americanfrolic

[americanfrolic]

We hoped to get as close to the border as we could.  As we drove on the Texas heat started to fade away and we came to the reality that although we ran away from winter didn’t mean it was gone.  The more north we drove the chillier it got.  We couldn’t have been luckier to find our camping spot for the night.  On Free Camp Sites website I saw there was a free RV park with hookups in Littlefield, Texas.  The Waylon Jennings RV park is a little Oasis before you leave.  A donation by the city in memory of Waylon Jennings offers a week free of camping with full hookups and then after that just ask for a suggested donation.  Being that we are huge country music fans we were excited about so many reasons.  We didn’t have time the next morning to stop to see the Waylon museum but don’t think we didn’t stop for some photos and to pay our respects.   We crossed over to New Mexico very soon after leaving Littlefield, that’s how close to the border it is.  We knew we wanted to head to the Santa Fe area and had some ideas on what we could see but nothing was set in stone yet.   We got in just before evening and took the camper into town.  The small and narrow streets of downtown Santa Fe are not caper friendly so I would recommend unhitching but Santa Fe its self-was very friendly.  We made friends with store owners and they let us and Hank come in to check out their wears.  We had a found a Harvest Host spot for the night an Alpaca Farm  just a few miles outside of Santa Fe.  The owner an amazing older man showed us around the farm and told us if we wanted to check out Santa Fe that we were free to unhitch the next day and stay one more night.   That was a lovely surprise and made our exploring so much easier.  The next morning we set off early camperless and free to drive those crazy roads around the Southwest.  We decided to take the high road to Taos and then hit the Low road on the way back.  A crisp but sunny morning made for the perfect day of exploring old churches, Hotsprings, and small towns along the road.  Google maps not always a friend to travelers set us on a rocky road but then the defeat of not being able to cross leads us to amazing hot spring at the bottom of the hill.  There we found some folks already enjoying the hot springs.  A young couple with a dog just like us.  And as we started to talk to them we found out we had so much more in common.  They like us had sold everything they own and packed up their dog in a van to explore.  Foxy the van is their name so look them up and say hello.  

There is always too much to see and never enough time. Especially in our jaunt across the west to our new job in Northern California.  We had to make some deep cuts to our must see if the list.  And serious FOMO was inventing us both haha. A must see for anyway coming to Santa Fe though is Meow Wolf.  We had heard stories about this tripped out paradise and we had to see what the hubbub was about.   We had a stressful afternoon so this place is just what we needed to take us out of our heads. Ok, how do I describe Meow Wolf.  Here is what I know (some of this is subject to word of mouth so…) What I heard is that one of the guys who started the show Game of Thrones bought this huge building and gave it to an art collective and said you have a lease for 10 years do what you want with it.  So a group of artist got together and built this tripped out paradise.  You walk into what seems like a hip museum.  Then you go in through a door and are transported to a house.  With a kitchen and bedrooms and normal everyday stuff. But behind ever door even the fridge you are transported to a different dimension.  Take a look at our Facebook here for a view.   This place is amazing for all ages and is worth every penny.

As we headed back to the Alpaca farm we came across this guy we had seen riding horseback around Santa Fe.  We had to stop and get the load down of this man of mystery.   On a beautiful horse sat this bearded man and two amazing little pups off leash just trailing behind.  And here is the skinny.  His name John Wayne, for real.  Originally from Michigan, one year he got on his horse and rode it all the way to Santa Fe and settled some roots in New Mexico. And every year he does an annual ride with his furry little friends to commemorate his journey.  We felt so very lucky to have caught him on this day, on his annual ride.  

You might say no way did all this happen in little old Santa Fe but I think it’s a great snippet of what this Southwest town has to offer.  Great food, amazing history and some crazy tripped out arty folks that make everything alright.

Short but sweet was our time in New Mexico but magical it was for sure. We left early the next morning for Mexican Hat Utah pumped to see what the rest of the West had for us.

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We had been gifted an Annual National Park Pass and wanted to take advantage of it every chance we got.  Sion was about 4-5 hours away and we heard it was clear of snow so we wanted to try our best to see as much of it as we could.  We needed to be in California soon but we could at least spend the day there.  We made it there mid-morning, it was sunny but not too hot or cold.  National Parks do not allow animals which is very sad but they Zion does have a small area you can hike with them next to the parking area.  So after Hank got a good sniff of the land and stretched his legs we prepared the camper for his daily nap and headed to find something that was hideable for us.  We are not hikers at all.  Although I love yoga I have the endurance of a snail and Jerimiah has years of skateboard injuries that makes his knees sore and achy.  We did our best to find a trail that was up to our level.  We picked Hidden Canyon.  

I admit I was the worst hiker ever.  I complained the whole time, asking every hiker if it was worth it.  Is the view that great? Is it any different than where I currently was standing?

There were narrow passages, chains to hold has you climb sandy "walkways".  Jerimiah supported me and said if I wanted to quit we could.  I was too stubborn to give up.  There was a woman with a newborn baby hiking by us.  If I gave up and she continued I would hate myself.  Every stranger was so supportive.  "You can do it, just a little bit further".  " The view is amazing, you need to keep going".  

