Over Easter break, the four of us hopped on a red eye flight to Boston, and took on a whirlwind week-long East Coast college tour.

In 8 days, we drove a little over 2,000 miles,

and visited 9 college campuses.

We felt a bit like rock stars, as we checked into a different hotel every night, and woke up in a different city every morning.

We saw enchanting campus that could rival the Hogwarts in Harry Potter,

as well as modern buildings with state of the art laboratories and research facilities.

We got a good flavor of universities nested in bustling big cities, to small cities, as well as isolated college towns.

The nine campuses we visited are all highly ranked universities in the country, and all impressed us with their ridiculously low acceptance rates. As my 16 year-old will enter her senior year in the fall, the task ahead seemed daunting. They all required excellent transcripts, high test scores, extracurricular, strong essays, all mixed in with a good measure of luck.

We returned home from our road trip exhausted, but our family had a lot of fun, and we learned a great deal from this experience.

The good news: My teen loved every campus we visited.

The really good news: We are already very proud of our teen for having earned the academic credentials to consider applying into these universities.

The super good news: While she will certainly make an effort to get into her top choices, there isn’t just one or two universities out there for her. In fact, there are many universities where she can learn and be happy at.

Previous related posts:
When I Bring Home a C-

The Mile Run

There was a charming organic farm adjacent to the small 16 room hotel we stayed at during our visit to Peru’s Sacred Valley.

This organic farm advertised an organic farm lunch that sounded enticing. I did not hesitate to sign us up for it.

We arrived at the appointed hour, and were delighted to learn that this lunch will be cooked according to their ancient Inca tradition, straight on the rocks!!

The heat from the rocks prompted us to stand back. As we observed, the cooks placed potatoes, corns, various farm vegetables, marinated chicken, pork ribs, and lamb chops on the rocks.

They had all the food completely covered under the rocks, then added heavenly scented herbs on top of the rocks, covered everything with tarp, then top it off with dirt.

“Everything will be cooked to perfection in about 20 minutes!” our lunch host announced to us proudly.

He then led us to a tour of the farm. Peru is rich in corn and potatoes. In addition to these two main crops, this farm grow a huge variety of vegetables. We got to touch, feel, and smell a number of unfamiliar vegetables and herbs.

Since one member of our family must eat gluten free, we were excited to finally meet Quinoa in its most natural form.

The farm raised farm animals too, as we saw chicken coop, pig pens, and lambs on the farm.


20 minutes went by fast, and we were lead back to their Inca oven.

The staff unveiled the food that has been cooked on the rocks, and filled the air with this incredible smell that made my mouth water.

Everything was cooked to perfection in 20 minutes!!


The meats were juicy and tender.

I had not expected dessert on a farm lunch, but then our host delivered us this!

The dessert came with 4 shot glasses of homemade traditional Peruvian alcohol.

“We gave you small glasses because they are very, very strong!” said our host, “but very good. You must try it.”

“Children can drink alcohol in Peru?” I pointed at my two children.

“If parents allow it, sure, they can drink alcohol here.” host said with a wide smile.

I took a sip first. I don’t like most strong alcohol, but this sip went down smooth. I would guess that this was probably a 40% proof alcohol, but it had a refreshing and a hint of sweet fruitiness after taste.

I don’t know if it is legal for young Americans to drink alcohol overseas, so I am not providing further details here.

Previous related post:

Kotofuku V
The Big 8
Death by Salad
Mother’s Day Madness

This was such a great idea 8 months ago. A grand adventure, one amazing experience, the mystic, and the bragging rights…

But as I stood at the bottom of these rock stairs, catching up on my breath, I was filled with trepidation.

This was day two of our 4 day Inca Trail trek to the iconic Machu Picchu. We had been forewarned that this was going to be the most challenging day of this difficult hike.

By challenging, they meant insane.

The porters woke us up from our tents at 5AM. They wanted us to hike 11 hours that day.

By 6AM, we had eaten our breakfast and packed our day bag. The porters stayed behind to dismantle the tents and pack up the camp.

“Okay. Team. Now, we are going to climb up to reach the summit of this trail. This will take you about 6 hours.” our young mountain guide told us with a straight face, “It is all up, some parts will be very steep. You will need to watch your steps and use your poles.”

