Grant and Luke
Our Life in Photos and Words

Blog of Our Travels

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Grant’s 36th Birthday Bash in Denver
Grant’s 36th Birthday Bash in Denver

What happens when you put friends of Grant on a plane, ship them to Denver for a three-day weekend, and Grant helps plan the weekend? The answer a really great time, full of laughter, food, and a lot of single dollar bills. On January 7th, Grant turned 36. Just for record-keeping purposes—I (Luke) am only 34 so this makes Grant 2 years older than me. He is now in his late 30’s and I am still pathetically clutching on to the fact that I am still able to consider myself in my early 30s. Grant wanted me to clarify that it will only be for two more months then I am officially old like him.

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Domestic Travel, YearLuke MartinColorado, 2022 Comments
Wedding in Morgan City. Where is Morgan City?
Wedding in Morgan City. Where is Morgan City?

Christmas bells were not the only bells ringing the week before the 25th. My cousin, Victoria, the only girl in our cousin pool, promised Conner she would marry him. Where is Morgan City, Louisiana? Good question that I had to google myself. It’s about halfway between New Orleans and Lafayette. Which means—it is in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by swamps. This is where the groom was born and raised so it makes sense as a destination for the wedding.

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Domestic Travel, YearLuke MartinLouisiana, 2021Comment
Don’t Ask Me For Directions in Chicago
Don’t Ask Me For Directions in Chicago

This is how we choose our travel destinations. Grant randomly searches GoogleFlights and finds a spontaneous sale on a nonstop weekend flight to Chicago in November. He turns to Emily and me at dinner in Cafe Coyote (San Diego) and goes “want to go to Chicago? He waited a few seconds to make sure no one objected and the response was pretty quiet. Which was his queue to proceed with “I am going to book three flights.” Once again no major objections. And just like that…we are on an adventure to Chicago.

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Year, Domestic TravelLuke Martin2021, IllinoisComment
Celebrating Erica’s BIG 50 in Alaska
Celebrating Erica’s BIG 50 in Alaska

Alaska was originally owned by Russia in the late 1800s as a fur trading colony. When the fur-trading dried up, Russia was saddled with a liability rather than an asset. Looking to dispose of this territory, Russia reached out to the US a fledgling country to acquire the land. At the time, Canada was not its own country and the territory was owned by Great Britain. Russia and Great Britain were at odds with one and other and there was no chance they would allow their greatest rival to gain more land. After acquiring Alaska, it sat dormant for quite a while until finally in 1959 it became a state.

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Year, Domestic TravelLuke MartinAlaska, 2021Comment
Incline Jail, Paintball Gun, and Getting Soaked Under a Waterfall at Niagara Falls
Incline Jail, Paintball Gun, and Getting Soaked Under a Waterfall at Niagara Falls

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? The answer in our case is Yes, Yes, Yes, and let's add a few more stops just to make sure we hit everything possible. This elongated weekend had us departing on Friday night to Pittsburgh and making our way up to Buffalo to depart back home. Our style of hitting the highlights of the city and moving quickly to another proved valuable in a trip that had us visit— Pittsburgh, PA, Sandusky, OH, Cleveland, OH, Niagara Falls, NY, Buffalo, NY, and somehow as I type this stuck in Chicago, IL with a layover that seems to never want to end.

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Domestic Travel, YearLuke Martin2021, New York, Pennsylvania, OhioComment
Back to Basics in Vegas
Back to Basics in Vegas

Some people have been sheltering in place for a year and are just now coming out of hibernation. For us, it has only been a month, but like standard Grant and Luke shenanigans we definitely packed in quite a bit. At this time, we have decided to pause the adoption process and have been riding that emotional roller coaster. We are looking at different options to pursue, but giving ourselves a break for a bit to figure out what we want to do.

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Domestic Travel, YearLuke MartinNevada, 2021 Comment
The Answer is Six— Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine
The Answer is Six— Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine

A delayed birthday trip to New England sounded like an amazing way to ring in the huge milestone of turning 34 years old. You only turn that random age once so why not do something equally as random like visit Boston during a pandemic. After a 5.5 hour direct flight from San Diego to Boston, we were there to embrace whatever we could.

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Domestic Travel, YearLuke Martin2021, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode IslandComment
With the World Closed the Republic of Florida Remains Open
With the World Closed the Republic of Florida Remains Open

The United States is closed, but Florida has decided to secede from that idea. Upon landing in Florida we were greeted with hundreds if not thousands of happy travelers ready to enjoy the Disney World or the Conservative Political Action Committee Conference with keynote speaker Donald Trump. However, we were not in town for either of those events, but rather our friend’s (Debbie and Andrew) wedding.

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Year, Domestic TravelLuke MartinFlorida, 2021Comment
One Hour There and 7 Hours Back
One Hour There and 7 Hours Back

What do you do when you are in a pandemic and have a three-day weekend? How about joining a family who is already on a road trip? Sounds reasonable.

Grant and I climbed on a flight Sunday morning for Phoenix where we met up with Erica and Ashley. They had rented an SUV and have been driving from San Diego to Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. With a car full of gear and a cat named Molly— they went cruising the highways in search of the notable and obscure sites.

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Domestic Travel, YearLuke MartinArizona, 2021Comment
One Day In Denver; In Search of Snow
One Day In Denver; In Search of Snow

With a light dusting of the white stuff falling on our faces last week in Dallas, Grant booked us a flight to Denver to get the heavier stuff. With Ripley’s health (dog) still a concern I didn’t want to be away to long. The 2-hour direct flight left San Diego at 6:15am and was set to return that same night at 11:30pm. The problem—after a tumultuous night of jockeying for position in bed with Ripley (he decided to play dirty and bark as well as kick me)...I didn’t want snow, I wanted sleep.

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Year, Domestic TravelLuke Martin2021, ColoradoComment
Should I Continue to Denver Since I Want Snow?
Should I Continue to Denver Since I Want Snow?

Having traveled enough we have learned a few tricks to get steals on flights. Grant’s favorite trick is to use Skiplagged- an app that looks at layovers rather than final destinations to see if there may be a discounted rate. A trip from San Diego to Dallas direct was $200, however, a trip from San Diego to Dallas to Denver was only $100. We grabbed the cheaper one and we’re off to Dallas to celebrate Grant’s 35th birthday. This is not our usual birthday celebration for him, but since Vegas or Palm Springs is out— this works! Plus, I have been told that we are doing a mid-year birthday celebration to make up for missed time celebrating with friends. Everyone save the date in July!

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Year, Domestic TravelLuke Martin2021, TexasComment
First of all, Happy New Year. Second of all,... 
First of all, Happy New Year. Second of all,... 

To begin 2020, we were climbing the Great Wall of China. To begin 2021, we were throwing beads at people off a rooftop deck in New Orleans. Not quite the same, but this does exemplify the attitude Grant and I have shared throughout 2020– live life and have fun no matter what. With 2021 being rung in and the world still a mess— we couldn’t be more sure we made the right choice to continue living our best lives in 2020 and enjoy each day to the fullest.

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Domestic Travel, YearLuke Martin2021, LouisianaComment