Category America

If you’ve never been to the Upper Peninsula —GOOD! Don’t go. It isn’t for you. It’s a shit place with nothing to do and nothing to see. Stay away, for your own good.

If you have been, then you know it’s heaven on Earth, and not to tell anyone about it. The first rule of the real diehards of the UP, the so called Yoopers, is not talk about the UP with the trolls. Trolls, if you don’t know, are everyone who live under the Mackinac Bridge, which separates the Upper Peninsula from the rest of Michigan. And the rest of the planet, really. If you do make it past the bridge, stop at the Yooper Tourist Trap. It’s well worth a visit.

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is one of the most stunning natural places on this little blue ball. The fresh water lakes, the untouched forests, the rivers and waterfalls tucked away from the swarms of tourists. It’s a dreamland for the outdoor enthusiast.

Biblical Plagues in Rapid Secession

There are downsides to the UP, and they aren’t for the weak of heart or faint of knee. ‘Round about spring the mosquitos hatch. These nasty buggers can hatch right out of the snow. I’ve seen them crawling around on the ice looking for blood. There aren’t a few mosquitos here or there, but swarms of them so thick you can’t go outdoors.

One time my dad and I decided to hike to a nearby lake through the woods. I had head to two coverage and a hat. I had on so much mosquito repellant that I probably gave myself brain damage. My boots covered my feet, and I had gloves on my hands. So, we set out in mosquito season. ‘Round about the time we reached the other lake I couldn’t take it. I snapped an evergreen bough off of a nearby tree and started whacking the air around me. I saw the lake, muttered, “yeah, it’s great. Let’s get out of here.” And we dashed home, swinging pine boughs at the mosquitos. My neck, face, ears, wrists and ankles were covered in bites.

When the mosquitos die down a bit, the mayflies hatch. These congest the surface of everything from screen doors to picnic tables to windshields to boats. And if you were planning on fishing during bass season you can forget about it, because the fish are full to the gills with mayflies. They don’t want your stupid lure, they want a La-Z-Boy and a multi series Netflix show to binge while they chill in their nests and ignore you.

After the mayflies come the bitting flies. These assholes will nip and gouge at any exposed skin on your body, including your eyelids. But, if you think you’ll just wear long sleeves and pants to fool them you can forget about it, because they can bite through steel. Also, it’s 90 degrees outside, Celsius, and you’re damp and covered in sweat, which only attracts more flies.

And then there is about a week of nothing trying to bite or kill you. In that week, you can enjoy the fall foliage, stroll around in the amber-tinted forests or take in stunning vistas of Lake Superior.

After the Plagues Come the Snow

But right as you start thinking, “Hey, we should get a cabin up here,” the snow hits. And it hits hard. In the UP there is snow from about early October to round about May. And if you haven’t heard the very technical term “round-about” before, you haven’t studied the weather or insect patterns of the UP because that’s as good as it gets. ‘Round about is a technical term in the UP.

Finally, the fishing report for the UP: Many of the folks who come up, the trolls, they come up for the fishing and hunting. Hunting season is so-so, but you might as well stay downstate and save yourself the $5 Mackinac Bridge fare. Lodging costs more in the UP for hunters, too. Stay away, stop killing all of our wildlife, ya jerks. Fishing, on the other hand, is also horrible in the UP. So many people escaped to Michigan after the tourism board launched their Pure Michigan campaign that pretty much all of the fish in the great lakes are now in troll bellies down south. Fishing reports for the past five years have been abyssal. 

‘Round about now, you’re probably asking why I’m even writing about the UP. The answer is that this is a warning, a morality tale of sorts. Stay out of the UP so the fish come back, and the mosquito populations die down. Stay away, ya damn trolls! Back, back! Try somewhere else in America.

Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan are the land of plenty. Plenty of space. Plenty of weight on the locals. Plenty of cheese on the french fries. Plenty of everything. We started in Minneapolis, home of the Mall of America, the largest mall in the country. You can walk for hours and not see everything. I know. We tried. There is a theme park in the center, a movie theatre, spas, hundreds of shops and dozens of restaurants. Anything you want you can find at Mall of America, except your car. You’re going to lose your car. My god, where is the car?

Minnesota: Lakes, Malls and Snow

Minneapolis has a great free zoo in Como Park, out on the east side. Check out the Como Park Conservatory. You can donate at the entrance if you want to, or don’t. I don’t care. But we always tried to drop a few bucks in the pot because damn do they do a good job with the animals at Como. They have a free-range sloth in the greenhouse area, and there are meerkats all over the place right inside the entrance. They have larger animals, too, but for me the greenhouse always won out. Such a lovely spot to come, especially in the colder months. Which, in Minnesota, are about 10 months of the year.

If you’re anybody at all worth knowing than you live on Lake Minnetonka. We don’t, because we’re not worth knowing, but we have friends on the lake. Experiencing how the elite live is a joy and a curse. It’s such a delight to experience, but then you have to zip up your suitcase and go back to the cheap motels with holes in the bedding and curly hairs in the sheets. You can get a taste of the rich life by strolling around the quaint villages that ring the lake, or driving down the mansion-lined streets. There are several open access points to the lake. You can even check out Prince’s house, which is nearby.

Wisconsin: Land of Cheese and Roller Coasters

Wisconsin is famous for cheese, but also for the Wisconsin Dells, which house a bunch of theme parks. Here you can ride all manner of rollercoaster or spinning tea cup. There are decent resorts and it’s near enough to an airport that you don’t have a long drive after landing. The prices are reasonable in the off season, and a bit extreme in summer. If you ever wanted to learn an Eastern European language, many of the staff at the Wisconsin Dells resorts and theme parks are there on summer work visas. 

We didn’t spend much time in Wisconsin because it wasn’t theme park season. Instead, we sort of transited the state, and our hearts thank us for avoiding the artery-blocking cuisine.

Michigan: The Mosquito’s Playground

Michigan is for nature lovers. If you don’t love nature, don’t bother congesting the freeways and airports, it won’t be the place for you. The best thing to do in Michigan is get outside. Detroit has a lot to offer, as does Ann Arbor, but your best bet is to get into the woods, enjoy the lakes, go on an ATV ride or rent snowmobiles if it’s winter. Just get yourself geared up and get outside.

With the launch of the Pure Michigan tourism campaign, RV, ATV, boat and snowmobile enthusiasts from around America started to explore the bounty of Michigan. This was great for the economy but bad for those of us who were already outside enjoying the peace and quiet. Nothing says hike faster than having a group of loud tourists behind you in the peaceful forrest.

I have so much more to say about Michigan. I’ll do a whole post on the Upper Peninsula soon, so stay tuned.

We have done a lot of US road tripping, check out more on the Road Trip page.

For about a year and a half we lived in Missouri, smack dab in the middle of the American Central Midwest. This, I can assure you, was culture shock to the extreme. As a vegetarian and flex vegan, Missouri was a whole new world, culinarily speaking. And not a good one. More like a Mad Max wasteland world, where everything was barbecued or deep fried, and nothing came with vegetables, despite the fact that they were being grown all around us.

In Missouri, we checked out Branson, of course, and St. Louis. Now, if you’re in the market for a solid heart attack, we’d suggest dining in St. Louis. Go literally anywhere. But St. Louis has some healthy options too. You could walk around the zoo, which is free. And St. Louis has a massive park (that houses the zoo, conveniently) and a nearby free science museum. All of these attractions are well worth a visit.

Indiana: Corn, Literature and More Corn

Indiana has some perks worth checking out. For one, Kurt Vonnegut, my favorite writer of all time, hails from Indianapolis. Sure, he spent most of his productive years elsewhere, but the midwest doesn’t have shit to claim, so we’ll let them have it. Indianapolis is now home to the Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library, which is pretty sweet, to tell the truth. You can go right in, have a tour, buy some themed gifts or attend some of their events. They really are doing an awesome job of sharing Vonnegut’s vision. So, that’s something the midwest has going.

