Before getting into the stats, I’ll share a thought I had recently that’s probably worth diving into with a therapist. Taylor and I are on the roadtrip of a lifetime; it feels like we’re just stacking a series of incredible long weekend and weeklong trips on top of each other. Without a doubt, this has been one of the most positive stretches of my life. I’m learning about myself, my wife, and our relationship. There’s an onslaught of natural beauty, and I’m absorbing as much as my brain can handle, leaving the crumbs of what I can’t consume by the side of the road for others to enjoy. Many people have told me they’re jealous or wish they could do something similar.

Meanwhile, I’m finding myself experiencing FOMO when I reach out to my people to see how they’re doing, and they’re like, “Oh, I just got back from this incredible trip!” Italy, Croatia, Tanzania, France, Spain - the list goes on. And I’m thinking to myself: when do we get to do that trip? Why didn’t we do that instead of this? I think it’s natural. I think most of us have thoughts like this when we hear about what our friends and family are doing that we’re not.

Those thoughts made me stop and think for a minute, and they reminded me that one of my big, ill-defined goals on this trip was to work on myself. This FOMO is helping me define the goal more. Remind myself every day how lucky I am. Remind myself where I am. Remind myself who I’m with. Be present. Be present. Be present. Try to make it a habit I can carry forward.

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In the spirit of being present, let’s take a look back.

In my last post, I expressed significant concern about wildfire smoke. My concerns were warranted; the air quality was so bad at one of our campgrounds two weeks ago, we packed up and left one evening because we were worried about sleeping in Bonita in those conditions. We figured a hotel room would at least have filtered air. The Hotel Tonight app has come in handy a few times on our trip, and it helped us find a decent rate for those two nights.

But we’ve also lucked out. Cooler temperatures, rain, and shifting winds all contributed to improvements. During the last week in Golden, British Columbia, we had 1.5 days where we limited our time outdoors, but for the most part, the air quality ended up being good, so it didn’t really affect our last 7 days or so.

Now we’re significantly further north in Jasper National Park, where the smoke from fires south and west has rarely been a problem, so for now, we’re happy we don’t have to worry much about smoke (except from much more local sources: campfires at neighboring sites).

Golden was a great place to stay for a week. While the food scene there was as meh as it gets, it was geographically a perfect spot nestled in the valley between Canada’s Yoho and Glacier National Parks, so we were able to explore parts of both parks. We were also close enough to Radium Hot Springs to venture there for another nice hot soak one day. I should quickly shout out Ethos in Golden. Their cafe and bakery are both phenomenal and would be successful in any city; we stopped in at least four times during the week.

I also recently shared news of Bonita’s leaky window at the foot of our bed. The good news is that we’ve had several rainy occasions since the leak, and for whatever reason, no more signs of a leak. Maybe the previous rain was much heavier? Who knows, but for now, we’re taking it as a win.

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And now those stats I promised you at the beginning. Since May 13:

• Bonita has traveled 7,380.2 miles (that’s 11,877.3 kilometers for our 2 Canadian readers). That total represents the miles between each destination, not the driving we do once we’re in a particular area

• We’ve traveled through 10 US states and 9 of 10 Canadian provinces; apologies to Prince Edward Island that we didn’t make time to enjoy you

• We’ve visited six state parks and two national parks in the US, plus six provincial parks and seven national parks in Canada

• We’ve completed25 hikes covering 125.8 miles (202.5 kilometers) while gaining 22,688 feet (6,915 meters) in elevation

• We’ve stayed in 16 campgrounds - some exceptional, some, um, not so much

• We’ve seen our share of wildlife, including some we don’t have back home, including spruce grouse, ground squirrels, and Rocky Mountain (or Bighorn) sheep. We’ve seen lots of evidence of some bigger animals like moose and bears, but we haven’t laid eyes on any of those quite yet. While we saw several snakes back east, we haven’t seen any as we’ve made our way west, despite having seen a sign about a snake migration.

• We’ve worked out and showered at 15 Planet Fitness locations

• We’ve gone bowling exactly one time. You may not know this about Taylor and I, but we own our own bowling balls and shoes. That equipment didn’t make the trip unfortunately, and our balls would have done us no good in Canada, where five pin bowling is the norm. The balls fit in the palm of your hand, have no holes, and you get to role three of them per frame. The pins have different values, and a perfect game score of 450. It was fun to try it for sure, but I think we’ll stick with what we grew up with going forward.

• We’ve spotted 11 Nissan Cubes, four gray, two black, two blue, one sage green, one red, and one white

• We’ve met zero fans of Donald Trump in Canada

• We’ve had one helluva time

In some earlier posts, I shared some stats regarding how many gas stations we’d visited and how much we’d spent on fuel. For my own sanity, I had to stop tracking that. When we need to check our monthly budget, we see what we’re spending in the Monarch app. But even then, it’s not worth looking at that particular category. It’s not discretionary spending. It is what it is. Thanks, Don.

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Until next time, enjoy the upcoming Labor Day holiday. And enjoy some photos.

*For better or worse, I did not leverage AI tools while crafting this post.

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The open road

Marc took these photos in Cape Breton Highlands, Nova Scotia.

In and around the Finger Lakes

One of the best cameras to document vanlife is a point and shoot camera that our friend Dave M. gave us several years ago. It’s easy to use and takes great photos, plus it has a self-timer.

Bonita in the wild

Marc took the first five photos in this gallery; I especially love #2 and 3.

Cooking

Coffee and clean dishes. Marc is writing a post about cooking in the van (and cleaning, which is the worst part!)

We’re continuing to take vanlife photos and will share another set later.

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For film nerds only…

Bonita gallery

• 1 & 2: Olympus Stylus Epic | Candido 400

• 3-5: Olympus Stylus Epic | Kodacolor 200

• 6: Olympus OM1 | Fuji Acros II

• 7: Holga 120 | Reflx Color 100

• 8: Olympus Stylus Epic } Fuji Superia 400 (expired)

Cooking gallery

• 1: Olympus Stylus Epic | Candido 400

• 2: Pentax 645nii | Kodak Portra 800

• 3: Olympus Stylus Epic | AgfaColor HDC 200 (very, very expired)

After four nights at Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in Alberta, we headed west to Kootenay National Park in British Columbia. Many of the raging fires are in the southwest part of British Columbia, and the difference moving further west was noticeable. (I want to take this opportunity to point out that despite the political rhetoric, there are also forest fires in the U.S. right now).

Our campground at Kootenay was located at Marble Canyon: a limestone slot canyon with glacial waters rushing through, carving the stone. While this process takes hundreds and thousands of years, you can see where the rushing water has carved out gaps and bowls in the rock. You have the sense that you’re watching the carving of the rock in real time.

We visited Marble Canyon after dinner on our first night and were the only people there! That time of day, the water looked milky instead of turquoise, as if you could see the water carrying all the mineral sediment.

The next day, we ran almost 4 miles in the campground, which is located at 5,000 feet elevation. The campground is also quite hilly, so it was a challenging run. After lunch, we headed back over to Marble Canyon. This time, it was much more crowded. We didn’t have a set plan and decided to hike to the Paint Pots where cold mineral springs bubble up through the ground. When the water hits the air, it transforms to an orangish color, creating an ochre pigment. This ochre earth and water collects in ponds that are a vibrant green, surrounded by orange ground. The entire landscape is vastly different from the limestone canyon a few miles away.

We trekked six miles that day, and while it was an easy walk, our feet were tired. We scrapped plans for a difficult hike to a glacier the following day, and opted to head to Radium Hot Springs, located in the southern end of the national park. We hit the road early and arrived by 9 am to avoid the crowds (successfully). The air temperature was in the 50s, so easing into the hot springs was wonderful.

The naturally occurring hot mineral springs are diverted into pools managed by Parks Canada. While you lose the mystique of finding hot springs in the wild, it’s reassuring that the park requires everyone to shower before entering the pools, and they test the water for bacteria and other gross stuff. There is also a colder water swimming pool and a cold plunge – both mineral fed, too.

Our bodies needed the mineral soak. Rejuvenated, we stopped in the town for lunch and a round of mini golf, decorated with multiple gnomes at every hole. The mini golf course was a bit dilapidated, and the gnomes had seen better days. I had a hole in one on the 10^th, but Marc beat me by three strokes.

We drove back to our campground, and on the 50-minute drive, we noticed that the haze we’d seen the past few days was getting worse. At our campsite, we could no longer see any of the towering peaks around us. The wildfire smoke had settled in. The air quality was at yellow level, or moderate, but being outside was unpleasant. Ash was floating in the air, landing on our camp chairs. We hunkered down in the van and watched the Charlotte FC versus Toronto FC game. Charlotte blew a 2 point lead and the game concluded in a 3-3 tie.

The hazy air also meant we wouldn’t get a chance to hike to the glacier in Kootenay the following day.

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Revised strategy with the wildfire smoke

After Kootenay, we drove to Golden, British Columbia, meant to be our homebase for exploring Glacier National Park and Yoho National Parks. However, the air quality deteriorated, and Saturday morning arrived with an orange air quality alert and a thick haze, giving the landscape a surreal glow.

Our strategy now is to look at the multiple smoke, air quality, and weather forecast apps and maps and adjust our plans if needed. For example, on our way to Golden, we drove to Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park with the strategy that if the air was bad, we wouldn’t hike. When we arrived, it was a bit hazy, but we had blue skies that didn’t smell of smoke. The lake is stunning, so the parking lot and main viewpoint were packed with people. We walked an easy 3.2 mile loop – the crowds dissipated about ¼ of a mile into the trail. We often seek out longer and more challenging trails, but this one was incredibly beautiful and reminded us of Lake Louise in Banff.

Golden: Fine.

While we’ve been pleasantly surprised with many destinations (hello, Winnipeg!), so far, Golden is okay. It makes me pine for Winnipeg, where there was so much we didn’t get to explore. Because Golden is a base for rafting, hiking, biking, skiing, and more, I figured it might have Asheville, NC-level vibes. Nope. Based on our early intel, there are 3-4 decent restaurants, one excellent café and bakery, and one brewery, which we haven’t tried yet. There is a small “downtown” with a few shops close to a lovely covered pedestrian bridge along a river. It’s a nice enough place, but it doesn’t check all the boxes for me.

We’ll use our time in Golden to catch up on laundry and administrative tasks, including planning the next few months of our adventures. And, as the air allows, we’ll get into Yoho and Glacier for hiking.

Despite the hazy skies, the Rockies are still incredibly beautiful, and the fires are a reminder how fragile and resilient the environment is. In Kootenay, many of the peaks were covered with burnt tree carcasses from a 2003 fire, and new trees that hadn’t reached the height of their fallen brethren. While I know wildfires are a natural occurrence, the number of wildfires that are hitting this part of Canada and the U.S. every year is abnormal. The heat exacerbates them, and the lack of rain makes the land so much more susceptible.

Our next planned stop is Jasper National Park, which is far enough north to mostly avoid the worst of wildfire smoke. We may go to Jasper a few days early if we’re thwarted in Golden, or we’ll enjoy a longer stretch of downtime here. At this point, we don’t think we’ll abandon the Canadian Rockies entirely.

Until next time…

Marc is planning a post about cooking in the van, so stay tuned. And I’ll post another film photography series this coming week.

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Taylor had a fantastic idea for us to collaborate on a post to commemorate the milestone. I said, “Oh, that’s super cool. Let’s make it an actual conversation.” Then Taylor just looked at me and, without actually saying anything, communicated, “Um, yeah dude. That’s what I meant.” So here it is, our conversation:

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Marc: This isn’t going to be awkward at all, interviewing each other about our first 100 days. Let’s make sure we keep eye contact the entire time.

Maybe we should start by thinking back to the beginning. Do you remember how you felt when we started?

Taylor: I felt a sense of nervous anticipation, and ready to get started after talking about it and planning for it.

Marc: Yeah, same. It’s interesting because at that point, we’d already been out of our jobs for about 6 weeks. So I remember all the work stress had faded away into the background by then. That made it easier to be excited. Fast forward to today, how are you feeling now about this whole thing?

Taylor: With the two trips to Virginia, in some ways I feel like we’re just now settling in. I’m not sure we’ve found the right balance of campground stays versus hotel/Airbnb stays. I value both the van stays and the times we’ve had in Airbnbs. I find it challenging to transition back and forth, which I know you’ve experienced. Not sure we have a solution though?

Marc: I think about this all the time. I think about how by the end of a camping stretch, I’m so excited to transition to an urban setting and a hotel or Airbnb, and then by the end of that urban stretch, I’m so excited to get back into nature and hang out with Bonita for a stretch. I agree we haven’t quite dialed in the right length of time for one versus the other. Our longest camping stretch was 8 nights. And that felt about right. I think we have a 10-day stretch coming up.

Taylor: I know two of our collective struggles in campgrounds have been showers and the general cleanliness of the facilities, and being able to stock up on fresh produce. Both of those sound like very privileged complaints, but I think it’s true. Anything else that has been a challenge living out of a van?

Marc: [Sigh] Lots of little things. Many things with Bonita herself. The issues with the power. The hot water not really working. Needing to replace all the latches. Now the leaky window.

Then the challenge of constantly trying to figure out where the perfect storage location is for any given item.

And bugs. Just, all the bugs.

To your point about just starting to find our groove, my reactions to the little annoyances have changed over time. I take them more in stride now. The van rage has subsided quite a bit. Do you agree?

Taylor: Ha, yes! I think being able to name van rage has helped a lot – for both of us. On the flip side, there have been some unexpected joys, like making popcorn in the van on a rainy day and watching a movie. Plus we’ve seen some incredibly beautiful and interesting places. Any highlights for you?

Marc: You brought up this place earlier today, so that could be why it’s so top of mind, but the place I remember just being so spectacular was Cape Breton National Park in Nova Scotia. The beach right near our campsite, where the river flowed in… just incredible… I can list 10 more from there, but what comes to mind first for you? Sorry if I just stole yours.

Taylor: Newfoundland was a top experience for me: I loved its rugged, wild beauty. I’m still formulating my thoughts on why I loved it so much, so I should write about it. A real unexpected treat was Neys Provincial Park in Ontario, which is right on the shores of Lake Superior.

Marc: I won’t soon forget swimming in Lake Superior. I think the coldest water I’ve ever swam in. But damn it was refreshing. I kept wanting to get back in!

So national parks have been top highlights for both of us so far. We’ve had lots of time in cities too. Which moments stand out from our urban adventures so far?

