Our plan this morning was to arrive in Chicago towards the end of the day, and we'd be seeing quite a few roadside attractions on Historic Route 66 along the way. Our first stop was the town of Gardner to see the Two-Cell Jail, which was built in 1906 and closed in the 1950s. It […]
At the beginning of this trip when we'd posted about it on social media, one of Lisette's friends and former coworkers, Jessica, had reached out to ask if we were coming to Chicago, so we could catch up when we were here. Lisette hadn't seen Jessica for over 11 years(!) so she was really looking […]
There were a few things that we still wanted to see in Chicago, mostly downtown. Because Lisette doesn't have a battery charger for her eBike and we didn't want to risk it dying while she rode, we left Sheila for about an hour and got on Michael's bike. We hadn't done it before, but it […]
After planning our itinerary the day prior, we realized that we could probably check out everything we wanted to see in Milwaukee in a day (which we did)! We first visited the Basilica of St. Josephat, which was built by the Polish community, as thousands had migrated to Milwaukee in the 1800s. The basilica's construction […]
Generally rest stops off the highway are great for getting a good night's sleep (they're fairly quiet, there are restrooms, a park, dog walk area and sometimes include a visitor center). The only thing that can be hit or miss is when truck drivers decide to leave, as they'll usually need to depart fairly early. […]
Since we'd parked by the Port of Dubuque overnight, we walked along the marina, happy to have the opportunity to go on such a lovely stroll by the water first thing in the morning. There were a few folks out already strolling along the path. A couple of people were out walking their dogs, and […]
We still had to drive almost 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the Love's Travel Stop where we'd slept overnight to get to our first stop, Sheboygan (we love saying the name of this city!). It's nicknamed the "Malibu of the Midwest" as it's located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, and it's considered one of […]
Today is our first day to explore the state of Michigan! Where's the first place you'd go around Lake Michigan? For us it was to visit... a pet casket business! Yes, we had learned about Hoegh Caskets, which has manufacturing non-degrading, styrene caskets for pets since 1966, and is apparently the world's largest pet casket […]
How lovely to wake up in the morning, with the waves rolling in right next to us! There was a short trail that also led to the beach, which was great for Sheila as she was able to sniff and explore, the new nature smells here piquing her curiosity. We'd planned to visit Mackinac Island, […]
The night before, we'd arrived at the rest stop as it was raining, which did cool down the temperatures overnight, thanks goodness! However, it was back to hot weather early the next morning. What we like about rest stops is that they not only have restrooms, dog park areas, and soda vending machines, but also […]
We were interested to see what Detroit was like beyond what we'd seen, heard, and read. It's well known that Detroit was once a huge, thriving city, bolstered by the automotive industry where it was home to Ford, GM, and Chrysler. The city’s population soared to 1.85 million by 1950, becoming America’s 4th largest city. […]
We woke up to another hot day, planning to visit the places we didn't get a chance to go to yesterday in Detroit, before making our way to Ann Arbor by the evening. After a passing through Dequindre Cut (a pathway and green space with lots of murals), we visited St Joseph Shrine, a Catholic […]
Fortunately at our previous rest stop in Michigan, we'd picked up a brochure about Holland, so we had a few more interesting places to check out on our trip there today! Our one stop ahead of arriving in Holland was the Steelcase Pyramid in the city of Grand Rapids, an almost cultish-looking structure that was […]
We had a pretty good nights' sleep at the RV park, as our parking spot was under trees, helping to keep our RV cool in addition to being able to run the fan overnight. While the park is old (we found out that the campground had been around for well over a century, although there […]
Another day, another scorcher! What better place to go on a day like this, than the Antique Fan Museum? Who knew there was even an Antique Fan Collectors Association (AFCA)? AFCA operates this Museum, which is at the company headquarters of Fanimation, an international ceiling fan company. To do a tour it's best to call in […]
The RV park was quiet in the morning--it was a Sunday, so perhaps in this neck of the woods, folks had decided to go to church? We saw a couple of kids dressed in what looked like their Sunday's finest, so it could very well have been the case. Or maybe folks were nursing a […]
After a peaceful night's sleep in Kentucky, we drove across the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, the baby blue painted bridge that connects the town of Covington in Kentucky with Cincinnati. Lisette still needs to find a "Welcome to Ohio" sign to take a picture of after missing the teeny sign yesterday, but surprisingly there […]
After picking up our friend Martynas from his hotel in Cincinnati, we ended our visit to the city in the same way that we started it: a trip to Jungle Jim's International Market! However, this time we checked out the second store in Eastgate, rather than the one in Fairfield. We had to unexpectedly drive […]
We headed to Frankfort to pick up our friend (and star cameo for this part of the trip!) Martynas, noting the charming buildings and museums in Kentucky's capital. We didn't spend time there though, opting to explore the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Bourbon is an American whiskey that has strict production and aging requirements" it needs […]
Tyler Park, where we'd spent the night, turned out to be a really lovely park to explore the following morning, with people up early to go jogging, running or taking their dogs for a walk. Sheila loved exploring the park as soon as she'd had breakfast, sniffing the grass, kid's playground, and other new smells. […]
The Love's Travel Stop where we'd parked overnight was a hive of activity the following morning, and our plan ahead of arriving in Nashville was to get a few important errands done. It included printing off a few documents (luckily we had printer), and sending them via FedEx overseas...we got there and the price to […]
We'd parked our RV in a free spot near Victory Park in Nashville overnight, and while the parking lot next to us the evening before had been filled with vehicles, it was virtually empty in the morning, as folks had all headed home after their big night out in the city. After breakfast, we met […]
While we took our time to set off this morning, unfortunately Sheila wasn't feeling great--she had some stomach issues that had started from the previous night. Clearly she'd eaten something that hadn't agreed with her the day before, likely some random item on the ground in downtown Nashville. In typical dog fashion, she can be […]
After 3 days in Nashville, it was time to visit state #30 on this trip: Alabama! Just like the famous song by Lynyrd Skynyrd, the sign as we crossed the state border said "Sweet Home Alabama." Visiting "The Rocket City" We were surprised when we saw the size of the massive grounds for the U.S. […]
We had parked on the fringes of a very busy Love's Truck Stop overnight, just squeezing into the entrance with enough room for just one other truck to park behind us along the curb. Despite this, we'd had a peaceful sleep, probably also because we were off to the side rather than sandwiched between other […]
We'd slept near the city of Tuscaloosa in Alabama overnight, in the west of the state. Tuscaloosa is also home to the University of Alabama, which had a couple of quirky attractions, including "Goldie 1971", a giant rusting robot lying on the ground, created by a former student as an ode to Alabama's iron heritage. […]
We visited New Orleans few years ago for several days, so we'd seen some of the top tourist sites, including Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, Bourbon Street, the National WWII Museum, and we'd also been on a swamp tour. So while we'd revisit some of these places again, our focus would be on the newer […]
While the weather in New Orleans had been hot and humid yesterday, since the RV park is by a marina, the temperatures here had been cooler, and today there would be rain throughout the day. We chilled out in the morning, and once some of the rain subsided, decided to leave Sheila in the coolness […]
Checking out of the New Orleans RV park we'd stayed in for the last 2 nights, we went straight to Mardi Gras World, a huge 300,000 square foot warehouse where floats are made for the Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans. Tours cost about $30 per adult, and it costs extra for parking onsite (and […]
After yesterday's "tiring tire tale", we needed a 4th person to come and inflate our spare tire so we could hit the road. It was a Sunday, but eventually someone came around 11am--and it turned out to be the father of the 3rd person who came last night operating the same tow truck company. The […]