All posts by AbandontheCube

That’s right. We’ve done it again. This is the third reincarnation of ATC. Ah, from its humble beginning as a Dreamweaver site using homemade templates to a mid-level Dreamweaver site, to a modern, shiny site that has all the navigation, responsiveness and interactive features the 21st century of ADD viewers demands.

We pay homage to the old site, which was a masterpiece in terms of human patience as we slowly built, nurtured and tried not to strangle the difficult and bulky site. Slowly, we came to detest the limitations of Dreamweaver. It was hard to update static pages. Harder still to get the templates to do what we wanted, and it just looked like something from the 1990s. On the road, we needed a platform that didn’t mean every little change required a full overhaul. Hence, our conversion to WordPress.

The old site:

Of course we put a lot of love and work into every single page. Above is our beer page. Today you can see that same page with all the same content (images, text) in our new theme, which allows you to cursor over each image to see the background story behind each breakfast beer. I’ll miss the long scroll style of reading on the web. But I might be the only dinosaur who enjoyed that. As we add more features (and more photos!) check back on the beer page to see what’s happening in the world of early morning ales.

Above is our Guides page. I painstakingly made each graphic using my Bamboo in Corel Draw. I then made sure the sizing was PERFECT and loaded them into Dreamweaver one at a time. I created new pages in Dreamweaver and populated them with guide details. I handmade the maps that went along with each country, also in Corel Draw. Each page took about a week to write, create the graphics for, and then slowly assemble in Dreamweaver. Each page was painfully made with love.

Today you can see the guides pages in a flashier, easier to read fashion. And it didn’t take me a week to make each page. All the same text and imagery is there, just in a more readable fashion. We hope you enjoy the conversion.

Mike and I built the ATC website in late 2007 as a means of keeping in contact with our families in America while we lived in Shanghai. In 2009 we traveled for over a year. In 2010 we did the Mongol Rally and then settled again in China. In 2012, we had a baby and returned to the US. All of our years of adventure are on this blog and in these pages, and it’s been fun to have the website grow along with us. To the next few years with the new design– cheers!

I have a trip to Cancun coming up. I haven’t flown in a while and I’m really sick of how airlines are trying to make an extra buck by charging for luggage. And if they don’t do these they limit you to a specific weight allowance. Trying to get it right on the nose using a bathroom scale is pointless. I always go over. So, I bought a little mobile luggage scale. Now when I’m in Cancun and have a suitcase full of whatever I won’t have to guess at what 25lbs feels like. I bought THIS scale.

I tried it. It’s lightweight, which is good because once I weigh my bag I have to zip this sucker in with the other luggage to make sure I have it for the return flight weigh-in. The features are standard, but the cool thing is can display in either kg or lb. Now I won’t have to do any conversions in my head (which is good, because I can’t). A lot of product neglect this detail. It seems like a simple thing but I once heard that NASA was doing a project with the international space station and neglected to convert all their work into metric so the satellite shot off into the neatherregions of space. Even geniuses forget the little details are sometimes the most important.

My only complaint is it has an odd battery size. So, if it runs out of juice in Cancun I won’t be able to find a better to replace the one it has. On the other hand, I could just bring extra batteries.

I’ll write more about how the luggage weight worked out when we try it out on our Cancun trip.

There’s no point abandoning your cubicle like our famous adventurists  if you’re just going to spend your time in hotels. It’s great staying in five-star accommodation, sinking into king-size beds and having staff bring you food at silly hours, but it’s expensive and unsustainable – especially if you have a family.

Going abroad should be about exploring– being outside, absorbing the atmosphere and experiencing new things. Nothing allows you to get to the heart of nature and local culture than an active camping holiday. What’s more, it’s much friendlier on the old wallet!

Modern camping provides cheap holidays
Camping has changed. Once associated with muddy sleeping bags, tents that rattled in the wind and meals out of cold tins, now it’s about modern tents and lodges, beautifully maintained parks and great locations. There’s a growing appetite for more authentic holiday experiences, and active camping holidays tick all the right boxes.
One of the best advantages about camping, of course, is the price. Whether you’re traveling as a couple or as a family, at home or abroad, campsites are by far and away cheaper than hotels and offer perfect solutions whatever the budget.

Top campsites with great facilities
Campsites have become quite sophisticated, too. They have facilities for everyone, including children, and act as a great base if you’re into walking, cycling, fishing – or any other activity you can think of.
If you’ve got an image of a lonely tent in an overgrown field, wipe it from your mind. These days you can get large tents, with social areas at the front – which is great if you’re traveling in a group. Sites now also have small wooden lodges, which are filled with all the self-catering equipment you’ll need, and larger lodges have kitchens and decking at the front for barbecues – making it cheaper to eat if your food budget can’t stretch to restaurant meals every night of the week.

Campsites in Europe even provide facilities like swimming pools, kids’ entertainment and sports clubs, which is great if you’ve got a family. Some of the accommodation and campsites from providers such as Eurocamp.co.uk for example give you an idea of how traditional camping has evolved.

Flexible holidays
Whether it’s a tent, a camper van, a caravan or a wooden lodge, they give you a place to eat and sleep, leaving you to do what you want to do, when you want to do it. Arrive whenever you want, stay for as long as you like and enjoy the peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle of city life. It’s the sort of flexibility and affordability that you just don’t get from package holidays.

One of the number one reasons we hear that people don’t abandon their cubicles and travel is a lack of money. One tip for managing your travel funds is to compare bank accounts. There are a lot of metrics for this, but essentially you want an account that you can access from around the globe, and one that has the added features you want, like checking and credit, or maybe just debit. Our tip? — Look into a basic bank account, for ease and less confusion down the line. Get a good account that will work for you, and that you can access from online while abroad.

