us $30 or more. We can eat while getting ready and not have to get up earlier in order to rush out the door to grab food and get on with sightseeing. It can be hard to find affordable apartments or hotels with useful amenities, but Robert and Polly Arnold have gathered them all in one website for you. They are native Londoners and know the city inside and out.

Using their extensive knowledge of London and its sights and attractions, the Arnolds have conveniently located accommodations for any traveler, whether you are a solo traveler, business traveler or bring your whole family. The personally inspect and choose the lodgings that they offer for rent, which gives you peace of mind when booking.

Want to visit for the Olympics? Jump online and choose from the long list of suitable London apartments. Not only will they keep you in the middle of the action, but you can find one that will also be far enough away from the action that you won’t be kept up all night by revelers. Postings have all the relevant information you need to choose the best apartment for you: plenty of photos to show you what the units look like, amenities of each room, what there is see and do nearby, the closest transportation stops and the overall features of the hotel. If you have a specific part of London you want to stay in, you can sort by neighborhood, too!

Apartment-Hotels has a separate section for corporate travelers. Need to find things to do when you aren’t working? They have that covered. Need a longer rental? No problem. Robert or Polly will help you choose the best London apartment for you by going with you on viewing appointments. Who else gives you that kind of personal service?

I’ll be traveling back to London in the fall and you can bet I’ll be staying in an apartment again, just like I did before. Our first day always finds us at the local Sainsbury, gathering supplies for breakfast, snacks to take with us and even some dinner staples. It makes travel so much more affordable and gives us a reason to enjoy our room more often. It’s the perfect choice for the budget traveler and gives you an excuse to buy interesting new food items that you don’t have where you live.

Are you looking to travel to London? If so, have you decided to rent an apartment for your stay?

This is a sponsored post, written by myself on behalf of Apartment-Hotels. Please visit their website for conveniently located apartments in London.