Indiana has an awesome downtown area. We checked out The Garage, an eatery for everyone with tiny stalls selling everything from lobster rolls to Pakistani to cheap margaritas and soup. We loved the downtown. We also checked out the Indiana State Museum, which at $17 was well worth it to see the throngs of taxidermies animals and era-by-era cultural items. Indiana has a lot going on back in the day, including being trampled flat by mammoths. True story.

Illinois: The Cornhole of America

Illinois has a few things to offer the intrepid tourist eager to see real America. I hear Chicago is nice. I went once. It was cold, wet, and everywhere we went a Sheik came up to us and said, “you probably shouldn’t be here.” Apparently south side Chicago is not where I’m meant to be? No joke, that happened more than once as we were looking for a well-known philately shop. I missed the downtown, the skyscrapers and the views of the great lakes because we ran out of gas and decided to leave after the third person in an hour told us to get out of there. So, we did. 

Cahokia is one of my favorite things in the midwest. This, at one point, was the largest native city in the United States. Now we know almost nothing about it, or the people who built it. All we have left are these huge mounds that you can walk around on. We climbed several, looked out at the ol’ Mississippi and enjoyed the views. I can see why they picked that spot. Endless flatlands for crops or grazing and the river for fish and transportation and trade. Still, very little is known about them, and most school-aged kids haven’t even heard of it.

The midwest has some pretty cool parks. Not Yellowstone or Niagara, but still. They try. One of my favorite things about living in Missouri for a year and a half was watching the farming community do their thing. I have to assume this is a labor of love, because they aren’t making a profit. Everything I read about farming suggests it’s all but a starvation wage after investing in everything needed to keep the farm active. Still, I can see the appeal of farming from a job-satisfaction standpoint. You work hard, hands in the soil, and you see real results. We watched the field near our house go from snow-covered to sludge to ribbed for seeds, to sprouting and finally to fruition and harvest. It was a thrill to watch the machines roll through and see real live farmers in coveralls out there checking the plants. I suppose if you’ve always lived near fields it wouldn’t be that exciting, but corn, soybeans and yarrow grew nearby and it was stunning.

We made trips to Minnesota, Colorado and Kansas in addition to our Illinois, Missouri, Indiana trips, but I’ll write about them later. For now, that’s the midwest as we saw it. You’re welcome to it, especially in harvest season when the sky turns grey with little tiny specs of husk and ear finely chopped and ready to clog your lungs.

If you missed our American Road Trip adventures, you’ll find more including routes on the Road Trip page.

This post was written by Bear J., who recently spent a week in the Boundary Waters with his brother. Read more about their trip, or read on to see how the canoe trip was planned.

The Boundary Waters of Minnesota are unlike any other wilderness. For one, a canoe carries your packs for most of the trip. And when its time to carry your pack, you may have a canoe on your shoulders as well! But it’s the pristine nature, the loon calls, and the fishing that brings people back year after year. This would be our 10th trip into the wilds of the Boundary Waters.

There are a million acres of lakes on the U.S. side, and twice as much on the Canadian side in the Quetico Provincial Park. The lakes have many similarities, such as many campsites, fish, mosquitoes, ruggedness and solitude.

Here are photos of the Johnson Brothers’ Canoe Trip

Planning Your Trip to the Boundary Waters

There are many outfitters in the Ely area of Minnesota that have planning guides online, and who will start up an email and phone dialogue about what to bring, when to go, and what you will need. I would recommend using one of them to plan, and outfit your trip. Especially if it’s your first time up north.

Plan and practice everything. Test everything. Know how to use that water filter, start the stove, turn on your head lamp. Load your pack and try carrying it. Load a food bag and carry it. Try out all your fishing gear. Find the deepest darkest swamp, and test your bug dope. Serious bug dope. Seriously.

Route Planning

There is a saying up in the Boundary Waters. With every portage you see half as many people and twice as many fish. This is very true. This trip we went nine portages in and saw no one, and the fishing was phenomenal. You could see 12 lb bass and 18 lb Northern swimming around the canoe saying ‘pick me.’ We ate our fill of fish every night. We planned for 10 miles a day, and 5-7 portages the first two days. We made that easily. If you have never canoed, or portaged plan for less, and make contingency plans. For your first couple of trips, plan an up and back route, so if you fall behind, you can stop. Later, you can make a circular type route through Canada and the BWCA. I recommend going in two days, and setting up a base camp, then exploring from there minus most of your gear.

Maps

There isn’t much choice in maps. Fisher Maps has detailed topographcial maps of the U.S. side, but I have not found good ones for Canada. Fisher does carry the Canadian side without topo for $6.90 each. Bring two sets just in case a mosquito carries yours off.

Staging Your Trip

You will need to park your car, and get a canoe in Ely, unless you live close enough and have your own. There are many good outfitters in Ely. They are all about equal. I tend to pick one with a base camp on Moose Lake, where I like to launch. Moose Lake offers easy access to Canada. You can pull up and be met, outfitted, packed and ready to go in two hours. Since Ely is about 5 hours from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport, I like to arrive in the afternoon, take in Ely, head out to the outfitter, pack, have a nice steak dinner, and relax in the bunk room. First tow heads out after breakfast the following morning at 7:30 (the Canadian Ranger Station does not open until 8:00). Regardless, arrive early enough to load and pack everything, test everything you get from them, and try out your fishing gear.

Here are photos of the Johnson Brothers’ Canoe Trip

Canoeing into Canada

If you want to go into Canada, you have to plan it three months in advance.

You will need a Remote Area Border Crossing Permit (RABC) and a fishing license for Canada. You can find the form here, and you will have to mail it in to the address in Canada listed on the form. Permits are numbered and a limited number of  people are allowed in to any one area. This is a good thing. I have gone four days before without seeing anyone.

You have to enter Canada through one of the Ranger Stations. We chose Prairie Portage. This allowed us easy access through Carp Lake to the Man Chain of Lakes, five lakes with “Man” in them, such as Other Man, No Man, This Man, That Man, and He Man. Bring your credit card and I.D to the station to pay the rest of your fees and register your route. Prices are $110 per person for the Quetico permit, half up front, the rest at the Ranger Station, plus $40 for a fishing license. The fishing license you can obtain here.  Order one well in advance.

Bring special bug dope for Canada.

Picking a Canoe

Unless you have your own lightweight canoe, you will be renting one from one of the outfitters. The plastic composite canoe that is fine for your neighborhood park will not make it up here. The last thing you want is a damaged canoe 25 miles into your trip. It is a long walk back to civilization, through many mosquito nests. My first trips to the BWCA were with fiberglass, later aluminum canoes. This trip we tried the new Kevlar canoes. They are amazingly light.

Pick a canoe to your ability and planned activities. For example, if you plan to do 10 miles and 5-7 portages a day, take Kevlar. If you have not canoed much, or if you plan on taking your time or fishing en route, take aluminum. Kevlar trades off some stability for lightness, while Aluminum is more forgiving in big wind, rocking, or with younger folks. Kevlar is $42 per day, aluminum $25, roughly.

Who can go to the great Northwest? Everyone. There is a trip to meet your ability, experience, and party composition. I’ve had 5-year olds on trips, and even teenagers. It will be an incredible adventure for them if you let them experience everything, and have the right gear to make it fun.

