Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee... and home!

Hello everyone, and happy weekend!

We've covered a lot of ground in the week since I last wrote. Last weekend we spent 3 nights in Culpeper, Virginia and had a great time celebrating our friends getting married. It was a beautiful wedding at Old House Vineyards and we couldn't have asked for better weather.

Monday morning we hit the road again and made it to North Carolina just in time to meet Hurricane Irma there. We spent the night in Asheville and braved out into the rain to eat dinner downtime at one of the many brew pubs. We went to Foggy Mountain Brew Pub, which turned out to be a Wisconsin bar! We spotted a Packers flagged right when we walked in and when we inquired we learned the owners were from WI.

The next day we continued our journey west to Nashville, but not before stopping in Knoxville for lunch. We stopped at a burger place called Stock & Barrel which was really good. Then we spent two nights at an airbnb in Nashville and really enjoyed our short visit despite the constant rain. Our first night we ventured down to Broadway to experience the famous honky tonks. We grabbed some food and after walking up and down Broadway we decided to go into Honky Tonk Central for a drink and listen to the live music. It was a fun atmosphere, even on a Tuesday night.

When we woke up Wednesday it wasn't raining yet so we jumped up and went to check out the Centennial Park and saw the Parthenon and the women's suffrage monument. Then it started to rain on us so we decided to get some BBQ for lunch at Peg Leg Porker, which Matt really enjoyed. Afterwards we drove out to Andrew Jackson's Hermitage, which is just a few miles outside Nashville. It was a really cool place to explore. It was his estate where he lived with his wife before he was President and also where he spent his days after he retired. We were able to explore his mansion and also explore part of the grounds, although we didn't do as much of that since it was raining.

Centennial Park Parthenon:

Women's Suffrage monument:

Andrew Jackson's Mansion at his Hermitage:

The grave of Andrew Jackson and his wife:

Wednesday night we were excited to go see a show at the famous Grand Ole Opry. It was a big night there since it was a special event to raise funds for St. Jude's. There was a great lineup including The Gatlin Brothers, Clare Bowen, Charles Esten, Randy Owen, and Luke Bryan! We had each seen him before, which was lucky since he had a short performance of only 4 songs, but he puts on a great show and it was still fun to see a show at the famous venue.

Thursday was a big driving day from Nashville all the way back to Wisconsin. We were able to stop in Louisville, KY for lunch with some friends of mine that I used to work with so that was fun and a great break in the driving. We met them at a Peruvian Chicken place called Yummy Pollo which was delicious, highly recommend it! Then we finally made it back to Wisconsin and stayed with Matt's folks for the night. We're back!

We have no more travel plans for the foreseeable future. We do have some home improvement plans for these last few weeks of freedom before Matt goes back to work in October. I'm in the process of figuring out my next steps. My offer still stands- if you want to help fund me then I will continue to travel and regale you all with my adventures! :)

Today we go back to Madison and get ready for the big weekend; Matt turns 30 tomorrow! So we plan to have lots of friends, food, and football watching at our place tomorrow. If you're in the area feel free to stop by!

So long for now!

New York City

Never again can I say I've never been to the Big Apple!

We had a big time exploring NYC the last few days. We stayed 3 nights at an awesome airbnb in Brooklyn which was right next to a subway stop so it was a quick ride into the city. We left the truck parked by the airbnb for the duration of the trip and only used public transportation since we didn't want to have to deal with traffic, parking, etc.

The afternoon we got there we decided to make the most of before it started to rain so we rushed to the subway to get our Metro cards and went to Manhattan. Our first stop was the 9/11 memorial. It is a very nice memorial and we stayed there for a bit remembering that tragic day. We also marveled on how long it's been since that happened; we've personally lived more years post-9/11 than we did before!

After the memorial we rushed to the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty before it got dark. The ferry is nice because it's free and takes you right by the statue. So that was cool! It took about 1hr round trip. Then we went down to Little Italy for dinner and found Lombardi's Pizza, which claims to be the first pizzeria in the US. They had lots of pictures of famous people on the walls, so that was cool. The pizza was pretty good, too!

Manhattan from the ferry:

Lombardi's Pizza!

