The blog posts below are in reverse order – so if you want to review our trip chronologically, start at the bottom!
3-Year Update
It’s been over three years since Abbey and I set off on a cross-country trip in Evelyn, our beloved 1983 Volkswagen Vanagon. A lot has changed since then. We moved out West. We both have jobs we love. We have a cat. And a daughter. And a house. Evelyn is still around, and we still…
Home
This is the first time I’ve been slow on updating the blog, and it’s for one reason – our trip is over. Abbey and I arrived at my dad’s place in Maumee, Ohio on May 8th, a full 239 days from when we set out in our Volkswagen campervan named Evelyn. We had been staying…
Back to Phoenix
After Mexico, Abbey and I had planned to go back to Phoenix (we left the bike rack, bike, and some camping gear there) before heading up to Utah. While we were in Mexico there was no noticeable panic surrounding Covid-19, but when we crossed back into California we were stunned at the state of the…
Baja, Mexico
Abbey and I had been contemplating a trip South of the border for a while. Our apprehensions were mostly centered around the language and cultural barriers – I speak virtually no Spanish and Abbey is only marginally better. We finally decided to go for it when our friend Janell said she’d fly out and do…
Phoenix to San Diego
In Phoenix, I put down my camera and spent time hanging out with the best of friends. Greg and Erin flew out from Columbus, and we all stayed with Chris and Kelley. We went on various escapades: played games at an arcade bar, rode on a real steam-driven train, visited the Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin…
Leaving Albuquerque
I was going to title this post, “Stuck in Albuquerque,” but that had too negative a connotation. Abbey and I had the pleasure of exploring Albuquerque and the surrounding areas for two weeks while we waited for Evelyn to be fixed. We were very fortunate that my cousin and his wife live in the city,…
Trouble with Evelyn
After the Very Large Array, Abbey and I stayed at the Datil Land Management Campground where we were the only ones there. The temperature got down to 12 degrees during the night, but Abbey and I stayed warm by keeping the top on Evelyn down and running our small heater all night. In the morning,…
White Sands National Park
After leaving Carlsbad Caverns, Abbey and I headed up through Carlsbad the city (don’t go there, it’s inundated by the oil & gas industry) and on into Roswell. The town of Roswell is bigger than I imagined, but the touristy love of aliens and conspiracy theories is exactly as I pictured it. We stopped at…
Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns
On our way out of Big Bend, Abbey and I decided to stay in Davis Mountains State Park for three nights. The park borders Ft. Davis National Historic Site, is near the McDonald Observatory, and and also has some fantastic hiking. Our first morning offered a pleasant sunrise. Abbey and I sat for a little…
Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park is larger than the state of Rhode Island. It’s the only national park that completely contains an entire mountain range (The Chisos). The landscape is diverse, as is the wildlife here. Abbey and I were stunned by the birds especially. Over 450 bird species are documented as either living in, or…
New Orleans to Austin, Texas
The Mississippi Sandhill Crane is critically endangered, with 129 birds left in the wild. They’re all in or around the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge, and Abbey and I were lucky enough to see two on our visit (didn’t get a picture, though). The refuge was established in 1975 when the population was down…
Leaving Florida
The holidays have come and gone, and Abbey and I were fortunate enough to spend the time with family and friends. We left the van in Florida and flew up to Ohio for two week of excessive eating and relaxing. We made lots of cookies, including the candy cane cookies that Emily and I always…
Rocket Launch!!! and KSC
Abbey and I watched the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral! We were 6 miles away at the Kennedy Space Center. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. It lit up the night sky and you could feel it in your chest. We even saw the re-entry burn…
Caribbean Cruise?!