Portaging: The Muscled Side of Canoeing

If you have canoes, but have never portaged, it’s an art form you’ll need to master. It is not as easy as picking up your canoe and walking up to your car. Portages come in all sizes and shapes. Some are a mile long. Some are straight uphill, then straight downhill. This trip we found several with trees down across them paths, meaning pulling and pushing your gear, and canoe, through some pretty thick stuff. If it’s been raining anytime that summer, some portages are ankle-to-shin-deep in muck, with crawly bitty things and mosquitoes and biting flies waiting until your hands are full and you are stuck in mud to strike. They sense weakness, waiting to attack, in swarms, on que.They look for weak prey, struggling under weighty gear.

Many portages are easy to find, but if there has been a windstorm, some portages may be impassible. Canoeists before you will have made another trail, and it will not be pretty. The place you make landfall may have a nice place to pull up your canoe to unload, or you may be balancing on a log, or standing in knee-deep water to unload and pull your canoe up on your head. Use much bug dope prior to hitting the portage, especially right after rain.

Equipment

There are many lists of what items to bring on a canoe trip in the BWCA. I suggest laying everything out, taking a third away, then packing and carrying it around your neighborhood. Here are a few tips based on many excursions over many portages.

Here are photos of the Johnson Brothers’ Canoe Trip

Bring less of everything than you think you need.

• Headlamps. Night illumination is a must, and hands free is best. Worth any weight.
• Bring bug dope. Enough to share. Have I mentioned there are mosquitoes?
• Water shoes with enclosed toes that will stay on in ankle deep mud with 80lb on your back and your hands full killing 8” long mosquitoes. JK. Maybe.
• Quick dry clothes are great, you will get wet, and if you don’t. you ain’t trying hard enough.
• Wide brim hat that covers your neck. Paddle all day and you will burn.
• Rain suits are a necessity. Otherwise you may miss out on a few days of your trip while sitting in a tent swatting mosquitoes. Make them breathable, cause it can be hot in June and July, and warm in August.
• It’s cool at night, so bring a sweater, and camp shoes cause your water shoes will have to dry.
• A good tent with a rain fly is critical, else the Minnesota State Bird will carry you away (the mosquito).
• Bring a tent one person larger than your party, so you have room for gear, and moving around during the frequent rain squalls, and if you find yourself spending an entire day inside during a storm, you will appreciate the elbow room.
• A game (cribbage) or two. A notebook to jot down ideas for your next trip.
• A good waterproof camera that fits in a shirt pocket. You will want to snap pictures of your partner struggling under the canoe in shin-deep mud.
• Leave the cell phone – there is no coverage of any kind other than satellite and its against the rules to bring any electronics into the BWCA, and Canada. If another camper finds you with a cell phone, or iPhone, they are legally allowed to throw it in the lake. Its the only littering allowed. Carry everything else out. Well, there is one other thing you can leave in a hole there. Ween yourself off your cell early so you don’t suffer too much on the first day.
• Bring a compact fish net, some of the Northern will tear your fingers off trying to de-hook them or bring them in the boat. Bring pliers to extract hooks from the fish, and a leader!
• A water purifier that fits right on you water bottle (bring two bottles). There are a bunch of good ones, I have two that I like, the Katadyn Pocket Water Microfilter, and the MSR.
• Make sure you have water bottles that fit your filter, or you end up balancing on a rock, or over the edge of the canoe trying to pump and hold your bottle. If you lose your filter, go to the center of the lake with your big cook pot and dip out water. Giardia lurks around shore, and moving water, not in the center. You can fill your water bottles out there also, or while crossing a lake.
• Bring some drink mixes-it’s nice to have something different once in a while.
• Quick dry towel for after your swim (Saturdays in the BWCA are swimsuit optional days). JK
• Small foldable camp stools – one thing I would never canoe without. Get the kind that can fold small enough to fit inside your pack – you would not believe how many things there are to grab ahold of anything on the outside of you pack trying to get it in or out of the canoe, or portaging. I have one that has a folding back on it.
• Instant coffee and a insulated travel mug, stainless. I bring a coffee press for my Espresso, and i’ve used a French Press too, depends on how vital coffee is to your morning.
• Ziplocks for everything. Plan on dumping your pack into the lake once, or getting a downpour, and I don’t mean that west coast drizzle, I mean more rain that a bucket challenge.
• Camp shovel for digging those morning holes.
• Small foldable saw for cutting fire wood. I used to bring a hatchet too, but the small stoves to what I need now.
• Lots of paracord. It’s amazing what you will need to tie up. Duct Tape too. Works great to fix a tent, tent pole, fishing pole, snoring tent-mate…
• Bungie cords make tarps go up easier.
• Rain tarp for your cooking area, and if you have enough people, for your eating area. I use 12×16 for two people.
• First Aid Kit: burns (sun and cooking), blisters (hands-paddling), Trac Kit (fish bones in the throat. Maybe JK, maybe not. Try eating a Northern once.
• Suntan Lotion, and put it on your hands. While paddling this is the most exposed part other than your neck.
• Clothes pins for hanging wet clothes on your laundry line.
• Sun glasses, reflection can make you blind.
• Watch cap for sleeping – it can get cool.
• Bug dope. Seriously.
• Wash cloth.
• Kerchief

Fishing… and Other Food

If you’re an expert fisher, good, you know what to bring. If you are not, ask the outfitter, and stop at an outdoor store in Minnesota and ask them.

Food is an entire category to itself, critical to you energy from the exertion of paddling and portaging, and one of the areas where you can gain a sense of comfort.

Bring less than you think. Plan to eat fish every day.

We like to bring real food for the first day or two. By real food, I mean food not in aluminum pouches. You can go freeze-dried, or you can try to make a menu that will leave your camp satiated. Try potatoes, carrots, onions, and frozen steak for day one. Apples travel well also. Don’t bring garlic, bears love it and can smell it 20 miles away.

• Clarified butter, or Ghee, for cooking your fish in – does not need refrigerating.
• Home-made gorp – or granola mix. High energy and tasty. Most good grocery stores have a place you can make your own. Keep some handy in the canoe to snack while paddling, especially easy if you are in the back of the canoe and the person up from can’t see what you’re doing while he paddles.
• Shore Lunch of Planko for breading your fish.
• One of those little plastic lemons for the fish.
• Old Bay, and other spices and salt/pepper.
• Soup mixes are good too.

Bear Bag

As I said, each time you leave camp, or go to bed, you must raise your food bag, and ALL food including those Oreos you snuck into your pack. You do this by loping your rope around a rock, then throwing this rock or log over a limb of a tree in camp. Then you and everyone else in camp pull up your 50 lb bags. Or, you throw a rock with para cord tied to it over the limb, then tie off a two-pulley three snap link munter hitch belay system to two trees and you can pull it up and lower it with ease. Practice this.

Fires

Sometimes, it is too dry up there to have camp fires. Check with the Forest Service, or Canadian Mounties. If it’s safe to create fires, know how to make a fire in advance, and bring waterproof matches. You’ll also want a backup in case your matches run out. Fire can mean life if it gets cold or a freak snow strikes.

Cooking

You will need a stove. A variable speed stove is nice, but expensive. JetBoil stoves are amazing. Pressurized gas is lighter, but takes longer to boil on some stoves. White gas is heavier, and takes priming, but boils nicely. Two stoves are nice, in case one fails. Did I say test it and test it well, and boil water on it. Get really good with your stove. I have two, a MSR Whisperlite International and a Coleman Peak One.

Other cooking essentials:

• One big pot for boiling water.
• Pot scrubber, small bottle of dish soap, sponge, drying towel.
• Aluminum foil.
• Two fry pans.
• Now I bring a cast iron skillet for fish. It’s heavy but worth it.
• Filet board and knife.

