Over the past several weeks, our legions of fans have said to me, “Where’s the blog? Did you get lost in Maine?” Okay, it was actually three—three readers who have mentioned it. So it’s mid-December and at the rate I’m posting here, I’ll finish blogging about our summer trip sometime in 2023. So I won’t … More Spontaneous
Maine has been high on our list of places to go since we bought our first van in 2017. To a Floridian, Maine is the yin to our yang. The north to our south. The cold to our hot. The cliffs to our sand. The whoopie pie to our Cuban sandwich. The moose to our … More Maine, the opposite of Florida
I’m writing this more than two weeks into our summer journey and we’ve already seen too much to recount. We’re currently staying at what I’m certain will be the most expensive “campsite” of our trip. Some campsites boast private decks, stone fireplaces and clubhouses with all the comforts of a fine hotel. Alas, this patch … More Seaside to Selma to Oxford: Contrasts in the Deep South
The other day I was doing a little family research and found an interesting piece of lore that reveals a family habit of extreme road-tripping. I already knew that my grandfather took an around-the-world trip after finishing junior college in the mid-1920’s. He traveled on steamships from California to Japan, through “the Orient”, to India, … More Vaxxed and ready to roll. But where are we going?
I always get a little sad when we reach the turn-around point of a trip. It feels like an end – even if we have the entire journey home. We usually travel much faster getting home – once driving from Northern Illinois to South Carolina in one grueling 12-hour day. When we left Mackinac Island … More Caves and Canyons in the South?
Normally, as we travel, I use my spare time to write about our experiences. But that hasn’t been the case so far this summer of 2020. But what has been normal about 2020? In fact, I’m writing this from home, and not from one of the many stops on our recent month-long road trip. There … More Road Trip, Pandemic Style
If you follow our Instagram account, you might have noticed a slight – okay – major change in our method of road tripping. Yes indeed, it’s the third summer of Don’t Make Me Turn This Van Around and we’re hitting the road in our third vehicle. This time, it’s not a van at all. We … More Don’t Make Me Turn This… RV? Around
This post is a couple of weeks delayed, as I’ve been focusing on some volunteer projects since we’ve been home. As I write, I’m about two months removed from the last days of our summer travels. Much like last summer, we finished our trip with a visit with family (my in-laws) at a lake house … More Lazy Lake Days and the Best Worst Place To Have Car Trouble
I grew up in California and my family’s idea of summer vacation was camping in the Sierras. In fact, in my early (and not so early) years, I believed that “vacation” meant camping in the Sierra. When a kid at school said they went on vacation, I’d ask if they caught any fish. And they’d … More What is this? Xanadu?
After I got back from my checkup in Cleveland, we had a couple of weeks to recharge our batteries at home. We hit a wedding, where we were part of a successful flash mob – dancing to Uptown Funk. The kids burned off some energy at a gymnastics camp and we had an abbreviated version … More Rain, and vomit and bears, oh my!
Don't make me turn this van around! RV Edition 