Travel & Transportation

Well, Gus has cast his vote. Without any equivocation. We’re in the last month of our trip (in Illinois now), so it’s natural that people are asking, “what place did you like best?” How do we answer that? We’ve been to so many great places. Plus, it depends on if you’re talking about which house,…

Goodwill is my best friend. The Dollar Store is a close second. Each place that we’ve had an extended stay (3-4 weeks) has been missing some little everyday need: colander, vegetable peeler, potholders, for example. Some we’ve been able to work around; in one place I made a square apple pie – just used a…

We’ve stayed at 14 Airbnbs by now on this caper (including the short term stays on way to the longer stays), and if you were to ask me what the most unexpected request by an owner was, I would have to say it was to “please keep the trash bin lids secured to keep the…

I was all set to be disappointed in Charleston. Everyone we spoke to said you have to go to Charleston. Everyone who has been to Charleston loves it. Charleston ranks repeatedly in all those magazine articles about the top ten places to live, the top ten places to retire to, the top ten cities on…

You know how annoying it is when you’re in a hotel, asleep, and around 1:30 in the morning somebody who’s just checked in walks down the hall past your door calling to each other, “here’s the room, down this way” or “do you have that suitcase with my pills?” or “what time is breakfast?” No…

Scrambled eggs, a couple of fishsticks, and leftover spicy Chinese eggplant; does that sound like a well-rounded dinner? Not exactly hitting all the food groups. But the last meal before we move on to a new place is always an odd combination because I hate to throw away food. Everything was well seasoned, though: scallions…

Here we are in the land of big: big sky, big rock formations (like the Rimrocks), big parks (like Little Bighorn National Monument), big ranches, big cowboy hats and big audiences at the local high school football games at the stadium (we’re within cheering distance). But I’ve been focused (okay, obsessed) with the little details…

I swear it slipped my mind when I bought that box of Doves Bar Minis, the 14 little chocolate covered ice-cream bars. Honestly, I totally didn’t think about the fact that it’s only 6 days until we leave Minneapolis to head to Montana and that we would need to each eat 1.17 bar per day…

Look!  A seagull! Not something you expect a Mainer to shout. But context is everything. I’ve gotten used to seeing gulls on Lake Michigan after years of visiting Chicago. I was astounded initially at how ocean-like Lake Michigan is. No tides and – – I haven’t tested this, yuck – – no salty taste. But…