Yeah, money is important. And that means (sadly) that you may have to pay your dues and work for a while before you hit the open road. Many of the long-term travelers we’ve met on the road are older. They worked hard for the right to bugger off the grid. On the other hand, many of them were self employed and able to work from hostels and cafes along the route. Either way, one thing all travelers with long-term aspirations have is great money management skills.

Second, know your financial situation. Don’t run from your obligations. You’re abandoning the cube, not society as a whole. If you run from debt they’ll eventually find you. So, get your financial situation to a manageable, happy place where you have enough to get by and have debit eliminated. Many travelers work from the road as writers, web developers, critics, photographers, etc. Find a skill that will pay and keep your bank account replenishing by putting in a few hours here and there for the cause.

Third, with a bit of work you can travel for far cheaper than you ever imagined. Instead of booking hotels, look for hostels and join HostelWorld for discounts and deals. CouchSurfing is another way to save money as you travel. Going by land is cheaper than by air in some countries (Asia, Africa, S. America especially). One thing that gets expensive is being in a rush, you are stuck buying whatever you need to have to get your vacation done in a time frame. That’s not relaxing. Take your time (just quit, ATC, baby!) and really travel on a dime. With solid, financial planning behind you and frugal living ahead it can be done.

Best of luck as you look for traveling cash and organize your financial portfolio so you can focus on enjoying this adventure called life.

If you are a regular traveler, you know that it is almost unavoidable to be stuck in an airport. Either you have a long layover or your flight has been delayed, and worse, it gets cancelled. No matter what the reason is, it is quite a relief that by having a smartphone or tablet PC available, you will be able to be entertained while waiting by visiting some of the most addictive websites. We have laid down some examples. Read on!

Have Fun

If you are inclined to having fun while killing time at the airport, there are two sites that you should not miss. First, there is Buzzfeed, which it basically gives you all the deal about hot news, entertainment, lifestyle, and more. There are lots of interesting human-interest stories packed into the site. You will definitely enjoy reading them and discovering a lot of new and interesting things along the way. You surely would not be able to notice how much time passed by because the articles on this site are all-engrossing.

Second, there is Failblog, which also has a wide variety of interesting and really funny stories to tell. Each article often comes along with a nice photo that will help you imagine the thought vividly. While browsing the site, you will find yourself smiling, even when you are under a sticky situation as a delayed flight for over five hours. Ouch!

Educate Yourself

If you are more of the type who wants to discover facts on just about anything and everything under the sun, OMG-Facts is the right website to scour. Do you want to learn why cracking your knuckles can actually have therapeutic benefits for your muscles, tendons and joints? Do you want to know what Steve Jobs has done great apart from introducing us to Apple? There’s a lot to discover and you can do it best when you are having an idle time at the airport.

Make Money While You’re Waiting

Did you know that you could actually have fun and make money while you are having a bad day with your flight schedule? Visit www.bingoonmobile.co.uk to discover lots of amazing mobile bingo sites that will help bust your boredom and give you an opportunity to earn real money along the way. The site offers different options of bingo sites that are available on mobile devices, so you can play the relaxing and enjoyable game of bingo and vie for real money while being stuck in an airport.

These options we offered are just the tip of the iceberg, as we all know that the internet is a jungle of entertainment. So the next time you’re facing a few hours at the airport, sit back and enjoy!

*This post provided by guest blogger.

Back in the states I’m always amazed at how often I find myself at the store. I feel there is always something I “need” which, of course, isn’t true. The American life is set up to create the perfect consumer. Sometimes, I think we’re the robots they created just to keep the machine of our economy alive.

We get out of high school and go to college. Bam! Now we’re in debt and have to have a job to pay off the debt we accrued. There isn’t another way. It’s ironic because people blame the Universities for being liberally skewed but there for-profit institutions are what trap many Americans into the most conservative lifestyle.

If you didn’t go to college, you’re kicked out of the home around 18 and encouraged to have the all-American work ethic. Time to get a job, bum! Use that required education you were forced to receive to flip burgers or stock shelves. What about travel? What about just wandering around thinking? When will you have the time to define who you are?

Here’s how: you watch TV, see fashionable, fit people with great jobs, great hair and Nikes. Now you need a pair of Nikes to prove you’re on track. To prove you have a job, are worth something to society. Society invested in you and now makes you feel guilty if you diverge from your predestined path. You have to SHOW you belong in this society or you’ll be scoffed. Don’t want to shave your legs young woman?- hippie! Don’t want to comb your hair young man?- pothead! Don’t want to get a job?- bum! The list goes on. And it’s all based around consuming things.

Capitalism is an economic idea and doesn’t have to be tied to the idea of democracy. You can bash one and have the other. In fact, we could agree as a democracy to do so, but so many Americans have the idea that capitalism is our way of life, not the democratic part. When we say we are spreading democracy, is that all we want to spread or are we opening new markets for our products? When a building making clothes for us collapses and kills 500 people do we feel guilty for demanding such cheap prices for things that we force laborers we don’t want to look at to be stacked several stories high. Good thing they are out of sight, too, because they don’t wear the right stuff or behave the right way to fit into our paradigm. That’s oversimplified, of course, but it is worth thinking about how much our ideology of consumerism is impacting not just us, but everyone around us.

Homes in many other countries are not decorated. They don’t have shelves or storage because they don’t (or can’t) stockpile. We have cabinets full of stuff we don’t use on a daily basis. Begging the question of why we bought it in the first place. Other homes just have a table (where you eat) and some floor space (where you sleep). You don’t need much to be happy and content. A roof, some source of heat, family, food. My neighbors spend a fortune on chemicals to make their grass greener. That’s money they worked hard for, time they spent away from their families. They buy yard art to impress their neighbors, “See! I’m productive and relevant to society!”

We even rate our economy by consumer confidence. How confident are we as a people? Let’s express it by purchasing things we don’t need. That shows we’re on track to a bright future. Ha!

