We are nothing if not flexible. With an original plan for Karen to ride RAGBRAI (Rgisster’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa), with participation from both kids early in the ride, plans changed. Karen with a lower back pain still unhealed, Michela with a new back pain, Drew with a cancelled flight… yikes! We yanked… Read More RAGBRAI (IA) – July 2015
Quick post: On the way to Sioux City, we stopped in Kansas City at Joe’s KC BBQ (as recommended by one of our neighbors). Good call!!! Joe’s is off the beaten path and located in a gas station, so I don’t think you’d go there unless someone recommended it. They had unbelievable brisket, beans, pork… Read More KC BBQ – July 2015
ROBERTS PARTY OF 4 TO SIOUX CITY! (Harken back to the iconic Hilltop Restaurant on Route 1 in Saugus, MA). The Roberts family is about to head to the real Sioux City in Iowa to participate in RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa), starting next weekend. RAGBRAI, with 8,500 participants, starts in Sioux… Read More Heading to Sioux City – July 2015
Child Unit 1, more commonly known as our daughter Michela, decided she needed to put a little bling in her life. So before heading off to Duke University for graduate school, she and her friend Kristen decided to jump out of an airplane. I can just imagine the discussion. “Hey Michela, what do you want… Read More Child Unit 1 Airborne! – July 2015
We have much to be thankful for, and celebrating the birth of our great nation for us is steeped in neighborhood. We celebrated with our immediate neighbors, many who participate and offer something of themselves to make the entire day a delight, whether it be food, music, desserts, sparklers, fireworks, or treats for the kids.… Read More Independence Day – July 2015
While our trip to Standing Indian, a campground in the Nantahala National Forest in NC was from last year, it may be timely for any of you in the Atlanta area looking for a nice camping destination and a temperature reprieve. Standing Indian is a very basic campground (no electric, no water… nada), located in… Read More Standing Indian – April 2014
Throw back to January… I am at a loss to describe the traumatic physiological or psychological disturbance in my life that has caused me to want to operate earth-moving equipment. To satisfy my testosterone imbalance, Karen and the kids bought me for Christmas a session with an excavator in, you guessed it, Las Vegas, NV!… Read More Vegas, baby – Jan 2015
Last night was Motown Night in Marietta Square. The fact that it was 90 degrees had zero impact – maybe it even helped! There was A LOT of dancing going on. Just sayin’.
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
Last weekend we had a fabulous night in Little Five Points (L5P), a little kitschy, Bohemian neighborhood just east of downtown Atlanta. L5P is home to some really eclectic shops (Junkman’s Daughter, Criminal Records) and restaurants such as the Vortex, Cameli’s Pizza and our destination – Fox Brothers BBQ. This was our first time at… Read More Night in L5P (GA) – June 2015
LICK! SNIFF! POOP! DROOL! Lucy’s birthday party – It’s gonna be COOL! Well, it was. Karen designed, organized and created an 18th birthday party for our dog Lucy! We invited some of Lucy’s neighborhood friends to help share her day, replete with toys, games, balloons and photos – and a home made birthday cake! We… Read More Lucy’s 18th Birthday! – June 2015
Free concert anyone? From April until September there are free concerts in Glover Park in Marietta Square (GA) on the last Friday of each month. Bring your picnic basket or dine at one of the restaurants on the square. We dined in a restaurant (we went to the Stockyard – glad we did!) and then… Read More Marietta Square – May 2015
We celebrated Memorial Day Weekend with friends at the Virginia Highland Haven Airstream Park just north of Floyd, VA as part of the Southeastern Camping Unit (thanks to Joe and Annette Conoly for herding us cats). Joe led the armada down the Little River for close to 7 miles – gorgeous views, flowers and pristine… Read More Virginia Airstream Park – May 2015
Marietta Square (Marietta, GA) continues to delight! What a great place to go for food for the stomach – and soul, particularly on Tuesday nights when there are bluegrass pickup bands. These folks are a delight to listen to, and Marietta Square has become a “destination” location. Plenty of great restaurants, things to do and… Read More Marietta Square (GA) – May 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
Eclectic. I’ll come back to this. Yesterday we spent a good part of the day visiting the Booth Western Art Museum, in Cartersville, GA. This is a stunning art museum and I cannot wait to return. With 120,000 square feet of space, there is much to see here, and it is fabulous. Eclectic in fact;… Read More Booth Western Art Museum – April 2015