Now they say to clean your fish and do your dishes away from camp, so as to not attract the bears and other critters, like Raccoon, Seagulls, Porcupines, Pack Rats, Mice, Beavers, and Alligators. But, no one does this, so try to do your cleaning on one side of camp, and your tooth brushing on the other, or you may bend down to wipe off your toothbrush and snag a fish liver.

Other lessons:

Visit one of the big outdoors stores in Minnesota before your tip, and get some expert advice on lures, rods, line, and other gear. Talk to the people at the outfitters where you will rent you canoe. Find out which fish are biting on what lures. I’ve found ten lures in a floatable Plano box will do you, steel leaders for the Northern, 10-12lb line and two rods and reels. It sucks to lose you gear two days into a week-long trip. Tie one rod/reel into the canoe. I have found Daredevils, spinners, Mepps, Silver Minnows, Jigs, and poppers will do. The purple worm (Chuck’s) works well (no live bait is allowed in Canada).

When portaging, you can do one trip across or two. If you can go super lightweight, and are experienced at camping, you can put your pack on, flip the canoe up on your shoulders, and walk across many portages that way. If you like a more leisurely trip, make two trips across, one with pack, one with canoe. For two people, you will have three packs. One per person, and one food pack. You must have a separate food pack because when you are done eating, you need to haul it up in a tree, away from the trunk at least 3 feet and at least 8 feet off the ground to keep furry critters off you Pop Tarts.

Bring three paddles. Tie one in with your extra rods. Bring some of those large twist ties, about 12” long, and when you reach a portage, tie in your paddles and other rods, so you can have hands free to assist with crossing the portage.

Practice picking up the canoe and putting it on your shoulders. There is the two person technique, but after a few tries, you can master the one person lift, flip and duck.

Have fun!

Here are photos of the Johnson Brothers’ Canoe Trip

We escaped up to the mountains again last weekend for some R&R in the woods. Nothing clears your mind like a long hike in the deep woods. On the hike, I brought my trusty SLR and snapped a few shots of the surroundings. From sunshine through the trees to wildlife and even growth from detritus, it was an all around beautiful escape.

At the Julien Price campground, there are thin trails woven through the woods that are underpopulated and ready for exploration. Where the paths get muddy, rocks have been placed so you can keep your boots mud-free. Where the path is covered in roots, someone has lovingly inserted steps or sprayed the roots so you don’t trip. Usually I’d find this type of action distracting and invasive, but at J.P it was done well, using natural elements, and added to the mysterious beauty around each bend.

Although we set out in the early afternoon, the light was ideal for great woods shots. I’m a fan of the early morning light, but this afternoon it was just a stunning, and made for some epic shadow pictures.

Hiking along one trail, I heard a branch snap up ahead and began to creep through the woods, hoping it was a deer and not another hiker. My wish was granted when this mother doe popped her giant ears out and looked right at me. I snapped a few shots as I inched closer. Suddenly, her fawn bounded around her side and she panicked. The dashed off along a stream and I chased them through the woods snapping shows as I ran until, as expected, they outran me. As soon as I stopped moving, they halted and went back to eating.

One of the most interesting aspects of the mountain hikes are the strange mushrooms. I became fascinated with the range of colors, shapes and textures, and snapped this photo of the red mushroom early on in my first hike.

Eventually we made our way to Moses H. Cone house, which is a stunning piece of old architecture with a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains that is to die for.

Not all wildlife has to be exotic to be charming. This little squirrel was a riot, and hopped around on some sort of secret mission, snatching up acorns and tossing them about before diving back into the grass. He must have been humming the James Bond theme song in his head.

Another little creature hopped up to the path while on a hike near the Moses H. Cone building. He was undisturbed by people, and continued to munch his lunch while I got ever closer with my camera.

You cannot tell from the photo, but this mushroom is about a foot in diameter, and about a foot off the ground. Essentially, it’s taller than the two animals whose mug shots preceded this. Another thing my camera failed to capture was the array of tiny gnat-like bugs who were swarming the top of the mushroom. Apparently they live there, or dine there, or else just like to hoover above the spores. Either way, I find it a somewhat disgusting existence. Poor bugs.

My father and daughter head into the Moses H. Cone building. If you have excellent vision you can learn a bit about the area from the sign.

And, at long last, a beautiful shot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Worth the scrolling wait, eh?

High Rock Lake, NC

If you’re looking for bass, High Rock Lake is the spot to go in North Carolina for record-breaking catches. I wasn’t there for the fish, but rather the sport and serenity. Below is my trip report from High Rock Lake, where we rented a pontoon for 8 and also took out three manual, single-person aquatic vehicles.

We rented a pontoon and also had three people on manual boats; two kayaks and an XL paddle board. Naturally, I started off in a kayak. In the pictures, you won’t see much traffic on the lake but rest assured, it was packed. From speedboats to jet skis, and even fishing boats and pontoons–this was a busy lake with bumper-to-bumper boats and a never ending wake that made paddle boarding a more difficult endeavor.

Jumping on the paddleboard was a lesson in patience and stability. After a few minutes I got the hang of it, but if you sneeze on a paddleboard you’ll find yourself quickly underwater.

The water was warm and although murky– felt clean despite all the oil and fuel being pumped in and around the lake. When you could find a minute between wakes, it was a pleasant experience to dip into the water and splash around.

We did a bit of fishing on the lake, but caught nothing and wee happy to just be out in the wild, on the water, enjoying the summer sun. We rented out pontoon from High Rock Lake Campground and Marina, but there are other outfitters on the lake.

Going on a day-long canoe trip with a toddler doesn’t seem like the most relaxing way to spend a weekend for most, but relaxation isn’t what we look for– it’s adventure.

Kayaking, Canoeing, Rafting and Tubing all available on the New River

Anything related to water with kids is nerve-racking because they can’t handle themselves well enough in the water to be self sufficient. For us, that means a life jacket, low-weight clothing, no shoes and we watch her like a hawk. All the preparation and paranoia is worth while when we get to see her love of the water blossom along with her budding interest in the great outdoors.

New River, North Carolina, USA

We decided to head up to the Appalachian Mountains for a weekend of canoeing on New River. The river isn’t deep– and the segment around the outfitter we choose is especially slow and gentle– allowing us the opportunity to relax along with our daughter. We could kick up our feet and point out the horses, river snakes and birds along the bank.

Exploring the New River

We started off in a rather large canoe, gently flowing down the New River at a slow clip. Our daughter sat up front with me, rendering my ability to paddle obsolete. We just slowly floated down the river, at the pace of the current. A much different pace than our normal, fast-paced lives.

Cruising on the New River, NC

After the first 2-hour run down the river we decided to do a second run with inner tubes– what most of the people on the river were using to drink and drift down the river. The ourtiffter we used was Woohoo’s Adventures, of Boone. From here, you can rent the equipment you need as well as pick up a snack, sunblock and other essentials. You park at Wahoo’s and then the handy folks on site load your boat or tube onto a trailer and drive you in vans up the river where they drop you off and then you float merrily down the stream until you reach the outfitter again. Wahoo’s is also a campground and has tiny huts for rental, but for us one day in the sun was enough, so we headed home after the second run.

Wahoo’s Outfitters, Boone

And at long last, we drove home from the sun and damp from the river– but happy.

August, 2015 was a monumental month in the lives of two brothers. Although they disagree on the optimal facial accessory of beard or handlebar, the two Johnson brothers set out into the wild together on a week-long canoe adventure aimed at following in the footsteps (or, rather– the paddle strokes) of their father.

See the Gallery:

We know you’re really here for the photos. Skip right to the visual awesomeness by viewing the Boundary Waters Photo Gallery, with photos from the brothers.

Follow Their Adventure:

The Launch:

Before & After Photos:

Photos:

Here is a sneak peek at some of the beauty they saw in the wild. For more, view the Boundary Waters Photo Gallery.

