Gianne's Scrapbook of our North Luzon Road Trip

The trip was the first time my father was to return to his roots after more than 20 years. We were to visit his sister (my auntie) and see some of the historical, cultural, and tourist sites of Ilocos in Northern Luzon. There was no fixed itinerary, we just went where the wheels and our gut took us, but here's how our schedule went:

Day 1: Drove to Baguio City.
Day 2: Drove northwest from Baguio City to Marcos, Ilocos Norte. Spent the night at auntie's.
Day 3: Headed to the northernmost end of Ilocos Norte, then northeast towards Cagayan, and southbound to Isabela. Spent the night in Ilagan, Isabela.
Day 4. Drove to Santiago, Isabela to see my father's other siblings. Drove back to Manila.

On that weekend, my daughter Gianne, then 6 years old, was supposed to go on a field trip with the rest of her kindergarten class, but we had to take this rare chance to drive to my father's birthplace in Ilocos Norte which meant she had to skip the field trip. To make up for it, we decided to make this scrapbook.
It was our first road trip with Gianne and we were surprised by how much she enjoyed it. It was a delight to see her fascination and curiosity even in the museums which was quite unusual for small kids her age.

Gianne gave all the captions to the pages of her scrapbook. I just helped her spell out certain words as needed. She also took the lead in choosing the decorations to put in every page, and in laying out the photos and stickers. Here it is:

Left to right: Naldy, me, Gianne, Langga, Papa, Mama. Pic was shot by cousin Boyet.

As we entered the North Luzon Expressway aiming for Ilocos, we figured, "Hey, why not spend a night in Baguio first?"

Because Gianne loves murals and butterflies and mountain views, she totally enjoyed Burnham Park.

We woke her up to take photos of the beach. She loves the beach; she did not complain at all.

Even then Gianne admired bridges.

And she surprised us with how much she enjoyed this museum.

Gianne calls the Vigan Heritage Village "houses that have been there for ages!"

Another bridge.

Birthplace of President Marcos. Also my father's birthplace.

We wanted to see the lighthouse but it was late in the afternoon and would be dark soon.