An Unexpected 500 Kilometers Roadtrip (Literally Circled Our Way Back Home with Lots of Stop-over)

Greetings!

Unexpected and unplanned travel or road trip is often one of the best that we can experience since there are lots of unexpected events that we can encounter while we are partaking in an unexpected or unplanned trip. Also, while on an unexpected travel or road trip we also encounter unexpected people along the way.

Two weeks ago I and my sisters have a rare chance of meeting our cousins for the first time from a distant province which is more than two hundred kilometers from where we are living. At first, I was skeptical to go with my sisters because of COVID but then I ultimately went with them. My family is also with me of course.

Our road trip begins from where we are living which is from Talugtug, Nueva Ecija and our first destination is Saguday, Quirino Province which is the province where my mother was born and where her sisters and brothers are currently living. From Talugtug to Saguday is a six hours drive.

Arriving at Saguday we were immediately introduced to our cousins. I was overwhelmed because they are very accommodating and they are visibly very excited to see us for the first time. While we are resting and having some conversation with my eldest cousin from Saguday, one of her children joined in and asked us what road we are going to traverse when we go home, we said, "Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya".

He let our answer fly and he said, "I recommend that you take the Dinadiawan route, it is only two hours from here. We were surprised and we became excited because we have been planning to go to Dinadiawan but nothing come to fruition. And we said. "We'll take the Dinadiawan route".

And then he chimed in again, let me take you to the newest tourist destination here in our town which is the Saguday Eco-Tourism Park, and before we know it we are already taking photos of the park's entrance.

Saguday ECO-TOURISM Park

The park is only months old and they are still planting flowing plants to make the park more attractive, hence, it is an ECO-TOURISM Park.

The sunflower farm is at the park's center, which is so beautiful because they are already blooming. I myself am a flower lover so I took pictures are many as I can.

Sea of sunflower

And of course, we did not waste this time taking some family photos on the sea of sunflowers for remembrance. We are all smiling because this is the first time that we have ever visited a park with lots of sunflowers in it.

Family photos at the sea on sunflowers

Not far from the sea of sunflower is a chair adorned with bougainvillea. My son himself loves to take photos so we obliged to take some photos of him and with his elder cousin,

Since the park is only starting up there are lots of flowering plants that are not still bearing flowers so we decided to go outside of the park at took a look at the peaceful hilly landscape nearby.

A very peace landscape outside the Saguday ECO-TOURISM Park

Then we decided to leave the park. Arriving at the house of one of my cousins we are still very excited about each other and the conversation continued. We sparringly went from house to house because the houses of my cousins are all near each other. We did not do anything since we arrived at the park but talked with my cousins until night comes.

We slept, and the following morning it is time to go home. This time our way is the Dinadiawan route instead of Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya.

While on our way we saw a huge cow which one of my cousins' children mentioned yesterday.

A huge cow

Since we decided to take the Dinadiawan route and we are not in a hurry we are always stopping to admire the beauty of the sceneries we get to see while traveling back home.

With that being said, when we saw a bridge, we stopped and took lots of photos.

Disimungal Bridge, Nagtipunan, Quirino Province

In case you are wondering, the automobile pictured in the photo below is the one that we are riding.

And below should be a jump shot photo, but sad to say, I am not able to take their jump shot.

Then we continue our roadtrip again and then we saw this huge boulder occupying half of the road. At this moment we are currently on top of the Sierra Madre mountains.

A huge boulder occupying half of the road

A few minutes more and we are greeted with the signage (photo below)that we already entered the boundary between Quirino Province and Aurora Province. By the way, Dinadiawan is part of Aurora Province. The signage made us excited because we know that we are now close to Dinadiawan.

Calaocan, Dipaculao, Autrora

After a few more minutes of drive we saw some native children selling some Rambutan. We stopped, bought some rambutans, and then took some photos.

Rambutan

And before we know it we are already at Dinadiawan. In the past, we have planned to visit Dinadiawan and stay for a night. But nothing comes to fruition because of the turn of events. And now that we saw Dinadiawan we are still keeping our plan to stay for a night on Dinadiawan soon.

Dinadiawan Beach Resort. Behind is the Sierra Madre mountains

We only took a peek at the Dinadiawan beach resort, took some photos, and then we continued our road trip.

Family Photos

Of course, I and my wife took this opportunity to have our photo together

In case you are wondering, below is a snap of how fine the sand of Dinadiawan Beach Resort is.

Of course, all beaches have coconuts...

My son loves the waves so I let him admire them.

And then we decided to continue our roadtrip until our stomachs start to demand food. We stopped at Ampere Beach resort to eat. Ampere is also a beautiful beach resort and its views are very scenic.

Ampere Beach, Dipaculao, Aurora

We rested for a couple of minutes then we continued our road trip and before we know it we are already at Baler, Aurora taking some photos.

Baler

Behind me (photos below) is Baler Beach which is arguably the surfing capital of our country.

After we took a peek at the Baler beach we went to a nearby park dedicated to one of the previous Presidents of the Philippines, it is called Quezon Park.

Beside me is a bronze statue of Manuel L. Quezon. there's also a Bahay Kubo and the Baler Museum.

Then we decided to leave Baler because we are now feeling some fatigue because of the very long drive and our last stop-over the popular Bundok Bakery, which is very popular with travelers. We bought some food and then we resumed our roadtrip.

In case you are wondering, we circled our way back home but we still traversed a town that is part of Nueva Vizcaya, which is odd. It is because our first route Sta. Fe is located at the west side of Nueva Vizcaya and Alfonso Castañeda is located on the east side of Nueva Vizcaya.

Bundok Bakery, Alfonso Castañeda, Nueva Vizcaya

Our next stop is home, I admit, the roadtrip is quite heavy because we are on the road for about fifteen hours (stop-overs included).

That is all for now guys, see you next time. Wishing you all safety, good health, and blessings.

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I am a Computer Engineer, blogger, farmer, gardener, father, and husband. I love countryside living, nature, farming (rice/vegetables), and has two decades of experience as an I.T. professional

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