Our guide then added encouragingly, “You can do it! Anything is possible.”

This was not simply 6 hours on the stairmaster. These were uneven rock stairs. Lots and lots and lots of them. Some were very steep, all of varying height, and varying depth.

Then there was the murderous high altitude. There wasn’t enough air in our lungs just for standstill breathing!

We were climbing from 11,000 feet to the summit of 13,800 feet. To add to our joy, the mountain gods showered us with rain nearly all day. But there was one positive. The high altitude and rain made day two super cold. We were advised to not rest for longer than 2 minutes. We had to keep moving to stay warm. Awesome.

We reached the summit, a.k.a. Dead Woman’s Pass in under 6 hours. We were greeted with cheers and applause. Our mountain guide high fived us, as porters handed us hot coca tea and snack.

I’d like them to rename this pass to Awesome Super Woman’s pass instead. I felt like an Awesome Super woman standing at the top of the summit.

15 minutes later, our guide gathered us to continue our hike.

“We still have about 5 hours of hike to go. The first 3 hours, you will have some up, some down, and some flat. The next 2 hours are all down hill.” said our mountain guide.

We were so sick and tired of climbing up on the stairs, we cheered upon hearing the hike down.

It wasn’t long when I concluded that I didn’t much like the down hike either.

The rain had made the rocks slippery. Many hikers slipped and fell while climbing down. My 13 year-old fell down the stairs 4 times. We were fortunate and no hikers were seriously hurt on these rocky steps. The hike down required a great deal of mental concentration, and careful footing.

I just like the flat terrains.

But these were scarce on the Inca Trail.

On Day 3, we only had to hike 6 hours. They said easy day, all downhill! You already know how I feel about downhill.

Our sore and shaky legs kept on the rocky descent.

As we neared Machu Picchu, we could hear the whistles from the trains and can see the Machu Picchu town deep down in the valley. We also came across Llama traffic on our narrow path.


Day 4, they woke us at 3:30AM. We hiked with our troop with our headlamps on. They wanted us to arrive the Sun Gate and Machu Picchu before the masses arrive by train.

We arrived at the Sun Gate around 6AM, and found the Sun Gate covered in dense fog.

We couldn’t see the Machu Picchu! No one was surprised. During our 4 day hike, we noticed that the fog came and went as it pleased on these mountains.

We sat and waited. 20 minutes later, the fog began to lift, unveiling the majestic Machu Picchu like magic.

We had arrived at Machu Picchu on a beautiful Christmas Day, feeling triumphed.

The journey itself was the destination, and this was our grand finale.

We were right 8 months ago. A grand adventure, one amazing experience, the mystic, and the bragging rights…

Previous related posts:
Yosemite – A Family Day Hike
A Day Trip to Huanglong
Back to Jiazhaigu Valley
Mount Rainier

We picked out a beautiful day to visit San Francisco.

It was sunny, clear, and warm.

We had another reason for driving north on Saturday. I found this 100% gluten-free restaurant in Sausalito, a town just north of San Francisco.

Sausalito is an upscale seaside town full of tourists, bikers, outdoor cafes, ice cream parlors, bakeries, and countless boutique stores and art galleries.


The trouble with 100% gluten free restaurants is that I always order too much food. At most regular restaurants, my celiac child often only has 2 meals to choose from, so at Copita, I set my baby loose to eat everything.

By the end of the meal, we still had 2 full plates that were hardly touched.

But we still saved room for their amazing gf desserts. And we had to ordered an extra dessert to go.

After lunch, we headed to Pier 39, a.k.a. Fisherman’s Wharf.

Apparently a whole lot of people had the same idea. The Pier was packed with visitors.

We joined the crowd, sipped on drinks, bought snacks, fruits, and window shopped.

We enjoy an outing to San Francisco every couple of months or so. We always have fun there.

Previous related posts:
Summer is Here!
Yosemite – A Family Day Hike
A Family Outing

Merely a month after snowboarding at Whistler, Canada, we found ourselves on the sands of Maui for Spring break.

Yes, it is really rough being me.