Looking back at the photos now I start tearing up.  I am so glad we didn't quit.  I am so glad we hiked to the top and did it together.  There was no "end" the trail kept going and going but once we got to the top we felt fairly satisfied we had seen everything we could.

We got down the trail in the nick of time.  Storm clouds loomed around the Mountains and the top was nowhere we wanted to be.

Now, this next part we could have planned a little more.  We were in Zion and we wanted desperately to get to Vegas.  We wanted to be in California as quickly as we could be.  

We had found a campsite that was free and set our sites on that. Well, to make a long story short we somehow got lost on a Mountain outside of Vegas and drove straight into a snowstorm on said mountain.  Pitch black on a mountain in a snowstorm at midnight after driving is nowhere you want to be.  Thankfully Jerimiah is an amazing driver and got us off that Mountian without any problems.  We found a Walmart parking lot and made camp for the night.

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When you venture to the West it's not often you're super close to other attractions you want to see without driving 5 plus hours, so when you are you have to take full advantage.  Mexican Hat, UT is only about 2.5 hours from Antelope Canyon so we dipped down into the North part of Arizona to check it out.  We did very little research so we were a little bummed when we pulled into the Upper part of the canyon and realized it was too expensive for our budget.  But apparently there is a North tour and a Lower tour of the canyon and the South tour was in our budget only costing $25/person.  You have to take guided tours now because the canyon can flood very quickly without warning and had injured a tourist in the past.  I didn't mind getting a tour through it helped to know what we were looking at.  It was breathtaking to be emersed in the earth, to see how millions of years had formed around us.  We learned the history, the heritage of the culture and the people who once had free range of the canyons.  We highly recommend checking it out.

While in Arizona we decided to drive about 11 miles to the West to see Horseshoe Bend.  A small meander of the Colorado River is the most epic natural beauty I have ever seen.  I had never had nature made me feel so small.  You park and walk just over a mile to see this emerald river curved around sandstone.  The colors and the feel you experience here are like no other.  No photo could ever capture how it makes you feel. 

It was still a Chilly spring up North and we heard we might run into snow and we had little to no cell reception to look up the weather. We thought it best to stay the night by Powell Lake.  We found a state campground at Lone Rock and made camp for the night.  Surprisingly there were quite a few campers and we, of course, made the craziest campground friend, even hank made a puppy buddy for the night.  We spent the night keeping dry under our neighbor awning in exchange for the warmth of his rig we brought out our record player for some entertainment.  We spent the night listening to tunes and sharing travel stories till it was time to rest for the next day's adventure.

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Before we came into the city I got a little Texas surprise.  My friend Poala and her guy and our favorite Uncle Jill Becker came to do a little camping with us outside of Spicewood.  Travis lake has some amazing spots to camp at and even though it was rainy and we couldn't swim we had a great time in front of the campfire chatting away the night.  Even cozied up in the camper to watch a movie when the rain hit.

After that, we headed into the city.  We had been offered a great spot from our friends Mimi and Brian by their new bar Little Darlin.  We offered our hands to help them build out their new restaurant bar for a place to park the Frolic.  

We spent the next week or so staining chairs and building horseshoe pits and helping any way we could.  The benefit we were able to hang with some of our Texas nearest and dearest and enjoy a little bit more of the city.

I had a great friend Patrick from Chicago I wanted to see.  He has the sweetest little family and I was very excited to spend some time with them.  We had a nice little Texas family that grew a little every day.  Whether it was an afternoon at the Yellowjacket with or a night at some honky tonks drinking cheap beer and making friends with old timers.

But as many things with this trip, we have to leave for the next opportunity.  Jerimiahs sister had found some work for us in Northern California and it was too good to pass up.  So after Little Darlin was to open we were gonna hit the road for the West.

The next few days we spent planning out journey out West and just what we could see and help get this new place up and running with our friends.

We were so honored to be asked to help out opening night of Little Darlin and man I have to say it was good to be behind a bar again.  And I will say having some work before we left was just what we needed.  

I couldn't have asked for a better Texas send off then to be surrounded by such amazing people.

We miss you dearly Texas and we will be back to see you real soon.

For all who check out Austin please check out our friends at Little Darlin, and tell them Stef and jermiah sent ya.

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We were just a couple hours from Spicewood and luck for us the traffic around Austin was nothing to worry about.  We got in the early afternoon to our friend’s ranch.  As we drove down the road to their house I could see their adorable little ones jumping up and down excited to see us.

We found a lovely little piece of land on the back of their property for the Frolic and got out to meet all that lived there.  Not only did we have to adorable little Fiona and Calvin but we had Two donkeys Thelma and Louise, Two pups, two kittens, two goats and a handful of chickens.

Hank couldn’t have been more excited.  The property was all fenced in so we let him out to explore.  We hadn’t ever seen him so happy, ears flopping in the wind as he ran with free range to just go anywhere. Dan and Felice are old friends and it was so nice to be able to spend some time with them again. And we are forever thankful for them and their kindness of opening their home to us.The next month went by so fast.