Taylor: One funny memory is the time in Portland, Maine, when we thought we were going to an improv jazz show and instead it was an improv comedy show. Another recent surprise was the restaurant scene in Winnipeg, which blew us away.

Marc: Yes! Such an incredible food and bar scene in Winnipeg. What a happy surprise that was.

For me, Portland, Maine, was absolutely a highlight on the whole. Just a cool town on so many levels. Burlington and Toronto were also so much fun. So much to do and see in both towns.

Taylor: You mentioned Portland – that and Acadia are high on my list for a return. (And Toronto for sure). Where else would you want to visit again?

Marc: I’m trying to think of somewhere I wouldn’t want to visit again. I feel like I’d go back to most places we’ve been. If I have to choose just one, Rochester, NY, comes to mind. Maybe that’s my top pick because we were there for only a few hours. In that time, though, we noticed there’s a lot to uncover and probably worth a long weekend trip some time.

Taylor: Rochester allowed us to have social time with the photo walk and meeting up with Mike. That has been a challenge for us – not having social time. I think I thought we would meet more people at campgrounds that we would hang out with? Maybe that seems naive now.

Marc: I knew I was going to miss my people, but I couldn’t have predicted how much I’d miss regular socialization with other humans. On the whole, that might be the highest ranking set of highlights from our trip so far… just the interactions we’ve had with our people along the way.

I agree about meeting people. I thought we’d be interacting with other campers more somehow. That hasn’t happened a whole lot.

Taylor: For sure. We’ve met and chatted with other people at campgrounds, but no one we connected with.

Marc: That was pretty crazy when people staying at a neighboring campsite turned out to live about 10 miles from us in North Carolina.

Taylor: Yeah, that was wild! But we never thought, “oh, let’s exchange info and hang out with them when we get back.”

Marc: Ha, yeah, good point. Most people just keep to themselves. And lots of our camping neighbors have been families with kids. We’ll see if the trend continues after school’s back in session.

In terms of not socializing as much as we would at home, any feelings about us spending so much time together, just the two of us? I bet some folks are wondering how that’s going for us.

Taylor: Well, we generally communicate well, and we know each other’s quirks. I think we’ve done a good job about being honest if something is bothering one of us and then talking through it. As you know, I like my alone time (as you do).

Marc: I sure do.

Taylor: For me, it’s been good to have even small amounts of time apart. If you hit the washrooms earlier than me in the morning, I enjoy having solo time with a cup of coffee. A few times I’ve woken up earlier and read WaPo or NYT, which is something I would do at home, too. Those small moments are important for me.

Or, if we’re both at a campsite reading, or you’re reading and I’m journaling, that also feels like time apart because we’re not interacting. We’ve each volunteered to run an errand solo for some alone time. How have you managed to stay sane with me around all the time? Lol.

Marc: Same thoughts as you. I try to make the most of the alone time I get. I’m glad we communicate as well as we do, and this experience makes me want to work on it and do even better. I think I’m realizing more in the moment when I’m annoying you and can course correct.

At the end of the day, we’re really lucky that we like each other so much and have this opportunity to spend this time together. I try to remind myself of that too.

Taylor: 100%. So what are you looking forward to in the months ahead?

Marc: Looking forward to? Wow, everything. We just had a conversation about what the next stretch should look like after we leave the Canadian Rockies, and there’s a lot to be excited about. And there’s the Canadian Rockies! After having been to Banff a few years back and getting a taste, I’m so excited to explore a lot more of this region.

After that? I’d say Yellowstone National Park and Baja California are top of mind as future spots I’m excited about.

I’ll also share that I’m worried about wildfires and their resulting smoke throwing us some curveballs over the next few weeks. Anything you’re stressing over as we look forward?

Taylor: The wildfire smoke for sure. We’ve had our first experiences with it the last couple days. The forecast said “local smoke” and we’ve found there were times when you could smell smoke and it looked hazy, and then 20 minutes later it was clear with blue skies. I’m hoping that’s the worst of it we get, but we’re in the area until early September.

Well, I doubt anyone is still reading this… should we wrap it up?

Marc: I think everyone is still reading and craving more! Seriously though, this has been fun. Great idea, Taylor! Hopefully we can slow down a little more over the next 100 days.

Thanks to everyone who reads these and gives us feedback, and keep those comments coming. This blog has been a great motivator for us to document this once-in-a-lifetime road trip, and knowing people are enjoying following us along the way has been rewarding.

What do you wish we talked about here regarding our first 100 days? Let us know, and we can answer your questions in the comments or in an upcoming post. You know we love to hear from you!

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When I started writing this post, Thursday, August 13, at 5:35pm MT, we had checked into our campsite at Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in Alberta, deep within the Canadian Rockies. We had made it, but we hadn’t yet seen the majestic mountain views due to dense clouds and rain. Luckily, subsequent days brought clearing skies.

When we checked in, a park employee told us he hasn’t seen the mountains in about two weeks, not due to rain, but due to wildfire smoke, with several fires burning in British Columbia and Washington State, smoke has been a real problem here.

I’m legitimately concerned about wildfires. We’re planning to be in this general area through September 9 before crossing the border back into the US. After the rain passed, we’ve had mostly clear skies; Saturday brought perfect conditions for a hike. Sunday the morning was clear, but a bit of haze settled in later in the day. If the air quality forecasts dictate, we’re mentally preparing ourselves to abandon our plans and drive somewhere less impacted. Unfortunately, air quality forecasts aren’t especially accurate outside 24 - 36 hours, and things can change. We’ve been lucky to date, and we hope we continue to be lucky.

A few reflections

If Taylor and I had the financial means to fully retire at this moment and do this whole van life thing permanently, would we? No. Hell no. Could we? I mean, if the shit hits the fan and society truly begins to crumble around us, I think we could do it. We’ve learned a lot about how to live in a 72-square-foot space.

The thing is, we haven’t really been doing the van life thing. We’re currently in the middle of a nine-day camping run, and just like our longer van stays before, I know I’ll be eager to move into our next Airbnb when this stretch is up.

I love the flexibility Bonita gives us. We can go to sleep and wake up right in the heart of some of the most stunning natural landscapes on the planet. We can often walk to trailheads from our campsite. It’s certainly cheaper to camp than to stay in an Airbnb or hotel.

On the flip side, there are challenges that can wear you down over time. For instance, the showers and washrooms are often not great. I don’t really want to brush my teeth or shave in the washrooms because I don’t really want to set any of my stuff down on the counters, if they even have a counter to set stuff on. Many of the campgrounds we’ve stayed at recently don’t have flush toilets within walking distance. That means vault or pit toilets, and if you’re not familiar with those, I’ll just say they’re far from luxurious – essentially permanent port-a-lets.

I was certified a level 8 germaphobe by the Intergalactic Germaphobia Society (IGS) decades ago, and while this experience has forced me to let go of some of that (my latest IGS assessment came back level 6), it’s still tough sometimes. Who knows, maybe in another 3 months, I won’t hesitate to walk unnerved into a vault toilet when nature calls.

A couple Bonita updates

Let’s start with the good news. After a rocky start to the project, we were able to replace our DC-DC charger! This is a huge deal. We can now charge our house battery just by driving.

As noted in a previous post, our original charger died. Luckily, it was under warranty, and Raft Tiger Vans (the folks who built out Bonita for us) worked with the manufacturer to ship us a new one. That wasn’t an easy thing to coordinate, but we got it done. They shipped it to our Calgary hotel.

Special shout out to Daryl (Darryl? Darrell?) and Charlene, the complete strangers who helped us successfully knock out this project. We have a Craftsman travel tool set that has come in handy a dozen or more times on this trip, including with this project; however, it doesn’t contain a tool that was critical for this project: a skinny flathead screwdriver to detach and then reattach one of the wires to the charger. After checking the camp store to no avail, I approached strangers sitting in the adjacent “lounge” area. Daryl overheard me asking the first group, walked over, listened to what I needed, and then escorted me out to his pickup truck where he was pleased to show me his full set of tiny, long, skinny screwdrivers. After I put it to use to successfully replace the charger, I had a nice chat with Daryl and his wife Charlene; I hope they enjoy the waves of good Karma that are coming their way.

Another shout out to friend of the blog, Benny Folk (mentioned in multiple posts), for being a sounding board as we tried to figure out some power issues before starting this project. Benny is truly a gem.

And now for the bad news. Bonita has sprung a leak. Big sigh. We woke up one morning after a rainy day and night, and while making the bed I realized the bedding at the foot of the bed was soaking wet. Well, it appears the adjacent window is leaking. So as one problem is solved, another presents itself. We notified Raft Tiger, and they’re going to help us troubleshoot and provide ideas for how to fix it. In the meantime, it’s tough to root against rain when it’s so desperately needed to help extinguish area fires. Another big sigh.

Let’s talk about Winnipeg

Since our August 3 post, we’ve made our way from Ontario to the western edge of Alberta. After departing Toronto, we camped for eight nights in a few provincial parks. We were supposed to camp for nine nights, but the washrooms and showers at the last campground were so gross, we bailed a night early and headed for Winnipeg.

Like most (all?) of you, Winnipeg, Manitoba’s capital city, was not on my list of international cities to visit before I die, but we ended up loving it. A city with approximately 850,000 residents, it’s nothing to sneeze at in terms of size, but we just weren’t expecting Winnipeg to offer as much as it did, especially in terms of the restaurant scene.

Our first day, we went to The Leaf, Winnipeg’s newish botanic garden. We’re big fans of botanic gardens and tend to seek them out when we travel. This one didn’t disappoint. Their tropical biome is probably the single best section within any botanic garden we’ve visited; it was incredibly well designed and executed.

Throughout our time in Winnipeg, we had fantastic food and beverage. We talked earlier in our trip about Portland, Maine, and how for a city of its size, it has an incredible food scene rivaling much bigger cities. I’d say the same about Winnipeg. We commented to one of our servers at a restaurant that we were very impressed with the dining scene, and he said, “well, when it’s freezing cold 9 months a year, you need to give people a really good reason to go out.”

We used our time in Winnipeg wisely based on our mental state coming in. Taylor and I have reflected about our time on the road so far, and we agree that we’ve been generally too busy. We need to slow down. Knowing we’re going to be very active during our time in the Rockies (weather/smoke permitting), we took it easy in Winnipeg.

The pinnacle of relaxation came with our Nordic spa day. I won’t bore you with too many details, but we each got massages, enjoyed pools of various temperatures, ate lunch in our robes in their restaurant, and lounged in their beautiful outdoor lounge area, reading, and even dozing off for a while. I think we were on the premises for about 6 hours - what a lovely day!

Then there was Regina

Please pronounce it Reh-jī-nah, not Reh-jē-nah. Regina is the capital city of Saskatchewan, and significantly smaller than Winnipeg with a population of approximately 250,000. We stopped there for just one night, so we didn’t have time to explore too much, but it has a pretty downtown with cool old buildings that have been very well maintained. We had a nice meal in the bar of our hotel and a great sleep.

The next morning, we ate some breakfast, worked out in the hotel gym, and hit the road for Calgary.

Can’t forget Dinosaur Provincial Park

This was our first stop in Alberta after leaving Regina (again, it’s pronounced Reh-jī-nah). I’m guessing Taylor will want to write more in depth about this place because it deserves more than I’m giving it here. It’s a badlands landscape where they’ve discovered and preserved more dinosaur remains than anywhere else on the planet. If you ever head to Alberta to visit Banff or anywhere else, it’s absolutely worth visiting this park. Ideally you can camp there for a couple nights like we did.

Time to stock up

Calgary is another nice city. If you find yourself traveling to Banff or another gorgeous park out here in the Canadian Rockies, you’ll more than likely fly into Calgary. I’d recommend staying there for a few nights as part of your trip.

It was another short stop for us at just one night, but we have a way of getting a feel for a city. And we feel like Calgary is worthy of a 3-night stay for sure. We had 3 great meals there and stocked up for our upcoming camping stint.

Entering grizzly country

Upon arriving at our first Canadian Rockies destination, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, or as Taylor likes to refer to it, Peter Loghead Provincial Park, we were greeted with a flashing roadside sign: Bears Active in Area. Then when we checked into our campground, they informed us the area was under an official bear warning.

This isn’t the first time we’ve been to areas inhabited by grizzlies, so we purchased some bear spray at an outdoor store outside Calgary on our way here – one of those items you definitely want on hand but never want to use.

For those of you who don’t hike or camp a lot, it might sound scary. Supposedly there are many bears in the area, grizzlies and black bears, but these animals want as much to do with us as we do with them. So the likelihood of an encounter is very low. And if you do see one, the likelihood they become aggressive is also quite low. You just want to be prepared.

This area is also teeming with Rocky Mountain sheep, cougars, moose, mule deer, and countless other wildlife. Just like the bears, it’d be cool to see one from afar, but the chances are slim because they hear us coming a mile away and act accordingly. We’ve seen countless crows and ground squirrels so far, and a grouse, but none of the big animals just yet.

The real headline should be just how incredibly gorgeous this place is. The photos do no justice of course, but I’ll share some anyway. We’ve been here just over two full days now, and it’s exciting that we’ll be in this general area until September 9 before heading into Montana.

Lastly, it’s mid August, and we can’t believe the temperatures we’ve experienced across Canada. With just a few warm days getting into the 80s, we’ve experienced mostly highs in the 60s and 70s. Here in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, we’ve needed all layers on the bed each night with lows dipping just below 40. Pretty nice for someone who loathes the heat and humidity of Charlotte summers.

*For better or worse, I did not leverage AI tools while crafting this post.

We ended up only having two nights in Acadia; on our last morning, we took the photos below with our pinhole camera. We typically collaborate on the pinhole photos since they’re more involved.

We hiked Cadillac Mountain in Acadia, which was a tough almost 9-mile hike with 1,600 feet of elevation gain. Sometimes when we are on longer hikes, we carry easier-to-use cameras. This time, a plastic camera with Lomochrome Purple, which is a very unique film that creates a look that sounds psychedelic: “blue becomes green, green becomes purple, yellow becomes pink, and red stays red.”

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Scarborough, Maine

Our campground in Scarborough, which is a bit outside of Portland, was close to beautiful marshland. This film is an unusual one: an expired German film, Perutz Color 400, that my friend Alec sent me. Marc and I both shot these photos by the marsh.

Paul Bunyan in Bangor

We diverted to Bangor to fly back and forth to Virginia. We were there one night and we didn’t take any photos, except these photos of Paul Bunyan. Marc parked the van while I ran and took these photos, and when I came back, two people had pulled over to ask about the van build.