We’re not immune at all. We live in a suburb at the moment that is quite stunning. We have nice furniture, art on the walls, cabinets full of things and drawers full of more things. Things are all around us. We’re very American in this sense. But, with all these American capitalist-consumer things, we’re detached from the people around us because we’re so surrounded in things and work. I’d like to see more of the democracy part of our ideology and less of the commercials, radio ads, billboards, newspaper ads, coupons and other reminders of consumerism. What if there were that many reminders of our national ideology? Wouldn’t that be neat (or perhaps, too much?).

Today I read in the news that “Spring Breakers” earned $270,000 in just three theaters, (that’s $90k a theater, folks). Having seen the preview I was shocked that it wasn’t direct-to-DVD, or even a direct-to-Wal-Mart-$5-Bin. This says a lot about us as a country.

As “Spring Breakers” rakes in the cash, I’m reading stories about how print media is out of popularity and local news stations are struggling to keep the lights on. Does this all mean that we, as a nation, are getting dumber?

Here’s the case for a nation in retardation:

1.) Americans don’t have (or don’t want) access to good information. Even the best newspapers and TV have to report celebrity gossip to stay relevant. I don’t want to hear about Lil’ Wayne’s Sizzurp addiction. I don’t care and don’t know how this miniature Wayne is.
2.) NPR, which used to report the news in a decent fashion, spends more time tooting it’s own Classical horn between segments and reading short stories than it does interviewing interesting, relevant people or reporting interesting, global news. A wasted resource and a constant annoyance if it’s not the top of the hour.
3.) No matter how hard I try, I can’t find a radio or TV station that reports comprehensive international news. The best news source I’ve found is Wikipedia’s daily news recap. There are 6 billion people on the planet—a lot is going on out there that is way more interesting than sizzurp. If only we could find out about it without having to rip our hair out in the process.
4.) Issues that should be social and not political now dominate the political conversation. I’d love to hear a politician talk about their 9-5 without talking about a single social issue. I challenge any politician to try this wild, crazy idea.
5.) Our two-party system, (which is actually a split one-party system) is more divided than ever on benign issues and we have a government that makes a mockery of the people by assuming the divide even matters. This isn’t daytime TV, it’s politics. I don’t want to hear John Boehner tell anyone to **** off, or have anyone pontificate to me about gay marriage. We have a constitution for a reason. When in doubt, refer to it. Simple!
6.) I have yet to meet an American who supports a bi-lingual system for us. Languages expand the way you think. New ways or wording things mean new ways of seeing the world, and yet ignorance and sheer stubbornness prohibits this country from growing and learning another national language. If we all learn Spanish do you really think we’ll suddenly open the borders? No, but we will be better neighbors, have an expanded worldview and be able to travel without miming our intentions. Get over your prejudices and let your kids learn Spanish (or Mandarin, or French or whatever—anything!).

I’m in love with our nation’s fundamental ideas. Our forefathers did one of the coolest things in human history when they set up a democratic republic founded by normal farmers, bartenders, lawyers and the like. They tried to create a system that would be free of tyranny and answer to the masses. It’s about the coolest thing imaginable and is the exact opposite of what usually happens when a bunch of people arrive in a new place without law.

I’m so proud to be a part of the continuation of that brave idea. We’re the nation Winthrop called “ a beacon on a hill.” I just wish we’d act more like it and pay homage to our past without disgracing it. I wish we’d be at the forefront of political thought, not sucking hind tit. I wish we’d have the foremost thinkers, philosophers, mathematicians and inventors. That we’d have the best writers, the best philanthropists, and the best painters. In many of these cases we hold the honor, but as a whole I feel we’re falling backwards into archaic, simple-minded thinking. A nation like ours shouldn’t slowly fade into the image of the governments we stuck out across the waters to evade. Hopefully we brighten up and find our way. I’m still rooting for the home team.

We moved to North Carolina! Yup, we’re staying in the ol’ US of A for a while and have settled in a second-tier city on the east coast called Winston Salem. The town was home to the Reynolds Family, and, of course, the seat of much tobacco growing and wealth. But it was originally a Morovian community, and much of that heritage exists today in pockets in what was once the Salem part of the two towns.

Aside from tobacco, other big businesses have sprouted in WS, including Wachovia, Hanes, Texas Pete, Krispy Kreame, and Piedmont Air. The single most facinating thing about WS is the fact that it exists on a space-time continuum, or a black hole. Sine it wasn’t a planned city, like Beijing for example, the streets in Winston Salem flow like wild rivers. One road may weave and twist and turn and possibly even cross over itself all without changing its name. Getting lost in town is easy and a sense of direction is lost on this place where even magnets give up trying to find north.

The weather shoots up and down like the ball on a mobile yoyo. We’ve been here a month and we’ve has hypothermia weather and sweaty, humid gross weather. I’ve seen people out in shorts with blue patellas, and other folks out in snowsuits scratching their heads with woolen mittens as they suffocate in the heat. And all this oscillating means things bloom, die and then try it all over again on the next warm day. This includes the plethora of oddly over sized spiders that inhabit the mounds of kudzu.

In Washington we stayed at a small orchard where we were lucky enough, even in early November, to find amazing apples still on the leafless trees. We scampered up dew-covered ladders to collect the bright red and green gems to dehydrate, mush and juice for the winter.

Here are the steps on how to dehydrate apples for dry storage.

Step 1: Pick apples. You want to go for the apples that don’t look riddled with bugs or more importantly slashed open by a dirty bird’s beak. Ground apples are okay as long as they are clean and bug free.

Step 2: Wash the apples. Even if you got them fresh of a tree, al la organic style, you can still find germs and bacteria on the apples that you’d do better to avoid. Washing is just smart with anything you’ll be shoving into your face.

Step 3: Slice ‘em up! We tried ours in rings at first by coring the apple. This was really time consuming and a bit of a bore. You can get way more done if you simple quarter the apples and then cut out the core of each quarter. You waste less apple this way as well. Then slice the quartered sections into thin, chip-like slices.