The view from the outfitters (above).

I’ve had road trips in the USA on my mind recently. There is something supremely liberating about jumping in your car and facing an open road. Sometimes you know what’s ahead, most of the time you have a vague outline of what you’ll see (and end up seeing completely different things).

From the largest ball of twine to Wall Drug, to gem mining along the side of a highway, to battleground tours, Mystery Spots and monuments to American heroes– the roads in the US hold it all. At times, I feel like the open roads in America are the real libraries and museums of American history– the keepers of American pop culture, war histories and accurate indicators of the American economy.

I set off to build a page on ATC where I could house all the research on routes, hot spots and highlights for road tripping around the United States. In the end, I built a single page for this purpose, and will continue to expand the offerings across the US. Check out Best American Road Trips for the first two installments in what I hope will be an ongoing series of fun American road trips.

The allure of the open road

Some of the routes I’d like to research and write itineraries for include:

• The Biggest ______ in America! — A tour of all the strange highway attractions claiming world records
• The Best Trans-continental Drives
• Southwest USA with Cinema Guide — hey, I actually wrote this one!
• Where the hell is Wall Drug, and other things to see in South Dakota –Why North Dakota is Jealous of their southern neighbor.
• Mystery Spots Unraveled— a post that goes behind-the-scenes at highway mystery spots.
• The South-to-North Pacific Coast Drive— done, and done!
• The Best Festivals to Road Trip To in the USA — Mardi Gras to Stergis, and beyond.
• East Coast Battlegrounds Trip— How to hit all the top Civil War spots along the Atlantic.
• ATC Road Trip Routes — Hey, a trip we actually did already!

One of the things I love most about travel is the slow, ambulating way cars make their way across a terrain. They are stuck on a road (well, most of the time) and so the views are limited to the car’s track. But while this could be seen as a negative, in the US– the tracks were like the arteries that carried life Westward, to Manifest Destiny. When you hop on Route 66 you’re not just riving down some dusty road, you’re driving down history alley– towards the future (well technically, the past– they are the last to watch the sun set each day).

Just what is a Mystery Spot? When I know, you’ll know. Pinky promise.

Europeans are always shocked when the visit the US for the first time. You know it’s huge, and yet when you get there you realize how large the continent really is, and how little you’ll likely have time to see. Tourists are shocked that you can’t walk to anything, and that’s true. Without a car, you’re stuck! That’s why cars are such a big part of American culture. Whether you drive a $2,000 beater or a $200,000 sports car, you share the same road, going to the same places, and feel the same liberating wind in your hair. The road does that to people– it equalized them and makes them all capillaries, on their way to other places but just enjoying the ride.

Stay tuned and check back often, because Best American Road Trips is going to grow into an awesome collection of US escapes that anyone, with any ride, will love.

This post will compete with thousands of other similar posts on the web. What makes it different? Well, to be honest– nothing. But I will be upfront about what we did, how we did it, what worked, and what didn’t and how to go about using that mysterious FastPass+.

Disney World — Magic Kingdom

We traveled to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom with three kids ages 8, 5 and 3, and four adults.

We purchased out tickets on site at 8:30am after parking in the middle of the Simba lot and then taking a (fun!) trolly to the gate. Everything at Disney is set up to be efficient. If we ever wanted to streamline the military/government, etc– we should hire Disney to do it. Folks called “cast members” greet you and direct you to the ticket counter where someone else lightens your wallet for you and hands back a few credit-card sized plastic tickets with a barcode on the back. You can scan this with a smartphone and, after you download the MyDisneyExperience app, you can program your three free, complimentary FastPasses (see below for more on that).

Having never been to Disney World (or any of their affiliates, like Disney Land, Disney Hong Kong, etc) I was shocked to see that they didn’t skimp on anything. Everything was lovely, clean, organized and fun. The rides were fun, well organized and every attempt was made to make waiting in line fun. They have some interactive stuff to do while you wait, and in the little kid’s attractions there are even little playgrounds. I liked, also, that they kept some of the staple attractions (Small World) and combined in new stuff, like Tangled in the parade, along with Frog Princess and Frozen. What I didn’t like was that you couldn’t see the characters. For whatever reason I was under the impression you could walk around the park and meet and greet with stuffed characters like Mickey and Donald. Instead, you had to wait in long lines, which was kind of lame. I thought part of the magic was that you walked around and it seemed like the characters actually lived there. To piggyback on that, we were sad to find out that there was a 90 minute wait to meet Ana and Elsa, so we couldn’t do it. 90 minutes with a preschooler is just too long. It would be cool if they opened a few more Frozen meet and greets so every little girl’s dream could come true (and so parents didn’t have to deal with grumpy kids in lines!). But that minimal, small complaint is about all we had to complain about. The rest was so amazing, the rides so fun, even the park food was decent. I expected a cheesy, overpriced, under delivered experience and I was wowed. Hard to do, so I applaud you, Disney. No wonder you are the magic makers.

Disney World — Animal Kingdom

With tots in tow we only wanted to do two parks, and Animal Kingdom was an easy second choice for us. Kids love animals, adults love the global aspect and the artwork, so it was a win for everyone.

I’ll admit that I didn’t think it could be as cool as Magic Kingdom– but for me I ended up liking the park better! The safari ride was a blast, all of the architecture and art and amazing details throughout the “continent” regions of the park made it feel like you were on an around-the-world journey but instead of TSA and visa hassles there were rides and caramel nuts. Sweet!

We loved the Everest ride. Sadly, the Kali River Rapids were closed (after waiting in line 40 minutes they evacuated the ride, us along with it. It never reopened). The Big’s Life show was short, but awesome and great for all ages, while the Finding Nemo musical was probably once of the most amazing performances I’ve seen as an adult. Again, I was shocked at how nothing was skimped on. There were no shortcuts taken. Someone put a lot of time, money and creativity into every single aspect of the park. Every tile was a tiny work of art, every piece of stucco was just perfectly placed to replicate a region of the world, down to the tiniest details (squat toilets in Asia!). One of my daughter’s top delights was the live music in Africa, complete with a dance area. Those kinds of touches make the day brighter.

Disney World — DownTown Disney

Downtown Disney is a cute experience, but we went before any adventures at other attractions, so the kids were a bit disappointed by the fact that it wasn’t “DisneyWorld.” Fair enough!

They have a fun Legoland experience, where I beat a bunch of kids at building Lego rally cars. They have statues of Mickey Mouse and his posse and  Winnie the Pooh. We dined at the Rainforest Cafe, a first for me and a lot of fun for the kids. With snacks, treats, loads of shopping and a fun candy store, there was no shortage of stuff to do, but with a 3 and 5-year-old the fun was a bit pedestrian. With younger kids, probably skipping this or bringing a stroller would be best.

How to Use the Disney FastPass+

Here are a few tips for Magic Kingdom FastPass+. First off, people around you at will have purchased their tickets well in advance, meaning they already inserted their top ride and attraction picks. So, if you buy your tickets at the gate you’ll be hard pressed to get a FastPass to the more coveted attractions, like the Seven Dwarfs Ride, Meet Anna Else, etc. For us, we put in what we wanted and managed to get decent time slots. Most open slots will be in the evening, when the park is less busy. Especially in peak season.

The thing to remember is that the system, although efficient and well designed, isn’t totally stable. Of our three FastPasses, only one worked. One ride we were told our daughter was too short for even though she bumped her head against the measuring bar. The other ride was down when we showed up for our FastPass time– a shame since we had run across the park in 90-degree weather to use our cards. The third ride worked well, though when we got to the attraction we found that the normal standby wait time was only 10 minutes– a bit of a waste of a FastPass. So, for us, the whole system was more of a hassle than it was worth.

