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Mount Katahdin (2/3)
6 AM, 10/25/2016 Dear Mom and Dad, Sorry that I didn’t write yesterday, but what an experience we had! The morning started out well. I had a restful, but cold…
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Connecticut, Delaware, Food, Friends, Lessons, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Memories, National Park, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Van
Acadia (1/3)
9 PM, 10/10/2016 Dear Mom and Dad, Guess what? I have decided to travel the United States in a camper van. Yes, I will be (probably temporarily) living in a van…
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Hiking OUT of the Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon has a varied animal population. I see just two types of animals- scorpions and deer. The scorpions are dead and on the trail, crushed by hiker’s boots. I…
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Hiking INTO the Grand Canyon
The moment that you drop over the rim is breathtaking. The path transforms from a simple hike in the woods to a vista beyond compare. We take our time, taking…
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Hike the Grand Canyon?
My birthday wish was to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Having visited the South Rim of the canyon a few times before, I was enamored. I loved…
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My Name is Safety
After experiencing Yosemite National Park, I am fascinated by the many ways that people die there. The book, Death in Yosemite by Michael Ghiglieri and Charles Farabee published in 2008, is a fascinating…
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The Forty Percent Rule
It has been said that the worst part of Navy SEAL training is Hell Week, which is five and a half days of physical training for twenty hours a day, running over…
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Happy Alaska (5/5)
Aurora borealis, or the northern lights, can be seen an average of 243 days a year in Fairbanks. The northern lights are produced by charged electrons and protons striking the earth’s…
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Nashville, McAfee Knob and HOME
The Music Highway is the road (I-40) between Memphis and Nashville. It is so named because of the rich music history in both cities and on the path between them.…
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Truth and Consequences, then Roswell
About two hours from Flagstaff is the Petrified Forest National Park, which encompasses parts of the Rainbow Forest and the Painted Desert. While the names sound glorious, this park’s description may…
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The Best of Colorado, Utah and Arizona
For this stretch of the trip, my childhood friend, Kelly, accompanied us. Kelly and I met in Kindergarten, when (as Kelly vividly remembers and I do not) I sat next to…
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Airbnb
The podcast How I Built This interviewed Joe Gebbia, founder of Airbnb. There was a convention in Joe’s town that sold out of hotel rooms. Quickly, he made a website to auction off…
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Lessons Learned, Part Two
29. Nothing will make you feel more alive than standing alone, on the top of a mountain, at 11,000 feet, in three feet of snow, without a single noise or…
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The Grand Tetons
Yes, they were named for exactly what you are thinking, you with the dirty mind. French trappers said that they looked like boobs and it stuck. “Tetons” is “breasts” in…
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Yellowstone
We wake to bright light pouring in the two large bedroom windows that meet at the corner of the room. I stretch, displacing Abby, who gets up and shakes. I…
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Abby
“You don’t even know where I’m going.”“I don’t care. I’d like to go anywhere.”― John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America If someone asks me what is the best part…
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South Dakota
Our Badlands cabin window faces east. Abby and I wake to a gorgeous sunrise over this foreign landscape. It features sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires that blend with the…
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In the Driver’s Seat
You may wonder about the logistics of traveling for an extended time, spending hours in my car. Generally, I store the necessities on the passenger side, within easy reach. My Yeti with my Chai…
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Midwest Plains
Mammoth Cave Mammoth Cave is epic. It is the largest cave system in the world. That’s right, the WORLD! It has 400 underground miles that have been explored and who knows…
Introspective optometrist seeks inspiration and adventure
