Virtually in America

While I loved my time in Rogers  and will surely head back over there frequently when I move to northwest Arkansas, Bentonville is the way to go for me. You probably only know Bentonville as the world headquarters of Walmart, and therefore will have a bad association, so let's get some things out of the way. No, I am not a fan of Walmart. They don't pay the majority of their employees enough to survive without government subsidies , which means that, whether you shop there or not, you as a taxpayer are supporting Walmart. They also have terrible scheduling practices designed to avoid paying benefits and that make life very difficult for people with families or who might need more than one job, though these practices seem to be improving . However, I'm not blind to the fact that America has created a society where Walmart is necessary. Walmart is far, far from the only corporation to pay such low wages that its employees can only afford to shop at places like Walmart. I thin

I often have a general region in mind that I want to go to but not a specific town. I let the exact location be dictated by the availability of a furnished rental that fits all my requirements. And so after I decided I loosely wanted to be in northwest Arkansas, somewhere in Benton or Washington county, I ended up in Rogers  in the most charming AirBnB walkable to downtown with running trails right outside my cottage door. Old Town Rogers is probably not somewhere you've ever heard of or thought to go on a weekend getaway, but absolutely loved it. Let me suggest you put it on your list for a a few days, a month, or even longer. Come for the weekend! See what's on at the Arkansas Public Theater , then book tickets for Friday night and make an evening  of it with dinner first at Havana Tropical Grill Restaurant , the 120 Tapas Bar , or one of the dozen other great restaurants in walking distance of the old Victory Theater. Afterward, pop over to Club Frisco for a nightcap. Don&

I ended my big summer of travel the same way it started - visiting my friends in Baltimore and DC . Funny enough, I also got to see both of them in Colorado. My Baltimore friends were in Crested Butte for a wedding the same weekend I arrived in Colorado from Utah, so we met for lunch in Gunnison on my way to Salida and their way back to Longmont to see her family. My DC friend flew into Colorado for the wedding I posted about previously, but much like me, she had no desire to hang out in Boulder at all. Instead, she hopped on a bus and chilled with me in Salida for three days before the wedding. So, despite my wandering ways, I've been able to see these lovely ladies several times this year!   Assateague Island This trip was planned a whole year ago, as trips to popular destinations need to be. When the camping reservations for these places open, they sell out almost instantly. You've got to be ready to commit. If you're unfamiliar with Assateague and Chincoteague Islands,

Oh, Colorado! I have such a love/hate relationship with this state. About half an hour after I drove across the border from Utah, I started to regret my choice to come back, almost entirely because of the traffic. Trailers, RVs, and scared tourists consistently go 10-15 mph under the speed limit on winding mountain roads and feel no need to pull over and let the people who know how to drive pass. And there are rarely any passing lanes or opportunities. After about 50 miles of this aggravation in the Telluride/Ridgeway area, I was seriously regretting my decision to come back here this summer. By the time I got to Salida, I was already over being here. But then I settled into Salida and trail runs and unexplored mountain passes and 14ers and aspen trees and all the beauty that this state has that just doesn't exist in any other state I've been to. Seriously. Other states have their own beauty, but nothing is Colorado. When living in Boulder and having to battle the god awful tra

Time in Utah was in my plans for this summer since last summer. Southern Utah has so much unusual hiking and fun desert and canyon exploration that it's impossible to go there often enough. I been to all the hit list places several times - Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce, Zion, Grand Staircase Escalante - and I could go to them all again and again, but what I really wanted to do was hop off I-70 and venture out into the great nothingness of the San Rafael Swell , and that's what I did. But not without saving a dog from getting hit on a 65 mph road, getting befriended by a stray cat at the AirBnB, and celebrating Mormon Invasion Day . Yes, that's a thing. Okay, maybe it's called Pioneer Day, but tomato, tomahto. And it's a much bigger celebration in Utah than July 4th. San Rafael Swell Day 1: Wedge and Buckhorn Recreation Areas My friend and I spent the first day north of I-70 in the recreation areas that are accessed from the town of Castle Dale. In the Wedge Recreation

After driving over 2,000 miles and exploring beautiful Banff , I took a little downtime, first in northern Idaho and then in southwest Idaho. But of course, I had to squeeze some adventuring (and more driving!) in between. Sandpoint, Idaho If you know me at all, you know that I'm a planner. I have no trouble plunking down a large chunk of change to commit to an awesome adventure, even if it's more than a year away like I did with Patagonia . And since I work from home, I want to get the best AirBnB possible that fits my criteria and is in my budget. Sometimes I book those seven months in advance.  But once in a while, plans change and I find something completely off the cuff. For example, back in November 2020, I had booked a second floor place in Asheville, NC, but I realized my poor dog was too old to handle those stairs. So, at the last minute, I opened AirBnB, added all my filters, and looked to see what was available somewhere midway-ish between Enfield, Maine and Pass Chr