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Let us know what you want to see! I know a lot of our followers don’t shoot film, so thank you for indulging me when I share details. Shout out to Dave K. for his funny text message when he was sending us a photo of our cat, Phife: “taken with a Leica p34a kodachrome on vintage velum developed in darkroom w/low level uv shades.” It’s total nonsense, but I realize my film details may sound like nonsense too!

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Even though this week has included many hours on the road, it’s been great to explore. We’ve found beautiful driving vistas, waterfalls, Lake Superior, easy hikes, and excellent weather with highs not exceeding 75 and lows in the high 50s-low 60s (and a bit of rain).

The joy of the roadside attraction

Strangely enough, we haven’t stopped at many random roadside sights, until this segment. (I’m kicking myself that we didn’t visit the tallest filing cabinet structure in Burlington, Vermont). While looking for a place to stop and eat lunch en route to our second provincial park, I found Wawa, Ontario, which is famous for having a large Canada Goose sculpture – both the original and a new version.

The two large Canada Goose sculptures, plus a third smaller one on a roof, were worth the quick diversion. You have to imagine someone proposing the idea decades ago: “people will stop in Wawa to visit the goose sculpture…” Wawa is the almost halfway point of the Trans-Canda Highway, commonly referred to as the TCH. The newer, larger goose, sits overlooking the TCH.

The TCH is one of the longest routes of its kind, crossing all 10 Canadian provinces. We’ve driven on a very large section of it already in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and New Brunswick, and then we picked it up again in Quebec when we crossed back into Canada from Vermont en route to Ontario. I’m not sure why I find so much joy in driving on this road: When we got back on the TCH in Ontario – I exclaimed “the TCH” – and Marc had no idea why I was so enthused.

The TCH is different than the U.S. highway system. In many places, it’s only 2 lanes, with an occasional third lane that opens on each side for passing. The TCH also changes numbers throughout.

Further down the road in the town of White Rock is a Winnie the Pooh sculpture – apparently “the birthplace of Winnie the Pooh.” My mom was a huge AA Milne (author of Winnie the Pooh books before Disney), and I knew he was British and not Canadian, so I looked up the history, which is strange to say the least.

A bear cub was orphaned by a hunter and brought into the town of White Rock, where it was sold to a British soldier, who named it Winnie, after his hometown of Winnipeg. The bear eventually wound up in the London Zoo, where AA Milne would take his son, Christopher Robin, who added “Pooh” to the name. The whole story raises a lot of questions.

Unexpected Provincial Parks

We didn’t spend much time researching the best places to stay for this segment – our goal was simply to connect Toronto to the Canadian Rockies. So, we’ve been pleasantly surprised with the two provincial parks that we’ve called home this week. (Jury is out on the third one where we checked in Sunday night).

Chutes Provincial Park is relatively small, with a campground, a beach for swimming, and one trail. It has multiple waterfalls, with one main waterfall that feeds into a small beach and swimming area before the river continues. The trail is relatively easy and takes you to plenty of waterfall views.

Neys Provincial Park is on Lake Superior with hiking trails and campgrounds adjacent to the water, and a long, sandy beach. The water is so clear, and also cold! Having grown up going to Mid-Atlantic beaches where the water in the summer feels like refreshing bathwater, I didn’t think I would want to swim in Lake Superior.

On our third day at Neys, it was a balmy 75 and very sunny. The afternoon before brought torrential rain, so we wanted to enjoy the improved weather. We set up our chairs on the beach overlooking Lake Superior. Once we saw several people in the water claiming that it wasn’t “that cold”, we decided to don our swimsuits. It was a shock to get in – and refreshing. Our feet sunk into the squishy sand, which didn’t have any shell or rock fragments.

The third park on this segment was supposed to be Quetico Provincial Park; However, it’s closed due to nearby forest fire activity. Because it was a holiday weekend in Canada, we struggled to find campsites with availability. Using the Parks Ontario website, we found Sandbar Lake Provincial Park, which was on the route to Winnipeg, our next stop. It’s a very small and very remote park.

Driving to Sandbar Lake, I thought we might see hazy, wildfire smoke skies. We drove through Thunder Bay which has active wildfire warnings, and the TCH had warning signs about travel through the area. Not yet: Blue skies and good air quality. We are still worried about air quality and smoke as we continue west into areas with larger wildfires.

Power paranoia

As Marc shared in his last post, our DC-DC converter isn’t working, which means we haven’t been able to charge our van batteries while driving. After two nights at Chutes where we had “shore” power, we headed to Neys, where we wouldn’t have power. A panel in the van displays how much power we have as a percentage. We started at Neys with 100% power, and then nervously watched our power usage. To conserve power, we cooked on our outdoor camp stove, used solar string lights inside the van, charged devices with a power block, used a rechargeable fan instead of the van’s fan, and didn’t turn on our satellite internet unless absolutely necessary.

To ensure we can get a new DC-DC charger covered under warranty, we had to buy a multimeter to check the amps or something. Clearly Marc has been managing this aspect of the challenge! Thank you to our friend and subscriber Benny for being available for questions. We drove to Marathon, the nearest town to Neys, to hit up a hardware store for that multimeter (which I always want to call an altimeter or a millimeter. I was never meant to be an electrical engineer.)

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After 4 nights at Neys, our power level was 67%. We gained a bit of solar on the drive: the van gets the most solar charge in full sun without any tree coverage. We arrived at Sandbar Lake with 78%! As we consider destinations after the Canadian Rockies, it’s good to know how many nights we can get through and still have enough power to run our fridge and cooler.

And broken toes…

One morning at Chutes, we set up our campsite for a workout. We’re followers of Nicole Pearce, who has a ton of free workout videos on YouTube, although we pay for full access (Check out her free Cardio/HIIT and free Strength classes). Sometimes, she suggests doing a workout without shoes. We obliged that time, even though the ground at our campsite was uneven. Still recovering from the nail in my foot incident, I took off my shoes and paid a lot of attention to how my foot was hitting the ground. At one point during, Marc stopped his workout because his “index” toe had bent a different direction than the others. Ugh. An hour later, it was swollen and purple.

Marc wants his former Ally colleagues to know that for the first couple days, the color of his broken toe was somewhere between plum and blueberry.

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Please keep our feet and toes in your thoughts…

Comfort station isn’t too comfortable

These Ontario Provincial Parks have vault toilets scattered throughout the campground, and then one “Comfort Station” with showers, flushing toilets, and laundry. The vault toilets vary in quality, but I find they are emergency use only, just like we view Bonita’s onboard composting toilet in terms of going #2. (We still have not used the compositing toiler in the van for #2. Probably TMI, but in case you are interested). The comfort station at Chutes was great: clean and an easy walk from our campsite.

Neys has a much larger campground, and still only one comfort station, which was 0.75 miles from our campsite, and not always the cleanest. The day after our lake swim, we wanted to shower but weren’t up for the trek. So, for the second time, we used the “shower” off the back of our van. It was just as weird and unpleasant as before. The hot water heater doesn’t seem to heat the water at all, and it requires a helper to rinse off without getting the handle all soapy.

Up next…

We have three nights at Sandbar Lake before driving to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

On our way to Sandbar Lake, we started to see signs warning: “Check your fuel level - Limited services.” We stopped at one station with the best prices, and tractor trailers were lining up, creating a traffic issue. Availability of fuel will get even more limited on our drive to Manitoba. Our goal is to fill up whenever we can, although I’m not sure that will alleviate our anxiety.

Until next time… we love hearing from you, so keep the comments and texts coming!

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We’ve been at this for 77 days now. This whole van life thing. This whole unemployed thing. This whole “career sabbatical” thing. 77 days. I must have come to some deep realizations about myself, humanity, and nature by now, right? You bet I have!

One thing I’ve contemplated deeply is that, while more than a billion and a half humans speak English, there doesn’t seem to be an agreed upon term for what to call the place where you dispose of your personal human waste and then ideally wash your hands. Bathroom? Restroom? Water closet? Toilet? I’ve already listed too many. The prevailing term we’ve experienced most in Canada has been washroom. I’ve learned to love washroom, so I vote everyone use that henceforth. I mean, no one’s bathing in a restaurant washroom. I certainly hope no one has chosen to rest in there; there are far better places to rest. Anyway…

These are the types of profound insights you can arrive upon when you’ve made a van your primary residence for 77 days.

As to what I’ve accomplished? Well, I think the above insight is enough for now.

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As I’m writing, we’re heading towards a place called Neys Provincial Park, right on the north shore of Lake Superior. We woke up this morning in Chutes Provincial Park in Ontario, a 6-hour drive northwest from Toronto, which overlooks Lake Ontario. Yesterday, we hiked along the Spanish River, which feeds into Lake Huron. That’s three great lakes in the span of a week. Impressive.

After a full week in the big city, it’s exciting to be back out in the natural world, and Ontario has some spectacular scenery to take in.

Looking back at Toronto, it was a blast.

We spent 7 nights in Ontario’s capital, Canada’s most populated city, and the 4th most populated city in North America. The point is… Toronto is a massive city. Having stayed there for a full week (longer than any other destination on our trip so far), we got a good feel for the city, but we also barely scratched the surface of what Toronto has to offer.

Here are some of the highlights:

Jess and Mark

As Taylor mentioned in her last post, her friend Jess and her family live in Toronto. On this trip in general, it’s been incredible when we’ve had opportunities to socialize with friends. In this case, I’d never met Jess or her husband Mark before, but they are great people with a vibe very similar to our own, and I’m so glad we had the opportunity to spend time with them in their home city. They spent most of the day Friday with us, taking us to some of their favorite spots in the city, including Kensington Market, an eclectic collection of shops and restaurants spanning a few city blocks.

We enjoyed a top notch coffee shop and ducked into several thrift stores before we agreed that it was time to find some lunch. Our hosts were accommodating, asking us what type of food we wanted. We said we wanted good authentic Chinese food, whether noodles or dumplings or otherwise. We walked several blocks toward Chinatown, where, on the outskirts, we stumbled upon a place called Wok Theory, touting homemade dim sum and proudly advertising their recent inclusion on a top 100 restaurant list. We peeked in to make sure it was crowded; it was, and that gave us the confidence to commit.We probably over ordered, but we got to try eight dishes, all of them hits except one. I’m a sucker for hand-made noodles in general, so we ordered some that I’m now obsessed with - yin zhen fen, which in English are called silver needle noodles. Unlike any noodles I’ve ever had, they were so good. I can’t wait til I can try to make them.

After lunch, we walked a few more blocks to Sonic Boom, a favorite record store of Jess and Mark. Like us, music is a huge part of their lives, as is listening to it on vinyl. Sonic Boom is the largest record store we’ve been in since Amoeba Records in San Francisco; I can’t imagine them not having something I wanted. I could have spent 2-3 hours in there flipping through records, but since storing records in Bonita is impractical in a dozen ways, I spent my energy convincing Mark to buy a couple records we have at home that I thought he and Jess would like. I hope they like those Budos Band and Curtis Mayfield records.

Knowing I wanted to find some cool Toronto-specific t-shirts and other merch, they then guided us to a cool shop called Spacing in a building containing several floors of artist studios. This shop had all kinds of stuff designed by local artists, and Taylor and I each found a t-shirt to our liking. Then we had more coffee - all the walking and shopping had worn us out.

Thank you Jess and Mark for all your hospitality! It was an absolute pleasure meeting you and spending time with you. Special shout out to Leo and Red, their son and dog respectively. I was tempted to steal Red so he could live in Bonita with us, but logic prevailed.

Downtown Camera

When your partner is a level 1A film photography enthusiast and practitioner, you better accept the fact that you’re going to visit a camera shop in any city that has one. Luckily, I love visiting these stores too. I love to see Taylor in her element, and I love learning more about the cameras and films myself, as I work to close the gap between my and Taylor’s film photography prowess. Jess had tipped Taylor off that Toronto’s Downtown Camera is a can’t miss, and she was right.

So on Monday, the day we arrived in Toronto, this was our first stop. We’d shot about 10 rolls of film, a combination of 35mm and 120, and rather than having to ship it somewhere to be developed and scanned, we had the opportunity to drop it off here and then pick up the negatives before leaving town. On this first visit, we didn’t really have time to do anything other than drop off the film due to rush hour parking meter limitations. It’s a shame because I’d done a great job parallel parking Bonita on a very busy street.

We were able to return on Saturday, arriving via Toronto’s clean and reliable public transit, in this case a combination of subway and street car. This time, we had time to look at their extensive inventory of used film cameras, but ultimately we focused on fulfilling a couple needs: a light meter with spot metering capability, a wide angle lens for our Olympus OM-1 35mm camera, plus a red filter and lens cap for the new lens. A successful visit.

Our third and final visit to this store (yes, we went to this place three times) was on our second Monday in Toronto, on our way out of town, to pick up our negatives. Taylor’s excited to share some of the results in an upcoming TVP Photography post.

Taylor’s potential new career

Back in 2020, Taylor became my barber when it wasn’t possible to go see a professional due to the pandemic. Well, she’s back at it! Rather than try to find a barber in the different cities and towns we visit, and rather than grow it down to my shoulders like I did when I was 19, Taylor has stepped up and done a phenomenal job cutting my hair. (Sorry, Dad, I know you’d love me to grow it out again based on how much you loved it the first time.)

In our Toronto Airbnb, she gave me my second haircut since we left Charlotte in mid May. And she did a great job again. Apologies to future guests at this Airbnb who may find some of my hair in the bathroom.

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Art Gallery of Ontario

This is one helluva museum. From the absolutely gorgeous building itself (it’s latest addition was designed by Toronto’s own Frank Gehry) to the art collection, it was an inspirational visit. We enjoyed a mirror room by Yayoi Kusama, whose art always moves me. We learned about the famous group of Canadian painters known as the Group of Seven (maybe not the most creative name for a group of artists?), who were most active in the early 20th century. It’s an interesting story, and I enjoyed the landscapes that were displayed here, particularly those by Lawren Harris. We were also impressed by the museum’s collection of ship models - the quantity, detail, and scale of which was incredible.

One of the most awe-inspiring works of art I’ve seen in a long time was a sculpture by Ranbir Sidhu, a Canadian artist based in Toronto. Asteroid 3033 X1 in concept and execution is mind blowing. Ranbir said of this sculpture, “I imagined it as a vessel, capable of leaving Earth and carrying the essence of our planet into the future, a relic waiting to be discovered.” Well done, sir.

