Posted by PapiBlogger on Sunday August 28th, 2011 at 02:15 AM
As I write this post Hurricane Irene is about to barrel into New York and other parts of New England so as a former reporter who’s covered hurricanes and a father who’s been through six of these suckers here’s my top five most important hurricane survival tips for families:
1. Don’t make the common “rookie” mistake of treating hurricanes as fun events. This is foolish and often leads to unnecessary injuries and even deaths from people who underestimate the power of storms. If you’re tempted to sneak outside to see the storm for yourself, don’t!
2. If you own a power generator DO NOT use it inside your home or apartment. Carbon monoxide poisoning is a silent killer (more…)
Posted by PapiBlogger on Thursday August 25th, 2011 at 12:25 AM
If you’re a vegetarian, this story is not for you. If you love beef, read on.
On the 42nd day of our family road trip I finally fulfilled my dream of eating lunch with my wife and kids in Houston at my favorite beef restaurant in the entire United States: Churrascos.
If you love great food, and especially if you are passionate for skirt steak like I am, trust me when I say that Churrascos has the BEST one anywhere. In addition to having their awesome skirt steak, Churrascos also features the world champion greatest Tres Leches. Even Miami’s own Los Ranchos restaurant doesn’t have a Tres Leches that compares.
Churrascos is owned by a Nicaraguan chef Michael Cordua and is part of a franchise of local restaurants that includes the equally brilliant Americas restaurant.
It’s been a summer of wild and wacky family memories for many of us so in anticipation of Labor Day and the Fall season, Latina Mom Bloggers and PapiBlogger want you to join us for a fun Twitter party themed “My Family’s Best Vacation Memories.” There will be five great prizes including an iPad 2 courtesy of PapiBlogger.com and Hispanicize 2012 Conference. I’m one of the hosts and will be sharing all my crazy memories from this year’s Miami to Alaska Road Trip, so I really hope to see you there!
Join me as we discuss our favorite summer family memories, our dream vacation places and more. Please dig up your favorite family vacation photos to share with us through out the party and if you have any questions you’d like to ask me about our road trip, I’d love to answer them!
Party Details
What: My Family’s Best Vacation Memories Twitter Party
When: Wednesday, August 31st from 8-9:30 PM EST
Where: Twitter
Hashtag: #DisneyPapi
Who to Follow: Hosts: @papiblogger @jollymom Moderators: @eva_smith, @latinomarketing @hispanicize @mcontemporanea
Prizes: Lots of fun prizes, including an iPad 2 valued at $499! Other prizes we’ll be giving out include:
A Buick Life in Motion Computer Backpack
An Elvis Presley Bobble Head Car
A Disney branded Picnic Time Solano Insulated Cooler
An Elvis Presley 30 #1 Hits CD
RSVP: To be eligible to win prizes, you must RSVP here.
Posted by PapiBlogger on Monday August 22nd, 2011 at 04:00 PM
I was truly honored to plank for Minnie Mouse. She was dressed in Hawaiian garbs to promote the new Aulani Resort in Hawaii.
Vacations are a time for exploring, having fun and just being plain silly. This summer we heard about a new social media phenomena called planking, or plankiando in Spanish. It’s a really stupid, harmless thing that entails laying straight like a log with your feet and your hands straight and your face down. There is absolutely no meaning to planking except that in our case I tried to do it with famous places and people. Almost no one had seen this done but in a couple places like the Golden Gate Bridge and in front of the Hollywood Walk of Fame we did overhear people say, “look, they’re planking!” Planking made our 44-day road trip so much funner! I hope you enjoy our collection of road trip planks!
My toddler Briani joined her sister Elena and I for her first plank in front of the Grand Tetons in Wyoming.
I couldn't believe we were allowed to plank in front of the Coca-Cola Polar Bear.
Roadside oddities are part of what makes family road trips fun so when we learned that our Texas travels on day 36th of our adventure would take us through the colorful Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, we simply couldn’t resist making this place the first of our two awesome pitstops in Texas this day.
Cadillac Ranch
Cadillac Ranch, also nicknamed CarHenge, is the name of a empty cow pasture near Amarillo, Texas that features 10 Cadillacs that are half-buried nose-first. The Cadillacs are part of a public art installation created by the art group Ant Farm in 1974 and owned by local millionaire Stanley Marsh 3, who also commissioned the project. (more…)
The grandprize winner of the PapiBlogger and Buick “Guess the Final Mileage” Contest is Kimberly Cuevas of San Antonio, Texas who guessed 9,875. The actual total miles the PapiMobile (aka the 2011 Buick Enclave) drove over the course of 44 days, 19 states and two countries was 10,016. Alfonso will receive a GoPro HD camera.
Second place, a $100 gift card, goes to Alexandria Alfonso of Miami who guessed 9,650 miles. who guessed 10,526 miles. The third place winner Patricia guessed 10526. A fourth place prize is being given to Milcah Syner for guessing 10,732 miles. The third and fourth place winners will each get a $50 gift card.
I want to thank all the participants who submitted their answers and if you didn’t win, don’t worry. We’re giving away an iPad 2 and other cool prizes next Tuesday night when Latina Mom Bloggers and PapiBlogger join to conduct a major Twitter party themed “You’re Best Summer Family Memories.” Follow me on @papiblogger on Twitter and on Facebook for more!
Posted by PapiBlogger on Thursday August 18th, 2011 at 10:04 PM
We walked on glaciers, hung out with bears, planked with Elvis and even got the rare opportunity to open the Magic Kingdom with Mickey Mouse but on the 44th day of our family road trip all that we could think about was getting back home.
Latina blogger Stephanie Ruiz of Midtown Chica came to welcome us, one of numerous bloggers we hung out with throughout our trip.
Six hours after departing from Madison, Florida for the final leg of our epic drive aboard the PapiMobile (a 2011 Buick Enclave), we arrived at the Miami Williamson Buick GMC dealership where our family, friends and media awaited us (more…)
Posted by PapiBlogger on Wednesday August 17th, 2011 at 03:55 PM
The Grand Canyon is truly of the most beautiful places on Earth but unfortunately it also overshadows many surrounding natural treasures that are worth your visit. One of those very special, must see places in the United States is Arizona’s Petrified Forest, the star of our family road trip’s 35th day.
Yes, that REALLY, REALLY is "Mater" from the movies Cars and Cars 2. This particular vehicle was the inspiration for that Disney Pixar's character.
Sedona, Arizona is one of our favorite places in the whole United States so on the 34th day of our family road trip we ventured to see some of the things that makes this place so special. Here’s seven things that we think make Sedona a terrific family destination:
- The red rock canyons. These rocks are everywhere and they especially shine “reddest” at sunrise and sunset, the best time to photograph or video tape them.
- Slide Rock Park. This park features a large spring that has natural water chutes that propel you through the rocks. One part of the park also features a canyon with 12 foot cliffs that you can dive into the water from. The water is frigid but your body will get used to it. Diving from the 12-foot cliff is scary and exhilarating at the same time.
View of Slide Rock Park, a Must See place in Sedona.
- An easy and great place to hike and bike. The hiking paths in particular are not hard and offer beautiful walks right up to the red canyons. This is like walking among the lower parts of the Grand Canyon. (more…)
