so, the thing about indiana dunes is: the hikes in the sand are pretty exhausting. and it just so happens that it was also unseasonably scorching hot while we were there. so, i planned only shorter-ish hikes that also happened to give us access to refreshing lake michigan. for our sort of epic last hurrah […]
swimming
indiana dunes. various beachy excursions.

even though it isn’t one of the most national parkiest parks of all the national parks, we were pretty excited to explore a bit in indiana dunes. the rangers suggested a short 1.1 mile hike on the succession trail, because it gives a little slice of all the elements of the park. there is also […]
first stop. batavia, new york.

well. here i go. attempting to catch up on the backlog of some fifty or so blog posts, dating back to the end of may. i had high hopes of keeping up with it while we went on our epic summer road trip, but that turned out to be sort of laughable due to the […]
dreher island state park.south carolina with pals

Our first RV trip of 2021 was fantastic. Dreher Island State Park in South Carolina was very pretty. I wasn’t aware that such places existed in South Carolina. :). We arrived in the early afternoon and set up shop in our lakefront campsite. The views were lovely. Derek surprised me with this camping loveseat that […]
abrams falls hike.great smoky mountain national park.

originally, we had planned to lay low on our first day, a sunday, in the smokies. even though we were still in the midst of a pandemic, great smoky mountain national park is the most visited park in the us, especially on a weekend at the more heavily trafficked spots. but then. the weather was […]
waterfalls with snp and max.

it’s been like 900° for the last few weeks, here in north carolina. so when i was making plans to hang with my high school bff sarah powers and her kiddo max, and the option to meet at the lower cascade falls at hanging rock came up, it was a no brainer. i mean, this […]
life and times at green mountain rv park, lenoir, nc.

shortly after our last rv trip, like i’m talking just a few days after we arrived home, the world came to a screeching halt, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. when i think back to the news trickling in while we were in miami, it all seems so surreal. anyways, since our return, the camper has […]
june. sigh. in quarantine-ish.

well. another month has come and gone and we are still in the middle of this coronavirus pandemic thing. during june, things opened up a bit more and we were able to get out and visit with friends a bit more, so it didn’t feel as locked down-y as months past. on one particularly hot […]
quarantine may.

even though things started opening up in may, we mostly laid low, and did a lot of the same things we have been doing for the entire quarantine. music concerts, baking, sewing, dog snuggling, yard work. you know the drill. but then also a few outings, of varying degrees of excitement. 🙂 firstly. on anna’s […]
escape to hanging rock.

our trip to pilot mountain was just the jumpstart we needed to start getting out and about and hiking a bit more. so, later in the week, we packed up again, and this time headed to hanging rock state park. (ruby barfed on the way up, if you were wondering). our plan was to hike […]