There was more. Much much more. A phenomenal museum that we didn’t have the time or energy to fully explore.

Herbie Hancock and Massey Hall

A few years ago I had the chance to see Herbie Hancockn perform in Charlotte. When I told people I worked with that I was going to see him, several of them didn’t know who he was. Some of them said something along the lines of, “Herbie Hancock? Who are you, Tommy Boy?” To which I said, “Tommy Boy? Like, the movie?” One person in particular was surprised to learn he was a real person. I’d seen Tommy Boy multiple times, and in hindsight I remembered these references in the movie, but it’s funny that for some people, Herbie Hancock, one of the most notable jazz legends of all time, isn’t known for his art. He’s known only from two brief mentions in a 1995 Chris Farley movie.

Herbie Hancock is indeed a real person, and a living legend. At 86 years old, he’s still touring, and it just so happens his tour stopped in Toronto on our last night in town. Stay tuned for an upcoming TVP Radio post where I’ll share a little more about my love for Herbie Hancock’s music, and more about his performance on Sunday night.

Something Taylor and I discussed when we set out on this epic adventure was that we’d love to go to shows at iconic music venues in cities we’d visit. In talking to Jess and Mark while still at their country house before arriving in Toronto, we talked a lot about music. We talked about the fact that we wanted to see a show while we were in Toronto, but we hadn’t looked into it yet. Immediately, one of them said something like, “Well, you should see who’s playing at Massey Hall. It’s an incredible venue.” I remember Mark pulled up his phone and looked at the list of upcoming shows for the week, “Herbie Hancock on Sunday…” WHAT?! Within minutes, I purchased two tickets.

Massey Hall was as advertised. It’s an incredible venue with an intimate feel and unmatched acoustics. I’ve seen shows in some incredible theatres in my day, and this one is right up there as one of the best. In 1981, it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.

We had great seats, and Herbie and his band put on an incredible show. It was the perfect last night in Toronto.

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Second City

I’ve been a fan of sketch comedy since middle school when I fell in love with the show In Living Color. As a 13 year old, I found that show to be genius, and I watched it religiously. I would go to school and impersonate Jim Carey’s various characters to my classmates, especially Fire Marshall Bill.

Fast forward to a week ago in Toronto when we had the opportunity to attend a Second City performance. Second City is renowned as an improv comedy troupe, but a big part of what they do is pre-written sketches for shows like the one we saw, which consisted of about 80% pre-written sketches and about 20% true improv, where they ask the audience for prompts that they used to create sketches on the fly.

It was great - highly entertaining and inspirational. I say it was inspirational because I’ve decided I want to take improv classes. This desire isn’t a new thing based on this specific show. I’ve been thinking about it for the last 1-2 years; I think it’s a great way to challenge myself, overcome fears, and challenge my brain in new and exciting ways. I’ve seen a handful of my former colleagues get out there and have fun and be successful at it, and that’s been another push. Taylor and I considered doing a class at Second City on this trip, but we ended up going to a street jazz festival instead. Now that I’ve put it out there, we have to do it the next time we can.

Junction neighborhood

We spent the week in an Airbnb in the Junction neighborhood on the western side of the city. We found a great parking spot for Bonita on the street. Once we parked her, we didn’t move her until we checked out. I think she enjoyed having some time to herself.

The neighborhood was a great city neighborhood, with great shops, bars, restaurants, and a grocery store, all within walking distance. There was also a coin laundry that came in handy since our Airbnb didn’t have laundry (I swear the listing included laundry when I booked it!).

Toronto is a quick flight from Charlotte, so the likelihood we make it back sometime is high, especially now that we know great people there. And when we make it back, we’ll pick this neighborhood again as our home base.

Taylor’s right foot (the update you’ve all been waiting for)

Many of you reached out after Taylor spoke about the nail incident in her last post. If you missed it, she stepped on a nail on our way back to the Airbnb after picking up some Indian takeout. The nail went directly through her Birkenstock before puncturing her foot. I helped her into the house, helped her get it cleaned and bandaged up, and then we went to get it checked out this next morning at the closest emergency room.

The good news is that six days later, her foot is in great shape. The puncture wound seems almost fully healed, the resulting bruising is gone, and there’s just a little lingering tenderness at the site of the wound. It could have been a lot worse, so we’re happy the incident will just be a memory by this week’s end.

And now a lowlight:

Before I wrap up this already too long post, Bonita could use your moral support. It appears one of her inner organs has failed and needs a transplant. I believe we’ve mentioned this before, but there are 3 ways she gets power to the “house” battery, or the battery that powers our lights and appliances when the engine isn’t running: solar power (which doesn’t get us as much power as we expected it would), power from the engine’s alternator while we drive, and shore power (when we plug a cord into an outlet at a campsite when available). Well, the DC-DC charger that’s responsible for storing the power generated by the alternator has died. We discovered this when we left Toronto with 60% power, drove 6 hours to our campground, and discovered we were at 59% power instead of 100%, which we easily should have reached during a 6-hour drive.

Raft Tiger Vans has requested a replacement under warranty that we’re hoping can be shipped to where we’re staying in Winnipeg. Fingers crossed that we get the part and then can manage to replace it ourselves. It lives under our bed and is a bit of a pain in the ass to get to, so I’m sure we’ll have a fun update to share as this story develops.

Power will become more and more important as we progress; we plan to have longer stretches in Bonita, likely not having access to shore power for weeks at a time, so we need to resolve this ASAP. Wish us luck.

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Until next time, hope you’re all having a great summer wherever you are and whatever you’re up to!

Apologies for not including photos this time. I’ve been so focused on shooting film, I’ve left my phone in my pocket for the most part. We’ve posted some to Instagram for those who follow us there. Look for an upcoming TVP Photography post to see our Toronto perspective on film.

*For better or worse, I did not leverage AI tools while crafting this post.

After a restless night we made a trip to the ER early this morning. They cleaned the wound further, x-rayed the foot to ensure there wasn’t any bone damage or stray nail fragments, and wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic cream. Luckily my last tetanus shot was in May 2023, so I didn’t need another jab. While Canada has free healthcare, it does not apply to foreign visitors. An unplanned vanlife expense.

Morning visit to the ER

The pain has decreased and I can get around well in my running shoes, which aren’t winning me any fashion accolades.

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Now a fun accident tale: before we started vanlife, I had the idea to purchase lavender sachets and stash them throughout the van to serve as air fresheners. While the idea was solid, the material of these sachets is not. They are very thin – allowing the lavender smell to permeate – but also coming apart at the seams. There was one of these in the netting over our bed, and one night Marc pulled back the comforter to reveal piles and piles of lavender all over. We both laughed at the absurdity of it as we attempted to pick up more than 100 small lavender flowers, many of which are still scattered within our sheets.

Halifax: Not to be overlooked

We originally charted our Atlantic Canada route without a stop in Halifax, but since we needed to fly back and forth to Viriginia, we changed our itinerary to spend a night in Halifax, which we then extended to two (after my harrowing travel day). It’s a great small city with a vibrant art and food scene and loads of history. The traffic… well, just don’t plan on driving across the city during weekday rush hour: it has the third worst traffic congestion in all of Canada, behind Toronto and Vancouver. We enjoyed incredible meals and loved walking around, ducking into culinary and vintage shops, and bakeries. It’s a city that left us wanting more.

After Halifax, we had a long day of driving to a campground in Maine (crossing the border) – where we enjoyed 2 nights of downtime – before another city outing in Burlington, Vermont.

Burlington: Eating, errands, and an epic picnic

After a long day of driving to Burlington, Vermont, we met up with our friends Dave and Pam Murphy. We can’t express how splendid it was to catch up with friends in real life! We’ve traveled with Dave and Pam before, and they share our love for exploring restaurants and walking around. We hit some excellent spots: Hen of the Wood, Foam Brewing, Devil Takes a Holiday, August First, and Rogue Rabbit.

Pam also wanted to get out on Lake Champlain, so we signed up for the Spirit of Ethan Allen Boat Tour (not the furniture Ethan Allen, the Ethan Allen who helped found Vermont as a U.S. state. I didn’t know about the Vermont Ethan Allen until this trip). We learned so much about Vermont, the city, the lake, horse ferries (ferries powered by horses!), Benedict Arnold, and more. Those tours can verge on cheesy, but this one balanced the facts with a bit of actual humor. Plus, it was a beautiful day: warm and sunny with endless blue skies.

View from the boat

Pam and Dave departed Sunday night, so Marc and I spent the next few days enjoying the city – and knocking chores off our list. One of our big accomplishments was a major reorganization of the garage (primary storage area) of the van. When we were in Charlotte, I wanted to avoid using plastic storage bins and decided to buy sturdy paper boxes. Maybe a good idea in theory, but in practice, not so much. Those kinds of bins are fine for indoor home use – not for pulling in and out of the van and putting on the wet ground or getting rained on.

We also cooked several meals and visited two different Planet Fitness locations, worked out in the AirBNB, and went for a long waterfront run. We played bar trivia, and were clearly outmatched against all of the regulars, but had a lot of fun.

We soaked in the beauty of Lake Champlain with its crystal blue waters against the backdrop of the Adirondacks – the scene always looks unbelievably fake to me – in the best possible way. It’s one of those scenes you have to remind yourself is real.

Now I’ll share a travel pro tip with you: Go on a picnic. You can “people watch,” enjoy the views, and save a bit of money by packing food and drinks. We picnicked our last night in Burlington and watched the sunset on the lake.

Burlington picnic at the lake

Oh, Canada, part two: Ottawa and our friend’s farm house

After Burlington, we crossed the border into Canada again for a campground outside of Ottawa. At this point, most of the Eastern U.S. and much of Canada was blanketed in wildfire smoke. Ottawa was spared – we had clear skies and a green rating on air quality. The mosquitos apparently got the memo on the good air quality: I’m pretty sure that every mosquito in Canada was at our campground. We donned our mosquito hat nets and set up a newly purchased Thermacell (which Marc’s former manager, Tony, had recommended). Both helped us enjoy the outdoors.

We had another quiet two nights of camping and two more visits to Planet Fitness (maintaining our strength workout routine has proved challenging, so we’re fitting in heavy weights any time we can).

Our trip to Ottawa was intentionally short: Saturday morning, we visited the Ottawa Farmer’s Market and drove to our friend’s farmhouse. I met Jess several years ago as part of Shoot It With Film Insiders – a now defunct private Facebook group that represents the best of social media – a bunch of film nerds with different interests and styles connecting across geographies. Then, Jess and I met in person at a film photography retreat in 2022 and have remained in touch since. She and her family were super generous to invite us to stay with them for two nights. They live in Toronto and spend some weekends at their farmhouse about an hour and 45 minutes away from the city. We hung around the house, listened to a lot of vinyl records, went on a 4-mile hike, cooked, and played games.

They introduced us to the Canadian game of Crokinole, which shares the spirit of shuffleboard and curling, yet it’s played with wooden discs on a wood board. Each player takes turns flicking the discs into the board. It’s fast-paced and oh so much fun. Thank you to Jess, Mark, Leo, and Red the dog for your hospitality.

Me and Leo playing crokinole (photo courtesy of Jess)

We’ve been in Toronto since Monday (and I should have written this post for Sunday), so I’ll save the Toronto details (minus the foot injury) for Marc’s next post. We’re in town for 7 nights, which feels luxurious. Also having a longer time in the city means my foot injury didn’t detract from exploring the city.

Until next time…

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In this moment, as we’re just barely starting to feel like we’re getting back on track, it feels like a useful exercise to document the whirlwind of the last two weeks, during which we made our way from Newfoundland to Virginia to Nova Scotia to Maine to Vermont and eventually back into Canada.

Sunday, June 28

We arrived at our Airbnb in Iona, Nova Scotia, after a 2-hour drive, 6-hour ferry ride, plus another 1-hour drive. Our Airbnb was situated on the edge of the massive Bras d’Or Lake on the southern side of Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island. Originally, we planned to be here for two nights so we’d have a full day to relax at this beautiful location while getting a few chores done. Instead, we had to do our laundry that night and get as ready as we could for our upcoming journey down to Virginia, which started early the next morning.

Monday, June 29

We began the day with 3+-hour drive from Iona to the Halifax airport, with a stop in Antigonish for some takeaway sandwiches to eat on the plane later. Then we flew from Halifax to Philadelphia and had a 2+-hour layover before continuing on to Richmond, VA, where we picked up our rental vehicle, a black GMC Sierra pickup truck, and spent the night at a hotel by the airport. Knowing we’d be clearing out BJ’s apartment during our visit, we figured a pickup would come in handy.

Tuesday, June 30

We grabbed breakfast at one of our favorite Richmond spots, Nate’s Bagels, before grabbing coffee at a new favorite, Blanchard’s Coffee (no relation to Taylor, unfortunately). From there, we drove to the Williamsburg outlet mall, with the goal of purchasing our funeral outfits, since neither of us packed clothes appropriate for such an occasion. Luckily, we were both able to find the clothes we needed at deep discount. Following our shopping excursion, we continued on to Taylor’s hometown of Hampton.

After picking up some groceries, we checked into our room at the Residence Inn, a hotel we’d chosen for some extra space and a kitchenette. Since we’d be in town for so long, it would be convenient to be able to cook some meals there.

Wednesday, July 1

Being an only child, Taylor had to take on the management of the funeral and other parental death-related logistics herself. I helped where and when I could, but often felt a bit helpless as she navigated the situation while grappling with the added emotional burden. Dealing with the funeral home, the church, the restaurant where the wake was hosted… just to name a few.

We bounced around a bit on this day as we handled some of those tasks before having lunch with my dad and his significant other Rebecca, who drove up from Charleston, SC, to pay their respects and support Taylor and I.

Then we began the arduous and utterly heartbreaking task of packing up and cleaning out BJ’s apartment. Thank you so much to our friends who might as well be family, Edrenna, Emily, TJ, Bob, and Frank Jr., who all chipped in to help get things organized as we figured out what we could keep versus donate versus send to the landfill (worst case scenario).

We made great progress that first day.

Thursday, July 2

Thursday was the funeral, held at St John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Hampton, VA. This church was established in the 1600s and has an interesting history, and it’s the church BJ belonged to and was very active in as long as she was able to be.

It truly is comforting how death brings the living together, how people show up for each other in these moments of remembrance, deep sadness, and celebration as we consider the impact someone has had on our lives and the hole their absence leaves behind. It was beautiful to connect with so many people who showed up for BJ, for Taylor, for Frank, and for each other.

