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Month: April 2018

White People, Here’s Your Next Vacation

White People, Here’s Your Next Vacation

After Congaree National Park, Mike and I visited Charleston, South Carolina. The vibe I get from this town is a less drunk family friendly New Orleans; beautiful architecture, water fronts, quaint shops and restaurants, and an incredible, but typically white-washed, history.  We chose to visit sites that would teach us about the deep history of slavery in Charleston, and our country.  First stop was the Old Slave Mart Museum. This moving and sad museum is so informative and so important. We easily…

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Congaree National Park

Congaree National Park

What a hidden gem! Congaree National Park in South Carolina was recently established in 2003, but had been protected still as a national monument the past few decades. It is one of the least visited parks in the country with approximately 110,000 visitors a year (Smoky Mountains is most visited with 9 million annual visitors). I read somewhere that this park boasts one of the biggest varieties of mosquitoes and poison ivy! How exciting, right? I don’t know if that’s…

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Dog Blog: Carolina In My Mind

Dog Blog: Carolina In My Mind

Dear Diary, Anytime I’m stuck in Big Red for too long, I’ll think of these James Taylor lyrics… In my mind, I’m gone to Carolina Can’t you see the sunshine? Can’t you just feel the moonshine? After that horrible Smoky Mountains park, we went to North Carolina to visit Dad’s uncle, Russ. He had a great big home for me to explore… plus two cats to terrorize befriend. Mom and Dad complained because the weather wasn’t great (humans are such…

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Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the most visited National Park in the country with over 9 million visitors a year. It’s not hard to see why – this vast park has incredible diversity in it’s flora, fauna, weather, and activities to suit all ages, interests, and fitness. And bonus – it’s FREE to get into this park. I think that is actually a mistake on their part, but what do I know. The only negative to this park…

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Dog Blog: Not-So-Great Smoky Mountains

Dog Blog: Not-So-Great Smoky Mountains

Dear Diary, We are in the “Great” Smoky Mountains.  Pssh, someone should change the name to LAME Smoky Mountains. I never get to leave the van! Apppppparently these rangers said I couldn’t play outside or go on the trails because I could make some other animals upset. I get that most animals don’t like me when they first meet me, but they usually warm up to me. I’m so offended.  The only good thing is that now I can get…

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Mammoth Cave National Park

Mammoth Cave National Park

We arrived to Mammoth Cave after checking out two more wonderful distilleries; Willitt and Makers Mark. Both beautiful and delicious. Shoutout to my friend Clare for the perfect recommendations – woman, you know your bourbon trail. If I had to sum up this park with one word: underrated! I had never really heard much about this park but it is a must see!  First, this park is technically free. Anything above ground is open to anyone (including dogs!) and the…

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Dog Blog: Kentucky is for puppies

Dog Blog: Kentucky is for puppies

Dear Diary, Well, this was fun! Mom and Dad were able to take me alllll over this Mammoth Cave Park – not sure why it’s called that because I didn’t see any caves. I think Mom and Dad saw some, but I was napping HARD during that time. The first day here, after we went over a scary ferry to the North side of the park, I got to run 4 miles with Dad, then “ran” with Mom for 5…

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Week 1: We Have No Idea What We’re Doing

Week 1: We Have No Idea What We’re Doing

We’ve been on the road, living in our van for one week now. It’s definitely not been what I expected yet. But we’ve learned a lot already! The biggest lesson being that we know nothing.  We already knew that partly – we purposely left without the van being completely pimped out. You know what I’m talking about – google van life, and it’s all these instagram perfect vans. Mike and I have followed a lot of various van life accounts…

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