On the Road with Adie

Great Lakes Writers’ Festival

It’s been an eventful last few days. This past week I had the pleasure of being a featured writer for the Great Lakes Writers’ Festival at Lakeland University in Wisconsin. For two days I was able to immerse myself back into writing culture. As you might have guessed, my attention over the last few years has been divided and I haven’t really had the time to sit down and dig into the writing life. My time at Lakeland allowed me to do just that. The students who attended were sharp, interesting, and without exception, talented. My fellow featured writer, the poet Cathryn Cofell, was truly inspiring and her work walks a knife-edge of funny, insightful, wrenching, provoking, all while remaining deeply human.

Cider Boys

After we left our friends at Happy Productions in Minnesota we realized we had a gap in our schedule just big enough to fit in a quick tour of Stephens Point Brewing—the home of Cider Boys. I’ve wanted to visit this operation for a while because they have an impressive slate of ciders that rotate regularly. Plus, they are not afraid to be bold. (Don’t get me started about their limited release of Lemon Cello cider, which was pitch perfect and a wonderful mixer for a summer cocktail…) We scheduled a tour with Melissa, the Hospitality Manager, of the courtyard—where the cider is actually made. It’s an impressive operation with two story-tall tanks that ferment their cider (available in 30 states!). They also have a line of soda and plenty of beer being brewed under the same roof.

The outside of the brewery has some cool murals.

Happy Productions

We had a great week hanging out with our friends from Happy Productions. We hung out at the studio; I got to be on the radio, and we saw live music. Shawn and Emma, the team behind Happy Productions are doing some really cool things. They partner with local businesses, host a music festival, and even have their own coffee roast.

Playlist: Wisconsin

We will be in Wisconsin for a few days tending to a writers’ conference and taking in the sites. Here are a few tunes to get us in the mood for the land of great cheese and serene woods. You can always check out the playlist in its ever-evolving state on Spotify.

Live music!

One extra cool thing: We got to see sound check.

Live music! We got to see live music! Jake La Botz performed at our new favorite venue, The Listening Room at the Happy Productions Studios in Braham, Minnesota. Music is meant to be an intimate experience. You can fill all the arenas and stadiums with any talent you want, but nothing beats a venue where you connect with the artist on a personal level. That is what Jake served up to the crowd at The Listening Room.

Go vote

Tomorrow is Election Day; go vote if you haven’t already. Three folks I admire are running for various seats in the Dayton area. And even though we aren’t present, it doesn’t mean that we aren’t interested in the races (and, yes, we still have to pay taxes). Two people I know are running for school boards: John Wilson in Oakwood and Ken Hayes in Dayton. Most immediately for Miracle and I is the Bellbrook City Council race where our former landlord, Forrest Greenwood, is running for a third term. All three of these people would be excellent choices for their respective offices.

The wider vanlife community

We love meeting other bus owners. It’s one of our favorite things. You pull into a campground or a parking lot and you see another VW and there’s an instant kinship. A connection. Finding another bus owner is like discovering a distant cousin or something. But that family can be even greater if you admire all forms of vanlifers out there.

Playlist: Minnesota

Just like Michigan, we will be passing through Minnesota twice on our journey. This first leg is a special detour to visit our friends at Happy Productions in Braham. The second time we pass through will be in a little less than one year from now. Here’s a couple songs to commemorate our time in the Gopher State. More to come in 2022.

Stay tuned…

I’m working furiously (well, maybe I’m working at an on-again-off-again pace) on Season Three of the podcast, which I have slated to drop in mid-November. After traversing 17ish states in the past ten weeks and talking with scores of people (bus owners and admirers and just plain friendly folk), I have to say that I am floored—absolutely floored—by the kindness of strangers. It’s an insight I needed to see after a half decade of absolute human abyss where locker room talk was normalized and meanness was considered strength. We’ve had complete strangers come friends in the space of a few days. We’ve heard stories and shared stories with people we would have otherwise never met. It’s been a honor to interact with this many people.

Playlist: Illinois

A whirlwind couple days in the Windy City means we have a new playlist of jams specially made for Lincoln’s home state, including one ripper from Bob Dylan.