Glam, mud and studs. That pretty much captures our fabulous day at the Atlanta Steeplechase, held at Kingston Downs near Rome, GA. We tailgated in our Airstream along the fence on the backstretch and had a front row view of the riders and horses (if you are not familiar with a steeplechase, it is basically… Read More ATL Steeplechase – April 2015
We had another “Springstream” weekend of Airstream love recently in Hiawassee, GA, up in the north Georgia Mountains with about 20-30 fellow Airstreams and other interesting trailers. I (we) had a great time, between paddling on Lake Chatuge (solo and with the Southeast Camping Unit armada), food, friendship and music. For whatever reasons I took… Read More Springstream – April 2015
Happy Easter (and Passover)! As I sit here feeling morbidly obese after a meal with friends and family, I wanted to share a few thoughts and pictures from smoking a ham; this is a follow up to my post on Friday. If I sound distracted, that is because I had virtually no sleep last night;… Read More Easter Ham – April 2015
“One minute I was happy as a clam standing in slop in a pig pen; the next, I was cold and hanging in a meat locker…” The Pig. Our tale (not the pig’s tale – or tail) begins at Patak’s Sausage Chalet – an eastern European (Czech and Polish) manufacturer of meats and sausages, located… Read More Diary of an Easter Ham – April 2015
The Public Works group for the City of Acworth is holding a Creek Cleanup at 8:00 am on Saturday, April 18th at Lake Acworth (Acworth, GA). While I am unable to attend, I wanted to post this in case there are others interested and available on that day. If you are not familiar with Lake… Read More Lake Acworth – April 2015
This post is best aimed at my pickup truck towing friends! I made two modifications to my Ford F250 today: beefing up the rear suspension, and adding a front receiver for a bike rack. (Note: I have no connection with either of these companies or products other than as a consumer, and have yet to… Read More F250 Mod’s – March 2015
Spend ten minutes watching the news and you are subjected to countless stories of selfishness and man’s inhumanity to man. Yet we spent 10 weeks on the road across this great country and were treated with nothing but kindness, selflessness and interesting people. We traveled thousands of miles and have seen some of the most… Read More Winter 2015 Road Trip Recap
If your palate is looking for an off-the-beaten-path camping location, this is it! The Indian Bread Rocks Recreation Area, situated in Bowie, AZ on BLM lands (Bureau of Land Management) in southeast Arizona, is at the base of the Dos Cabezas Mountains Wilderness. There are zero services available, so whatever you need, bring (which includes… Read More Indian Bread Rocks – Feb 2015
Recommended to us by hiking friends Dave and Terry, we attended the Tucson Rodeo! The rodeo is a festival/celebration of the cowboy/cattle herder/horsemen, and participants are young, old, male, and female. And it is a great place to pick up a little cowgirl! We had an unbelievable day watching the rodeo: blue skies, stunning views… Read More Fiesta De Los Vaqueros (AZ) – Feb 2015
Sitting at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains just north of Tucson, Catalina State Park is a great campground! If you like outdoors activities, this area is like a playground. We settled into one of the sites without water or electricity, but most of the sites do have those services. Yesterday I took a… Read More Santa Catalina Mtns (AZ) – Feb 2015
This is not your father’s camper. Oops… my bad; maybe it is! During Modernism Week in Palm Springs, CA there was a vintage camper collection on display that was to die for. There were approximately 50 various Airstreams, Streamlines, Greyhound buses, Shastas… too many different and unique brands to remember. The common theme was that these… Read More Modernism Week (a) – Feb 2015
Palm Springs, CA is my shiny new object, particularly as it relates to residential real estate. This town gushes with architectural design, to the point that you could write a book about great architectural design and never walk more than 3 blocks! The silly part is trying to provide just a few good examples when… Read More Modernism Week (b) – Feb 2015
Palm Springs, CA is rich with architectural design, and one of the areas you see this reflected is in commercial buildings. Banks, county buildings, hotels… you name it; there are examples from a number of noted architects that, in particular, demonstrate mid century modernism. Here are but a few examples.