Grand Island is a National Recreation Area one mile off shore from the town of Munising situated in the 52 degree waters of Lake Superior, the largest fresh water lake in the world. This island is uninhabited by humans and is said to belong to the mosquitos. For a fee, you (and your bike and gear) can be dropped off on the island to explore the dozens of miles of trails, steep cliffs, remote beaches and hidden cabins. The locals say that when they return at the end of the day to pick up the tourists, those still alive can … Continue reading The Grand Island Wave

All we want from Christmas is a break from mosquito bites. The Hiawatha National Forest is a world-class mosquito breeding ground. After a few moments, you can immediately tell the locals from the tourists. The locals wear long sleeve shirts and pants; light jackets with hoods; hats with integrated mosquito netting. The tourists wear short sleeved shirts, short pants, and flip flops. We departed for a 40 mile roundtripper to see Spray Falls and the dozen other attractions along H-58 in our shorts and tees, ridiculously and mistakenly confident in the can of Deep Woods Off in the trunk. Heading … Continue reading Boxing with mosquitos

It’s been two days of weird getting from Altura, MN to Green Bay, WI and up to Christmas, Michigan where Santa is more than a person, he’s an attitude. To our eyes, he looks like a Santa interpretation of Mr. T. “I pity ‘da fool that passes by Christmas in Michigan” It all started with donuts and laundry. Twenty miles east of Whitewater State Park was the 2012 Best Donut in Minnesota. Seven years later, Bloedow’s Bakery in Winona is still touting its epic win and we were all about checking it out. The All-American town with the friendliest bakers … Continue reading Christmas in June

After spending the last 15 years behind the wheel of a car commuting around a beltway 75 minutes in the morning and 2 hours in the evening, we were literally dying for a change. Too much time in the car and on the D.C. Metro was contributing to hypertension, weight gain and a sedentary lifestyle. We decided we wanted to go places we had only seen in magazines, do it all without a car and write about our experiences. So we retired in June 2018 and took off in our Fleetwood Pace Arrow 34W Class A motorhome with two Specialized … Continue reading Specialized Como 3.0 Review – one year and 2,000 miles logged

Bug Soother repels bugs, gnat-ually. A few spritzs of this magic lemongrass oil with a hint of vanilla on the back of the neck and behind the ears allowed us to hike 6 miles into the broccoli-top forest. It’s like magic. Sure, you smell a bit like fresh baked cake and that makes you kind of hungry for cake, but it sure beats the smell of DEET and it really works. We pieced together a bunch of trails in the park to generally hike up and down to the surrounding ridges. Moving along muddy paths from river to ridge back … Continue reading Gnat Today

After a pop-up trip to the World’s Only Corn Palace in South Dakota, we unfortunately missed the offramp to the 50 foot Jolly Green Giant statue in the vegetable headquarters of Blue Earth, MN so when we saw the ad for the Spam Museum in Austin we had to go. It was a restless night in the Cabela’s parking lot. Between the hard plopping raindrops, the ginormous diesel Forza who ran their generator until 2am and the I-90 resurfacing project creating 2-way traffic, the 310 mile journey across stormy Minnesota to the southeastern town of Altura and Whitewater State Park … Continue reading Taking Minnesota by storm

After four days of stalking prairie dogs, crushing on bison, spelunking in Wind Cave, casing the Badlands and hunkering down in punishing rain, we felt satiated by our time in South Dakota and ready to move on. It was a random stop at the Lewis and Clark Rest Area on I-90 that revealed four must-visits in the “Great Faces, Great Places” state: Mt. Rushmore, The Badlands, the state capitol of Pierre and The World’s Only Corn Palace in the town of Mitchell. Mayor Bob calls Mitchell “the best of small town living with bigger-city possibilities.” We were not sure whether … Continue reading Corn and Cabela’s

If you’ve ever wanted to see the Badlands, go now … they are crumbling. It’s a world of sandcastles on the Crayola plains. Stunning vistas but when you get up close, you experience the effects of extreme weather washing them away. Last night’s lightening infested skies brought torrential rain and thundering wind that shook Betty like a space shuttle re-entering earth’s atmosphere. How the tenters survived we can’t say, but the morning sun shone dry and the campground emptied for the day’s activities. Our Badlands bike and hike would have to wait, as our booked site #4 was unexpectedly petite … Continue reading Badlands bike and hike

Mushrooms and cactus are out. Bison and prairie dogs are in. Bison are the largest land mammal in North America. They weigh up to 2 tons and stand as tall as 6.5 feet. Extremely agile, they can jump up to 6 feet high and reach speeds of 35 mph. We didn’t see them do anything other than eat grass and wallow in the dirt, but Sheri is obsessed with their big furry face and “here’s me lookin at you” stare. Similarly, acres of prairie dog towns stretch across the landscape. The social animals never shut up, chirping and waving their … Continue reading I Feel a Badlands Arising

John Grisham and his buddy Scott Sowers accompanied us on the two day 550 mile trek from Walsenburg, Colorado through construction laden, jersey wall confined, darting traffic, heavy drive workload, big city Denver, into sleepy/creepy Cheyenne, Wyoming and up to Hot Springs, South Dakota and Wind Cave National Park. On the long, trance-like stretches, they told us the story of The Confession – a frustrating fictional account of the Texas Legal System but was told like it could have been based on a true story. Their 7 hour yarn ticked away the miles as mountains merged with cities giving way … Continue reading Rolling Condo on the Prairie