Here are a few tips for Animal Kingdom FastPass+: We arrived at 8:30, bought our tickets and then discovered the park wasn’t that packed so we went to the most coveted rides (Everest, Dinoland, etc) and rode those a few times since the wait was less than ten minutes. Because we had a preschooler with us we did the ride swap option, which Disney kindly does to allow parents of small children the chance to do the rides one at a time. It worked well for us. Ask about it at the gate, or with one of the hundreds of attendants or kiosk gurus if you’re curious how it works.

As with our visit to Magic Kingdom, the FastPasses were more of a hassle than they were worth. Kali River Rapids was closed down and the other coveted rides didn’t have much of a wait at all, so for us we ended up only using one FastPass again. I think if you go on an off-peak day you can’t scrap them if you don’t need them. For us, the parks were rated a 4 out of 10 for business (week one in May, 2015). We can’t imagine how the parks would be possible to enjoy at a 10 day as they were plenty crowded.

What to Bring to Disney World with a Preschooler and Elementary School Kids

If you bring a bag, you have to go through a somewhat long security line, FYI. I had one bag (see pic above) with a poncho for each kid, a bunch of energy bars, snacks, and water bottles. I brought sunscreen, Band-Aids, a hat and change of clothes (there is a water park to run through at Magic Kingdom, and River Rapids at Animal Kingdom could soak the tots). We ended up using everything in the bag. One major fail was we forgot the stroller. You can rent them on site for $13 for a single or $16 for a double and they have stroller-parking areas by each attraction. We didn’t do it right away, and by the time my arms were sore from carrying the kid the rental area was too far away to get back to without sacrificing an hour or more. Bring a small camera with a video recorder (record the parade, it’s awesome!) that is (preferably) waterproof. So many rides have water, and even the shows have little splashes.

Where to Stay in Orlando for Disney World Access

We stayed for a week at the Marriott Harbor Lake Resort, Orlando. The place is amazing. It has two kid-friendly pools. One has a pirate ship sunk into the water with slides and climbing stuff, water shooting out of alligator mouths, etc. The other pool has two tall towers that dump huge vats of water on kids below as well as a wading pool and huge water slide. There are hot tubs nearby for the adults, and fun activities were going on all the time.

Marriot Harbor Lake Resort, Orlando

Our room was a great, two-bedroom, two-bath apartment with kitchen, balcony, and all the normal comforts of home. I would stay here again! The only down side (if it is one at all?) is that they don’t clean the room every day. This was great for us because we had kid stuff everywhere but I imagine if you were a party animal you’d want someone to mop up after you a bit more.

Marriott Harbor Lake Resort, Orlando Lake View Room

This has been an interesting year of short excursions around America, several road trips and a few flights across country. We’ve traveled across numerous states and have seen a great deal of geographic variance as well as changes in people, food, music and culture. This really is a big country and sometimes, especially when it comes to places like Texas and the U.P, little alcoves of America seem like their own little countries. Here is a roundup of some of the places we visited this year.

Travel to the Olympic National Forest in Washington, USA

I traveled out to Washington for a wedding and was overjoyed that it was an outdoor affair full of swords, ferns and coffee. It was a wedding that fit the beautiful surroundings of Port Angeles. The redwoods were tall, thick and stunning, and the lakes raging like the rest of the wilderness around the national forest. Coffee, the main staple of the Seattle-dweller, is strong and drunk black. The people are so in love with the outdoors that they carry backpacks instead of purses, and wear boots instead of heels. That’s a win in my book. Overall rating of the scenery, people and food: 9 out of 10.

Travel to Ocean City, Maryland, USA

Visiting Ocean City in winter is an odd adventure. It is like visiting a carnival before it opens. The clowns and bearded ladies are still there, but they aren’t yet smiling for the crowds. I walked along the beach and was the only person out there being pelleted by the whipping wind and freezing waves. Domesticated squirrels would run up to my legs and beg for food while disenchanted locals would push them out of their way with booted toes. If you ever wondered, restaurants at the beach are overpriced year round– not just in the summer.

Travel to Beaufort, North Carolina, USA

We spent a week at the beach and rented a small house on the shore within a stone’s throw of public access. It was a glorious blur of sand, sunscreen, and bright colors. We go every year and every year it gets busier and the crowds get thicker and the seagulls get more aggressive. It’s a beautiful spot, but since it is getting so crowded I imagine it won’t be beautiful for long!

Road Trip to Justin, Texas, USA

I drove myself, my mother and my toddler to Justin, Texas from North Carolina. We stopped in Nashville, Texarkana and finally Justin. If you have never driven in Texas be forewarned the road signals hang horizontally across wires and (surprise) I got a ticket for running a red light when I thought the yellow was one of those flashing warning things. Anyways, live and learn. I also learned that Texas had a boatload of excess money that they use to put in TONS of spaghetti-roads and then decorate them with the lone star. No, I didn’t end up buying any boots– although  I did look! Also, if you ever fly out of Dallas– be warned that it is the most chaotic airport this side of Heathrow. I had to pay just to drop my mother off at her terminal! Not a fan of the airport, but I’m quite a fan of the rest of Texas that I saw.

Travel to Marquette, Michigan, USA

We come up to the U.P every once in a while to visit family and this year we were fortunate enough to come up to the U.P twice, once in the summer and once in the frozen winter. Winter is my favorite season and the U.P is about the best place to experience it. ATVing in the snow, snowshoeing, ice fishing, sledding, and all kinds of other frozen festivities await you in Marquette and the surrounding towns. Hey, Jeff Daniels spends his time up here, so it can’t be all bad!

Travel to Beech Mountain, North Carolina, USA

Since we live relatively close to the mountains of North Carolina, we get to make a few trips a year up to Beech Mountain, near Boone. It’s a delightful small down with all the amenities nearby of a major metropolis. On top of Beech Mountain is the highest bar on the east coast, I hear tell. Yes, we’ve been there. You have to ski your way down after a few very strong, locally brewed drafts. Well, you don’t have to but it’s way more fun!

Travel to Washington, District of Columbia, USA

We went to Washington D.C a few times in 2014, mostly because we have friends in the city. It’s an amazing capital and truly befitting the country. All the major museums are free and it’s a delight to get to explore so much history for free– as it should be! There is always something fun going on. Last time up in DC I saw a group of people preaching the good word, loudly– almost violently, in China Town. At other times there are demonstrations near the White House. On one other trip I was fortunate enough to get to stay out in Leesburg, where we did a night time stroll of the town’s haunted sites (yes, it was Halloween!).

Happy 2015. May the year bring you more travel, more freedom to roam and a better appreciation of the wide, wide world!

These days we don’t really get to Abandon the Cube as much as we’d like, but this week we’re in sunny Atlantic Beach living the dream.

And by dream I literally do mean living a more vivid dream. I read once that people along the coasts dream more vividly and live life a bit more wildly. At the same time, more great thinkers, philosophers and dreamers have come from coastal cities than inlanders. I knew this before we arrived at the beach and I was looking forward to insane dreams with M.C Escher stairs with droopy Salvador Dali animals running up and down. Oddly enough, the sun has made me more tired so I haven’t been dreaming at all. On the other hand, I had an awesomely deep conversation about the pitfalls of the Machiavellian state vs Confucianism this morning, which was unlikely to happen back inland so there is that….

Dreaming

One thing I’ve always hated about the beach is how commercial it is. And it’s not just American beaches. I went to the beach in Turkmenistan a few years ago and there was a guy selling inflatable bananas, crocodiles and beach balls just like the guy on the coast here in sunny North Carolina. The only beach I’ve ever been to without capitalist swarming all over it was in Olympos, Turkey.