Since we’re in Florida, and Miami is a rather large port, Abbey and I decided to go on a cruise. We got a great last-minute deal on Cyber Monday, and spent 7 days on the Norwegian Escape touring Mexico, Honduras, and Belize. This type of vacation is different from our usual, and we felt a…
Dry Tortugas National Park
GO CAMP IN THE DRY TORTUGAS! It’s the most remote National Park in the continental United States – 70 miles West of Key West! It’s closer to Havanna, Cuba than to Miami! There are only 8 campsites, so you’ll feel like it’s your own private island. Fort Jefferson was built after the War of 1812…
Everglades National Park
The Everglades is hot and humid, with an unrelenting sun and little shade. If you want to see a unique landscape with diverse and plentiful wildlife, though, this is your place. Abbey and I saw about 4 million Alligators. Momma Alligator is always nearby, even if you don’t see her. This one was pretty obvious,…
Lakeland, Florida
Circle B Bar Reserve is 1,200 acres of county land that was previously a cattle ranch. Abbey and I were blown away by the wildlife and the solitude of this place – there were only a handful of other people here. We spent a few hours roaming the trails with her Uncle and left after…
First Oil Change
4,242 miles. That’s how far we’ve gone since we left Celina, Ohio on this trip. We chose to do the oil change in Lakeland, Florida, at Abbey’s Aunt and Uncle’s house. We had a chance to take care of some other issues that have presented themselves recently: We ordered some parts and had them shipped…
Hilton Head Island, SC
After exploring the Savannah area, Abbey and I turned back North for Hilton Head Island where we had friends to see. It was atypically cold and rainy nearly the whole time we were there, but at least that meant we had the beach to ourselves. Hilton Head Island is a barrier island, just like Sapelo…
Savannah, GA
The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth preserves the history of the Eighth Air Force from World War II to today. Abbey and I had no plans to visit until I randomly saw it on Google Maps and said, “We’re Stopping!!” The centerpiece of the museum is a restored B-17. While we were touring the…
Congaree to Beaufort, SC
After Congaree we visited the Sheldon Church ruins outside of Beaufort. The church was originally built in 1751 but was burned by Loyalists in the Revolutionary war. It was repaired in 1825 but then was partially dismantled by local freedmen at the end of the Civil War. The ruins are surrounded by tremendous Live Oaks.…
Congaree National Park
Congaree received the National Park status in 2003, and I think it’s well deserved. With an average mature tree height of over 130 feet, and many trees like the Bald Cypress and Loblolly Pine reaching North of 150 feet, it’s hard to keep from falling off the boardwalk as you strain your neck upward. It’s…
Ninety Six and Nuclear
William Least-Heat Moon wrote Blue Highways, where he documents his travels across the United States in a van in the late 70’s. He has a peculiar affinity for etymology, and specifically, why towns are named the way they are. He went to the town of Ninety Six, South Carolina, and so did we. In 1781,…
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
More people visit the Great Smoky Mountains than any other National Park in the country, and it’s easy to understand why (besides the fact that it is so close to many major East-coast cities). Diverse forests, towering trees, raging rivers, and plentiful wildlife make the Smokies unique. The diversity is attributed to the last ice…
Norfolk to Great Smoky Mountains
It’s warmer. People talk with an accent. There are fields of cotton. The trees and wildlife are changing. Seeing these changes slowly ( we only drive a few hours a day) is different from any other road trip we’ve done. Squirrels eat mushrooms. Kerr Lake is a massive reservoir on the Virginia/North Carolina line. We…
NYC to Norfolk, Virginia
Abbey and I made sure to sleep in after the long day in New York City. We woke up to a crisp autumn morning and an easy drive to Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Martin Guitars are well-made, beautiful, and euphonious. I have a D-16GT that I love, and my dad has a ’72 D-35 that I really…
New York City
Abbey had never been to New York City, so we decided to make a day trip out of it. We decided to not drive the Vanagon into the city because we’re not insane, so instead we opted for public transport. We took an Uber from the campground to the train station, and then a nice…
Cape Cod to New York City
Brown University is in Providence, Rhode Island. It is older than this country (founded 1764), and has a beautiful campus, elegant architecture, and hefty price tag. Sometimes I question if OSU was the right fit for me after touring places like Brown. No one was screaming or yelling at Brown, and nothing smelled like day-old…
Cape Cod
Mola Mola, or Sunfish, come to Cape Cod to eat jellyfish. They lay on their sides and float on the surface to warm themselves and kill parasites. I don’t think this one was warming itself, though. Warren Smith, 5 generations up the family tree from me, built a house on Cape Cod in 1843-ish. The…
Buffalo, NY to West Harwich, MA
Water in typical lakes mix at least once a year, but meromictic lakes, like in Green Lake State Park, New York, do not mix. Meromictic lakes are exceedingly rare because they require a very deep lake with little surface area, coupled with the right climate. Green Lake is small, but 195 feet deep. The local…
Buffalo, NY
Buffalo is a cool city with lots of culture and delicious food options. We went on a tour of abandoned grain silos that had us trekking up and down stairs and stepping over loose, rusty plates that sort-of covered holes into the empty silos below. As I get older I start to notice dangerous things…
Week 1: Celina, Ohio to Buffalo, New York
The Bicycle Museum of America was our first stop. New Bremen, Ohio is home to this curious museum full of unique and antique bicycles. They even let you ride some. I don’t think they make a Schwinn with a .50 cal anymore, though. After spending time with friends and family in Columbus, we had our…
Hardway Travels 