Following the lovely service, close family and friends, including my brother Scott and sister-in-law Suzanne, who also drove up from Charleston for the occasion, gathered at BJ and Frank’s favorite local restaurant.

For me, the exhaustion was coming on strong at this point. I mustered enough energy to head to the nearest bar for a beer with a small crew. But then it was time to hunker down in the hotel and watch world cup soccer on the couch for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Somehow, Taylor had energy to go out to dinner with friends.

Did I mention this was peak heat dome? Heat index of about 106. Yup. A great day to don a black blazer and tie.

Friday, July 3

There was one primary goal for today… finish cleaning out BJ’s place. And with help from the folks noted above, we knocked it out.

Again, it was very hot, so loading up the pickup and making several trips back and forth to the donation center to unload the pickup weren’t especially fun.

Saturday, July 4

There isn’t much to report from Independence Day, when our primary goal was to try to stay out of the heat. We tried not to think too much about the fact that the polarized state of our nation is so disheartening that we didn’t much feel like celebrating its birthday.

Sunday, July 5

We made our way back to Richmond, where our flight was scheduled to depart very early the next morning for our trip back to Halifax.

We had a fantastic meal at a really great restaurant called Lost Letter. Service, food, beverage - all top notch.

We called it an early night, setting our alarms for 4am so we’d make our flights in the morning.

Monday, July 6

Flights canceled due to weather. Luckily we discovered this before heading to the airport. We immediately tried to rebook on later flights, and this task proved quite challenging.

First of all, there aren’t many flights to Halifax every day. Secondly, everyone from our flight and other canceled flights were also trying to rebook. We weren’t having luck via the American Airlines app, so we finally decided to call and rebook with a real life human.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t get on the same flights. I ended up on a 6am flight for the next morning, and Taylor ended up on a 7:30am flight. I would connect through Laguardia in New York, and Taylor would connect through Philadelphia. Even though I departed earlier, I was scheduled to arrive in Halifax 90 minutes later than Taylor.

Tuesday, July 7

I woke up at 4am and made my way down to my pre-scheduled Lyft ride. My driver was delightful. On the way, I saw that my seats for both legs of my journey were upgraded to first class. How about that?!

While settling into my first class seat on my first flight, I got the first text from Taylor sharing that her flight was delayed, and it wasn’t clear for how long.

By the time I landed at Laguardia, she’d delivered the news that while she’d make it to Philly, she’d have zero chance of making her connecting flight to Halifax. Gut punch. Leave it to Taylor to immediately go into problem solving mode. Rather than wait for American Airlines to figure out how and when to get her from Philly to Halifax, she was determined to get to Halifax that day, no matter what it took.

It turns out it took taking a train from Philly to Newark where she got on a United flight to Halifax, landing at approximately midnight. I love Taylor’s creative problem solving abilities.

Wednesday, July 8

Shortly after midnight, I woke up to Taylor entering our Halifax hotel room.

Here comes another changeup. When we tried to figure out how to get back on schedule after our Hampton, VA, trip, we’d planned to spend just one night in Halifax before making the drive to Maine the next day. Well, after Taylor’s insane 4am to 12:15am travel day, we both thought it’d be nice to slow down and extend our duration in Halifax by a day. So rather than Taylor wake up after maybe 7 hours of sleep and then sit in Bonita for 8 hours Wednesday, we instead had a lovely day in Halifax, which is a great city. Put it on your list.

Thursday, July 9

We loaded our luggage into Bonita who’d been parked on the street a couple blocks from the hotel and made our way to Millinocket, ME, home of Wilderness Edge Campground, our home for the next two nights.

Friday, July 10

They say this campground sits “in the shadow of” Maine’s Mt. Katahdin, a beautiful mountain that stands over 5,200 feet above sea level and also the ending point of the Appalachian Trail. Normally, we’d have made damn sure to put on our hiking gear and hike some part of this mountain. Instead, we did what our minds and bodies told us to do. Pretty much nothing. We went for a run around the campground and then made our meals, read our books, played a little cribbage (still learning), and just hung out. It was lovely.

Saturday, July 11

We departed our campsite early to get on the road for our 7ish-hour drive to Burlington.

Saturday, July 11 - Thursday, July 16

Thank you, Burlington, Vermont, for providing us with just what we needed as we try to get this train back on track.

The absolute highlight of this 5-night stretch was the time spent with our dear friends David and Pamela Murphy, who extended their previously planned trip to New England to get a little quality time with us.

Thursday, July 16

We just set up camp at Wesley Clover Parks Campground outside Canada’s national capital city of Ottawa, Ontario.

We’ve got so much to look forward to over the next 2 months north of the border here in Canada, with plans to cross back into the US (Montana) in mid September.

Ok, that was a lot to capture, but it’s been a long time since we’ve posted. I know Taylor will share a lot more about our adventures in Halifax and Burlington in her next post, and we’ll try to get back on our regular Sunday / Wednesday posting schedule in the next couple weeks. Thanks again for everyone’s support through the whole loss of a parent thing.

Self portrait in Rochester | 3 minute exposure | Zero Image Pinhole 6x9 | Kodak Tri-X 400

I have a film friend, Mike D, who lives in Rochester, and I’d met Noelle from the FIND Lab in real life a few years ago. Plus, many people I’ve followed or chatted with over the years would be there. It’s a treat to connect with fellow film photography nerds in real life.

George Eastman Museum

Marc and I grabbed lunch in Rochester and then spent a few hours at the George Eastman Museum. While I’m a huge fan of Kodak, I didn’t know much about the man who started the company. We joined a tour and learned so much. I won’t spoil the details; I’ll just say he was an eccentric man with money to spend lavishly on a humongous home meant for entertaining. The mansion is full of incredible artifacts that tell some of the story. It’s worth a visit.

Next, we met up with Mike, who I met (virtually) 1-2 years ago when he asked if I would do a film swap with him (a film swap is when one person shoots a roll of film, and then sends it to the other person to shoot over – creating double exposures.) Film swaps often create dizzying, unexpected images with layers of textures. Check out some highlights from that swap with Mike.

Mike took us to a hidden spot in Rochester: an old reservoir that has become a favorite canvas for local artists. It is huge and colorful and was a treat to photograph.

We used two expired film stocks and two cameras for these color images: the Pentax 645nii and Kodak Portra 400NC (a gift from Mike) and the Olympus Stylus Epic and expired Fuji Superia 400.

Mike knows many of the artists who paint there and has spent time documenting the ever-changing structures. Side note: Shame on me for not taking a portrait of Mike while we were there; Marc and I did capture photos of each other.

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Then the three of us headed to the photo walk at Highland Park, a 150-acre public park designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead with rolling hills, plenty of paths, gorgeous trees, native shrubs, and lots of flowers. Photo walks are often unstructured affairs, and this was no different – people milling about, chatting, taking photos.

And now…

We’ve had an interesting few travel days after spending time in Virginia. Originally, we were scheduled to fly from Richmond to Halifax on Monday. When we woke up for the early morning flight, we were greeted with notifications that our flight had been cancelled. We called American Airlines, and they were able to rebook us for the next day… on separate flights. I was on a flight through Philadelphia and Marc was on a flight through LaGuardia.

This morning, we arrived at the airport and Marc’s flight took off on time. (Marc was also upgraded to first class). My flight was delayed. First 45 minutes, and then longer. More than 2 hour later, I finally get on the plane – only to arrive in Philadelphia as the Halifax flight was taxiing. There is only one flight on American Airlines between Philadelphia and Halifax per day, which meant a night in Philadelphia or a different travel solution.

After the emotional week, I just needed to be on my way. So I set about figuring out a new plan. (I hate this situation, but I love crafting itineraries.) My new schedule? Take the Amtrak from Philadelphia to Newark and then fly from Newark to Halifax. When I woke up (too early this morning), I thought I would by in Halifax by 2 pm. If all goes according to the new plan, I’ll land right before midnight. Wish me luck.

A few more parting notes…

• For those of you paying attention, we should be back on track with our regular posts starting this week.

• Thank you again to everyone for their love and support over the past few weeks. Huge love to Emily and Edrenna for being there with us in person – helping with packing and sorting when my mental capacity was zero. Thank you to Dennis, Rebecca, Scott, and Suzanne for driving from Charleston to Hampton to support us. And big thank you to Frank Jr. and TJ for all of your help in Hampton (and for the love you showed my mom for many, many years). Finally, thank you to Marc for everything!

• We travel back to the U.S. for a bit before crossing the border again. Our plan is to spend most of the summer in Canada, culminating with the Canadian Rockies.

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Before that, thank you for all the texts, hearts, comments, and calls about my mom. When I wrote about her the other week, we knew the end was near, but the timeline was uncertain. When we saw her a few weeks ago, we knew, and she knew, that it might be the final time. She was in hospice care at home for less than two weeks when she passed away peacefully in her sleep. She was never in any pain. I couldn’t have asked for more for her.

It’s been a bit of a blur, and quite surreal, since we got the call: surrounded by a beautiful and awe-inspiring place, while also making travel arrangements, writing an obituary, and coordinating a celebration of life service. People have asked me how I’m doing, and right now, it’s up and down. It was tough today going into her apartment without her there.

One thing struck me that’s hard to put into words: at a time when I’ve had the worst news and felt uncertain how to move forward, you all have shown up. I’ve felt bolstered by our network of friends and family. It’s meant so much to me. It’s an incredible testament to the importance of human connection, social networks, and love. And a big shout out to Marc for being with me through it all.

Now a bit about our most recent leg of the trip…

We’re in f***ing Newfoundland

One day as we were driving around this unimaginable place, I exclaimed to Marc, “we’re in f***ing Newfoundland!!” What were we doing there? Rewinding to our vanlife planning, I read about Gros Morne in western Newfoundland and immediately felt that we had to prioritize it. The logistics were challenging: driving to a port, taking a 6-ish hour ferry, then driving 4-ish hours into the National Park. Not to mention the return trip.

As soon as we drove off the ferry, I realized how wild and remote the island is. The beauty is staggering and the terrain is vast. We drove a bit over two hours to Corner Brook: the first larger town after the ferry. The next morning, we departed for a campsite in the national park.

A guided hike to a fjord*

If you Google image search Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland, you’ll probably see one image of towering cliffs in the distance surrounding a brilliant blue lake with lush green forest dotting the land and 200 feet waterfalls crashing into the water. The geologic history of the park is fascinating.

Apparently, Air Canada used this iconic image when promoting their air service to Newfoundland. The area is called Western Brook Pond. At 16km (9.9 miles) across and 156m (541 feet) deep, it’s really a lake: the tale is that the colonists who arrived in Newfoundland didn’t have a word for lake; they only had pond. Really? I don’t buy that, but whatever. There are also huge raging rivers Newfoundlanders call brooks. It’s an interesting quirk of Newfoundland, like their time zone, which is 30 minutes behind the Atlantic Canada time zone, and they apparently don’t want to adjust.

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Iconic Western Brook Pond view (photo by me and not an image search!)

Western Brook Pond is an iconic sight, and one that is more challenging for the average visitor to see. You can:

1. take a boat ride on the pond to see the cliffs jutting out of the blue water, but you only see the cliffs from the water.

2. hike a backcountry trail to the view, which requires a multi-day backpacking trek and solid navigation skills (also you can’t complete the hike in June when the backcountry is closed to protect nesting peregrine falcons).

3. join a guided day hike, which requires a 3km walk, then a boat ride across the “pond,” followed by a 9-ish km hike to the viewpoint. Then you hike back, get back on the boat, and finish with that 3km walk.

For #3, Parks Canada manages the “trail” and only lets one tour company guide people there, BonTours. That’s one tour per day with a maximum of 10 people, plus 2 guides. We opted for #3.

The hike sounds intimidating, and on paper it’s right on the edge of what Marc and I feel comfortable undertaking. In fact, at least twice before the day, I thought Marc might bail. We tend to stick to established, well-marked trails. We will tackle distance and elevation when hiking, but we tend to avoid anything too extreme.

The morning of the hike, we met the guides and other hikers, signed our lives away and reviewed the trail and safety. On our drive to the trailhead, Marc made an analogy to a poker table: if you look around and don’t see the sucker, then the sucker is you. He thought we might be the weakest links in the group.

It was a beautiful day: weather is constantly changing in Gros Morne, but we lucked out with clear skies and cool temperatures. Better yet, no bugs. One of our guides, Nate, kept remarking that he thought the bugs would be out by this time in June. After the aggressive small black flies in Cape Breton Highlands, I was overjoyed.

I won’t bore you with every detail of the hike, so here are a few highlights:

• The guides told us our boots would get wet. At a minimum, we would need to tread through water that was almost to our knees. Everyone resisted this at first: your instinct is to keep your boots dry by hopping on logs or across rocks. Early in the hike, Marc and I watched as everyone in front of us tried to traverse a section of water by walking on a log. A very thin log with no bark. Several people lost their footing and wobbled or dropped a foot into the water. One younger woman slipped and fell hard on the log, straddling it as she landed. A broken branch sticking up ripped a huge hole in her pants. She was fortunate that she only ripped her pants (and probably wounded her ego a bit). Instead of attempting the log, I watched one of the guides plow through the water, so I followed suit.

• Given the terrain, many times the only option was walking through water. At one point we were hiking up a rocky waterfall. We hiked into a “hobbit hole” that was filled with water – well past my knees. The guides seem accustomed to the wet socks and boots. I was not a fan.

• The hike was physically and mentally tough. It required a lot of scrambling - not hiking, but not rock climbing either. I was constantly evaluating where to step and pushing myself up and across rocks. Trekking poles were mostly pointless.

• We saw an inordinate amount of moose poop. One section of the hike the guides call the “poop deck” as the moose scat covered seemingly every surface. But we never saw any moose. Side note: moose are not native to Newfoundland; they were brought to the island in the early 1900s. They love to chomp on tender deciduous leaves and are culled every year to keep the population under control and limit damage to the forest.

• The reward was worth the effort: as you reach a rocky outcrop, humongous cliffs surround the blue lake. By the time we summitted, there were a few low white clouds, adding definition to the sky. The scale of the place feels immense. The dock where our boat was located was barely a speck in the pond far below. Huge boulders scattered in “moose meadow” looked like little pebbles. We had about 45 minutes at the top, eating, taking photos, and attempting to dry our socks and boots in the sun.

• Were we the weakest link? In some ways, yes. We tended to stick to the back of line – I don’t love people crowding me on a trail. I was often a bit uncertain deciding which rocks to step on or the best way to traverse the water. Marc and I both needed to stop to put moleskin on our feet to avoid blisters. But, neither of us fell or was injured, and we didn’t get scolded by the guides (as one couple did for going too far off trail).

