On the White Line

Lots of great hiking this week… alternating days between Devil’s Lake State Park and Mirror Lake State Park in Wisconsin.

I’m laying belly-down on the floor of the RV in the dark. My laptop is in front of me, and I can feel bits of sand jabbing into my elbows. This is RV living.

You see, I’m in a resort parking lot tapping in to their free wi-fi. While the guests in the hotel are enjoying their turn down service, I’m making my RV look unoccupied. That’s why I’m on the floor… so they can’t see my face by the light of the computer.

Now, the worst they could do is ask me to move along, but I’ve got work that needs to be done, and my mobile internet isn’t quite able to get the job done.

I gotta say, reliable highspeed internet is one of the things I miss most while I travel… and when I find a source I’m willing to go through a lot to make the most of it.

This sign gets my attention every time I drive along Highway 41 in Oshkosh, WI. This time, I stopped to get a closer look.

The sign is fantastic… the campground it advertises… well… it’s a (more…)

It feels great to be back with Baby Ita. It would be nice to have Liam here, but I think I can make the most of it.

Anyone who follows us, knows we’re no strangers to boondocking… especially blacktop boondocking courtesy of Walmart. Lately, we’ve been overnighting in all sorts of hook-up-free locations.

It was a Foggy Night in the Walmart Parking Lot

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We just returned to Wisconsin this evening and have loads of catching up to do on the blog. Alas, at the moment, you’ll have to settle for some visual storytelling through a slideshow…

Mom tried to convince me that she could sneak over the Mexican Border by taking the "back road."

My mom flew home two weeks ago, and we didn’t even acknowledge it. To say the least, we’ve gotten a little behind on the blog.

Let me bring you up to speed

Corey and I returned to Palm Springs to participate in the Arts Festival, visit with Corey’s uncle, partake in the swap meet at College of the Desert, spend some time with my friend Erin from college, and spend a few more nights in the “most welcoming Walmart parking lot in the world.” During that time, Corey was also juggling a big freelance project, so it didn’t leave time for much else.

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Although we titled it the “most welcoming Walmart parking lot in the world,” we had to say farewell to our little blacktop home in Palm Desert. Today we traveled 330 miles to say hello to our new home at Picacho Peak State Park in Arizona… one of our favorite places.

Along the way, we stopped near Phoenix to have our generator inspected… the darned thing worked fine one day and the next it only offered up a little click sound.

Luck was on our side, when I pulled off the highway to enter the Cummings Rocky Mountain station on the GPS, I just happened to pick the exit that led right to the place.

Now, it’s time to get some more work done in a gorgeous setting.

Hats off to the citizens and merchants of the nearby town of Eloy, AZ, for banding together to raise money to keep the park open when the state announced they’d be closing it in 2011!

We are back on the road… heading south and west. As last year, we’re bringing Liam’s mom… in the above pic she’s acting as financial advisor.

We haven’t seen sun since Tucson. We’ve driven through strong winds, rain and even a bit of snow, but haven’t seen much of the sun.

I guess that’s okay though, since we’re really only looking at a lot of asphalt… 4 days of about 500 miles each is a lot more roadtime than we’d like. Alas, we had a Tucson show on Sunday and a Milwaukee show on Friday, so the miles are required.

Not much to report… we’re passing the time by listening to podcasts from This American Life, The Moth, This Week in Travel, Amateur Traveler, Storylife and Radio Lab.