* If you’re going to take your sweet time, drop the apple slices into lemon water to preserve them while you finishing slicing up the apples. This keeps them from turning brown.

Step 4: Lay ‘em flat. Cover your dehydrator in rows of apple slices. The closer the better because they will shrivel up a bit once they dehydrate.

Step 5: Add flavoring. Apple slices taste great just plain, but you can also sprinkle on the spices for a bit of a flavor punch. If you dipped your slices in lemon water they are ready to adhere spice. If not, you can sprinkle on spices right away and the moisture of the apple will hold the spice in place. Just sprinkle quickly before the apple browns over.

We did cinnamon on a few rows, ginger powder, orange peel powder and of course cinnamon-sugar on a few rows. I was also curious to try cayenne pepper on a few just to see what happened. I’d also recommend nutmeg, allspice and if you put vanilla extract in a spray bottle with some warm water you can get a sort of apple pie flavor once they dehydrate. Be creative and try your own mixes.

Step 6: Let your dehydrator go all day. 6-8 hours on the low side and overnight (10-12 hours) if you have a slower or less efficient dehydrator. We had two different models. One was nearly done in 7 hours, the other needed double that. You’ll have to play around with your device. You want a finished product that is NOT gooey, but still bends. You don’t want a chip, you want a bendy, fruity slice. Keep sampling until you get one that you love then hit the off switch.

Step 7: When you package up your finished apple slices, make sure you seal the container. Since it’s a food product it can still go bad, and can’t sit out on a shelf for too long. If you won’t be eating them within a month or two toss them in the freezer inside a dry bag. When you thaw them you can either soak them in water to rehydrate them (great for pies) or else just let them defrost on their own then eat them as normal.

We have several friends who are vegetarian. Having always silently contemplated whether they were truly sane to have given up meat, we never really thought we’d en up going vego on our own. It’s such an extreme decision. Here’s what happened to put us on that course.

First, we lived in China for a few years. In China, land is scarce (because there are so many people and China has less arable land than the US) so space for growing livestock is limited. Meat is thus used to flavor and add texture to staples and vegetables. It’s not really a main course kind of thing. Once we got back to the USA we were overwhelmed with meat. Every meal centers around it! Steaks, ribs, pork chops, crab legs, meatloaf—every entrée on every menu was a meat dish with a few vegetable support dishes tossed in more for color than consumption. Naturally, we put on weight and felt a bit sickly from all the damn food when we got back to the States.

Suddenly ballooning up is scary. Add to that a general sickly feeling and lethargy and you have the perfect storm of motivation to change something. My lovely aunt in North Carolina is a vegetarian and I recalled that she had read Skinny Bitch before deciding to go vego. Likewise our friends in Eugene, OR (the home of the original hippie) are veg-heads after having consumed the same literature. I downloaded a copy on my Kindle (I’m so chic) and started reading.

I knew slaughterhouses were gross. My grandpa worked in a hotdog plant and swore off hotdogs as a result. But what shocked me was the odd sexual stuff people in the slaughterhouses to do animals. I love animals, and wouldn’t ever want to hurt one personally, let alone contribute to anything as perverse as the processes used to stun, kill, and dismember the meat used in our food. But aside from the cruelty, the animals are so stuffed with steroids and antibiotics and medicines that the meat isn’t really safe to eat anymore. The healthiest thing to be, I think, would be a meat-eater who hunts natural game and otherwise eats garden supply.

So, after reading the book out loud to Mike on our month-long road trip we decided to give the Skinny Bitch diet a try. It’s not just vegetarian, it’s vegan (no animal products like cheese, milk or eggs, butter, etc) and no chemicals (alcohol, high-fructose corn syrup, sugars, etc). The diet is nearly impossible while on the road, we learned, but once stationary it’s much easier to be healthy, organic and meat-free.

We filmed our progress (and failures) along the way. We’ll load the videos soon!

We recently did a massive road trip across the motherland of America. Here are the absolute highlights for over a month on the road.

• Bear Baiting in Big Bay
• Niagra Fall, in Canada
• Mount Washington Resort, in New Hampshire
• The Freedom Trail, in Boston
• Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, in Philadelphia
• The Capital on a lazy Sunday, in DC
• Carmen, in Winston-Salem, NC
• The Ocean on Halloween, in Wilmington, NC
• Drinking PBR during the day in Nashville, TN
• Seeing Al Green, in Memphis
• The flatlands of Oklahoma after seeing Oklahoma!
• The world’s creepiest wasteland, outside of Las Vegas, New Mexico
• Singing with Hippies, in Boulder, CO
• Touring Vail by Moonlight
• The Columbia River Highway, through OR
• The beautiful rainforest drive on I-5N

Of course the moment we hit I-5 and headed North we were struck by the most amazing rain storm. This only gives credit to the rumor that it rains all the time in Washington. I’ve tried to convince Mike that people over hype the rain, but every time the poor lad has been in Washington he’s been drenched to the bone. Bad timing or global warming?—Or could it just be that Washington is a rainforest of beauty that needs a bit of rain to keep it so wonderfully green. Mike prefers to think of it as vampire territory where everyone has blue-tinted skin and edgy dispositions (as well as an addiction to meth, cults and an affinity for collecting broken cars for lawn ornamentation.)

Washington, the Evergreen State, is just that—it’s green forever. No matter which way you look it’s hard to see a color other than green. Of course, if you cross the mountains and head East you’ll find a desert out near Spokane. But who would go out there when the rainforests, mountains and shores are to the West?

We spent several weeks exploring the many ways to stay dry in a rainforest. What we came up with was this—don’t go outside. If you do, you’ll get drenched. Even on a sunny day Washington is wet. They call it “liquid sunshine,” but of course it isn’t sunny, Washingtonians just don’t know any better, bless their souls.