Olympos, Turkey

You had to hike through a jungle following a wall built in the Hellenistic period and the jump around a wall made during the Roman Empire to find this stunning blue lagoon full of hippie backpackers. It was paradise. If I found out tomorrow I had an incurable disease you’d find me the day after on the beach in Olympos looking out of crystal waters with ancient ruins behind me in the jungle. Truly awesome.

Atlantic Beach

And the beach here in North Carolina could be like that if it wasn’t so developed. My uncle has a place along one of the canals and across from his home is an uninhabited island jungle that looks amazingly fun to explore. I bet the pirates of old have buried treasure out there somewhere.

Pirates of North Carolina

I’m also reminded, while looking out at the ocean, how close the Nazi subs were to this very area, and how many ships met their doom at Nazi hands right off the coast here. As one historian put it, “It wasn’t the US Navy or Coast Guard that controlled the Atlantic coast in 1942, it was the Nazi U-boats.”

One U-boat captain told his son (who survived him through the war) that he was most amazed at how life continued on as normal in the US despite it’s being at war. People were on the beaches every day, boats went out on joy rides ride near the lurking subs (unbeknownst to them obviously) and at night the coast was lit up from all the bars, parties and general merriment. This may be one of the reasons Americans have a reputation abroad as always jovial, never serious.

U-Boats Prep for the Atlantic Campaign

Pretty stunning how much history there is right off the coast. (Not even counting the stuff in Kitty Hawk–the first flight of the Wright Brothers.)

Wright Brothers in NC

I must be in the DIY mood because I have about nine big projects going on around the place. I just finished upcycling a perfectly good dresser. Read about that here. And I’m upcycling a desk and table as well. I got a great deal from the ReStore on 8 foot boards so there is a pile of that in the carport, and I have been building my own art frames, so I have molding all over the den. My yard is starting to look like a traditional North Carolina junk heap of well-intended projects in various states of ill completion. So, with all that going on why not toss on one more project? A themed Cake Boss-style cake!

Today’s project was a fancy cake for my cousins’ birthday. Wolf and Max are young teenage boys who are throwing a Duck Dynasty-themed birthday party. So, after getting on the interwebs I discovered Duck Dynasty to be four bearded men in headbands who make whistles. Odd premise for a business but apparently it is quite successful.  I decided to make a rolled camouflage fondant with a duck on top. Apparently one character is fond of repetition and says, “happy, happy, happy” quite a bit in a mostly ironic way. So, the top will say that with “birthday” on the side.

I made my own fondant out of marshmallows, confectioners sugar and water. It was easier than I imagined and rolled on well. I dyed it with typical food dye and put it in the fridge overnight to harden or cool or whatever happens to marshmallow molecules when chilled.

Next I rolled out little bits and made a camo pattern and kind of pushed the chucks into place and pinched them together. Other tutorials miss this pivotal step. You can’t just roll like this because the chunks will separate. Pinch it all together before you roll. Yeah, it looks like a bunch of cat puke and poop, but it will look better when it’s done!

Then I found a curtain rod, washed it and rolled the fondant onto that because it was wider than my rolling pin. This is when my husband walked in and asked why I was decorating a curtain rod.

Finally, I rolled it on top of the cake and cut off the excess with a pizza cutter. Very clean lines this way and easier than a knife, which can cause the fondant to tear. You can see that I left a bit of extra. Later I decided this looked silly and cut it off but originally I was thinking of textured the whole thing like fabric and making it drape. Then I realized the cake was for boys, and that was a lot of effort for lads who wouldn’t really care past the first glance.

Here you can see the finished product. I cut out some letters with a little jello mold set and hand piped some lettering on top. I also made a duck out of rice crispy treats and rolled fondant. After I was done my husband said it looked like a platypus. Oh well. There were not many mallards walking about when I was molding it. I also piped on some texture around the base. It didn’t really need it because the cut was clean but I figured why not? And I had extra icing.

So there you have it, I made a cake, made my own fondant and made a fondant duck. Suck it Buddy from Cake Boss, my cake is pretty damn good for a noob!

Well, like many Americans with time on their hands I’ve gotten into the upcycle trend of taking crap and making it treasure. It’s a fun past-time and I am enjoying feeling a bit green and hippie while producing hipster furniture. Naturally, like all hipster wannabes, I’m blogging about my masculine foray into woodwork.

Here is a before and after shot of a $20 old sewing table I refinished (ahem, upcycled) into a Chinese end table. The original singer sewing machine is still in it’s red belly, mocking me for my total lack of understanding of the realm of sewing. I had planned to rip it out and put in a bar (something I am very familiar with) but I couldn’t be arsed in the end to remove what little history remained in this piece.

Below are some photos of the next hipster project I undertook. I had an old three-drawer dresser loitering about in my guest bedroom, looking pathetic and scratched a bit to hell. So, I did what any hipster would do and primed it white. Here is the photographic evidence.

And then some photographic evidence of the priming project. Naturally, I took the photo with my smartphone. Anyways, here is the same dresser, primed and ready for paint!

The next phase is to spend about a week on Pinterest eyeballing other hipster’s projects and to (hopefully) pick a look I love and then try to copy it and claim credit for the concept. I’ll upload more photos of my upcycle project as it progresses.

This novice needs an overpriced locally-produced, organically handcrafted, fair-trade brew to consume while searching for the perfect paint color for my hipster dresser. Be back soon with pictures of the final project

_______(MUCH LATER)________

Okay ladies and gents, I know you have all been eagerly awaiting a picture of the final project. Here it is! It went peacock blue with a black antique glaze finished with a lacquer to give it some shine (and protect it from my birds, cat, dog and toddler).

Merry Christmas, Cube Abandoners!
We hope the year ahead is as stunning, rich, and full as the year behind us soon will be. With warm moments spent with friends and family, and a life that fills full and happy.

2013 was a transition year for ATC. We traveled quite a bit in the USA, our motherland, but only traveled abroad twice, to our northern and southern neighbors. 2013 saw our first trip to Cancun, Mexico, and stunning winter visit to Niagara Falls, Canada. You can find a whole album of trip pics from Cancun in the gallery!

Inside the USA we traveled from Michigan to the east coast, then straight across the nation stopping in Nashville (go country music!) to Memphis (where we met soul singer Al Green) to the Presidential Library in Arkansas, to Oklahoma (where the world’s largest McDonald’s is) and on to Colorado (where the Garden of the Gods was a big attraction) to Utah, Idaho and then Oregon (go ducks!) and on to Washington state, where we were saturated in a light but constant drizzle.

After a few weeks in Washington we did the trip in reverse along the northern route, hitting the long stretch across Montana and the fun sites of South Dakota (Rushmore, Wall Drug and Corn Palace) and then on to visit family in Minnesota, Illinois and then out to the coast again. A full circular tour of the motherland, and a wonderful one.

Michael and Lauren also got married this year in the southern USA. Thank you to all our lovely friends and family who traveled from around the planet to be in, and attend our nuptials. It means the world to us that you came from around the blue planet to be at our humble event.

Now we’re in North Carolina, situated in the Piedmont area between the mountains and the ocean. You’ll find us outside with our daughter or inside, writing this blog and gazing at maps as we plan future adventures.

With the new year dawning, we have some exciting plans for travel within the USA. This massive country has so much to offer, so many amazing national parks, sites and of course splattered across the USA there is one of the largest of everything imaginable, from frying pans to balls of twine…and we want to see them all.

We hope your holidays are full of joy and fun!
Merry Christmas, from Abandon the Cube!

Well… I went to my first ever gun show last weekend in Winston Salem, North Carolina, USA. As part of the south, the gun laws are more lax than in other states (NC recently legalized carrying guns in public parks, for example). At the same time, you need a permit to buy a handgun (not a rifle though) and you need to take a class before being granted a conceal and carry permit. So, there is some control but it seems more like red tape than actually controlling anything. Anyways, I was excited to see what it was all about. (Please excuse the photos, I took them with my phone.)

