destination – Page 9 – On the Road with Adie

North Carolina

North Carolina has been a pleasure so far. We’ve had some wonderful hikes, some unique hard ciders, and great conversations.

Virginia in review

Virginia is for lovers, which made it perfect for us. Miracle and I have made many trips to Virginia over the past three years—most of them to see our buddy, Dustin, at his family’s mountain home.

I’ve visited my buddy, Dustin, and his family at their mountain home many times over the past few years. This time though, we were there specifically for the annual post-Thanksgiving run held at Blue Toad Cidery in Roseland, VA, the Toader—a 1.51 km race that begins with drinking a hard cider, continues on to aContinue reading “The Toader”

Happy Thanksgiving

A few years ago, my buddy, Dustin, invited me down to his family’s mountain home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It gave me a weekend to think things through and then make some major life changes. I’m always glad to come back to the mountain home and I’m thankful to have the friends I haveContinue reading “Happy Thanksgiving”

Interstate thoughts

We made it back to our hometown of Dayton, Ohio. We left the coldness of southern Wisconsin early on Tuesday morning and drove straight through to Ohio in ten hours. And by straight through, I mean that we barreled south to avoid the rain and snow around Chicago. (Remember—no wipers.) Then we jumped on interstateContinue reading “Interstate thoughts”

and then the wipers broke

We came back to Minnesota to pick up the bus at Dune Buggy Supply and decided to swing by the Bob Dylan mural in downtown Minneapolis. When our friends at Happy Productions, Shawn and Emma, found out we would be in the neighborhood (a couple of hours qualifies as being in the neighborhood in theContinue reading “and then the wipers broke”

Back to Minnesota

We left early this morning to go get Adie from Dune Buggy Supply. All systems appear to be go thanks to Sam and his crew. Not only did he get a rebuilt engine installed in record time, he also worked on our sliding door, replaced a wheel bearing, and—this one is impressive—got our heat working.

A lucky engine failure

If you’re going to break down, be strategic. And by strategic, I mean lucky. As an Irishman, I swear my luck never runs out (knocks on wood). After we left our friends at Happy Productions Studios in Minnesota, we realized we had nice little gap in our schedule to swing through Stephens Point, home ofContinue reading “A lucky engine failure”

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 yearsContinue reading “Great Lakes Writers’ Festival”

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 rotateContinue reading “Cider Boys”