The next day was pretty rainy but we got to do some things, including eating some staple NYC things. After walking by the famous Friends apartment (which didn't look like much, I could hardly recognize it) we started by going to Bantam Bagels, which was featured on Shark Tank and had some unique bagels in that they were ball-shaped and had the cream cheese inside. We each got two different flavors and were very impressed! Shortly after that we split a slice of NY-style pizza: large and thin such that you need to fold it in half. We choose Joe's pizza which is a well-known place, but there are lots of others as well. Then we strolled through Washington Park for a bit before my next treat, which was cookie dough from a place called "cookie dough confections". It was so delicious! Then we strolled along the High Line, which is an old railroad track that has been converted into a walking path. It was pretty cool to walk above the city between the buildings with flowers and trees all around you on the trail. It started to rain then so we went back to the airbnb to rest for awhile.

Joe's pizza!

Washington Park:

Cookie dough, yum!

The High Line:

In the evening we went down towards Times Square and found a ramen place to eat dinner, which was really good but not quite as good as Japan! After it got dark we went to see Times Square all lit up which was really cool. Then we went to a show which had had gotten tickets for that day. We decided on Kinky Boots which turned out to be very entertaining and with a good message. I've seen better plays but I wanted to see something new and our options were a bit limited for cheap, last-minute tickets. But we still liked it!

Times Square at night:

Kinky Boots!

The next day we started by taking the subway to Grand Central Station and checking that out. Then we walked along 5th Avenue to the Empire State Building. Then we grabbed some breakfast, bagel for me and a hot dog for Matt, before walking back over to Times Square to see it in the daylight. It's definitely a bustling place! Near Times Square we found a place called Juniors which is well-known for their cheesecake, so we split a piece of raspberry swirled. It was amazing! Then we walked briefly through the M&M and Nintendo stores before walking over to Rockefeller center. We walked some more along 5th Avenue and saw some of the big churches as well as some fancy clothing stores and the Trump Tower. We also walked past Carnegie Hall before stopping for a drink at a bar called McGee's, which is the bar that is the basis for the How I Met Your Mother bar called Maclaren's where the gang spends much of their time. They have a ton of HIMYM stuff and pictures of the cast there, and apparently they do trivia based on the show every Tuesday night. Then we spent about an hour strolling through Central Park which was very pretty. My allergies were acting up though so we didn't stay as long as planned and instead we cut the day short and headed back to the airbnb for a couple of hours so I could take some medicine and rest in the A/C. Dang allergies. 

Matt getting a famous NYC hot dog!

Times Square during the day:

Delicious NY cheesecake:

Central Park:

Later in the evening we went back to Little Italy for some delicious pasta. We found a place called Da Gennaro which made most of their pasta in-house and it was wonderful. I got ravioli and Matt had fettuccine alfredo. While we ate we enjoyed the ambiance and people watching, since we were seated in the perfect place to be able to look out at the people walking by. We almost went to Benito One which was a smaller place but also looked super good, but we didn't make reservations and they weren't able to seat us right away. After dinner we walked some of our dinner off by strolling around in search of a nice bar to watch the Chiefs-Patriots football game. We finally found one and we posted up at the bar for the first half of the game. At half time we went back to the airbnb to watch the rest from there. How about those Chiefs?! Undefeated so far this season, and Patriots have the worst record in the league, hehe.

Yum, Da Gennaro!

This morning we checked out of our airbnb and hit the road. On our way south we stopped at Coney Island for a bit. We had some breakfast on the boardwalk since it was a beautiful morning and it was nice and quiet since things were just starting to open up. Then we walked along the boardwalk a ways before turning back and walking back in the sand along the water. It was a very nice morning. Then we drove for 6ish hours (stupid traffic) to Virginia. We'll spend the next two nights here for a wedding! After Virginia we plan to make our way down to North Carolina before starting west to Nashville and back to Madison. Stay tuned!