We also spent a few great weekends in Oregon, which is just like Washington, but with more dedicated hippies. Eugene, where Nike has it’s headquarters, is full of vegan restaurants, dreadlocks and birthing centers covered in dream catchers. It’s a lovely place for anyone who votes blue (or refrains from voting because it’s too much a part of the establishment).

We took a drive up to Seattle one weekend and ended up visiting the Matador restaurant as well as the Kickin’ Boot. Both are awesome, by the way. And Seattle remains one of my favorite cities in the world. If it weren’t so expensive it’d be a great place to strike a claim. But alas, the land is so green, so beautiful that it’s much coveted and in that regard, unaffordable.

Between Grand Junction, CO and the beautiful Columbia River Highway in OR there is basically nothing but a litter box. That’s harsh. There is nothing but a litter box with a strip mall in it.

Believe it or not, our USA Lonely Planet boasts of Utah as being a well kept secret full of adventure, outdoor activities and wonton awesomeness. We’re wondering what Cool-Aid these writers were drinking. The long stretch of dull we drove through was like driving across a giant block or dirty butter. The guide book did mention some amazing rock structures to the south, but if you have to drive across more of the same dirty butter to get there, we weren’t interested. Perhaps that’s why it is such a well kept secret. Everyone turns around and gives up before getting to this mysterious awesome part.

Salt Lake City was a place I was interested in seeing. Having watched the Big Love series about the LDS church, polygamy and Bill Paxton, I felt I had invested a sizable chunk of time in seeing parts of a city I otherwise had no interest in. The Temples sounded unique and worthy of exploration. Sadly, our time in SLC was limited to a quick drive through town. We saw the temple, the streets paved with … pavement, and not a lot more. It was largely uninspired. More depressingly, the outskirts (which sprawled for hours!) were run down and beat up. I was reminded of the folks in the show who were outcast from the community. Thus, we pointed our hood away from the state and its mysterious, hard-to-locate awesomeness and headed North by Northwest.

Idaho can be quite beautiful in parts, and I spent a lot of time there as a youth with my lovely grandparents. But they lived in the hills and valleys—absolutely stunning. We drove through what seemed like one continuous potato field covered in a depressing layer of recession.

Our intention of driving from Colorado to Washington without stopping was foiled by exhaustion. We stopped in Idaho at a hotel that would have given us all hepatitis had we not slept on our own blankets. In the morning, we discovered a junk yard was the backyard of the lovely hotel. The front yard was the highway. What a charming spot for a center of hospitality. Onwards we went. And from here on out the geography began to get ever more beautiful.

Every time I drive through a chunk of land that looks like the bottom of a dirty work shoe I’m rubbed by a sense of curiosity I can’t shake. I wonder if the folks who settled there were part of the original pilgrims who headed west in search of land, gold or just adventure. I wonder if they know that they gave up in the desert when the oasis was just a mountain range away. IF their ancestors had kept trudging, they’d be in the grace of the forests, hills, rivers and lakes instead of a trailer on the edge of nothing. I thought about this a lot driving through Utah, Idaho and Oklahoma. If they had but continued on, they’d be on the coast! Instead they risked everything, left the comfort of the East Coast, and all to end up in a wasteland. Or, perhaps they find the wasteland beautiful and deplore the forests and the rivers. I’ll never know.

Merry Christmas one and all,

We’re thrilled to have you as a reader of our humble travel blog. Thank you for your readership over the years, and for making our adventure all the more enriching by allowing us to share it with you.

We hope you enjoy your holidays, wherever you are this season!

Love,

Mike, Lauren & Gwendolyn

Yes, that was a pun because pot was legalized in Colorado a week before we dropped by. Did we partake? No we didn’t. But it’s still a funny song for a legal state!

What we did do in Colorado was see Colorado Springs, Denver and Boulder before cutting through the amazing, breath-taking Rockies to see Vail and then Grand Junction. Did we love Colorado? Does the Pope have a funny hat? Yes, he does. Yes, he does.

Colorado Springs was not spoken of highly by our Colorado friends. Perhaps that’s because the hills surrounding it look like just that, hills, when compared to the stunning peaks visible from Boulder. But we did enjoy the quaint downtown area and walked around until our buns froze before heading to Garden of the Gods.

This amazing set of natural rock formations is quite stunning in winter, but I imagine it would be all the more bizarre in summer, surrounded by green trees that offset the orange of the rocks. We walked around for over an hour before our buns, again, froze. On to Denver.

We were on a mission in Denver to see the location of the next Matador Restaurant. The chain, which started in Seattle, will be opening a location in Denver and we had the inside scoop on it’s future home. After seeing this top secret spot we drove around downtown and, of course, strolled the lovely pedestrian street that bisects the city. Denver is stunning, but you can’t see the mountains from the city. Time to go look for a view of the mountains.

Boulder has it all. True, there are a lot of questionable folk milling about (have you ever played bum or hippie? You’ll lose in Boulder!). But the university brings in fresh cash and personalities galore. It’s a vegan’s paradise and the most important thing about Boulder is that you can see, smell and feel the mountains from the city. We walked around, drove around and then like a giant magnet the mountains pulled us Westward.

Cutting through the Rockies is like driving a car through a tunnel of awesome. We started our dissection around 4:00pm and by 6:00pm it was pitch dark in the mountains. You’d think that would ruin the drive, but instead the full moon lit an eerie and beautiful landscape of trees covered in snow and looming peaks. Pulling into Vail was like pulling onto the set of an expensive Hollywood Christmas tale. The lights were crisp and shed beams of wonder on the slopes, lodges and walkways. We strolled around Vail and munched on salads overlooking the ski slopes. I wished I could stay forever. But alas, only a Murdoch or a Trump could afford a random drop-by stay at a Vail lodge.

