Up Next...
Up next is a trip to Dallas ⚖️. May or may not be able to do anything fund. Stay tuned!
Jen Wiles
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Got up in the morning feeling awful and the air quality seemed even worse. Did not want to get stuck on an island with no medical services. So, Scott and I decided to postpone the island for another time. Real bummer because our friend Krista finished her 63 named National Park quest and the purpose was to celebrate with her. But our health comes first. So, Scott and I headed back south to central…
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The original plan was to drive to Copper Harbor, MI, and then take the boat to Isle Royale NP. But Canadian wildfires and TERRIBLE air quality had other ideas. Scott and I decided we would drive Tom to Copper Harbor for the ferry and I’d decide when we got there whether I’d do a day trip to the island. So, we set out northward. First stop was the site in Manitowoc, WI, where the Russian unmanned…
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Flew to Milwaukee to meet Scott and our friend Tom. First stop #lostneededdirections. Then headed to American Family Field to watch the Milwaukee Brewers at their home stadium as part of my MLB stadium quest!
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Took our first Norwegian fjord cruise today from Lysebotn to Lauvvik. Even though it was overcast, the views were great. Was able to see Pulpit Rock from the sea. Then spent the night with Beathe and Erik, our friends we met in Africa. Had a great night catching up and can’t wait to see them again soon!
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Started the day at the Heddal Stave Church. built in the 13th Century using no nails, it is one of 28 remaining Stave Churches in Norway. First waterfall of the day was Omnesfossen. Enjoyed some great scenery as we drove. Stopped at the UNESCO site in Rjukon. Which includes the Vemork Power Plant where the Norwegian Resistance Fighters thwarted Nazi efforts at using the heavy water plant to make…
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(More pictures and content at AdventuresAroundThe.World) Our first day in Oslo was spent getting our campervan from Arctic Campers and getting supplies. We had a few unexpected surprises at the grocery store! Boy this is gonna be an interesting trip! But we were also greeted with some nice forested views. Drive through the town of Honefoss and OMG! This waterfall is amazing! Speed bumps are…
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Extending our time in California before driving home, we met a long-time acquaintance of Scott’s at his burger restaurant, Burger Bench , in Escondido. It was an absolutely fabulous place to grab lunch and I highly recommend! We decided to stay the evening in Temecula, CA, and grabbed dinner at 8bit Brewing.
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I had to fly to Santa Ana, CA, for work June 9-11 and Scott joined me for part of it. After work was done today, Scott and I decided to try out some local breweries for dinner. Outside Synth was this interesting bike rack made to look like a…bike!
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The last day of our trip found us back in Minnesota. However, with almost an entire day before we had to head to the airport, we decided to also knock out some counties in Wisconsin along the Mississippi River. First stop, Granddad Bluff Park, which overlooks the flood plains leading up to the Mississippi River in the distance. Some interesting shapes mowed into grass. We also stopped by the…
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Another day of adventuring in Iowa. I might recommend coming to Readlyn prepared to find “one old GRUMP.” Of course passing through Strawberry Point would have a huge Strawberry in town. Met an acquaintance of Scott’s at Toppling Goliath for lunch. Stopped for a short walk to Dunning’s Springs Waterfall. Burr Oak was another location where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived during her childhood. The…
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We stayed in Ottumwa, Iowa, the home of Radar on MASH. The Visitor Center there has a display dedicated to Radar. Nearby is the Canteen Lunch, which has sold loose meat sandwiches since 1927 and is an iconic place in Ottumwa. It is also the inspiration for the job Roseann had on the show Roseann in Langford, IL. We then stopped by the site of the house in the American Gothic painting. Then stopped…
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Since we stayed in Hannibal, MO, we visited the Mark Twain sites while we were there. We then went to Thousand Hills State Park to see some petroglyphs. Quite disappointing compared to ones out west. We found ourselves in Lucas, IA, the hometown of John L Lewis, the mining and labor leader. Then we were #lostneededdirections and stopped at Full Bloom Brewing for dinner.