For starters, the paranoia over the second amendment being revoked seems entirely unfounded. There were two groups of people at the gun show: 2nd amendment buffs (of which there were around 1.5k) and protestors (of which there were about 7). I don’t think many folks out there want a total repeal of the second amendment (the right to bear arms, fyi) but after seeing some of the SAMs (surface-to-air missiles) at the gun show I may agree with a minimization of what people can buy on the open market. And here’s why:

1) Without more comprehensive background checks how can we ensure that the people owning these ridiculously powerful and advanced weapons are sane enough to use them responsibly? What does a responsible person do with a SAM? It is in all of our best interest not to have lunatics with rocket propelled missiles, SAMS or even heavy caliber machine guns. I wouldn’t want to encounter an angry mentally challenged person with a box cutter– let alone an arsenal of crazy shit only useful in an actual all-out war. These weapons are not designed to protect your home, your rights or your possessions–they are designed for wars of attrition.

That being said, I think that if the background check process were cleaner, more efficient and had more defined criteria I may be more prone to consider the options. As it stands now, we’re looking at a criminal history report were felonies prohibit some rights. What about all the other signs of instability? I’m open to hearing ideas on how to make a fair background check process but not open to the idea of allowing anyone who wants one to have an arsenal of military-grade equipment in their basement. Case and point: at the gun show in WS, NC I was accosted by a man of questionable mental status who clearly did not understand normal social boundaries. He grabbed both of my arms and stood inches from my body and proceeded to ask if I was married, to whom, and if I’d consider a divorce. The man was obviously not all there. What was he doing at a gun show? I’d be scared to meet this kind of man in the parking lot alone if he were armed and I wasn’t. I don’t think the solution is an ever-escalating arms race between the sane and the deranged wherein I’d be safe in that same parking lot if I were also armed, quick to draw and had a high enough caliber weapon to ensure I was safe. That just seems silly.

I think one point in that defense is sufficient. Moving on…

I was impressed, to some degree, by the amount of expertise on the ground. I met one young man (under 30) who was offering detailed information on a replica revolver from 1880. He was fascinated and grew more animated as he talked. He knew when I walked up I couldn’t afford the revolver but just wanted to share in his excitement about that piece of history. I really enjoyed that, and the other antique or replica items on site. Some of these people are real patriots with a deep sense of history, and I admire that greatly. That, to me, was worth the ridiculous $9 admission fee.

Outside the show there were a few protestors (see crappy cell-phone image below as photos were discouraged at the show). I admire the protestors and their belief that standing out in the sun for hours on end with signs will have an impact. They are preaching to the wrong crowd, but at least they are preaching. I loved the dichotomy of the gun show folks vs the protestors and how peacefully it was all transacted.

All in all, I probably won’t be a gun show attendee in the long run, but it was quite an experience. My favorite part of the day was when a man with a rifle that looked like something out of CounterStrike came up to me to tell me I didn’t have the right to take photos. Ha! The second is strong with that one, but other freedoms–not so much.

That’s right folks, we’ve tied the knot. After seven years of traveling around the globe together we finally took the real, ultimate plunge into an unknown and scary realm.

After so many trials and journeys the wedding itself didn’t seem to propose too many problems, at least in the planning phase. Lauren did the planning. Mike did the booze runs to keep her fueled. Thus it was that a wedding for 90 was planned that included 17 wedding party members. We had guests that came from China, the U.K, Italy, and the far corners of these lovely United States including Oregon, California, Washington, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Michigan and many, many more. Needless to say the spreadsheet for incoming flights was long.

The wedding itself was beautiful. We rented a vineyard in North Carolina but were rained out of our lovely site. It was more than rain, it was a monsoon! The rivers spewed over their banks and into the ceremony site. Lovely guests and family members grabbed chairs and bibles and ran for the hills. We moved the ceremony to the reception hall, which was a covered barn atop a hill. A wiser wedding planner would have always had the ceremony up hill. Alas, live and learn!  The improvised ceremony went smoothly with many readings, and a lovely song by a good friend. There were speeches following, and dancing, cake cutting and bouquet tosses. There was much wine consumed and quite a few bottles of whiskey. By the end of the evening my sister and her husband had decorated our cabin for us, and our car (as evidenced by the photo!). The wedding was over!

Today we leave on our honeymoon. Five days in the Bahamas. This isn’t our normal style of travel so we thought it would be appropriate for a special occasion. Lauren’s first idea was a backpacking trip through Norway, which she scaled back to a backpacking trip in the Andes. Which Mike scaled back to a 5-day cruise to the Bahamas. First couple’s spat? Unlikely as they are both happy to just be going somewhere new and exciting. Here we come, Freeport!

With the wedding over, do we feel different? Nope! We’re glad we got to see all our lovely friends and family, but when it comes down to it we’ve been together so long that the next day was just that– a next day! That’s the thing about relationships. They grow and morph, but there really isn’t one big thing that will change another person completely. Mike still sleeps in and is always late. Lauren still over-plans and is always impatient. Vo

Our lovely and talented photographer compiled a video photo compilation of the wedding which we’re happy to share with you now. Wedding Video. And now, our ship awaits. Adieu!

The Ultimate USA Multi-Center Vacation
It’s no wonder that the USA lends itself well to multi-center vacations. The sheer vastness of the country means that it’s impossible to explore it if you don’t take advantage of multi-stop trips, so that you don’t have to confine yourself to one resort. A visit to San Francisco, for example, is all well and good but what about the rest of California? Then, of course, there’s the east coast – when do you get to explore that?

With reputable providers such as Trailfinders, you can guarantee that there’ll be a multi-centre holiday in the USA that will suit your dreams perfectly and if there isn’t, you can ask to create a tailormade trip that does. Take a look at some of these examples of ultimate US vacations and be inspired by the ideas that they hold.

Twin-Center: New York & Florida
Both situated on the east coast of America, with a 3 hour connection flight, you won’t have to worry too much about jetlag and long haul journeys. Start in the cosmopolitan city of New York, where you can explore the bustling centre. Feast your eyes on Times Square, head to the top of the Empire State Building or enjoy a boat ride around Liberty Island to see the magnificent statue herself, before enjoying a classic Broadway show.

From here, hop on one of the connecting flights that can take you directly into Orlando, Tampa or Miami depending on what you want the second half of your family to be focussed on. Does a relaxing beach break tickle your fancy? If so, Miami could be perfect for you. Fancy some thrills and an adrenaline rush? Then Orlando and its multitude of theme parks would be ideal.

Twin Center: Hawaii & Las Vegas
Perfect for honeymooners and couples who want to experience the bright lights of Sin City and the relaxation and pristine beauty of Hawaii in one vacation. Have a flutter in one of the outrageous casinos or see one of the notorious shows, before heading over to the luxurious islands of Hawaii, where you can relax to your heart’s content.

Multi-Center: Route 66
Fly into Chicago before picking up your hire car for a trip on Route 66 – the most famous interstate in America. Otherwise known as the Mother Road, a drive along Route 66 will take you through various cities and past numerous attractions that will contribute to the ultimate All-American road trip.

Highlights include St Louis, Oklahoma City, the Petrified Forest National Park, the Grand Canyon and Santa Monica before arriving at your destination – Los Angeles, the City of Angels. Explore Downtown, Hollywood and Beverley Hills before heading back to the UK having experienced a truly unforgettable USA vacation.

The possibilities are endless and multi-center breaks are a perfect way of seeing more of the USA than you would normally. With so much to see, they’re a real feasible option that won’t break the bank, either.

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