We visit Maui frequently, and being regular visitors, we don’t need to jam pack our vacation days with activities that are must dos on Maui. Because we have already done everything twice over.

So, everyday we just keep doing what we enjoy the most on this island: hitting the beaches.

Early in the morning, we grab our gear, and head to our favorite snorkeling spots to snorkel.

I have taught both of my children to snorkel since they were five years old, and my teen can snorkel dive like a pro.

When you can dive, you can take beautiful photos of things under the sea close up.

You can also harass a poor eel out of its cave to go somewhere else. Sorry!

We hiked on little known trails to reach our favorite beach front restaurant.

It is okay to order alcohol with your breakfast on Maui.

Then we go for a swim in the ocean.

In the afternoons, we go to our favorite boogie board beach to play with the surf.

And we boogie board until sunset.

Then we go out and feast on catch of the day.

And we always remember to save room for dessert!

Next morning, we start over with snorkeling again, and repeat.

Previous related posts:
Dim Sum of Maui
Makena
Escargot Anyone?

We came home late Saturday night, and found our home phone answer machine blinking like crazy. I have been offline and unreachable for a whole week.

We took the kids on a snowboarding trip to Whistler, Canada, last week. Although Canada does not feel very foreign from the US, it is indeed another country, so AT&T wanted to charge me a hefty roaming charge, plus international calling and text rates. I decided to shut my phone off for a whole week. I am cheap like that.

So, how was Whistler?

Spectacular!

It’s majestic duo mountains were the home of the 2010 Winter Olympic.

It has a huge village, with an extensive number of restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops (the village had two Starbucks!), grocery stores, and endless shops throughout.

We spent 5 glorious days on the slopes.

It was never boring. In addition to a massive number to trails to choose from, the mountain was ever changing.

You could have clear blue sky, and find yourself floating on top of the clouds one moment,

to dense fog on a different section of the mountain,

to punishing whiteout condition,

to warmer slushy conditions near the base.

It is so nice of the schools to offer a ski week off in the middle of the February every year.

Previous related posts:
A Family Winter Holiday
Family Ski Trip at Squaw Valley
Big Butts Are Sexy!

Seriously! I took Germany out of our European vacation itinerary because their restaurants are reputed to be gluten-free challenged.

How could a country known for its meat and potatoes be bad for people who only have to avoid wheat, barley, and rye? Apparently, they like to bread and fry everything, marinate sausages in beer, and they don’t like to be flexible.

Upon further research… Denmark and Sweden’s McDonald’s serve gluten-free burgers! Super. I added Denmark and Sweden to replace Germany.

Ever since my 12 year-old was diagnosed with Celiac disease a year and half ago, gluten has transformed our lifestyle. And now, even our travel route is dedicated to avoid gluten.

You might think the lack of gluten in my stomach is making me nuts.

Not so! Traveling gluten-free is hard. Let me tell you what happened in Paris.

Paris was our first stop, and we were there for 4 nights.

“Paris is easy. I have this gluten-free travel card in French, and the celiac forum said the servers in Paris are familiar with the gluten-free diet, and know what gluten is. “ I waved the travel card at my family.

Day 1: We braved the Eiffel Tower stairs all the way to deck two. On our way down, as we neared the Eiffel Tower deck one, the kids were hungry for lunch. We stood in line at an outdoor cafe to buy food.

“Bonjour, my daughter here can not eat gluten.” I showed the French gluten-free travel card to the young staff.

“Ah, gluten.” She said with a smile.

“You understand gluten?” me.

“Yes, yes, I understand gluten.” staff.

Awesome!! I don’t have to explain gluten to her.

“What can she eat here?” I asked her.

She looked around at her lunch display, shook her head at me.

“I am sorry. Everything has gluten here.” staff.

I stared at the various French baguettes and delicious looking baked goods through the glassed display.

“So, there is nothing for her to eat here?” I had hoped that a gluten-free version of these foods would be available.

“I am really sorry…no.” she looked at my daughter, and looked genuinely sorry for her.

“Ahh! There is a restaurant on deck two, and they may have gluten-free fries.” she told us.

