Intuitively, I know we had a great year this past year. But, as always, it is not until I go back through our journals that I recognize just how beautiful, complex, and in some areas stressful it was. I know many of you are expecting the crème de la crème this year to be our… Read More 2022 in Review – Dec 2022
After several amazing weeks in Idaho, we departed Idaho and almost immediately became enamored with Montana! Traveling down a 2-lane road, no other vehicles in sight, we were in a “valley” (albeit at +/- 6,000 feet elevation), with massive mountains on one side that must have topped 12,000 feet, and on the other side for… Read More Montana: Part I – Sept 2022
Last but not least… Part III. This will be the last post from Idaho – at least for a while. We will be moving on, as we always do. We made our way further north from Riggins to Heyburn State Park in Plummer, ID. On our route to Heyburn, we spent hours simply amazed by… Read More Idaho: Part III – Sept 2022
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
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
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
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
More accurately, this post could have been labeled “Everything Within 5 Miles of our House”. OK, so we haven’t done a lot of traveling in the last few months. Well, except for moving 1,200 miles north. So this post is really more about our November. The Airstream is winterized and tucked away in our yard for… Read More November in New England – Nov 2018
Even after 20 years living in the south, no one has ever mistaken me for being a good ole southern boy. I’ll say three words, and inevitably the first thing I hear is, “Boy, yarnt from around here, arya.” To which I usually and quite smartly say, “Well, gosh, no I am not!” “Bless your heart.”… Read More Southern Living – Sept 2018
We have been camped in Lee Vining (CA) for a little bit, affording us time to visit Yosemite National Park. More on Lee Vining later, but in or close to Lee Vining on the eastern slope of the Eastern Sierra’s is Mono Lake and the Mono Lake Basin. Mono Lake has a really interesting story,… Read More Mono Lake – June 2018
AMANDA, TURN ON THE DAMN TV! Technology. Jeez. At home it takes me 4 remotes just to adjust the TV. I just turned 65 years old (how did HE make it to 65 you are saying to yourselves). I could be “that guy” on the SNL skit about Alexa. If you haven’t seen it, it… Read More Fort Desoto – Dec 2017
Homer. If Cape Cod and Switzerland had a child, it would be Homer, AK. What a fabulous few days we have spent in Homer, and talk about drop dead gorgeous, sitting at the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula. Even the ride down to Homer from Soldotna was unbelievable. As you make your way down… Read More Alaska (11) Homer – July 2017
Nabesna Road. I am beginning to think we may suffer from visual overload on this trip. Driving south from Tok, AK, we arrived at the northern portion of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. I will be honest – I had never heard of this national park before arriving. This is the largest national… Read More Alaska (2) Nabesna Road – June 2017
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
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 the most common questions I am asked (second only to how exactly did you get Karen to marry you) is what is my favorite place visited this year? Since we have finished our travels for the year, I thought it would be timely to put this list together. I struggle with this question,… Read More Top 10 Places – 2016
As a terra firma guy who enjoys keeping his heart rate steady and his feet on the ground, we joined good friends in Fayetteville, West Virginia for Bridge Day, a celebration that involves the longest span bridge in the world – and people who find it exhilarating to jump or rope off it. What? Why… Read More WV Bridge Day – Oct 2016
When you are retired every day is Saturday, and this is no exception. I am sitting in our camper up in the White Mountains enjoying a thunderous and continuous rain over a cup of coffee, staring at my new found friend. Unlike our tenting neighbors, we are dry. And unlike our trip to Vermont, where… Read More New Hampshire – Aug 2016
Five degrees cooler and 10 miles east of Bennington, VT, is the Woodford State Park. Situated in southern Vermont in the Green Mountain National Forest, we camped here for about four days. Just being in Vermont is a special treat, but staying in this campground, only a few miles from where the Appalachian Trail crosses… Read More Bennington, VT – July 2016
While clearly keeping in mind why we are celebrating this holiday weekend, for those who have lost their lives serving our country, we enjoyed a weekend of fellowship at the Memorial Day Weekend Rally at the Highland Haven Airstream Park, not too far down the road from Floyd, VA (home of the Floyd Country Store).… Read More Memorial Day Weekend in VA – May 2016
In her camping debut, Dottie proves her mettle! We spent a few days in and around Pine Mountain, GA this past week, which if you are not familiar is where Callaway Gardens is located, near the town of Hamilton, all in Harris County. If you are not familiar with Harris County, it abuts Meriwether County.… Read More Dottie goes to Pine Mountain – May 2016
Paddling on rivers can be inherently dangerous. The powerful force of moving water, obstacles in or hidden in the water, and the potential for hypothermia all contribute to risk, even on slow moving rivers in the middle of summer. When I became aware of a 2-½ day swift water rescue workshop it seemed like a… Read More Swift Water Rescue – May 2016
Santa Cruz is an extra special stop for me, because I got to see my (long since last seen) niece and her family, and had the opportunity to spend some great time with her and her family! Yeah! We camped out at the Santa Cruz Harbor RV Park, which is essentially a marina that has… Read More Santa Cruz – Mar 2016
Story has it that the Red October was scuttled on a river off the coast of Maine. I beg to differ. We are working our way up the coast of the California Republic, and made it to Morro Bay. For you Dodgers and 49ers fans, Morro Bay sits somewhere between Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara.… Read More Hunt for Red October – Mar 2016
San Diego – what a great town! And this is a first in months of traveling: no wild animals outside the trailer baying at the moon, no threat of poisonous snakes, no razor sharp cactus to remove from your paws. Life is good. After two months in desert surroundings, we have been experiencing in San… Read More San Diego – Mar 2016
Prescott, AZ seems like one of those places where, if you were looking for the perfect weather year round, would/should be on your radar. Having been here for only three days in February it is a bit hard to say. Never the less, it sure seems like a pretty good candidate for that short list… Read More Prescott, AZ – Feb 2016
What a great weekend trip with the Georgia Conservancy! We camped (me in our Airstream, everyone else in tents) at the Altamaha Regional Park in Brunswick, GA, about 20 miles upstream from Darien GA on the side of the Altamaha River, and then paddled on Saturday from our campsite to Darien, somewhere around 15-20 miles.… Read More Altamaha River – Mar 2013
Go Huskies! Our son Drew and the Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech) team participated in the National Concrete Canoe Competition this past weekend. Sponsored by the ASCE (American Association of Civil Engineers), the competition was hosted at Clemson University in Seneca, SC. Michigan Tech’s boat was named Talvi Sielu, which I am told means Winter… Read More Concrete Canoe (SC) – June 2015
The most dramatic stories and pictures often seem to be from far off and remote places you traveled miles to see. How about those places close to home? Of recent I have been exploring by kayak Lake Allatoona, 30 minutes away in Emerson, GA. While admittedly during the nice sunny weekends this lake can be… Read More Lake Allatoona – May 2015