Coney Island:

We really liked NYC and would enjoy going back. Since we were only there for a few days we only hit the highlights of the touristy things so I think there would be much more to explore and I would like to spend more time in the different boroughs next time. Since we were in Tokyo less than 5 months ago I felt that NYC was a little underwhelming and would've been more impressive before seeing Tokyo. But a benefit of doing it the way we did is I think we were much less stressed in NYC than we would've been otherwise. We're much more seasoned travelers now so the city didn't really faze us at all!

On the Road Again- Cleveland Adventures

Hello, I hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend!

We made it to Cleveland Saturday night after the Norte Dame game and spent the next two days exploring the city with our friend, Jeff. We all stayed at his parents' house there and they were fantastic hosts. We really enjoyed chatting with them. It was also like being home because they made us all yummy meals and we much appreciated that!

Sunday we went downtown to see Cleveland's annual Airshow. Neither Matt or I had ever been to an airshow before and it was really cool! The planes did all sorts of crazy things like spiraling upwards and stall the engine then accelerate down and pulled up at the last minute! And the last performance was the Thunderbirds and they did all kinds of crazy formations flying together.  We also saw an F-18, several WWII planes, a huge plane nicknamed "Hercules", among others.  I have more videos in the album linked on the right.

Thunderbirds:

After spending a few hours at the airshow Jeff gave us a quick walking tour of downtown. Then we met up with some of his friends and tried out a couple of the bars in the area and played some shuffleboard. We went back home for dinner with Jeff's parents and then we went back downtown with his friends for a few hours. We had a big night out and enjoyed seeing some Cleveland bars.

We got a slow start on Monday. After breakfast we took the family dog, Abby, to the park for a walk since the weather was beautiful. Then we spent the rest of the day visiting with Jeff's friends and family, who welcomed us into their home with a big Italian feast (yay!). In the evening Jeff had to catch his flight back to Madison. We were exhausted so instead of hitting the road we decided to stay one more night with his parents.

We had a great time in Cleveland and look forward to going back someday. Then today we hit the road right after breakfast and drove the 7+ hours to NYC! Hello, Big Apple! Stay tuned!

Football is back!... with the perfect football weekend!

Hello everyone! The best sport ever is back!

We've had a big week since I landed home Tuesday night. Our big project was resealing our driveway. Boy, that was fun! We also managed to do our fantasy football draft and play some beach volleyball with our friends. Then the big football weekend began!

We started by going to the Wisconsin Badger season opener Friday night. We went downtown with two of our friends, Jeff and Steven, about 5pm to "tailgate" (which in Madison basically means go to the bars). Then we headed into the game in time for the 8pm kickoff. They played Utah State and the first half didn't look so good, 10-10. But the Badgers came out strong in the second half and dominated, with a finishing score of 59-10! Wohoo, great start to the weekend! The weather for the game was also beautiful; it just got a tad chilly by the end of the game at 11pm.

Then early Saturday morning we hit the road with our friend Jeff and drove to South Bend, Indiana to catch Norte Dame's season opener against Temple. It was another gorgeous day with mid-70s and sunny. We had fun tailgating before the game and played a few rounds of pong. I normally wouldn't write about this but something epic happened. We were in our 3rd game with the series tied at 1-1. Jeff and our new friend Jim were destroying us and hit their last cup while Matt and I still had 6 left. So we went into our redemption phase where we shoot until we miss. I made one shot before missing, but then Matt made all of the remaining cups to send it into overtime! Five. Straight. Shots. It was amazing. Then I made all 3 overtime cups to win the series! Whoop!

We scalped some tickets for the game and made it in just in time for kickoff. Which was lucky because the Irish started strong and made a touchdown on the second play of the game! They continued to dominate and won with a final score of 49-16. Sweet! Jeff took us on a quick tour around the campus which was beautiful. It actually reminded me a bit of K-State's campus with it's big stone buildings amid green courtyards. We also took the requisite picture with Touchdown Jesus.

Then we hit the road again and traveled to Cleveland, which is where Jeff is from. We're going to spend the weekend here with him before continuing our journey east. On the road I was able to watch on a phone my K-State Wildcats tear about Central Arkansas (final score 55-19) so that put the cherry on top of the perfect football weekend! (A perfect football weekend is much easier to accomplish when I don't have to worry about NFL or fantasy yet!). K-State also looked really good so I'm psyched for this season.

Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone!

Travel Tips- Travel Items and Apps to Have

Hello all!

This post will be a little different than others, because this one is meant to share and record some of the helpful tools we used on this adventure. I've always wanted this blog to help and inspire others to travel as well, so I think this is helpful info to share (I also want a record so I can remind myself for future travels!).

Travel Items

• Travel towel. I bought ours as an impromptu Cyber Monday deal on Amazon and it was well worth it! It's 32" by 72" so big enough to lounge on at the beach. And it dries quickly and packs small. Here is the link to the ones I bought for us.
• LifeStraw Personal Water filter. This one is pretty self-explanatory; you can't trust the drinking water everywhere so it's nice to have this just in case. Also we could drink water straight from a stream if we were on a hike and thirsty.
• Power Adapter. Again, self-explanatory. Most of the world has different power plug-ins, so a universal power adapter is necessary. And if you only want to bring one instead of one for each device, then see the next item.
• Surge Protector+Power Strip. This allowed us to plug in all of our devices using only one adapter. It had two wall outlets as well as 4 USB charging station. This is the one we bought.
• Packable Day Pack. Most of our luggage (carry-on roller suitcase and backpack) was pretty large and durable, so we were glad we brought along a packable day pack that allowed us to put in just what we needed for the day (water bottles, umbrella, jacket, etc). It packed up nicely so it didn't take up much space. Here is what we bought.
• Compression Packing Cubes. I could probably write an entire article just on these things. They were so helpful in keeping our luggage organized and the compression really helped us maximize our limited space. I don't think I'll ever travel without them. Here are the ones we bought.
• We also brought along a mini collapsible cooler which turned out to be super helpful since most days we packed food for lunches and were often transporting refrigerated food from one location to another.
• Along the same lines, we also found a set of reusable cutlery to be super helpful for our many picnic lunches.
• Detergent/softener/dryer sheets. Obviously traveling for 6 months with only carry-on luggage meant that we had to do laundry frequently. We found these sheets to be effective and space efficient.
• Pill organizer. We took lots of vitamins and just-in-case meds along with us so it was much more space-efficient to carry them together in a pill organizer than in lots of individual bottles. You do have to be wary of this with prescriptions though and we kept those separate (in the original bottles and with the prescriptions), although we were never questioned about them.
• Lots and lots of ziploc bags. I took several of various sizes and packed them all in one of the gallon-sized. We found we needed these often, so they were quickly a premium item that we used sparingly. Whether it was carrying left-overs, keeping all of the random foreign currency we collected, or storing unique black sand (who did that?!), they were very helpful.
• Bonus tip: A couple of dryer sheets. I tucked one in each of my packing cubes and that kept my bag smelling fresh. Once they lost some of their scent I would throw them in the dryer. I also packed a few extras in one of the ziploc bags.

Apps to get before traveling:

• Google maps- if you don't want to use data navigating in a foreign place, download offline maps of where you'll be going. It's amazing.
• Google Translate. You should download the languages you'll need ahead of time. This way you are able to use your phone like a camera over menus or whatever and it will translate in real time (for the most part. Sometimes you get wonky translations but it's generally enough to get the gist). You can also talk into it to get the translation and it will speak it out loud so you know the correct pronunciation.
• Currency Conversion app. I can't do simple math under pressure while bartering with a local about how much to pay for a bag of oranges or whatever, so I need to be able to quickly convert the currency to know what we're talking about. Using an app allows you to favorite the ones you'll need so you can access them quickly, and this way you don't use data every time you do a conversion. Also, since conversion rates change constantly, the good apps will update to the current rates when you connect to wifi so you'll have up-to-date information.
• Google Sheets (or some other budget tracking tool). I was obsessive about recording every expense so that I could stay on top of finances, but that's probably not as important for a shorter trip.
• Settle Up. This was an app we used to keep track of who paid for what. Since we were traveling in a group of 2 or 3 we generally paid for each other for meals or lodgings. This app allowed us to track each purchase and then at the end we could "settle up" with each other. This app was very easy to use and allowed us to say that multiple people contributed to a purchase in custom amounts, and it also let us enter if someone spent more than another.
• A VPN app. This is a necessity if you plan to check your bank accounts or other personal info while on the road.
• Airline apps are nice to have, especially if you will consistently use one or two airlines. We used a different airline every leg so it wasn't as practical for us on this trip.
• Airbnb and HotelTonight. These were apps we used to book lodgings. Pick your favorites.
• Bank apps. These made it easier to quickly check our bank accounts, which you want to do fairly often to make sure there aren't any suspicious charges. (but remember to use your VPN when doing this!)
• Google Photos. I took almost 8,000 pictures on this trip so it was super helpful that my pictures would auto-backup to Google Photos when I connected to wifi.
• Netflix and other offline entertainment. You need something to do on long flights, and Netflix now allows you to download shows and movies so you can watch offline! Best thing ever. We also had a couple of books and games downloaded as well to keep us occupied.