I looked up, and was not tempted to play supermom that day. Deck two on the Eiffel Tower is NOT exactly upstairs from Deck one, it is more like 20 floors up.

“I’ll just have an icee, mom.” a small voice said.

I ordered sandwiches for the rest of us, and got the baby an icee, and a coke.

I felt terrible.

At a nearby gift shop, I found ice cream bars in their freezer, and after verifying with a staff that it didn’t contain any gluten, I bought it for the baby.

“Yay, I get to have coke and ice cream for lunch!!” the baby was excited over her “lunch”.

Day 2: We visited the Louvre. We went to the museum food court to widen our options. After walking a few rounds, it was clear that the only things that were “sans gluten” (gluten-free in French) were plain salad and fruit cups.

“I can eat coke and ice cream again for lunch.” the baby suggested.

“No! You can’t have that for lunch everyday.” me, “You will have to eat the salad or the fruit cup, or both.”

“I’ll eat the salad.” the baby said with downcast eyes.

The fruit cups did look tired and unappetizing.

Day 3: We were at the Musee d’Orsay when the lunch hour came upon us. I have come to dread hunger. The Parisians knew their gluten alright, because it is in everything!

“Great…salad and fruit cups again.” baby.

After we sat down to eat, I quickly noted that the baby was not eating.

“Why aren’t you eating your lunch? Eat more salad.” me.

“The dressing tastes bad.” baby.

The light purple colored dressing with little dots of herbs looked guilty as charged.

I felt terrible. I put down my Chicken salad baguettes, and went to look at food again.

I came back with a couple of pouches of mayonnaise. “Here, try eating your salad with mayonnaise.” me.

Baby gave me a funny look.

“Everything tastes good with mayonnaise, just try it.” me.

Baby tried, nodded her head, and ate pieces of lettuce dipped with mayonnaise.

“I will buy you ice cream later.” me.

Day 4: Paris was saved!…by a potato.

We were driving around the huge gardens of Versailles in a golf cart on day 4. As I snapped photos in Louis the XIV’s massive royal garden, and I was thinking, please! Anything but salad today.

An old man stood behind an old fashioned food cart got my attention. He was selling roasted whole potatoes. The potatoes cost 5 euros each, expensive largely due to the unlimited topping options that he generously piled onto each potato.

“One potato! With just butter and salt.” I ordered.

He smeared my potato with butter, and sprinkled salt on top. Then he waved his hand over his selections of sour cream, bacon, meat appeared to be sausages, chili, onions, and other foreign looking toppings.

“No thanks.” me.

He handed me the plain potato, totally unimpressed with me.

“A potato!!!” baby was smiling ear to ear.

“Oh this is so good” , “Yummy”, “This is the best potato ever”, the baby was chowing on the potato singing its praise loudly with each and every bite.

“Mom, I want a potato too.” 14 year-old.

I told hubby to turn around and go back to the potato guy. We bought a second potato from the guy.

“We just spent 10 euros on two potatoes.” I said to hubby.

It was money well spent. As we boarded the train bound for Amsterdam the next morning, the kids declared the roasted potato the highlight of Paris.

An afterthought:

Dining out is a challenge for people living with strict dietary restrictions. Traveling just magnifies it because you are living out of a hotel room in unfamiliar places.

We quickly learned that it isn’t enough to just walk into any cafes waving our foreign language restaurant cards, and expect to be well fed. Thanks to free wifi and the internet, we were able to conduct thorough research for the rest of the European cities we visited, and found specific restaurants that offered dedicated gluten-free menus or were very willing to accommodate people with food allergies.

We have had many more misadventures with eating out in Europe, but we have also had great finds and our celiac child did feast on many delicious and proper meals in Europe.

The gluten-free dessert at Amsterdam’s Haesje Claes.

The gluten-free schnitzel at Prague’s Svejk Restaurant U Karla

The gluten-free Polish dumplings at Krakow’s Pod Baranem Restauracja. Just loved this restaurant, we ate there 3 nights in a row.

Happy travels!!!

Related previous posts: Bonjour… Hallo… Hej… Halla… Χαίρετε
When You Have a Problem with Krispy Kreme
Cupcakes and Churros
A Rendezvous with Gluten Free