Grand Junction didn’t have much to offer and was a depressing port-a-potty of a town. Actually, we’ll never know if it was cool or not because after Vail anything would look like a cheap, swirling crap. Thus, we left Colorado on a Rocky Mountain high with a bit of nostalgia and, of course, some altitude sickness.

One of our last days in Beijing was spent seeing Oklahoma! A good friend of ours was playing the role of Jud Fry. He was a masterful actor/singer, and took the role to a new extreme (think: the Joker in the latest Batman series meets Syler from Heroes). We got a wonderful idea about the landscape and musical people of Oklahoma from the musical. So, when we found ourselves in Little Rock looking at a map and scratching our heads we decided to head to Tulsa to check out the panhandle state and see a few cowboys and cowgirls singing and line dancing together in the streets.

Funny story. Tulsa (at least the part we visited) looked almost nothing like the backdrops in the musical. Gone were the Western store fronts, the horses ties to hitching posts, the smoke houses and the creepy barns. In their place were Olive Gardens, A plethora of fast food options, and a sleazy nightclub called Blush whose pink flashing lights penetrated the windows of our hotel across the street. All is not well in Oklahoma, and it appears Jud Fry took over the place in a sinister scheme to modernize it and strip it of personality. Well done, musical villain!

Driving around Oklahoma one gets a sense of what it would be like to be on Mars. There is litter variation in geography and it becomes a battle of mind over reality. I imagine this is the exact feeling insane people have when locked in a padded, seamless room. On an more positive note, the world’s largest McDonald’s cuts over the highway in Oklahoma. I was worried about the structural integrity of the overpass with all the obese people waddling in and out of the restaurant. I hate to reference another movie, but Oklahoma isn’t far off from the characters in Wallie.

All of this being said, some of the most interesting, creative and intelligent people we know hail from Oklahoma. We didn’t meet them there. No, they were smart enough to get the hell out. But perhaps a barren geography and lack of entertainment means the people turn inwards and work on their own beauty and skill. Musicians, artists, thinkers and politicians are among the traits our Oklahoma friends have. Maybe there is something positive in the water.

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Regardless of your political views, the presidential libraries are an amazing asset to our country, and they offer a very biased view of each president’s life. Naturally you don’t get a lot of republican curators at democrat’s libraries and vise-versa. So the exhibits are very pro party, pro president.

Established in 1955, the Presidential Libraries Act provides government employees to maintain privately erected libraries. The act encourages presidents to donate their gifts, papers and records. The National Archives and Records Administration run each library and maintain the president’s artifacts and papers.

In 2009 we visited the George Herbert Walker Bush Presidential Library in Texas. That was an amazing treat. Located on campus, we’re told the former president and first lady have an apartment nearby and often stop by to chat with visitors. The library had a war plane, replicas of various White House rooms, and loads of interactive exhibits. It took us several hours to peruse the documents, artifacts and interactive exhibits.

This year, we visited the William Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. In contrast, the library didn’t offer the range of interactive exhibits. The majority of the artifacts on display were documents, letters and the like. There was a row of gifts from visiting dignitaries and the like, but they were a small section of the overall library. The Clinton library holds the largest bulk of records and documents, we were told.

There is a replica of the Oval Office that is stunning. We were informed that each president redecorates to his or her (yeah right!) preference. You can see a certain upper-crust elegance in the Clinton Oval Office.

In 2006 I visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. This is not one of the official 13 libraries under the Presidential Libraries Act, but it was quite astonishing. The appeal here was its universality. The Clinton library was for serious research and a quick browse of the documents on display, the Bush library was about creating the image of a legacy, while the Lincoln library was a Hollywood-style production of a man that became larger than life. The tour opens with a multi-sense film called “Behind Lincoln’s Eyes” where we delve into the emotional/psychological study of the man. Cannon smoke fills the room during the Civil War section. The seats shake. I’d say it wasn’t an effective learning tool, but six years later I still vividly recall the visit.

Outside of the Bill Clinton Presidential Library sits charming Little Rock. It was a smaller town than expected, and quaint. The downtown area could be any small town in America, and the bars, shops and restaurants offered a certain southern elite charm. Situated right on the river, the library looks out over the river, the countryside and the town itself.

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By Al Green we do in fact mean the amazing, talented and smooth creator of “Let’s Stay Together” and “Love and Happiness.” He is one of gospel and soul’s biggest names and he recently went on tour. Sadly, we missed it. But we did hear that he was the reverend at the Tabernacle Church in Memphis, so we got up at the crack of dawn on Sunday and headed for Memphis, leaving lovely Nashville in our rearview mirror.

We drove by Elvis Presley’s Graceland, and were surprised at how rundown the area was, and how kitschy the place looked. I know it’s Graceland and it’s meant to be kitschy but wow! Not far from where tours leave for Graceland you’ll find the Reverend Al Green’s church.

We pulled into the parking lot and saw several people heading inside. We followed them in and opened the doors to the sanctuary to reveal that we were one of about eight white folks in the room. They were already well into the service (which started at 11am) when we arrived at 30 minutes after the hour. We took seats near the back in case our infant started to howl.

The music was amazing! Al Green wasn’t there yet, but his choir and choir leaders were stellar. They sang almost on improve and the live band was equally astonishing. You could tell they loved what they were doing. They sang their prayers.

At noon Al Green came out in white gloves and a black reverend smock. He swayed with the music and received applause and turned all the applause upward. He was very humble and deflecting of attention. His mother led the announcements, and his nephew gave the sermon. Al Green was the greeter, occasional singer and commentator. As we gave tithe he asked us where we were from. Mike said “Chicago” and he started singing “hello Chicago!” as we walked by. Nice guy, and a very friendly congregation. He even made a “Love and Happiness” reference. Nice.

We left Memphis after church. Driving around downtown proved that the city itself has a lot to be desired, especially after the beauty of downtown Nashville.

