On the Road with Adie

Cedar Key

After my post lamenting the tourism of Key West, our Miami driveway host, a VW guru named Ian, told us that we would find old Florida at Cedar Key. I wasn’t exactly sure if Old Florida really existed or not and I felt a little like Ponce De Leon chasing after a mythical place while my own time here was running out.

Podcast: Tracy Carlucci

We sat down with a brand new bus owner, Tracy Carlucci, while we were visiting Connecticut this past September. Even though she has a brand new old bus, it’s been a long road getting here.

Illness on the road

You know—perfectly normal hiking apparel.

Vanlife is not what AAA would have you believe. Sure the ads they post on Facebook with the shirtless guy and the woman who is always inexplicably holding on to her big, floppy hat make it look like something from a glamor shoot. They drink coffee from mugs and he has a little teak tray where he keeps his watch at night. It’s all bullshit. And it’s never more apparent than when you get sick.

Key West in review

Miracle and I both wanted to be in Key West on our 1-year anniversary. We imagined sitting on a beach eating key lime pie and sipping champagne while the waves rolled in and out. Miracle had read about Key West via Martha Gellhorn’s letters. (Gellhorn, for what it is worth is twice the badass Hemingway was and a much better writer. There. I said it.) I pulled my own imaginings of mile marker 0 from Bob Dylan’s song, “Key West (Philosopher Pirate).” To say that Bob romanticizes the four square miles of land at the end of the line is an understatement.

Missing snow

As I scrolled through Facebook (a time suck, I know), I saw so many pictures of familiar locales and people I know who are lucky enough to have gotten a little bit of snow. Both Miracle and I love snow. I mean we really love the snow—long hikes in it, driving in it. Whenever we got a decent amount at home, you could surely find me trail riding on my fat tire bike.

Podcast: Nate

We were returning to Ohio from our shakedown trip to Michigan this past July so we used VanAlert to find a place to stay and we found Nate’s driveway. It turns out Nate’s driveway was a bit more posh than we expected. He asked us to drive around back where he had an honest to god full campsite set up, complete with a roaring fire. A huge pine forest towered over us and the sky was completely clear. And if you listen closely enough you can hear the hoots of owls and the yipping of coyotes in the distance.

Happy anniversary

A year ago, Miracle and I stood outside with a few close friends and family to exchange vows. We both improvised what we said, but the stories we recalled were of the same stripe—our travels.

Springs n things

We got into Florida nearly a week ago and have now made it mostly to the south end. Man, it is a long, busy state. Before we left Ohio, Miracle said she wanted to swim in as many bodies of water as possible—tide pools, oceans, rivers, lakes, and springs. So far in Florida, we’ve managed to swim in the Gulf and a couple of freshwater springs. We also stayed on a private land where there was a cave filled with water. Miracle guaranteed me that this underground cave was likely a sacrificial ground of some sort, but I think that was a ploy to dissuade me from swimming in it.

Playlist: Florida

We are heading to the southernmost parts of the US, folks. In fact, if all goes according to plan, we will spend more days in Florida than any other state on this journey, so we’re going to need some tunes. Here’s a list with a double dose of Dylan for good measure.

Christmas in Oz

Our life on the road is a charmed one. That is probably mostly Miracle’s handiwork. She has a way of asking for things, of finding things and stumbling on good luck like no one I have ever met. It was one of many hundreds of reasons I knew I wanted to spend my time with her. Well, she found us a magical little place in Florida called Oz, where we spent Christmas. And let me tell you, this place is a hidden gem if ever there was one.