{"id":1719,"date":"2017-10-30T22:10:42","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T22:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/?p=1719"},"modified":"2017-11-13T22:17:43","modified_gmt":"2017-11-13T22:17:43","slug":"the-grand-finale-the-research-triangle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/30\/the-grand-finale-the-research-triangle\/","title":{"rendered":"The Grand Finale: The Research Triangle"},"content":{"rendered":"

We flew from Columbus, Ohio on our 14th wedding anniversary. The travel as a whole was our gift to each other. We landed in Raleigh, North Carolina to learn that the rental cars at the airport are horribly set up. After taking a bus from the terminal to the first rental car company, it quickly became apparent that the set up is mostly so the customers can\u2019t price shop the cars. Finally, after walking with bags a block to the next car company, we went online to reserve a car to pick up at the location we were standing in to save $400. Ridiculous system.<\/p>\n

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That was the single bad part of our trip there. Cary, Apex, Pittsboro, and Chapell Hill were the towns in the RTP that we spent the most time. They were all very cute little towns. Everywhere we went was beautiful: loads of trees, clean, and very green. Our favorite part of the trip was seeing the family that lives in the area. The kids had a blast playing at Grandma\u2019s and Grandpa\u2019s house. Vicki kept them busy in the bamboo forest and with legos and of course with ice cream. It was fun to see Lem and Vicki again. (And of course, I failed to get a single picture of everyone together…)<\/p>\n

The kids\u2019 cousins were out of the their year around school on break which provided for tons of play time with all the kids. Bonus: they are all the same age and got along great. Double bonus: we had a great time hanging out with Jenn and Jason while they were all playing.<\/p>\n

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Keali in particular was thrilled with meeting her baby cousins as well. I\u2019m surprised she didn\u2019t carry her little cousin around the whole time we were there.
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Scott and I spent some time checking out Chappel Hill on one of the days Vicki watched the kids. While beautiful, Chappel Hill wasn\u2019t really what I expected.<\/p>\n

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What we saw of the UNC campus was stunning, but I was a little surprised by the lack of walkability I expected Chappel Hill to have. I did like the humor of the folks there:<\/p>\n

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Another day, we went to a local master potter\u2019s shop and were treated to a private tour and a private lesson on how to make pottery.<\/p>\n

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It was an amazing experience and was only made better by the fact that it was free.<\/p>\n

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The artist clearly loves what he does and wanted to share the knowledge. We also learned what we had been doing wrong on the home beginner pottery wheel Keali received for her birthday a couple of years ago.<\/p>\n

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One of the most memorable things we did while in North Carolina was head over the the Carolina Tiger Rescue. Vicki and Lem got us all tickets to go together.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The place was really amazing. The big cats (and a handful of small wild cats) were all rescued cats. In their new homes, they\u2019ve been given large outdoor habitats with ever changing toys and ongoing enrichments from the handlers.<\/p>\n