*Everyone calls the formations a fjord, but technically it’s not a fjord – because the water is a lake and not a sea. So they call it an inland or land-locked fjord.

Walking on Mars

Another geologic wonder of Gros Morne National Park is the Tablelands: an area of the earth’s mantle that was uplifted and exposed as continental plates collided. The rocks there are so high in heavy metals, including iron, that very little grows there other than a few, scattered specialized plants.

Hiking at Tablelands was easier and more relaxed – we stopped to take a lot of photos – allowing us to savor this strange and beautiful place. I kept remarking how I couldn’t comprehend that the fjord from Western Brook Pond and the Tablelands were so close to each other yet so geologically different.

Final thoughts

While Newfoundland wasn’t on our “must see” list when we started planning vanlife, I’m grateful we had the chance to visit. We barely scratched the surface. People kept asking us if we were also going “out east” to St. John’s, or up north to see the icebergs. Whales. Puffins. The list is endless. You could easily spend a month or more exploring “the rock” as they call it.

And now…

We’re in Virginia for the next week, and then we’ll hit the road again. We modified our route: when we fly back to Halifax (send Bonita well wishes as she’s currently in airport parking), we’ll drive across New Brunswick, Canada, and then dip back into the states again, stopping in Maine and then Burlington, Vermont, before crossing the border into Canada for Toronto and points West – culminating with the Canadian Rockies as the summer winds down.

After that, our goal is to hit fewer destinations and spend more time in each place.

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As I finally get down to it today, the words on the page are blurred by tears. The inevitable has occurred, and Taylor’s mom passed away earlier this week.

We were as emotionally prepared as we could be. We had a final visit with BJ that was filled with hand holding and knowing glances that expressed immense exchanges of love - and acceptance. I was most emotional when we brought a bluetooth speaker into her hospital room and played some of her favorite music. She absolutely lit up, transitioning from an exhausted and weak posture to head-bopping and mouthing the lyrics to some of her favorite songs, especially when we put on her all time favorite, Jimmy Buffet.

The power of music can’t be understated. Prior to my own mother’s ultimate demise almost a year ago, the thing that made her perk up the most was her favorite music, in her case Simon and Garfunkel. We watched the same videos over and over, as it acted as a form of medicine for her. A couple weeks back while I was driving, we were listening to a playlist I made, and I’d forgotten that I included their song “The Only Living Boy in New York” as the closer. The flood gates opened. Taylor suggested then playing a full Paul Simon album as follow up. I said, “maybe that’s not a great idea right now,” turning to her and revealing the tears running down my cheeks.

Emotions are strange in that, no matter how much we’ve trained ourselves to “control” them over the course of our lives, they can’t be contained forever. They will find their release.

We were plenty emotional when we last saw BJ, knowing very well what it means to transition to hospice care. Once the inevitable happens, though, the finality of it brings something from the depths, and you don’t really know when the emotional wave will evelop you.

One release came for Taylor and I the day after BJ’s passing when our friends who are caring for our cat Phife sent us a video of her coming out and giving them love. We know Phife has been struggling to adjust to life there, and seeing that video just brought out all the emotions of the previous few weeks.

I loved BJ very much. She was quick to accept me as Taylor’s partner, and forever treated me with kindness, respect, and love. She was courageous and resilient, putting out so much positive energy when she had 100 excuses to be sour. For someone who had little capacity for verbal communication, she was able to create and maintain deep human connections. Almost every time we’d go out to lunch or dinner in her hometown of Hampton, VA, someone would approach her and say hello. It was like she was famous. But it was more that she made such a positive impression on people that once they knew her, they wanted to continue to know her. We rarely knew who the person was, so they’d say something like “BJ was my teacher in eighth grade,” or “I used to do your mom’s hair.”

I’m not a Jimmy Buffet fan, but this isn’t about me. This week’s TVP Album of the Week is a tribute to BJ Blanchard, the best mother-in-law I could have hoped for.

I’m also including a TVP Playlist of the Week. This one’s both for me and for BJ; after all, I always have to make everything at least a little bit about me. In terms of all the playlists I’ve made so far to accompany us on our adventure, I believe this is the one she’d have enjoyed the most.

It’s mostly yacht rock. I made it with the intent of listening to it on one of our ferry trips to / from Newfoundland. I ended up playing it the day we got the news about BJ. It’s called This Music Sounds Good on All Boats Really.

Experiencing the death of a loved one is a reminder to live your life. So put on some yacht rock and live a little.

Until next time…

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*For better or worse, I did not leverage AI tools while crafting this post.

I’m in awe of your striking natural beauty, your magnetic personality. Your warm bosom has comforted me so. Whilst I’ve known you merely less than a fortnight, I’m ready to fully commit myself to you.

You may say, “But you’re already married, and I can’t accept that. I have rules about whom I’ll bring into my home.”

To that I say, my marriage is an arranged one, and at times like this, a tumultuous one. If I could have chosen, I’d have chosen you. And I’m throwing myself at you now.

As to what I can offer you? Love, commitment, a dry wit you’ve been known to appreciate. And of course my own natural beauty.

Forever longing for you, at least from June through October, your love,

Marc

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First of all, thank you to all of you who’ve reached out to Taylor and I to share your thoughts, concerns, and support regarding my mother-in-law BJ. Your love is greatly appreciated and uplifting during what is obviously a very challenging time for us. BJ is currently at home and comfortable while receiving hospice care. We’re in contact with her and her care team, and she continues to be stable for the time being.

In the meantime, here we are, in Canada. We spent the last seven nights in Nova Scotia, and we’re currently on a massive ferry to Newfoundland, where we’ll spend the next seven nights at campgrounds in Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site since 1987.

We spent our first three nights in a town called Wolfville, located in the Gaspereau Valley, adjacent to the north shore of Nova Scotia, specifically the Bay of Fundy. It’s famous for its dramatic tidal ranges, where in some locations, there’s almost a 60-foot difference between high and low tides. One afternoon, we walked out on a beach at low tide and watched the tide roll in. It was almost unfathomable how quickly the tide came in; we had to continuously make our way closer to the shore to avoid getting wet. It’s a natural wonder worth seeing if you get the chance.

Many months back, Taylor took on the task of planning this portion of our trip while I worked on planning other segments. I remember her telling me about the “famous” wineries in this region, and I was highly skeptical. She assured me that she did the research, and there are wineries making high quality sparking white wines there. Well, as usual, she was right. We only went to one winery while there, but we did a wine tasting, and all the sparkling wines we tried were exceptional. We purchased a bottle, and I look forward to enjoying it on the next leg of the trip.

We stayed in a lovely Airbnb in Wolfville, which was a nice break from Bonita and an opportunity to cook a nice meal using an actual oven with ingredients purchased from a local farm market.

We also got to see a couple familiar faces: my dad and his friend Rebecca, who came up to see us as part of a longer trip to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The further we get from home, the nicer it is to see loved ones, and we made the most of our time with them.

From Wolfville, we drove to Cape Breton Island on the eastern edge of Nova Scotia, where we camped the last four nights at the Broad Cove campground within Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Our campsite was about a 6-minute walk to one of the most majestic beaches I’ve ever seen, where a wide, winding brook emptied into an Atlantic cove, surrounded by stunning, tree-lined cliffs. A spot containing the most beautiful rocks of all shapes, colors, and sizes surrounded by pink sand, where the fog reliably rolls in during mornings and evenings before dispersing again, creating incredible lighting and at one point a fogbow (fog rainbow). Not surprising, it’s where I first conceived my love letter to Canada.

The weather was what I’m guessing is fairly typical for this area at this time of year – a bit all over the place but overall pleasant / tolerable. A little rain, lots of swift-moving clouds, lots of sun, warm temps in the afternoons when the sun is out (temps near 70), and quite chilly in the evenings (temps in the 40-50ss). Being so close to the Atlantic, we experienced some mighty winds, especially in the middle of our last night, when we woke up to Bonita swaying in the heavy gusts.

Of course, we managed to get in a couple of hikes during our time on Cape Breton Island. Our first full day, we planned to do a hike that on paper checked a lot of boxes for us – a pretty good distance of about 8 miles, some elevation gain, and some great views along the way. Unfortunately, we were greeted by a “trail closed” sign at the trailhead. Time to pivot. Taylor quickly remembered another trail she’d been interested in, but it was an hour away.

Luckily, Bonita was up for it, knowing most of the drive would be quite scenic along the oceanside cliffs to a place strangely named Meat Cove. The hike was short but steep, climbing more than 900 feet in just over a mile – so steep in couple places that I wondered whether we’d be able to safely descend. They payoff was worth it. The views at the top were gorgeous in all 360 degrees, from the ocean and surrounding cliffs to the rolling moss and wildflower covered hills to the narrow river valley. Another interesting sight was the moose scat we stumbled upon – substantial piles of it right on the trail. I didn’t know for sure it was moose scat, but I suspected it based on the volume and knowing it wasn’t from a bear. It was fairly fresh too, probably deposited within a day.

The next day was a do-nothing day, something I’ve been craving. Something we’ve learned so far in our travels is that we haven’t given ourselves enough time in each destination – time to find the proper balance of getting to know the place a little bit and experience it while giving ourselves time for chores, time for creative pursuits, and time to just relax and read a book or just hang out. We’ve indexed a bit too heavily on doing stuff, so it’s something we’re going to work on over the next stretch of the trip, and once we’re planning later stages, we’ll give ourselves a good bit more time in each location. Fewer destinations is okay if it allows us to find balance.

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The next day, and our last full day in this area, we did another incredible hike. This one was to a destination called Mica Hill within the national park. In addition to spectacular views not unlike those we experienced two days prior, this hike offered one of the most unique destinations I’ve hiked to: a hill covered in mica. It was a truly awesome sight as we approached, as if someone had sprinkled a billion tiny diamonds along the ground, so sparkly that if we took our sunglasses off, it hurt our eyes to look directly at it.

We’ve now arrived in Newfoundland, where it’s 7:30 pm Newfoundland Time. That’s right, they have their own time zone, and it’s one and a half hours later here (strange, right?) than it is in our home time zone, Eastern Time. In Nova Scotia, we were in the Atlantic time zone, which is one hour later than at home. I’m typing as Taylor drives.

It was cold when Taylor guided Bonita off the ferry – 48 degrees and windy. We were immediately in awe of the natural beauty here. It’s green everywhere with steep, pointy mountains jutting straight up out of the ground. There are lakes and inlets all around, and I saw snow atop one mountain that wasn’t even that high in elevation, maybe 2500 feet. It’s windy as hell out here, and Taylor is white-knuckling it to keep us on the road. It was sunny at the port, but further inland, there are low clouds just above the road, and a light rain. I think the weather here will be similar to the weather on Cape Breton Island, with more extremes – colder nights, more clouds, more rain, more wind. But damn it’s beautiful. Can’t wait to explore. I already feel like we could spend two months on this island and be very happy.

A few parting thoughts and stats

• Happy Father’s Day to my dad and all the other dads out there! Hope you enjoyed some family time today.

• Thanks again to all our paid subscribers out there. A special shout out to Benny for being the latest, and Mert and Gretchen not long before him. It means more than you know to get your support and helps us know that you value the blog and the time we put into it.

• Postscript to my love letter to Canada: P.S., If you don’t mind, maybe ease up on the wind and black flies just a touch. I love you!

• Not long before we departed Charlotte, someone asked me what I thought I would miss the most while we were gone. I knew I was going to miss people and our two cats, but I hadn’t really thought much about what else I would miss. Well, 39 days in, I miss these items quite a bit: our oven, our full-size freezer, and our bidets.

• Speaking of Benny, he gave us a custom-made, travel cribbage board as a parting gift. I’d never played cribbage before, but I was intrigued. Taylor and I finally dug in yesterday and played our first game. It required some YouTubing to understand how to play, and the learning curve is a bit steep, but we started to get the hang of it, and we’re excited to play more!

• We enjoyed a snow crab lunch yesterday. So, so delicious. The crab was caught in the water we observed from the restaurant in which we ate it, the way it should be. I’ve had snow crab only one other time, and I enjoyed it, but this was really damn good.

• Elon be damned, but Starlink is incredible. I’m online in the absolute middle of nowhere in Newfoundland under a pretty thick cloud cover. A nice to have for sure in terms of being able to publish a blog post at 110 kph. And certainly reassuring to know that we can always reach someone if we need to no matter where we are.

• We’ve hiked just shy of 46 miles while gaining 8,754 feet in elevation. We’ve seen four snakes, including two on the same trail just yesterday.

• We’ve worked out in eight Planet Fitness locations.

• We’ve camped at eight different campgrounds.

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Until next time, the obligatory photo dump… (not a lot this time b/c I mostly took film photos during this stretch)

*For better or worse, I did not leverage AI tools while crafting this post.

Many of you know that we enjoy film photography. Marc’s dad gave us his Canon AE-1 almost 20 years ago, which reignited our love for analogue photography as digital was taking over. We’ve accumulated a variety of film cameras over the years: some given to us by friends and family and others that we’ve purchased. When we travel, we’re often carrying multiple film cameras, passing them back and forth. Marc also enjoys film photography, yet he’s never become as obsessed as I have.

In the past 8-9 years, I’ve gone very deep into film photography: developing my own film, making prints in the darkroom, meeting up with other film photographers, forging friendships online, and writing nerdy articles for Shoot It with Film.

In this ongoing feature, we’ll share our film scans with you: just know that it may feel a bit like we’re rewinding the trip. One of the things I love about film photography is the lack of instant gratification. You have to wait to finish the film, develop it, and then scan it. Since I don’t have my developing supplies in the van, I have to send the film to a mail order lab or find a local lab to develop it for me.

First up: Shenandoah National Park

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I didn’t take any photos the first day or two of the trip: vanlife was so new to us and we had plenty else to keep us occupied. We’d packed so much film and so many cameras I didn’t know where to start. So, I started with two of the lightest cameras: The Holga 120 and the Reto Ultra Wide and Slim. While these cameras lack most features such as shutter speed and aperture settings, they force you to pay extra attention to the light and composition.

Big Meadows

After two nights staying at the Loft Mountain Campground, we drove north to another Shenandoah National Park campground: Big Meadows. Our first afternoon there, we walked around the camp area and visited the actual meadow, which is about a mile away. Every time we tried to go into the meadow, it was overcast and a bit rainy, so we didn’t get much time.

