Another successful year for the Canopener! What is the Canopener you say? First and foremost, it is a rally of friends and strangers-soon-to-be-friends of (mostly) Airstream owners. It is a purely democratic event, lead and directed by ad hoc volunteers, with no rules – only, at most, a few guidelines. It is a wonderful event… Read More Canopener – Jan 2022
We don’t write a year-in-review post every year, but when we do, I always start by thinking, what the hell did we even do this past year? And after going through our pictures, I’m like – wow – we did a bunch! Of course, this is not an historical world view of 2021 – just… Read More 2021 in Review – Dec 2021
If you are looking for a campground that is both chill and warm, this might be your ticket. We recently camped for a few days at Forth Clinch State Park in Fernandina Beach (FL), on Amelia Island, and it is a hidden gem. This state park is like Fort DeSoto Regional Park (if you have… Read More Fort Clinch – Oct 2021
Good morning, class. Good morning, class. Class? Class!? SHUT UP! Thank you. Now Sister Rosetta has informed me that your assignment for the last two months has been to write an essay entitled How I Spent My Summer Vacation. Who would like to read theirs before the class? Young man in the front row, please… Read More Summer of ’21
RUN! Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… our kids found us! We have moved three times in the last few years, but they keep tracking us down! Next step… Witness Protection. We had Child Unit 1, Child Unit 2, and their significant others here at the cottage… Read More Invasion of the Child Units! – Aug 2021
I had never heard of this place, but leave it to my bride to always find really cool places. Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Canyon, TX must be one of the biggest state parks in the country, is listed as the second largest canyon in the country, and clearly one of the most interesting… Read More Palo Duro Canyon – Apr 2021
I’ll get to Goose Island in a second – bear with me. We are headed to see our kids, and we are jazzed! They moved away. Now we go to them. You can run, but you can’t hide from your parents. Our trip to see our son in Denver begins in Atlanta and heads towards… Read More Goose Island – Apr 2021
Crown jewel. That’s what Oscar Shearer is to the Florida State Park system. Located in Osprey, FL (near Venice on the west coast), this is a flat-out great state park, and it really is a beautiful cocoon away from the hustle and bustle. We may not be the only ones who think that – just… Read More Oscar Shearer State Park – Feb. 2021
The new year has started, and, yes, we are out on the road – albeit without any social plans, dinners out, friends, or family until things get better. We pulled the “Get Out of Cold Weather” card, and decided to head to Florida for a few weeks – warm up a bit. I know Georgia… Read More Head’n South – Jan 2021
2020 has been the worst year ever – right? Watching 2020 unfold was like watching porn. First it was titillating, then it felt unseemly, and lastly you got a sinking feeling in the pit in your stomach like you get two minutes after wolfing down a quarter pounder and large fry. No happy ending, so… Read More 2020 in Review – Dec 2020
Any excuse to go see your kids is a great excuse. We didn’t need an excuse, so off to Denver we went, since it was right on our way to… well, Denver. Queue whisper-like Nat Geo voice: “Here you see the Child Unit in its’ native habitat.” We camped at our go-to campground, Cherry Creek… Read More Denver – Oct 2020
I said to Karen, “Did you know that Sparta, Wisconsin is the bicycling capitol of America?” Duh. It was a layup, right? We all know that. She thinks to herself, what does he know? Less and less as I prove every day. However, there is a billboard on Interstate 90 in Wisconsin that tells you… Read More Bike 4 Trails – Sept 2020
You had to know I would be the one to point out there are meteorological and astronomical ends of summer. “How do you come up with this shit” should your first thought. The mind works in curious ways. So yes, this is the end of the meteorological summer – the 3 months of June, July… Read More End of the Meteorological Summer – Aug 2020
OK, we weren’t really in Atlanta and we didn’t really go to Boston. But you get the idea – we headed north. In our never-ending search for the perfect climate, we have departed the Atlanta area and have headed north to New England. Nothing says leave Atlanta better than 90+ degree temperatures. Our first stop… Read More ATL to BOS – June 2020
It doesn’t seem possible, but at the end of this month (technically a month later for Karen) we will have been retired for 5 years! What the hell have we done? Retirement, for those uninitiated, is when you shovel your driveway down to bare pavement two hours after a major storm. Being anal retentive helps. Retirement is… Read More 5 Years Post Retirement – Mar 2019
Yosemite is one of the most popular national parks in the system, and there are two predictable outcomes: the views are extraordinary, and there are a lot of people. We camped in Lee Vining in a pretty cool private RV campground (more on Lee Vining later), and the town is practically adjacent to Yosemite NP. … Read More Yosemite NP – June 2018
We continued our trek west. How shameless is it that we are heading to the west coast for a free meal at a wedding? I’ll have the chicken, please. We left Kansas and made the transit across eastern Colorado to Denver and stayed at Cherry Creek SP (highly recommend). Here is where the story goes a… Read More Westward Ho! – June 2018
Almost to the day for me, it has been 3 years since I (we) retired. Oh, how I miss those days of quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily, hourly forecasts… And who doesn’t love a well-placed flaming email distributed to the world. After retirement, one is forced to forego the joys and luxury of business travel: cramped… Read More 3 Years Post Retirement – Mar 2017
Let me just start by saying that on Monday morning I will be checking myself into the Betty Ford Detox Center for Barbecue Abuse. Grab a cold beer or two and sit back – this was quite a stop on our journey. We made Austin a destination on our trip for two very good reasons:… Read More Austin SXSW – Mar 2017
The real story about McDowell Mountain Regional Park is the beauty. Yes, there are a boatload of things to do here, miles and miles of hiking, mountain biking, and horseback trails. Since the park borders Scottsdale and is only 20 miles north of Phoenix, there are tons of other activities you can partake in. But… Read More McDowell Mountain RP – Feb 2017
Just days shy of 10 years ago, my bride and I flew to Maui (Hawaii) for ProClub (a sales rewards trip) with Progress Software. To be honest, I had never been to Hawaii and I was not really that interested, but decided to go nonetheless (this is an all-expense paid first class trip for two,… Read More Time Warp/Maui – 2007
Sometimes the cool stuff is right in front of you. If you live in Georgia, or plan to visit at some time, this might be a useful (or not) list of cool things to do or see. This is not an exhaustive list of cool stuff in Georgia – just some places we have been… Read More Georgia On My Mind – Jan 2017
One of our favorite activities, first tried several years ago, is to bike the Virginia Creeper – a 34 mile rails-to-trail route that extends from Abingdon, VA, through Damascus, on up to Whitetop Station in the Mount Rogers Recreation Area near the North Carolina border. We peddled the 18 miles from the top at Whitetop… Read More Virginia Creeper – Oct 2016
Farms and charm – that is the essence of Vermont. Yes, brooks, streams, stone walls, cows, granges, hippies, cowboys, Subarus, hikers and skiers. But in the end, it is farm and charm. For those who have never been to Vermont, well, sad for you. In many ways this remains the Free and Independent Republic of… Read More Vermont – Jul/Aug 2016
Success! We finally captured photos of wildlife with our new “Stealth Cam”. Catching photos of wildlife has eluded us until now. With this new camera in our arsenal we expect to catch more candid photos, but at least this is a start. I did discuss these photos with the park ranger. His counsel was, at… Read More McDowell Reg’l Park – Feb 2016