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(You can view the full album here) Big Bend is also basically just normal mountains. There is no cave or anything. Again it’s kind of unusual to have mountains in this area so that’s cool. Also it’s very pretty to look at, but again not really anything unique or special aside from the nice scenery. …

I was very excited to see the Northeasternmost contiguous point in the continental United States. Very soon I will be able to say that I’ve, “Been to the four corners of this country!”  

I really didn’t like the Lobster Rolls at Ande’s Variety. So I decided to try someplace a little fancier. Well this was A LOT fancier, but it was also a lot more delicious. I highly recommend trying out this place for a great Lobster Roll.

What an amazing and beautiful place! Acadia National Park is a beautiful place. It’s an island off the coast of Maine with a bridge to get there. There are tons of cute little towns and harbors and things to see. I think April is the perfect time to be here. It’s remote but it’s definitely …

Like any good Portland, Portland, Maine has a popular local donut shop called Holy Donut. I tried the Mixed Berry, Sea Salt and Chocolate, and the Maple Bacon donuts. They were all delicious. I have never had a salt and chocolate donut before. I will keep an eye out for similar flavors in the future.

The order that I had to visit these locations is out of sync with the actual timeline of events so I decided to wrap them into two megaposts. This one is about the American Civil War, when we defeated the traitorous slavers. 1861: First Battle of Bull Run  This was the first battle of the …

The order that I had to visit these locations is out of sync with the actual timeline of events so I decided to wrap them into two megaposts. This one is about the American Revolutionary War, when we broke away from the British Empire. 1775: Beginning of the War – The Shot Heard Round the …

For this one, I reached out to several people including current and former Yale students in order to find out the best local place to get the best local food. As someone who grew up in a Norwegian family where fermented fish is considered a delicacy, I’m not a huge seafood fan. But part of …

Ten generations ago, just over a century before the American revolution, my family cofounded New Haven. Those first Trowbridges came to America four centuries ago in order to trade with the indigenous people for furs to export to Europe. About two centuries later, the family laid out this section of the city as a new …

Shenandoah National Park covers the peak of the Appalachian Mountains. These mountains come from Pangaea. They are actually older than bones! They are much smaller than the Rockies or even the Sierra or the Siskiyou where I’m from, but that’s only because they’ve been eroding for hundreds of millions of years! There is a road …

There is so much to say about this place. It was Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia estate. He wrote “All men are created equal” in the American Declaration of Independence, and yet he died owning hundreds of enslaved people, including his own children. Just down the hill from Jefferson’s enormous mansion is a dirt road called Mulberry …

The Statue of Liberty! Unfortunately the ferry was not running but I was able to get pretty close on the land. Very cool to finally see it in person!

  I’ve been scouring all the online food guides as I traverse the nation, looking for gems. This is one to remember. A LOT of people have responded to my post about this sandwich with stories of their own pilgrimages to Katz’s deli in New York City. The process of actually buying the sandwich was …

Philly Cheesesteak is the obvious choice in Philly. I found this great place called John’s Roast Pork on a food blog. I drove several hours to get there, and very nearly missed out. I got one of the last sandwiches of the day! It had very little cheese. It was mostly this great moist and …

The Liberty Bell was forged with the words “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof.” It was meant to be hung in the Pennsylvania state house (now called Independence Hall). But it cracked when it was first rung. They tried reforging it twice, but every time it was rung, it would crack. Maybe …

This city is not just full of monuments, it is a monument. There is so much history everywhere. From the capitol building that Canada burned down after we tried invading and annexing them, to the Lincoln Memorial which for some reason was full of Nazis when I visited. It’s a wild and complex place full …

This was a cool place. It happened to be right on my way. I decided at some point to expand my trip to include historic sites related to the civil and revolutionary wars. So the birthplace of the man who beat the traitors seemed like a perfect spot to stop and see. They even had …

The Hot Brown is a very special sandwich. All the guides agreed it was the best single dish to get in Kentucky. It even has its own wikipedia page… A Hot Brown sandwich (sometimes known as a Louisville Hot Brown or Kentucky Hot Brown) is an American hot sandwich originally created at the Brown Hotel in …

This was a weird place. They say it’s normally better because of covid. Basically the cave that’s currently open is just a long boring hallway and then when you get to the end you turn around and come back. As you can see, there are no stalactites, no stalagmites, no lilly pads, nothing to see …

I decided to visit the now infamous “Treeisalive” commune and see what The Garden was like for myself. I met a lot of amazing people and learned a lot. It all started a few weeks ago. I have a close internet friend of about fifteen years who until recently I had never met. A few …

The Great Smoky Mountains are a really cool place. Basically the clouds hug the mountains which makes them look smoky. This is the most popular of all the national parks whuch surprises me given how grand the grand canyon is. Check out this video…     I thought this sign was hilarious. I picked up a …

(View the full album here) This one is really just a spite park. It was created to prevent development in the area. It’s just a normal forest with hiking. There isn’t really anything remarkable about it. They were also doing prescribed burns so the trails were closed. lmao. So basically it was just a parking …

