In October 2024, Reedi and I had a special trip planned to meet up with our daughter, Ari, in Washington, DC, for her Fall Break. Instead of a quick flight or a boring interstate drive, we decided to make an adventure out of getting to the East Coast! We took our sweet time heading towards DC, with our sights set on exploring the beautiful Outer Banks. We spent a wonderful five days meandering through Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina….
Kicking Off Our Great National Parks Adventure In September 2024, Reedi and I embarked on what turned out to be our most adventurous trip yet! We loaded up Nigel and pointed him west, leaving Louisiana with our sights set on the incredible national parks out west. Our very first stop, still close to home, was Memphis, Tennessee. Of course, you can’t pass through Memphis without paying homage to the King, so we pulled over to snag a few quick photos…
In May, 2024, we took Ari to Monroe, Louisiana, so she could catch her ride up to Cimarron, New Mexico. It was her second summer in a row working at Philmont Scout Ranch! After dropping her off on that Saturday morning, Reedi and I pointed Nigel north into Arkansas. We had a fantastic long weekend planned filled with sightseeing, hiking, good food, and even a little crystal mining! It was a great way to spend some time together after saying…
Our daughter, Ari, discovered several months back that one of our favorite bands was playing in Atlanta. Fortunately, this coincided with a break in school for her. So, I decided to meet her in Atlanta, catch the concert, then whisk her away to North Georgia for a quick hike on the Appalachian Trail. I left home on Wednesday, January 24th, and meandered my way to Atlanta. I stopped at the Conecuh Sausage Company Store in Alabama on my way there…
In January, Reedi and I took advantage of the 3-day weekend to travel to St. Augustine Florida to see the Nights of Lights and experience the charm of America’s oldest city. We enjoyed our evening there hopping in and out of the many shops, having a hearty English dinner at a public house, and enjoying some ice cream at Kilwin’s Chocolates. We left St. Augustine on Sunday and made our way south along the Atlantic coast to Flagler Beach before…
It’s December here in Louisiana and we took advantage of one of the first cool, crisp weekends to take a road trip 4 hours north to Natchitoches, La. This was the 97th Natchitoches Festival of Lights, and we’ve always wanted to make a trip to the City of Lights to experience the festivities. Our daughter lived in Natchitoches for 3 years as she attended high school at the nearby Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts. However, we had…
The summers in Louisiana are brutal. Temperatures are in the high 90s and humidity pushes the heat index well into triple digits. Heather and I have been wanting to make a trip down to the Southwest Louisiana and the Atchafalaya Basin, but it’s simply not a place we want to be in a van with no A/C. So, we’ve been having this little weekend trip sketched out for a little while not and were just waiting to pull the trigger….
On Thursday, Reedi messaged me mentioning that there was a Blue Angels Homecoming in Pensacola this weekend. Within an hour we had decided that we were going to be in Florida for the weekend. We left after work on Friday and headed to the Florida Welcome Center were we spent Friday night. Early saturday, we head to Fort Pickens Park and found a parking spot along the sea wall across the Bay from the Pensacola Naval Air Station where we…
After spending much of the summer of 2023 in East Tennessee, Reedi and I planned a round about way to travel back home to Louisiana. Trying to knock a few states off of our 50-by-50 bucket list, we decided on a road trip through the Midwest that would include Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa (new), Wisconsin, Minnesota (new for Reedi), North Dakota (new), South Dakota (new), Nebraska (new), Kansas (new for Robert), Oklahoma (new for Reedi), Arkansas, Mississippi, and back…
Reedi and I spent much our Summer in East Tennessee visiting family. We spent the weeks working (remotely) and visiting, and would try to get away for the weekends and see the natural beauty of East Tennessee and the Smokey Mountains. On this Saturday in September, we visited the Monroe Life Hot Air Balloon Festival. We didn’t know what to expect, but found a wonderful and relaxing evening watching the glow of the balloons.