Arriving in Nashville is like driving into a time warp. The downtown area is crowded with hole-in-the-wall bars where musicians are playing live music starting early in the morning. We were there on a Friday with Lauren’s uncle. He took us to Tootsie’s, the most famous of the local bars, where a cowboy and his cowgirl crooned into rusty microphones over a rowdy crowd. It was 2pm and the beers were flowing and the crowd was hopping. We sat with a couple from New York who were fleeing Hurricane Sandy in search of fairer weather and cheerier sights. They couldn’t get over the $5 PBR cans.

Down the street at Layla’s we got PBR cans for $1 and watched an authentic hill cowboy and a lovely lady on bass really bring country music to life. They were no joke, and at 3pm in the afternoon they had a lively audience of diehards, cowboys and tourists.

You can buy cowboy boots and outfits for cheap downtown. Some boots sell three pair for the price of one. We looked but didn’t buy, and continued on down the way for the mid-afternoon bar crawl with our infant baby. Don’t worry, they still can’t smoke inside and Gwen loved the music. She stood on my lap and cooed along with the best of them. And she wasn’t the only toothless lady in the bar.

Nashville has a great dining scene. We were introduced to more southern BBQ at several restaurants and adored every delectable bite. It’s hard not to overeat when the food tastes like ambrosia.

Out on the streets you’ll find wildly talented people playing handmade instruments, dancing or playing guitar. There is so much talent in the city that it overflows into the streets. Record labels sign big named there, like Taylor Swift, and music celebrities mingle with regular folk without putting on airs.

We were lucky enough to have family in Nashville to stay with, and enjoyed a lovely birthday party for my cousin while we were in town. A great visit, an amazing family and a lovely city. I’d live in Nashville if I could. I’ve never been anywhere else where music was loved so much.

Winston-Salem isn’t a hotbed of tourism, and that’s great because it’s a well kept secret. It’s only a few hours to the mountains and only a few more to the beach, so it’s location is perfect for the weekend warrior vacationer. You’ll find a decent amount of trees in the area, in fact it’s the largest selection of diverse trees in the USA. For that reason, it’s also the hub for furniture in the country, and you’ll notice all kinds of furniture stores and outlets along the highways. Golfing is a big activity in the area, and loads of snowbirds flock south from the frigid tundra up north to enjoy mild winters in NC.

Of all the attractions in NC, our favorite was visiting with family. We were able to see a whole lot of family all at once. A fun, crazy, wild ride that included a trip to the mountains with one uncle and a trip to the beech with my mother. We also went to see Carmen in downtown W-S with one aunt, and were lucky to be able to stay with another aunt in her lovely downtown apartment. We visited friends in Wilmington, and had a party at another uncle’s place. We even got to see my aunt’s new restaurant outside of town. And of course visiting with my amazing grandparents was a joy. We got to enjoy so much family; it was a treat for us and for Gwen, who was, as always, the belle of the ball.

If you happen to find yourself in ol’ W-S don’t skip the historic old Salem area. This was pretty neat and included old structures from the original town that have been converted into nice shops. Downtown (the new part) was also thriving, and we enjoyed an amazing dinner at District, dancing at 6th and Vine and deep fried pickles at Finnegan’s Wake. W-S is great for food, and the finer things in life.

In terms of food, we ate so much southern cooking we put on several pounds in the month we were in North Carolina. We discovered Dickies southern style BBQ, the best BBQ on the planet perhaps. We also fell in love with Darel’s, more BBQ. And of course we loved Bo Jangles and all the chicken. I don’t know how anyone with constant access to this food remains slim.

We were very sad to eventually leave North Carolina and the fifty or so family members who live there. But the road is long, and we have miles to put on the car.

One of the best times to see DC is on a Sunday. Especially on a Sunday when there isn’t a big activity downtown. Here’s how we saw DC.

We drove right past the pentagon and around the bend into down town. We rolled into town without encountering any traffic around 10am. Downtown, there was virtually no traffic and all the lights seemed to turn green as we approached. We drove by the capital building, headed around the White House and drove past a few of the beautiful museums.

Granted, we had very limited time in the city and many miles to cover by nightfall, so we didn’t end up walking around. Instead, we drove all through down, winding up and down streets and passing by the city’s top attractions. We decided that DC is a city that deserves more time. However, if you have the time, free parking on weekends was available and spaces were readily available. I think so many people in the area are terrified of the traffic that they never even attempt to drive into town. If you’re of this mindset the park-and-ride is a great option but takes about half an hour from outside of town.

We also learned that you now have to apply to see the White House several months in advance and get early screening approval before you can show up. If you want to plan a trip to DC perhaps apply first and buy your airline tickets once your approval comes through.

Being surrounded by history isn’t something we’re new to. We’ve lived in China’s historic hutong alleys for the past few years. But being around America’s old history is new to us, and really cool. After our trip down Freedom Trail in Boston, we hit the road for Philadelphia without knowing what we’d see or do while in town. Turns out you need a few days to see all of Phily.

We started by checking out the Christ Church Cemetery, where Benjamin Franklin and a few other signers of the Declaration of Independence rest. This was a beautiful spot to call home for eternity. Aside form the throngs of tourists tossing coins on your headstone, that is.

From there we walked to the Liberty Bell. When I was a child I saw the bell in the middle of the commons, but now it is housed in a glass building surrounded by helpful signs explaining Philadelphia’s history and it’s position as the home of the American government. My favorite moment was when a Chinese man in line behind us commented in Mandarin on how inappropriate it was that there was a large poster of the Dali Lama making the peace sign in front of the Liberty Bell. Priceless.

We joined one of the tours through Independence Hall. You can’t go in without being tied to a tour, luckily though they are free. A friendly tour guide explained the historical significance of the structures to our group of around thirty as we strolled through the main building. Independence Hall is home to the room where our brave forefathers drafted the constitution. This is cool because it was literally a group of regular guys deciding what kind of nation we’d become. The room wasn’t preserved well, but it has since been recreated to look like it did at the time. Despite it being October, it was hotter than hell in the room. This made me appreciate the hard work of the creators of the Constitution even more. I can’t imagine being so optimistic in such a hot room.

