Two Carolina Yippies and a Hound Dog Surviving on Beans
Palm Springs
We’re in Palm Springs for two nights out of Joshua Tree, and again three nights the following weekend after Idyllwild. Our raison d’etre is ‘Modernism Week’ when the town showcases its mid-century architecture and vintage cars, furniture, design items, and art. Jennifer has made us a rather full schedule each day touring some amazing small…
Idyllwild
Just south of Palm Springs, within the upper reaches of Mt SanJacinto, at 5500 feet, is the little berg known as Idyllwild CA. We scored a sweet little camp spot within an easy walk from downtown, which is made up primarily of tourist oriented shops operated by kids who look and talk like they just…
White Sands to Joshua Tree
For two hundred miles out of Marfa we run along a straight road through beautiful desert ranches, paralleling a mountain ridge to the south and getting ever closer to the International border on the other side. This desert is occasionally busy, with huge solar farms, a primary railroad running alongside, and a radar balloon station…
Marfa, Texas
Marfa, which is the Russian word for Martha, began as a watering stop for the railroad. This high desert plateau sits on a massive aquifer where water is plentiful. Later a US Army air station training camp grew the town during WWII … and then abruptly closed and left. In the 1970’s NY artist Donald…
San Antonio
Big town. Much less congested than Austin, until we were walking around, which we did based on wanting to see just the basics. The Alamo, the Precidio, the river walk, the Mexican market, and the La Villita arts district. I have to say my favorite was lunch, which was all about the sauces. The Alamo…
Guadalupe River
It’s very quiet here in the thick woods next to the Guadalupe River. Even though it’s sunny and 65-70 degrees the campground is mostly empty until the weekend. We’ll stay here tomorrow for a workday and see a bit of San Antonio and Fredericksburg on Friday and Saturday. Yes, Thursday was a good day. We…
Austin and Waco
We landed a great site at a county park in Georgetown just north of Austin and convenient to Waco as well. At dusk we regularly saw deer on the approach road. The wind blew, but it was warm in the midday and still too cool for rattlesnakes. A perfect place to chill out after our…
Round Top
We slipped away from home in early January, going west through Asheville in the early light then through a brief snowstorm that stopped just as we passed Bryson City and headed down the Nantahala. Passing through Andrews and Murphy to Cleveland TN was a lovely ride before we picked up the interstate through Chattanooga and…
Labor Day 2019
I’m catching up here with a post we prepared in September, but didn’t have the ‘bandwidth’ to publish. We slipped away again in late August, having waited for two events that were very important to us individually. Jennifer is always excited to attend the Valdese company picnic to visit with her coworkers, many of whom…
The mountains across Lake Champlain shown from under our awning. Our first day in Vermont was wet. Btw, I’ve discovered a new way to post individual photos quick and easy like Instagram. It’s inspiring that at my advanced age I’ve learned something new in tech, rather than slowly losing what I used to know!
Going home slowly
Three weeks in New Mexico flew by too quickly. With a slight course correction through an area near Santa Fe we’d like to come back to (Glorieta NM),we began our winding leisurely trip home. First stop is Dallas, for Jennifer to get in some creative pursuits she’s been anticipating for over a year. We decide…
Ojo Caliente
Driving on around the enchanted circle to Taos we stopped for groceries and then crossed the Rio Grande Canyon into desert New Mexico in the vicinity of Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch, (made famous of course by the Grateful Dead I suppose). Our destination is Ojo Caliente, which by now we just love to say. It’s…
Eagle Nest Lake, NM
We took the scenic route from Santa Fe toward Taos, through Chimayo, Truchas and Penasco, and then turned onto the ‘enchanted circle’ route passing Angle Fire to land at Eagle Nest Lake State Park. The scenic route is an easy hour or so drive through the NM foothills and into the mountains that lets us…
Santa Fe 2019
We’ve often been asked whether in making our 2018 circuit around the US we found a favorite place. I almost never answer that the same way twice because it’s like naming your favorite song. Do you like James Taylor better than Eric Clapton? We have a long list of favorite places, all with distinctly different…
Florida!
While our friends at home in NC weather the cold snap we bask in a very dissimilar cool snap, alternating between Saint Augustine and Disney’s Campground. For the first time in our year on the road, lying here in bed while Jennifer works, I actually feel a little bit “retired”. Feels good! Today I have…
St Augustine
Our favorite day at the beach. The sun, the sand, miles of walking, …at 55 degrees!
Hello again! We disappeared somewhere north of Boston and flew silent through Nova Scotia, up and down the coast of Maine, past a family visit to Delaware and then down through the rain to Thanksgiving with the kids in Asheville. My failure to post was mainly due to rather cold and often inclement…
Don’t Try this At Home!
So we decided that since we are already here, on the way out we should just stop by RH and West Elm. Probably park the camper in the mall lot… right? We would’ve had some shots of the looks we got pulling the airstream through Boston traffic, but Jennifer was just too busy with her…
The Cape
Good thing we visited Hyannis and Dennis on the south shore on our way in, and spent the next day cruising all the way out to Provincetown at the tip the next day. After that there was no leaving, as the bridges close down when the wind reaches 50 mph. We picked a nice…
Newport, RI
My first thought on seeing the Bellevue Avenue mansions in Newport was of how we in the south (quite rightly) remove offensive statues – and yet we buy tickets and stand in line to see these monuments to greed and excess that have been preserved as an honored part of our country’s heritage. A…
Ontario is a pleasant drive through amazing fall colors along the trans-Canada highway. We do one night near Ottawa and then land for several nights in upstate NY in the ‘1000 Island ‘ section of the St Lawrence River. Here the river is dotted with rocky islands, most of them inhabited. The…
Michigan
Wherever we’ve been we’ve met friendly and interesting people in places that absolutely fuel our dreams of coming back for a longer visit. Michigan sure fit the bill. Our first stop is to meet up with a good friend and colleague of Jennifer’s in Saugatuck, on the shore near Grand Rapids. I think Manteo N.C.…
Moline!
A few nights in a hotel in Moline Il. gave us the chance to have some minor fixes done on the shack (after almost 25000 miles on the road) and afforded me the golden opportunity to TV binge for the first time in months. Moline is the home of John Deere, whose presence…
Cowboys and Indians
It’s difficult to decide where to stop while traveling through Wyoming and South Dakota. There are historic roads in every direction, and all of them lead through country where I can imagine myself on a vast western landscape riding tall in the saddle with a keen eye out for danger, a trusty…
Yellowstone
I had to start over entirely with this post, as my first attempt was more about the chattering crowds than what they, and I, went there to experience. So we’re a bit out of order. Yellowstone is like visiting another planet. The whole area, surrounded by the raised sides of an ancient, and still active…
Travelling SOBs 