On the Road with Adie

Hello, 1979? We have your bus.

That’s it. That’s the whole post. Have a good day, everyone.

Playlist: Michigan

Michigan holds a special place in our hearts. Neither of us are football fans, so there’s none of this manufactured animosity with us. We will be passing through Michigan twice on this trip. In fact, the second time through will be the last state we hit before heading home. I’ve saved a special track for that occasion. But, for now, here are two tracks by two Bobs.

Happy Birthday, Miracle

All the times she’s said yes. Yes, I’ll go to Vermont to look at tiny homes. Yes, I’ll visit you in Switzerland. And Colorado for the Pikes Peak Marathon. Yes, I’ll marry you. Yes, let’s plan on this crazy year-long trip. Yeah, let’s do a podcast about it.

Toronto in review

We only had a minute in Toronto—at least that’s how it felt. (Fun fact: Toronto is the seventh-largest city in North America with a slightly smaller population than Houston. So not everything is bigger in Texas.) We had a nice, relaxing evening sitting on the deck of Peter and Andrea’s home in downtown Toronto and conducting an interview. (That interview will likely come out in Season Five.)

Melville White Church Art Gallery

aKayla in her studio space at Melville White Church

One thing we have missed on the road has been access to art galleries. Traveling with Jolene has endless benefits… and a few drawbacks. And one of the drawbacks is a fine arts museum’s reluctance to release dogs around their one of a kind artworks. We had sort of resigned ourselves to the idea that we would see very limited art in terms of galleries on this trip. Then some road magic happened and we got a private gallery tour from the artist/owner herself, Kayla Jackson.

Podcast: Jessica

We met up with a fellow bus owner, Jessica Messer, at a winery called MAWBY in Traverse City, Michigan. As we drank our wines, she told us about her adventures in and around Lake Michigan as well as her plans to turn her bus, Poppy, into a professional mobile party service.

Wasaga Beach

Our stay in Wasaga Beach (the world’s longest freshwater beach, mind you) was fabulous. We were hosted by Gianfranco and Kim—the most lovely and hospitable people you’ll ever have the good fortune of meeting. They treated us to two Italian dinners at their home with wines to match. It was the perfect meal and company on a windy, cold, rainy night. You’ll be able to catch Gianfranco’s interview in Season Four of our podcast.

Ontario and Quebec

It’s been a lot of driving and a lot of sightseeing and a lot of meeting people over the past week. We had a magical stay north of Gatineau with some new VW acquaintances, Brad and Susan. They shared their lake home (and their red wine) with us. The fall colors were amazing. Then we cruised back into Ontario where the colors continued to amaze us.

Are you listening?

Did you know we are live on the radio every Tuesday? As part of our partnership with Happy Productions, we call in every Tuesday at 11 a.m. Central Time (so noon for most of our friends and family in Eastern Time). Shawn and Emma, the hosts of Afternoon Delight, ask about our previous weeks’ misadventures and where we are. Then we introduce the upcoming episode of So You Owned a VW Bus, which they air four times every Wednesday (5:40 a.m., 10:40 a.m., 5:40 p.m., and 10:40 p.m.).

Ottawa in review

Maybe it’s how few people are being let in to Canada or the sensible limited hours and closings of buildings, but Ottawa is one laid back city. We spent the day taking in the plethora of public art of this extremely walkable Canadian capitol. The architecture, the blend of styles, the way nature is incorporated into the the city—it’s simply beautiful. Top it off with outdoor taverns where you can get a glass of wine and a gourmet hotdog and it might just be my favorite big city in North America.