I had to stop on the lawn where our nation’s freedom was announced to change a dirty diaper. Afterwards we grabbed the customary Phil-cheese steak sandwich for an outrageous $7 and headed to the oldest continually dwelt-upon street in the USA. It’s quaint and adorable and normal people live there, despite the constant string of tourists. It reminded me of our home on Nanluoguxiang, in Beijing, right smack on a historical lane.

Philadelphia was a great city and, perhaps because it was such a beautiful day and a beautiful, history-rich city we were tempted to just stay put. But there was more to see…..

We decided to head to Boston to see do the freedom trail. This is a fairly short walk through all the major landmarks in Boston related to historical events. The route is conveniently marked by a double row of red bricks and along the way there are signs explaining the top sights. There are a few amazing things to see along the way that are not marked with red bricks, like the USA’s oldest continually operating pub. Yes, we had a few pints there. It’s historical research!

As a heads up, parking in Boston is a rip off. We paid over $30 for the privilege of spending slightly over two hours walking around Boston in the rain. That’s enough for a low budget hotel. What a scam! We’re told there is cheaper parking, but downtown we sure couldn’t find it. On the upside, we spent $30 to see all of downtown Boston and be close to the car for our pre rush-hour escape.

We started the walk by checking out the oldest school on the coast. Pretty fancy for a bunch of pilgrims turned city-folk. Then we saw the site of the Boston Massacre and the town hall. A wee bit depressing but it really brought the whole story into reality for us. You can picture angry residents in the square demanding more rights, and then the inevitable shooting that occurs whenever young soldiers are stressed and confronted with a situation they weren’t trained for.

The oldest pub, the Bell in Hand, was amazing. A bit on the tacky side once you get inside for a pint, but the prices are reasonable, the ale is good and the story behind the pub is worth the visit. Nearby the Green Dragon was the home to inciters who helped launch the American revolution.

Ben Franklin was born in Boston, and his statue graces a few corners and nooks throughout the city. It’s also home to the late, great Paul Revere. We visited his home, a cute little place right down town.

Boston is a beautiful city clothed in red brick, surrounded by clean, green-tinted water and full of friendly people. We leave you with a picture of Town Hall, behind which the Boston Massacre occurred.

Okay, so we’re not sure what the top sights in New Hampshire really are, but we’d be happy to tell you what we saw!

Mount Washington Hotel and Resort is a beautiful retreat away from the bustle of the East Coast. It’s a self-contained mini paradise. We’re talking spa, pool, tea room, bar and dining room, wine room and of course amazing views of the mountains as well as the gold course. I assume there are great hiking trails nearby and the concierge would be happy to point the right direction. One of the greatest amenities, though, was the massive fireplace in the center of the lobby and the board-game room behind it. This is the largest indoor fireplace I’ve seen, and I imagine a bottle of wine and a good book would be great accessories for it.
We also got to see the former home of the late celebrity actress Betty Davis. Yes, she did summer in New Hampshire, as did many of the rich and famous once upon a time. Betty Davis lived in a small cottage in the woods off the beaten path outside Frankonia. Her home was made of wood, and has a secret passage way between the two bedrooms (tsk, tsk Miss Davis!). A beautiful arches wooden ceiling was the main highlight, and the new addition to the home stayed true to the time period, adding appeal and even more old-world charm. Of course the walls are covered in Betty Davis memorabilia.

Downtown Littleton is another great reason to visit New Hampshire. We were impressed by the world’s longest candy bar at Chutters. The oldest surviving building is indeed quite old, and beautiful as well. The whole downtown area is just as quaint as a postcard. My favorite shop was the Little Herb Shop where the owner was incredibly friendly and kind, and she carried a great selection of herbs.

But of course the most famous thing to see in New Hampshire are the leaves in fall, and we hit that perfectly. Driving up to the overpasses to see rolling red, orange and yellow hills was a joy no East Coaster should miss.

Leaving Niagra Falls, we headed into New York on the I-90. For those who don’t know New York, like we didn’t, I-90 is a toll road. We ended up paying thirteen dollars for the privilege of using the road. Once you’re on I-90 you’re somewhat trapped. They have stop-n-go centers along the route that have overpriced gas and food, but one teller confided in me that gas prices were higher by about 8 cents on the toll road.

I-90’s toll ends and the toll road turns into I-89. We got off the toll road with lighter wallets, and hit the 787N to the 7. This is where New York finally got interesting for us, but also where we exited New York in general. Coincidence?

Entering Vermont was a nice transition in terms of getting off the toll road and finally seeing some back roads and character. Farmhouses emerged out of the woodlands and those pastures gave way to mountains that bore small resorts, B&Bs and winding roads with stunning autumn views. Night fell as we entered the Green Mountain Forest, where around every precarious bend one finds another small shire of homes, small businesses and more stunning outlooks over fiery orange hills.

Eventually we hit the interstate on Vermont’s eastern border. This N-S highway boasts the worst drivers we’d encountered so far. Fair enough, they were distracted by stunning trees in transition, as were we. We followed I-91N until we saw exits for Littleton, New Hampshire. If you’re traveling along this route keep in mind that exits are not marked with what’s behind the trees so if you’re hungry you mind as well start swallowing your spit because it’s not easy to find the right exit for food. Here’s where a GPS would be of massive assistance.

New Hampshire is apparently sales tax free. That’s pretty amazing considering you can purchase stuff there and save yourself about 6%. We bought diapers for our sweet baby, but didn’t take advantage of that deal for much else. We were now set to spend the next week with family outside of Littleton.

See more photos of the trip on the Photos page.