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For the second part of the day, we went to the Boyhood home of General John Pershing, most famous for his campaign into Mexico chasing Pancho Villa and his role as General in WWI. The Museum there is actually pretty good (and free)! Then we went to Marceline, MO, the boyhood town of Walt Disney. This is the only ride ever donated by Disney, from Magic Kingdom in California to Marceline, MO. Main…
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One of the main focuses of this trip was for me to mark off the Harry S Truman NHS outside Kansas City, which we did this morning! The Nolan House, which was the home of Harry’s two favorite cousins, is also part of the unit. While not part of the site, we also found his boyhood home. Stopped by the official start of the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon Trails. Next was Fort Osage, one of the…
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One of the first things we stumbled upon today was this beautifully painted “Freedom Rocks.” Each of the 99 Iowa counties has such a rock. We came across two in total. First one: And it had some metal re-creations of our important documents. And the second one: We found a huge Volkswagen Beetle Spider and some other art. We rolled into Stanton, IA, where they have two really unique water towers:…
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Our trip continued into Iowa today, stopping at the site where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, and a manager died in 1959, when their plane went down. Don McLean wrote “The Day The Music Died” about this tragedy. Corn fields….everywhere! We happened to pass by Camp Algona, a WWII German POW camp. Then we came to the weirdest stop yet—The Grotto of the Redemption. Equal parts weird,…
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The second day of our trip started out at Camp Release State Monument-the location where, toward the end of the Dakota conflict, the Dakota Tribe released 296 captives back to the military. Then it was driving more counties and we ended up in Walnut Grove, MN, a location where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived. Specifically, she and the Ingalls family lived “on the banks of plum creek,” and then later…
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This year’s birthday trip started with Scott and I flying to Minneapolis after work on Friday. I had a nice message from Delta waiting for me at my seat. After an uneventful night at a nearby hotel, we got on our way. Scott couldn’t resist another birthday meal at Subway in a crappy Walmart. 😂 Luckily I already had yogurt this morning at the hotel. First real stop was St. Croix National Scenic…
On This Day - May 7th
In…2023 Not a travel day, but on this day in 2023, I was home from the hospital and able to finally put a pin in Rainbow Bridge NM on my NPS map! What a story… 2017 Scott and I did a Four-Corners trip, and we started off today checking out cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde NP . We then went to Canyons of the Ancients National Monument . I love petroglyphs, so afterward we made a stop at Sand Island.…
On This Day - May 6th
In…2019 My Texas weekend wrapped up with a stop at the Military Working Dog Teams NM . This is on an active Army base, so I wasn’t sure how difficult it was going to be to see. As it turned out, not an issue at all. You stop by the visitor shack and present your ID to them. They run a background check and if you pass, they let you on base. This memorial honors all U.S. military working dog…
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We have been trying for probably 8 years to get tickets to the Behind the Fence Tour of the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The tour takes you “behind the fence on Los Alamos National Laboratory property at the historic Pajarito Site, current-day Technical Area 18. Visitors will see the Pond Cabin, which served as an office for Emilio Segrè’s Radioactivity Group studying plutonium; a…
On This Day - May 5th
In…2019 My Texas NPS weekend continued at Padre Island NS . Then onto Palo Alto Battlefield NHP . In May 1846, the U.S. and Mexican groups clashed here. This was the first battle in a two-year war. Then onto my campground for the night.
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It was mostly driving to Los Alamos today. But we did stop in Boise City, Oklahoma. It was here, during WWII, on July 5, 1943, the U.S. Army Air Force B-17 bomber accidentally dropped six practice bombs on the city. The crew got lost during the training mission and accidentally mistook the town’s lights for their actual bombing range.
On This Day - May 4th
In…2019 I had a work trip to Dallas, and I added on a long weekend so I could mark off some NPS units. First up, a nice walk in Big Thicket Nat’l Preserve . Then I found a great campground/campsite that had little huts where I could pitch my tent and have coverage from the weather.