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The cats will die out their years there so are safe from ever being stuck in a small cage at a zoo or elsewhere. The staff goes above and beyond to ensure the cats are all taken care of.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I loved that the kids were able to get to know their cousins and play with them, as well as all of us having so much time to spend with the family there. North Carolina was gorgeous, and we look forward to returning. Next time it will be a visit without the bittersweet part of it being the final stop on a wonderful nine month adventure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We flew from Columbus, Ohio on our 14th wedding anniversary. The travel as a whole was our gift to each other. We landed in Raleigh, North Carolina to learn<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[49,93,94,24],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1719","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-micha","8":"category-north-carolina","9":"category-the-research-triangle","10":"category-united-states","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/46CEECD8-5C5D-45A1-B22F-9C605A01B304.jpeg?fit=2048%2C1536","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8k10v-rJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2224,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2018\/06\/18\/wining-it-through-oregon\/","url_meta":{"origin":1719,"position":0},"title":"Wining It Through Oregon","author":"Micha Hooper","date":"June 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"We left Crater Lake largely because it was so cold. But we were also eager to get to Corvallis, Oregon to see my sister-cousin and her girlfriend, Katy and Christy respectively. Corvallis is a ridiculously cute little town of about 50,000 with the state\u2019s largest university, Oregon State University, in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Corvallis"","block_context":{"text":"Corvallis","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/united-states\/oregon\/corvallis\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/00E078C1-1569-45A0-B6FB-18251A5389F0.jpeg?fit=900%2C1200&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/00E078C1-1569-45A0-B6FB-18251A5389F0.jpeg?fit=900%2C1200&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/00E078C1-1569-45A0-B6FB-18251A5389F0.jpeg?fit=900%2C1200&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/00E078C1-1569-45A0-B6FB-18251A5389F0.jpeg?fit=900%2C1200&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1514,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/09\/a-sad-trip-to-nashville\/","url_meta":{"origin":1719,"position":1},"title":"A Sad Trip to Nashville","author":"Micha Hooper","date":"September 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The kids and I flew up to Nashville the day after Scott's mom died to meet him. It was wonderful seeing everyone, but horribly sad to be there under the circumstances. Scott's dad and wife (Lem and Vicki) flew in from North Carolina. We hadn't seen them in a couple\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Micha's Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Micha's Blog","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/blogs\/micha\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_9275.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_9275.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_9275.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_9275.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1702,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/20\/from-cleveland-to-columbus-and-everywhere-in-between\/","url_meta":{"origin":1719,"position":2},"title":"From Cleveland to Columbus and Everywhere in Between","author":"Micha Hooper","date":"October 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"After five or six days in Cleveland, we made our way to Columbus. We stopped at a few towns along the way just to explore. There were some beautiful quaint downtowns. On a whim, we stopped in to look at a property that was for sale. The 1890s farmhouse was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Columbus"","block_context":{"text":"Columbus","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/columbus\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/E070B3A6-BA43-47F4-A441-11F4CEA9C99B.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/E070B3A6-BA43-47F4-A441-11F4CEA9C99B.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/E070B3A6-BA43-47F4-A441-11F4CEA9C99B.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/E070B3A6-BA43-47F4-A441-11F4CEA9C99B.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/E070B3A6-BA43-47F4-A441-11F4CEA9C99B.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2096,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/21\/north-la-for-a-long-week\/","url_meta":{"origin":1719,"position":3},"title":"North LA for a Long Week","author":"Micha Hooper","date":"May 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Scott needed to get back to Houston for work, so we went back towards LA so as to be closer to the Burbank airport. We ended up staying at an RV park in Northridge. It will go down as our least favorite place to stay. It doesn\u2019t even matter what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "California"","block_context":{"text":"California","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/united-states\/california\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/BFFABE45-7C6F-4182-AAE8-B46E889132BD.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/BFFABE45-7C6F-4182-AAE8-B46E889132BD.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/BFFABE45-7C6F-4182-AAE8-B46E889132BD.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/BFFABE45-7C6F-4182-AAE8-B46E889132BD.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/BFFABE45-7C6F-4182-AAE8-B46E889132BD.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":81,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/03\/the-in-between-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":1719,"position":4},"title":"The in between time.","author":"Micha Lunt Hooper","date":"November 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Before the next adventure of Scott being gone for just over a month, I thought I should share the fun stuff we have recently been up to. While we have been working ridiculous hours during the week, we have managed to do some fun stuff on the weekends here in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "London"","block_context":{"text":"London","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/europe\/united-kingdom\/london\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1110,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2017\/05\/30\/ubud-bali-indonesia\/","url_meta":{"origin":1719,"position":5},"title":"Ubud, Bali, Indonesia","author":"Micha Hooper","date":"May 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We flew from Singapore to Bali and took a 45 minute car ride to Ubud. We only slotted Bali originally because of the location. Cheap flights to and from Bali from Asia, and even cheaper flights to Australian cities made it too good to pass up. 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