(View the full album here) Okay so this might be my favorite day of the Florida leg of the trip. I started by heading to Fireman Derek’s Bake Shop in downtown Miami. I got a slice of what many reviewers call the most authentic key lime pie. Then I drove to Key Biscayne National Park and ate …

(View the full album here) This was a really amazing sandwich, though kind of terrifying experience to actually get the sandwich…   I have had Cuban Sandwiches before but this was much better. I read somewhere that there is something about the way they prepare the ham in traditional cuban sandwiches that is different and …

(View the full album here) Key West looked like it would be a lot of fun normally. It was kind of terrifying at the moment because basically not a single person was wearing a mask anywhere in the town, and everything was very close together so there wasn’t really any way of avoiding the unmasked …

(View the full album here) The Everglades! What a cool and interesting place. There is lots of sun for the solar panels and lots of nature to explore. The weather in Florida is great this time of year. It stays warm and breezy, even at night, and it’s not too humid yet. This is my …

  Hot Springs is a small town in Arkansas. It’s also a National Park. It’s very strange as far as national parks go, to have the park and town mixed together like this. There is no entrance fee for example and the visitor center is a shop in the town. The only hot springs are …

(You can view the full album here) I know what you’re thinking. You stopped at Yosemite in between Texas and Florida? Well yes but there are three reasons. First, I had to get my car smogged in California. Second, Texas was a fucking mess at this point. Third, the firefalls! Also I was lucky enough …

(View the full album here) Carlsbad Caverns is an amazing place, just like all the national parks are. I was excited to learn that they take masks and social distancing very seriously. Everyone must have masks on everywhere in the park, even outside or down in the cave. Very cool and practical dedication to safety. …

is that the roof is designed to catch water and funnel it through simple gravel filters into large cisterns buried adjacent to the home. Here you can see a photo of the actual roof, showing how it catches the water and routes it into the cistern. This is the first-stage filtration system. The water is …

We stopped in Albuquerque for several reasons. First because It’s an extremely long way from The Painted Desert to Taos. Second because we needed to shower and do laundry. Third because they have the best rated place for the famous Puerca Adovada which everyone online seems to agree is the best food in New Mexico. …

(You can view the full album here) I really don’t understand why this is a national park. It’s just some normal mountains with hiking. It’s kind of weird to have mountains in this area so maybe that’s why. There are a lot of caves. Carlsbad Cavern is technically inside the Guadalupe Mountains and there are …

(View the full album here) The painted desert is really amazing. It stretches on as far as you can see. Most of the photos I’ve seen of it in the past were EXTREMELY stylized, but it really is very beautiful to see all the bright colors exposed by eons of erosion. This is the Painted …

(View the full album here) This is a really cool place. I first learned about this in my early astronomy classes. Naturally I had to stop by since it was on the way to the next destination. Video Player 00:00 00:48 It’s basically just a big meteor crater that you can tour and explore. Then …

(View the full photo album) We set up camp at Long Jim Loop which is a huge, free, two-week BLM camping area in Tusayan just a few minutes from the park. We only had an hour or two until dark so we decided to finally play with the new Oculus Quest 2. This is a really …

Nogales Hot Dogs! Every guide I could find agreed that the best thing to eat in Arizona is the Sonora Hot Dogs at Nogales Hot Dogs No 2 in Phoenix. This might be the sketchiest place I have ever eaten.  There is this tent under a billboard in a rough part of town and they …

(View the full photo album here) I started by picking up an annual pass and a passport to all the parks. This will get a lot of use this year. The cool thing about Saguaro National Park is really just the Saguaro cacti. These are basically everywhere in Arizona but they are very dense here. …

Next we stopped at Cosanti in Phoenix on the way to Saguaro National Park. This is where Soleri lived and worked while he was building Arcosanti. They still do a lot of similar bronze and ceramics work at Cosanti today just like Arcosanti. Here is the ceramics working apse at Cosanti. The tunnel at the …

(View the photo album with full quality pics, photospheres, and panoramas) To say I was really excited would be an understatement. I have been obsessed with this place for years and finally I get to see it in person! This was my view for the week from a camp site behind the arcology, looking out …

Organ Pipe National Monument was pretty cool to see. Lots of weird and interesting plants. I’m glad I stopped by. Here is me with an Organ Pipe Cactus. It’s so named because it looks like the pipes from a church organ. I camped at Gunsight Wash as recommended by the friends I made in Quartzsite. …

Here’s me, the moving cabin, and my first ever Saguaro on the morning when I arrived at Quartzsite! I met up with a group of nomads and we camped together for several weeks. The meetup was very very strict with covid compliance which was great. We had a great time getting to know each other …

This post is about the first leg of my year in the wilderness. I’m traveling to all the national parks in the contiguous 48 states. I’m also stopping at several other interesting spots along the way, and making sure to sample the local fare. Public health officials across the country argue that this is one of the …