Smith Family Adventure: Lala Mountain

We are on our way from Taipei to meet Dylan and his girlfriend Kate, who will pick us up at the train station in Taoyuan.

From there we will drive to Lala mountain where we will hike and enjoy (unknown) activities Kate has planned. As we were into our drive an hour on windy mountain roads, we found out that the drive was still another two hours and the same conditions.

Many of you know that Joel gets terribly motion sick. He was already to the point of throwing up and the kids weren't helping much either, they took short naps in the car and were tired and getting restless. Another two hours for Joel in the car feeling the way he did would have been impossible so we made the decision to stay at a hotel we passed on the side of the road. We assumed that Dylan and Kate would continue to Lala mountain and just pick us up on their way back down the mountain the next day when they were done hiking.

After Dylan got us our room they started unpacking their bags from the car too. They decided to stay with us...as much as we tried to convince them they should continue on, especially with all of Kate's planning. We didn't want to ruin their trip too but as we have learned it is hard to change the mind of a Taiwanese if they have already made a decision. In the end, it still turned out to be a nice trip and it was nice to spend time with Dylan and Kate.

Our hotel for the night.

Not as nice as Lala mountain, but it was nice to be out of the car and let the kids run around.

Dylan and Kate thought out the entire weekend. They brought sparklers for the kids, which we all enjoyed. They even remembered it was Ethan's birthday. They researched a bakery to stop at on our drive but we couldn't find it. We thought we might be able to find a cake when we got to Lala mountain but turns out our plans changed slightly.

Dylan and Kate were thoughtful to bring Ethan a birthday gift. His first race car. He of course loved it.

We enjoyed dinner across the street from the hotel. There was a play area next to the table with stuffed animals, books and games that the kids used. The kids were pretty entertained which allowed us to enjoy a peaceful dinner.