By then, we’d expanded our selection of cameras and Marc got into the mix. One of our favorite cameras is a Pentax 645nii: it has an excellent light meter, awesome lenses, and plenty of features, including in-camera double exposures. Marc takes incredible double exposures. This is one of my favorites.

I also set up our pinhole camera in Big Meadows, and carried it with us on one of our hikes.

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Closing thoughts

I’ll still write a Radio feature on Wednesdays and will also keep featuring more of our photography. We both took a lot of photos on our next segments at Fallingwater and then the Finger Lakes area, New York. Stay tuned for those.

We’re currently in Nova Scotia. We started out in Wolfville, and now we’re heading to Cape Breton Highlands National Park. We talked to my mom and she sounds okay, but not great. No updates on her outlook, so we’re staying the course until we hear more. I’m trying to enjoy the moment, but honestly it’s difficult not knowing what’s going to happen.

A bit of history

My mom suffered an aneurysm not long into my second semester of college. I flew back as soon as I could, writing a check at the airport for the flight (which shows how long ago that was). Her aneurysm was not fatal; in fact, a neurosurgeon had installed a stent that stopped the bleeding. Recovering in the hospital, my mom was worried about how to cover her shaved head and when she could go back to her teaching career. I returned to Davidson relieved that she’d emerged from such a frightening medical emergency.

That relief was short-lived. A few days later, she suffered a stroke on the left side of her brain, which affected the right side of her body – limiting mobility in her right hand and arm. Another result was aphasia, which impacted her ability to communicate. A particularly vexing condition, it meant my mom could understand and comprehend both written and spoken language. She knew what she wanted to say, but could only verbalize one or two words. I can’t imagine what it’s like; I get frustrated at myself when I can’t think of one word I’m trying to say, or when I trail off in conversation.

My parents were separated and divorced when I was less than 3 years old, and I’m an only child, so I grew up as part of a team of me and my mom. I was devastated and incapable of handling such a major event. I stayed in college, to the dismay of many. As a teacher, my mom was a huge supporter of education, and I felt she wouldn’t want me to leave college. More than that, it was a way for me to escape. I wouldn’t deal with my feelings until years later.

At 18, I was appointed my mother’s legal guardian, along with my grandmother and a dear family friend, Bob. My grandmother lived with my mom for a long time, until she needed to go help my uncle and aunt in California. My mom moved into an apartment and managed very well on her own despite her communication challenges. She couldn’t ever teach again, but she worked at Marshalls and at a rehab hospital gift shop.

Around 2010, it was becoming more and more difficult for my mom to navigate her apartment alone. We moved her into independent living at a place called The Devonshire: a “dorm” for seniors with individual apartments, a shared dining room, and lots of activities. She was initially resistant to the idea. Then, on the first day, we were sitting with her in her new apartment when they announced an ice cream social. She immediately stood up and went.

My mom is incredibly social – any social gifts I possess are a gift from her. She thrived in the new setting, meeting new friends and connecting with people. She never regained her speech yet could always communicate by tone, gestures, writing a bit, and a decent vocabulary, one word at a time. She quickly became the queen bee of The Devonshire. Everyone knew her. Every time we would visit, someone would tell us “I love your mom” or “your mom is so funny.” She sought out the housekeepers, kitchen staff, and front desk, making friends with many people others might overlook.

It was at The Devonshire she met Frank. Early in their courtship, she convinced him to drive her to Spartanburg, SC, to visit her best friend, Myrta. There are people who come into your life unexpectedly who are a gift, and Frank is one of those people. He and his family, especially Frank Jr., are the kindest and most generous people. Frank Sr.’s physical and emotional support meant my mom could stay at The Devonshire, instead of moving to Charlotte or another facility as her ability to get around on her own continued to slowly decline. More importantly, my mom had another chance at love after being single for so long.

The past 8 months

In the past 8 months, my mom’s overall health began to decline – losing strength, relying more and more on Frank and other people to help her around. She had a UTI that put her into the hospital (after many frustrating ER visits), and then went into a rehab hospital for physical, occupational, and speech therapy. After rehab, we moved her down the hall at The Devonshire into the Assisted Living wing. Then, pneumonia and another hospital and rehab stay. Then, pneumonia and a stay in rehab. Last weekend, she was in the hospital again with pneumonia. Marc and I were in Rockland, Maine, when I got the call, but I thought it was another illness she would overcome.

Then, as we made our way to Acadia, Frank called: one of the nurses at the hospital told him the pulmonologist was recommending hospice. He’d left the hospital and I kept calling to get an update. It was late afternoon and no one would answer. I left messages with the hospital social workers that I’d been in touch with. No callbacks.

The next day, I finally reached the doctor who explained to us that mom was aspirating when she would eat. They’d done a swallowing test with a scope and her performance on all of their metrics was poor. No matter what, any time she eats, some of the food goes to her lungs, which leads to pneumonia. The doctors said they could keep her in the hospital, but they recommended getting her home into hospice where she could be comfortable. It was that point you see often on medical dramas: there is nothing else we can do.

The news was a gut punch to all of us. Marc and I left Acadia, drove to Bangor, Maine, and got on a plane to Hampton. It was night when we arrived and we visited her in the hospital. She looked better than we expected and was lively – complaining about her hospital hair and calling out the grays in my hair. We held her hand, and could see in her eyes that she knew what was happening. We shed many tears. We weren’t sure if this was goodbye.

The next day, another doctor. The same recommendation. Mom hates hospitals, and Frank felt she’d grown weary of the rehab hospital. So, we arranged for hospice care and took her home.

An unknown timeline

Once home, she looked good and was eating pureed foods. We met the hospice admissions nurse and another RN. They both said she was stable – the end is not yet imminent. Everyone tells you hospice means six months or less to live, but they also say people “graduate” out of hospice. They told us once she isn’t eating and is sleeping most of the day, that usually signals the end.

Not in any pain, they haven’t yet started any of the comfort meds. The hospice nurses talked to us in timelines of weeks and months, not days. They assured me they’ll give a report every visit and let us know how she is progressing.

That left Marc and me with a tough decision: stay in Hampton and wait? Head back to Bonita and pick up where we left off, and plan to fly to Hampton again soon? I talked with mom. She was happy we’d come but also thought we could head back out. I also know my constant scurrying around, cleaning, is draining on her and Frank. My default reaction in these situations is to straighten up, go on errands, ask what people need. I’m not one to help people relax. I’ll need to work on that.

Now we’re back in Maine, aboard a ferry toward Nova Scotia, Canada, where we will disembark tonight.

Will going back to vanlife end up being the right decision? We won’t know. Hindsight might make us second-guess the decision. But, I feel comfortable now.

I’ve worked with two therapists over the years to process what happened to my mom, my reaction then, and the guilt I harbor for not leaving school or moving home to be her caregiver. Those therapists helped me document all my feelings, which I shared with Mom over the course of a few years. I also made sure she knows how strong I think she is and how I’ve always been impressed with her spirit in the face of such a dire situation.

After a stroke, many people would have given up and stopped fighting. She was out in the world, making new friends, cheering on her alma mater’s (the University of Kentucky) basketball team (she is originally from Louisville), enjoying an occasional bourbon on the rocks, enjoying movies, staying engaged with the news (she is a lifelong Democrat), asking anyone to take her shopping (her favorite hobby), decorating for the holidays (really, EVERY holiday), and remembering everyone’s birthday always and being the first to send a card (ask my friend Emily).

My biggest fear is how she will feel over the coming weeks, and maybe months. It’s devastating to face your own mortality and I imagine even more so when you can’t effectively communicate what you’re feeling.

When I was a younger adult, I wouldn’t talk about my mom with new friends. A lot of friends in that era probably didn’t know anything about the situation. It was one of the ways I avoided it. Later in life, I started to share because it’s part of my story. This is the first time I’ve ever written about it publicly though.

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Maine-lining Maine

Our time in Maine was shorter than expected, but I know it’s a place we’ll visit again. We had a full day in Acadia with beautiful weather and took full advantage of it. We hiked, talking about my Mom. We got up early and watched the sunrise. We stayed up late and looked at the stars and the Milky Way.

There is something so peaceful and reassuring about feeling small in nature, staring out across blue water and jaw-dropping skies. My mom was never much of an outdoorsy person, but I know she would have loved the views from Acadia.

Closing words

Please keep my mom in your thoughts. We will update you on how she’s faring and will also share more about Canada.

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I thought I’d do a bit of a grab bag this week. No backstory where I delve into the evolution of my taste in music. This week, we’re just focused on the here and now, so here’s a random sampling of the soundtrack from our last week or so.

First, I’ll share a new album from an artist I’ve discovered only in the last year or two, PawPaw Rod. And I have to thank the Spotify algorithm for introducing me to him. As much as algorithms can be blamed for the demise of human civilization, I’ve discovered a lot of music I otherwise may not have through Spotify’s. The PawPaw Rod song they dropped on me initially was “HIT EM WHERE IT HURTS,” which I enjoyed and recall immediately adding to a playlist.

I must also mention that because Taylor’s and my algorithms are very similar (surprise, surprise), he popped up in her algorithm about the same time as mine, and she took to his music as quickly as I did (surprise, surprise). We both were immediately digging this album the first time we listened (and the second and third times).

Give this album a listen and see what you think. For me, it’s a perfect balance of R&B, soul, old school hip hop, and new school hip hop - upbeat, positive vibes throughout.

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Next is a playlist I curated solely to keep me energized while driving. It’s a collection of songs from albums that would be filed under classic rock - with a couple exceptions, songs I probably listened to while driving to or from school in our family’s 1986 sky blue Ford Taurus sedan, listening to 98Rock when the station playing more current music, 96Wave, wasn’t doing it for me. These are songs that are in my blood, that I want to sing along to, that will keep me awake and alert while driving Bonita from A to Z.

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Lastly, my oldest brother Scott recommended a podcast to us that otherwise wasn’t on our radar, and we’ve been loving it: Cement City. It’s about a small town in southwest Pennsylvania, an hour or so from where we were when we visited Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob a few weeks back. While the person behind this podcast is covering one specific tiny town in America, this podcast is really about any smalltown, USA. I tend to love what I call the “slice of life” genre, and this one delivers. We have consumed half the episodes so far, but I’m ready to confidently recommend before finishing the whole season. I hope you enjoy it!

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Hope everyone is doing well out there and that something I’m recommending here brings you a moment of joy.

*For better or worse, I did not leverage AI tools while crafting this post.

A few minutes ago, Taylor and I returned from a short walk down to an ocean overlook, nudged back to our campsite by the onset of a gentle rain. Our last week has been quite busy, so taking a few minutes to absorb the sights and sounds offered by Maine’s gorgeous coastline was a healthy moment of peace. After what is supposed to be a mostly rainy day, we look forward to the weather clearing up later this afternoon so we can return for more of the same.

Our plan for today is to focus on cooking, cleaning, and generally preparing for the rest of this week… doing a small load of laundry, putting the clothes we’ll need for the next 5-7 days in our drawers and the ones we won’t need in our suitcases, planning our hikes, etc. Oh, and writing this post. We may venture out in the late afternoon to a local bowling alley if the rain doesn’t clear up. Due to a lack of space in Bonita, we weren’t able to bring our own bowling equipment along, but we do need to scratch that itch. Apparently it’s candlepin bowling, though, so that’ll be a new thing for us.

We arrived in Maine last Monday after spending a couple nights at our friends’ home in southwestern Vermont. Thank you Curtis and Meg for your hospitality. We were able to accomplish exactly what we set out to during our time there - the perfect balance of relaxation and regrouping after our time in the Finger Lakes and our quick side quest to see Curtis’ band, The Whiskey Creek Band, play their first official gig. They absolutely crushed it!

Maine has been one of the destinations we’ve been most excited about visiting since we started planning our trip. Neither Taylor or I have even been here (maybe I came as a youngster when we lived in Massachusetts?), and it’s a place that on paper checks all the boxes in terms of what we like to experience when travelling - natural beauty as well as some more urban centers with great cuisine and culture.

So far, Maine has delivered. Our first destination was Portland, a small city that punches far above its weight in terms of food, beverage, and shopping. And it’s not just about lobster rolls here. There’s a wide variety of cuisines to enjoy as well as some top notch bakeries. And the beer scene is exceptional.

We divided our Portland time between three nights at a campground about 20 minutes from downtown and two nights at a downtown hotel. While it was only our fifth campground so far, Wild Duck campground is by far the best we’ve stayed at in terms of setting and amenities. Almost all the campsites, including the one we stayed at, are situated on the marsh. A bonus feature was a nearby path that brought us to a point where we were surrounded by a creek, its marsh, and the many seabirds who inhabited it. It was the perfect spot to take our drone out for a flight. (It appears we forgot to record the footage - oops. Trust me, it was a gorgeous scene.)

One of the challenges we’ve talked about in the early stages of this trip is the maintenance of social interaction. How will we get what we need in that regard as we continue to increase our distance between us and our friends? We’ve been lucky so far that we’ve had connections in some of our early destinations. We’ve previously mentioned connecting with a few of Taylor’s connections in Rochester, and we’ve now mentioned our friends in New Jersey a couple times.

Our time in Portland allowed us to connect with one of my former coworkers and her husband, Amanda and Rob. Thank you both for inviting us into your beautiful, century-old South Portland home and preparing a wonderful meal for us. And thanks for meeting us out on the town later in the week for an incredible meal at Ladyfish. It was so much fun to connect this week, and we appreciated all the recommendations you made which contributed to our enjoyment of Portland.

Portland is my kind of city. Extremely walkable. Great food scene. Great beer scene. Cool shops. A general appreciation of artistic expression. Good parks. A nice walking/bike trail system. Highlights included half a dozen legitimately excellent meals, beer tastings at Allagash and Oxbow, an inspiring Ming Smith photography exhibit at the Portland Museum of Art, and a ferry ride to Peaks Island where we rented a golf cart for a couple hours and enjoyed gorgeous views of Casco Bay on one side and the Atlantic on the other.

On the way from Portland to our current location, the Rockland / Rockport area, we stopped in Freeport for a few hours. Freeport is home to Maine Brewing Company, which if you’re into craft beer, you may have heard of and know what a high quality product they produce. It’s a brewery we’ve had our eyes on for a long time. But before we could treat ourselves to beer, we needed lunch. Lucky for us, friend and Charlotte’s top food critic the Queen City Hag had recently visited Maine and recommended Freeport Oyster Bar. The lobster roll did not disappoint! And Maine Beer Company didn’t disappoint either - every single beer in our flight was phenomenal. They just know what they’re doing. The only negative is that we don’t have enough room in the van to stock up on their product, so we could only buy two pint bottles to go. They’ll be nice rewards for doing some long hikes at our next destination, where we arrive tomorrow in fact, Acadia National Park.