I'll also mention that I switched my cell provider over to the Google Fi network (it's a cell service through Google) because they have great international rates. They have service in over 135 countries (all but two countries we visited were on the list), so in all of those places I was able to text for free and my data was charged at the same rate it is at home (1 GB for $10). I could also place calls at a decent rate as well, but as long as I was connected to wifi I could place calls to the US for free so that's what we generally did. In the 2 countries we visited that didn't have Google Fi (New Caledonia and Botswana) I was unable to use my phone at all in those countries unless I was connected to wifi (then I was able to make calls, text, whatever). Matt approached it differently and updated his AT&T plan to include international service which increased his bill a bit, but that way he was able to use some data every month and had free texting. He generally used my phone for calls.

That's about all I can think of for now, but feel free to comment and share your own tips and useful things to get!

Also, a quick update on my current location: I am traveling back to Madison this evening! I was glad to be able to spend some time with a friend in South Carolina for awhile, but I am ready to be home for a few days! I've spent less than 24 hours at home since we started this adventure 7 months ago, so I'd say it's time! This weekend we start our next road trip- to the east coast! We plan to catch the Wisconsin Badgers season opener at home Friday before heading out, then catch the Notre Dame season opener on Saturday with a friend before making our way to Virginia for a wedding the following weekend. I'll try to keep you posted!

Denver to South Carolina

Hello everyone!

I figured I'd give y'all a quick update on life the past few weeks. It has been weird not blogging. I mean, if I don't blog about it did it really even happen? ;)

Denver

We spent a full week in Parker, CO which is a suburb of Denver. We had a blast staying with my family there and spent much of our time visiting with them and playing games with my cousins.

Our first full day there we ventured over to Castle Rock and hiked the Devil's Head trail which ended at the fire tower lookout. The hike was just short of 3 miles roundtrip and took us just shy of two hours. It was a great hike and took us through tall aspens, by some near rock formations, and up to the fire tower were you could get 360 degree views of mountains. Unfortunately for us though that it was pretty foggy when we got to the top so we couldn't see very far. After we got back down we were shocked to discover the battery in the car had died, and with virtually no cell phone signal we were in a bit of a pickle. Luckily a family of hikers came down not too far behind us and they were able to get us jumped and on our way. Whew! Later that evening Matt and I went downtown to meet up with some of our Denver friends at Lodo's near the baseball stadium. We had a lot of fun and really enjoyed catching up with people. First day was a total success!

We had another big day the next day. We started off by going to the Aurora Reservoir with my aunt and the kids and I got to try stand-up paddle boarding for the first time! It was easier then expected and we all enjoyed paddling around the reservoir for a while and watching the boys trying to push each other off. That evening we all loaded up and met my Uncle Tad out at the Rockies game which was a ton of fun. We shared drinks and peanuts and got to watch the home team get a victory!

Saturday was mostly a lazy day but we did make it out to the gun range with my Uncle Tony so that was fun. That evening we had some other cousins and their little girls join us for a dinner so we had a fun time visiting with them!

Sunday we drove out to Red Rocks amphitheater. It's such a beautiful venue! We enjoyed the scenery while we watched an a capella group practice and the exercise enthusiasts run up and down the stairs. Then we grabbed some delicious pizza at Beau Jo's in Evergreen.

