{"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":"https:\/\/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.
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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

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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

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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

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