General musings

Vanjuries

Last week, Taylor mentioned my coining of the term “van rage,” which is certainly still a thing for us and tends to happen mostly during our transitions from Airbnb or hotel living back into Bonita. That’s when most of the cursing occurs.

This week, I’ve coined a new word: vanjuries, or injuries sustained while in the van. Vanjuries are closely related to van rage and cause just as much cursing. These are tight, awkward quarters, and there are lots of opportunities to bang one’s head, stub one’s toe, have something fall on you, etc. And, knock on wood, while none of these vanjuries have been serious, we each have multiple bumps, bruises, and/or scrapes to demonstrate the fact of our general clumsiness within Bonita’s confines.

Stress

Today is day 26, and the nature of stress and anxiety for me has already transformed completely. When we’re on a hike, I don’t spend the first hour or more thinking about and processing work-related stress. Instead, I’m immediately able to be more present, or if I’m not fully present, I’m daydreaming about something much more interesting than work. The things that cause stress are the van rage, the vanjuries, and the feelings that come up when we’ve had long stretches of time when we’ve had nowhere specific we needed to be, and then all of a sudden, we have somewhere we need to be at a specific time, and I get all worked up and feel rushed about getting there on time. It’s an interesting development for sure.

So much of our lives back home are scheduled. Gotta get up at a specific time, get out of the house, get to the gym, get to work, get to every single meeting, get home, get dinner ready, get to bed. On weekends, get to the farmers market, get here, get there, meet these people. All at specific times. There’s comfort in routine, but thinking about it now, I’m stressing out a little bit, and realizing that the former, “normal” routine caused the stress to slowly build and build until we truly needed to get away for a weekend or a longer vacation. The moments of stress now are fleeting; they’re there for a few minutes, and then I’m able to move on and get back to just doing whatever we’re doing.

A small glimpse of what’s going on out there

When you work the kind of corporate jobs that Taylor and I have had our entire careers, you’re generally inside an office building or your home from 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday. These days, that’s obviously not the case for us. There are days here and there when you’re off work and running errands and whatnot, and you get a tiny peak into what goes on in your hometown while you’re at work all day.

At this stage of our trip, we’re very early in the tourist season, so we’re mostly seeing locals do their thing. And it’s been interesting. I think for both of us, the biggest thing we’ve noticed is how real the drug epidemic is. The number of people in the streets who are actively high on drugs, have recently been high, and will likely be high again as soon as they can be, is alarming. I’m not talking about recreational or medical marijuana here. I’m talking about the kind of drugs that make you look like you need someone in your life to intervene and help get you cleaned up before you end up overdosing. We’ve seen it everywhere. We see people hanging out together who otherwise would not be, their only commonality being their addiction. Sadly, we know we’re going to continue to see this everywhere. And while we knew about the problem, we just haven’t been in a position to observe it quite like this. It ain’t pretty.

On a lighter note is another sign of how early in the tourist season it is up here - we’ve witnessed staff being trained at almost every restaurant and many other businesses. You can feel everyone ramping up for the summer tourist season.

Open flags

It’s an interesting regional thing that a majority of businesses in the Finger Lakes and in New England fly “OPEN” flags to indicate that they are in fact open. I don’t know why I find this so fascinating, but it’s just not a thing in the cities I’ve spent most of my childhood and my entire adult life. Someone is definitely making money off producing these flags though.

A few stats

• We’ve filled the tank 11 times, sometimes just topping off to take advantage of better prices, for a total of $799.23 (for you non mathletes out there, that’s a bit over $30/day for fuel)

• We’ve visited 5 museums

• We’ve travelled through 10 states, 6 of which we’ve spent at least 1 night in

• We’ve visited 6 state parks and 1 national park

• We’ve spotted 4 Nissan Cubes, 2 black, 2 dark grey

We’d love to hear from you, whether you hit us up in the comments or shoot us a text to check in and let us know how you’re doing. If you have questions for us, let us know. We’d love to talk about the things you want to hear about. As I’ve mentioned, we need to remain in contact with our people!

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A note to our paid subscribers... If we don’t already have your mailing address, we’ll reach out for it in the next couple days, as we’re hoping to send something your way before we cross into Canada in about a week. Thank you for your support!

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And now, some photos…

These are an assortment from the last 6 days in Maine.

And these are a few negative scans from some film photos I took during the first two weeks of our trip, many of them double exposures, which I’m obsessed with. Taylor sent a batch of film to The Dark Room lab to develop and scan for us.

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A good mix is an artform with a big ask: make a list that reflects your musical styles and is also something the other person enjoys. For me, it was also a way to connect with people when other social skills fail, which they often do.

My mom and I moved the summer before my freshman year of high school, so I started the school year in a new district, meeting entirely new people. I remember exchanging tapes with people who would become my friends. In addition to connecting with new people, it’s how I heard so much new music during hose formative years.

A mixtape was also a way to try and connect with a crush, or to listen to a tape for someone who had a crush on you. How can you distill all of your feelings into a mix that is not creepy? Embarrassingly, I think I also made a break up mix for someone once, probably to convey the idea that “these are songs that will make you realize how much you’ll miss me.” Cringe.

When Marc and I started dating, the world had mostly moved on from mixtapes and CDs. Sadly, I don’t remember if I ever made a mix for him. I do remember hanging out at his apartment with a group of people before we started dating, and the next day, emailing him to ask about the “pink robots” song, which was from The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots album, which I didn’t know. It was a good excuse to email someone I thought was cute.

Fast forward and I still love making mixes, although some of that magic has been lost when you send a link on a streaming platform. Did you make mixes on tape or CD? Let me know!

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This week, I’m sharing a mix I debuted when we drove to the Finger Lakes: “We had jobs?”

Many (but not all) of the songs reflect ideas about working, corporate life, or money.

I kick off the playlist with a deeper cut from Jay-Z’s The Black Album: “Public Service Announcement,” although if you’ve seen Jay-Z in concert (shout out to Emily and Edrenna: we’ve seen him three times in concert together), he loves this song in a setlist. Jay-Z often uses corporate terms when talking about his life: “A CEO’s mind at work, that marketing plan was me” from “What More Can I Say.” In “Public Service Announcement,” he says:

I used to move snowflakes by the O-Z
I guess even back then you could call me
CEO of the ROC

So brilliant. I could write pages about Jay-Z lyrics, but I won’t.

Next is a song that Emily, Edrenna, and I used to sing loudly: “All N My Grill” by Missy, where she says “Why you all in my grill… can you pay my bills?”

I won’t go through every song, but some I picked based on title and others fit musically. The biggest departure from the mix is the three-song stand that kicks off with “Smiling Faces” by The Undisputed Truth, but to me, the lyrics of that song can be about any co-worker you’ve had in any job.

The mix ends on a much less subtle note.

We’ve not been working for a bit more than 2 months, and it’s incredible how we’ve filled the time. We will need to work again when we return, but it’s pretty epic right now.

You could use adjacent terms in similar settings. “Airport rage” comes to mind, or “missed train rage.” Or, the “we-had-to-cook-hotdogs-in-the-van-to-make-a-workshop-at-a-museum-that-we-didn’t-actually-register-for” rage. Let me explain…

Marc wrote about our time at the Corning Museum of Glass, but not about the less-than-ideal adventure that led us there. It was the rainiest day of our trip so far: that constant, all-day rain that soaks everything. Before we departed for Corning, we looked at the museum website and noticed they offer hands-on glass workshops. At only 40 minutes, I can’t imagine you learn much; however, it seemed like a great way to spend part of our time. We booked a class for glass sculpture at 1:20 - planning to grab lunch in the town of Corning before the museum.

The restaurant Marc researched was a cute breakfast and lunch only place. We arrived at noon, ordered a salad and a chicken sandwich to share, and settled in. About 30 minutes later, we didn’t have any food, and started to get worried. Then I overheard the employee at the counter tell someone that food was taking an hour plus. Wait, what?

I hurried up to the counter, “I heard what you told the other customers… can you check on our lunch?” He came back and relayed the bad news: they hadn’t even started preparing our food. By then, we had 30 minutes to eat something and make it to the museum. The employee called over a manager who cancelled and refunded our order. We pivoted to plan B: cook and eat in the van. (Sidebar: Being able to cook anywhere has been a huge, unexpected benefit of vanlife). That day, the only thing we could cook and eat quickly was hot dogs with sauerkraut.

We had to rush to eat and then drive a few minutes to the museum. I suggested that Marc sign us in while I looked for parking, so Marc was the first to learn we didn’t have a spot in the glass sculpture class. I’d booked us, and went through several screens, but there must have been a final button that I missed? While there were many openings when we’d looked that morning, by then, every class was booked for the rest of the day, and Sunday.

I met Marc inside and sat on a bench feeling so despondent. The rain. The lunch debacle. Not registering for the class. I didn’t cry or get mad; I was just in an awful, low place. I was pretty much ready to give up on the day and go back to the AirBNB. Marc listened to me and helped me work through it.

We salvaged the day, of course: we loved the museum and had a nice dinner back in Watkins Glen. Sometimes the most memorable experiences aren’t always the most perfect.

These kinds of experiences often dominate our memory, compared to smaller moments. About halfway through the Finger Lakes segment, Marc asked how I was feeling about it, and I said great, with one caveat: I wished that we’d had more unstructured and creative time for writing, reading, etc. Marc said he was feeling the same way.

Later that night, I was looking over the journal I’ve been keeping of the trip, and saw that we’d had unstructured time – yet we’d seemed to have forgotten about it – even though it was only two days prior. I’m always reading that our brains need time to daydream, write, nap, listen to music. Maybe we don’t keep that time top of mind when we recall how we spend our time?

“Tell me why Wegmans isn’t mid”

We had 10 nights in the Finger Lakes, which allowed us to savor the trip. We also got into a groove: ensuring we were active or working out, balancing cooking in the van with meals out, shopping at several local markets (including an Amish market; there is a sizable Amish population in the area) and one large grocery store chain. If you follow us on Instagram, I posted that we were at a Wegmans, and I didn’t get the big deal. It seems like a normal grocery store. It’s expanding to Charlotte and the hype and excitement for it is unreal. I asked our followers to tell us why Wegmans isn’t mid, and had several very funny responses. The general gist from my informal survey: it used to be better, it has great sandwiches and prepared foods, and it’s known for its customer service.

Smores with New York-made marshmallows and graham crackers

“The great slate state”

The Finger Lakes is rich in state parks: we camped at two state parks and hiked at two others. The two where we hiked, Watkins Glen State Park and Robert H. Treman State Park, have trails with incredible gorges and waterfalls. Both of these gorges were formed by glaciers retreating, and the glaciers cut these beautiful lines through the rock, exposing so many layers. Slate dominates many of the waterfalls, carving and creating these beautiful eddies of water. I love watching where the water tries to escape, and how it cascades over interesting rock shapes. Marc made a very funny comment about slate being crucial to these state parks. We can’t remember it though, and I wish I’d written it down.

Robert H. Treman State Park

“Do you have a decanter in the van?”

Over four days, we visited four wineries and one cider maker. A common theme between all of the places was some kind of respect for the land and/or process. Each place has different approaches. Finger Lakes Cider House raises turkey and beef on pasture and grows organic produce so their restaurant can use those ingredients. Their cider uses a wide variety of apples, often spontaneous fermentation, and aging to bring robust and interesting ciders – this is no Bold Rock. We enjoyed the food so much we ate there twice and bought one bottle of cider to enjoy later.

Finger Lakes Cider House

One of the wineries we visited, Kemmeter, is a small production winery run by a husband and wife. She operates a small dumpling restaurant next to the winery, and he hosts the wine tastings. The dumplings, and even more the bao, are not to be missed.

It’s unusual to have a tasting with the winemaker; we’d booked a 5 p.m. tasting and were the only two people! He shared his background – growing up in Germany in a family winery – yet he reached an age where he wanted to try new things and couldn’t. He travelled quite a bit and finally made his way to the U.S. Their approach is to manage the grapes to maximize the quality instead of total yield and see what the season brings to determine what style wines to craft that year. Kemmeter doesn’t sell wholesale and they don’t have a wine club. The only way to buy the wine is direct at the winery.

Kemmeter wines are really meant to be aged, and that wouldn’t be an issue for us at home in Charlotte. On the road, that’s a different story. As an alternative to aging, which isn’t as ideal but works in a bind, is decanting a wine. So the winemaker asked, “do you have a decanter in the van?” We’re oenophiles but did not prioritize bringing our fragile glass decanter with us. Ha! We still bought three bottles that we shoved into our clothes drawers.

Before we left, he asked if he and his wife could tour the van – she loves campervans and seems to know a lot about them. It was a fun way to cap the day after eating her amazing food and tasting his incredible wines.

Kemmeter Winery

“Your Maine thing”

We’re in Vermont now, staying a few days at our friends’ Curtis and Meg’s cabin on Stratton Mountain. We visited their house here in 2019, hiking a few trails in the Green Mountain National Forest (the Appalachian Trail and Vermont’s Long Trail run through the area) and exploring the mountain shops and restaurants. Since we’ve been here before, we haven’t felt the need to explore (even though there is plenty we didn’t get to on our last visit). Instead, we’re decompressing, catching up on laundry, and reorganizing the van.

We weren’t sure we’d get to see Meg and Curtis, but we had the chance to catch up with them Friday night after a quick detour. Curtis has spent the past few years learning to play the guitar, and is now in a bona fide band. They had their first real gig Friday night, and I was blown away; it was a great show! It’s amazing to see a friend grow in new ways. Marc and Curtis met in college, and I’ve known them for almost 20 years now, and consider them my friends too.

With only a few nights in Vermont, this stop was always intended as a regrouping time before heading to Maine, where we’ll spend 11 nights: 5 in the Portland area, 2 near Rockland, and 4 in Acadia National Park. From there, we head to Atlantic Canada, aka Maritime Canada. Marc and I are both pumped for these next adventures – which will take us through the first week of July – especially because we’ve never explored these areas before.

Final note

On a closing note, thank you to another subscriber, Rebecca B! We’re going to publish some subscriber-only content soon. $8/month or $80/year: it’s the best deal going. Ha.