Category: Travel
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Day 282 – Spokane, WA – Driving across Washington State
[Mile 130 to 335] Washington is a very unusual state. Along the western coast the weather is extremely wet and mild. The high mountains trap the moisture and creates a special climate that’s rarely too warm or too cold. But once over the mountains, there is a long rain shadow where moisture from…
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Day 281 – North Bend, WA – Twin Peaks!
[Mile zero to 130] This is it! We officially left the nest and started on our US road trip (after a bit of rethinking due to COVID shutting down the world). We wanted something light for our first day out so we drove down to Seattle to the beginning of I90 and drove…
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Day 275 – Our new pirate ship – The 2000 Rialta 22HD. Ready to go!
We finally have a little home again. A little pirate ship to sail out into the world in a socially distant kind of a way. It’s been a difficult process to figure out what we wanted to do next but we both agree this is the best alternative given the condition of the world.…
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Day 166-244 – the COVID Interlude – Escaping a pandemic and finding our bearings.
After years of saving and planning, months of giving away all of our things, our cars and furniture, and thinking through all of the problems we might face, it honestly never occurred to me that we would be thrust into a global pandemic just six months into our journey. But here we are and…
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Day 161 – Granada, Spain – The last stronghold of Moorish Europe
Granada sits in the south of Spain at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains at the confluence of the Darro, the Genil, the Monachil and the Beiro rivers. It was the last Moorish stronghold to fall to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (the Catholic Monarchs) during the great Reconquista…
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Day 155 – Seville, Spain – The orange blossom dream I wished would never end.
Thin winding streets lined with orange trees, the smell of orange blossoms surrounding you, ancient tile-work facades on brightly painted buildings in ochre and curry and mustard. The sheer ornateness of the city suggests a history much larger than the city seems. The sky dominated by the largest gothic cathedral in Europe. Where the…
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Day 155 – Seville, Spain – Andalusian cuisine: Eating tapas in Seville
Andalusian cuisine Andalusian cuisine reflects the deep history and turmoil of the region. You can trace the region’s traditional dishes to contributions made by different cultures throughout time. The region was first settled by the Phoenicians around 1100BC who first planted olives and grapevines. 300 years later the region would become the main source…
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Day 147 – Viareggio, Italy – Carnival in Viareggio
When I stepped off the train, I liked Viareggio immediately. A charming seaside Italian city that reminded me of New Orleans for some reason. Not exactly in the architecture or the language, it was a feeling, the city’s soul. Some places are just like that. And this place felt laid back and ready to…
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Day 140 – Florence (Firenze), Italy – Tuscan food and the Italian Renaissance
I didn’t really warm up to Florence immediately. And like any place I have high expectations of, I started off a bit disappointed. The dense narrow streets with tiny sidewalks flanked by enormous uninviting doors. It’s the kind of place where all of the good stuff is inside someone else’s walls and you’re not…
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Day 139 – Verona, Italy
Verona wasn’t on our itinerary but I’ve always been curious about this Italian city so we booked an overnight to check it out on the way to Florence. Charmingly cheesy, stunningly beautiful, laid back and lazy. Verona is exactly what you want it to be. Romantic architecture, lots of public squares, Roman antiquity peppered…