Our last day in Colorado we went down to Colorado Springs. We decided to go up to the top of Pike's Peak which turned into an adventure! When we got to the top we again had some unfortunate luck with the visibility, but we snapped some pictures and headed back down. Then a sudden afternoon storm kicked in and there was lightning all around us and hail raining down on us! That made driving down those curvy roads a bit more interesting, and I was also fretting about the hail damaging my aunt's brand new car! But we luckily got all the way down unscathed. We also got to drive through the Garden of the God's and admire all of the cool red rock formations, but since it was raining we didn't get out to walk around.

After a week we sadly had to leave; the kids were starting school and we needed to head east to see more family. I got to drive for the first time since February! I insisted on driving once we got to Kansas and I really enjoyed it since it had been so long. We made it the hours all the way to Wilson, KS where we stayed the next two nights with my grandma!

Wilson

We only had one full day in Wilson so we took advantage and did all the touristy things that we generally never make time for. Zuzu (that's my nickname for my grandma) first took us out to Wilson Lake, which Matt had never been to. We drove around a bit out there; it's such a nice lake! Then we went into the town of Wilson, which is where Zuzu grew up and where my mom and aunt went to school. While there we got to see the World's Largest Czech Egg! That was pretty cool; I'd seen it before many times but this was the first time I'd seen it completed. Then we took a tour of the historic Midland Railroad Hotel which was awesome! I'd never actually been inside before so it was really cool to see some of the unique rooms all with custom furniture. It would be a very quaint place to stay! Our last stop in town before heading back to the farm was to grab lunch at the local Snack Shack for delicious burgers and shakes! We spent the rest of the time there visiting with Zuzu and doing a few chores around the house for her. She made all my favorite food for us, including peach pie, roast with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut, and kolaches!

Coffeyville

We arrived in Coffeyville the next day and spent an entire week there during the annual Fair and Rodeo. It was so great to finally be home and it was the first time seeing my dad since February! We spent a lot of quality time with my parents visiting, sharing pictures, and doing chores around the house. I also got to see a ton of friends and eat at all of my favorite hometown restaurants. We went to the fair almost every evening and saw the demo derby, monster trucks, bull riding, rodeo, and LoCash in concert. I don't remember the last time I was able to spend a whole week at home and it was awfully hard to leave! My mom also spoiled us with all the best foods while we were there, including homemade salsa, homemade pickles, steak, stuffed peppers, and even homemade vanilla bean ice cream (made my Mark Jackson, which he promised to make me if I made it back home safely!)

Now I've made it all of the way to the other side of the country and I'm spending some time in South Carolina with one of my best friends! And luckily for me, I've made it just in time to see the eclipse tomorrow!

Family Time

Hello Everyone!

Matt and I have spent the last three days camping in a beautiful spot by a lake and surrounded by mountains near Frisco, CO. We spent our time admiring the natural beauty and exploring the quaint downtowns of Frisco and nearby Breckenridge. Every day we were there it rained on us for about an hour in the afternoon so we were glad we had put up our canopy tent! We were also treated with several beautiful rainbows arching over the mountains.

Nutella s'more!

Breckenridge:

Beautiful rainbow!

Now we've made it to Parker, CO where we'll be spending the week with my aunt, uncles, and cousins and catching up with some friends and family in Denver. We already made it to the pool today with the kids and had a great time!

I'm going to be pausing the blog for now since for the next month at least we'll be spending quality time with friends and family. After we leave Colorado we'll go to central Kansas with my grandma for a few days and then head south to Coffeyville, KS and spend a week with my family and friends there during Fair and Rodeo. Then we'll slowly make our way up through Kansas City and then probably back to Madison before heading to the east coast for a wedding in early September. I might post a bit in September if we do some east coast exploring, but then we're probably done for awhile! :(

It's been such a fun ride and I really appreciate all of you following along, the comments, and thoughts and prayers along the way! If you've enjoyed my blog and want me to keep writing then feel free to send me some money so I can keep traveling! :) (just kidding) (kind of).

So long for now!

Andi, Brayden, Ty, and Matt!