I had found some work on a food truck in Austin for SXSW.  Just another wonderfully odd job to add to our ever-growing list.  I had worked in the food industry for years but never on a food truck so I was excited.  DFG Noodles (Damn Fin Good) and that they were.  The owner was so impressed with her amazing food and running her own business.  If you are in Austin find them downtown or at any fest, you will be so very happy you did.  Jerimiah had started to work with Dan in his Motorcycle shop and was in heaven.  Not only did he get to be around bikes all day but spend time with a friend he hadn’t seen in years.  They now have a storefront in Spicewood so check them out here at DC-Choppers.

We fell hard for Hill Country.  Not only is it beautiful but the people are so kind.  It was a place we put in our top three places we would like to call home.  We took many drives to Luckenbach. Texas.  A small Texas town famous for its country hit had our hearts even before we got there.  So small we almost missed it, in fact, we drove right past it first time there.  But every time we went it didn’t seem that small.  The characters that gather there, the music that is played there are all bigger than life its self.

We took full advantage of our part-time Spicewood residence and got to go to Willie’s house for Easter, only something locals get to do.  We went to Poodies (willie’s old manager's bar) on the regular.  We enjoyed the swimming holes the hiking the winding roads, we loved it all.We were very close to Austin and some amazing friends we hadn’t seen in a long long time.

As I write about it now I miss it so very much, I miss those people so very much.I miss hearing the kids laugh as we ran and let Hank chase us, I miss having wine with Felice on your beautiful porch and cooking with her.  I miss giving Dan tons of hugs I know he hates.  I miss Austin and all honky tonks.  I miss uncle Jill, Patrick and his amazing family, I miss Little Darlin and every amazing person that became our fast group of friends.

We stayed in Spicewood throughout March and when April came we knew had to push on.  We got an amazing offer from our friends in Austin to stay on their property and help them open a new bar in South Austin.

We packed up the Frolic and although not far we headed into Austin for a couple more weeks of that Texan life.  Again we are so very thankful for Felice and Dan, Fiona and Calvin.  We hope to one day offer you the same kindness you all offered us, we miss you guys so very very much.

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Leaving Louisiana was harder than we thought it would be.

We had fallen for that Cajun life and would have loved for the time to explore more.  We however had a date with Willie.  That is right we had tickets to see good ol’ Willie Nelson for Jerimiahs birthday and that was not something we wanted to miss.

We had arranged to stay with our friends Dan and Felice outside of Austin in Spicewood, Texas out there in the hill country.  So we had a drive ahead of us.

We crossed the border into Texas on 10 and pulled into the first rest area we saw.  It was time to stretch and find a restroom.  Also for us camper folk you have one more item on that checklist.  Open the camper and make sure everything is as it should be.  This time as I opened the door I knew nothing was where it should be.  It was a freaking yard sale.  The bottom of the cabinet above our dinette had busted out and everything that lived there was well everywhere.

There was no way I could pick it all up and pretend it was fine by the time Jerimiah got back.  As I saw him approach I tried to ease him into what had happened.  And after a few choice words, we just laughed to started to pick up and repair the mess.  For it's as our friend D’Wayne says ‘After I pitch a fit, I still have to fix the shit’.  No use to getting upset cause when you’re on the road you just really don’t have time for it.

We had found a Harvest Host spot on a vineyard as close as we could get to Spicewood and got in just as night fell on the Texas sky.  We knew when we arrived at the vineyard there was a wedding doing on so we found a spot far from the house and set up to have a beer and listen to the music from the party.  It was pitch black and we couldn’t see what we were parked next to but we could hear it.  Our neighbors were a talkative bunch and Hank wasn’t having it.

Although we couldn’t see it we knew we had parked next to the Texas Cattle Ranch and by the sounds of it they were right on top of us.

The next morning even though the night had broken we still couldn’t see a thing.  The fog was so thick it looked like the set of a scary movie.  We could still hear our friends next door but it was hours till we could see them or see well enough to drive on out of there.

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It's an amazing feeling when we meet a family who resembles what you grew up with.  Unconditional love and an open door policy is something I know well and hope I always give to those I know. The Sonnier Family from Lake Arthur, Louisiana opened their home to us on the word of their son Byron who we knew from Birmingham.  We were on our way to Texas and had just left Baton Rouge so Lake Arthur was a perfect halfway point.  We got into town late afternoon and the sun was setting on the Bayou.  Very quickly we realized this was a part of Louisiana we had not seen yet. Lake Arthur is set in Southwest Louisiana and is way more Cajun than the East side.  The Sonnier Family instantly was ready to show us the real Louisiana.  They brought us to a traditional Cajun spot called D.I.'s.  Now when I say traditional I am not just talking about crawfish I am talking about a straight-up Cajun band, who sang in French and had a stand-up bass and fiddle.  We sat at a giant table with more food than I could imagine eating, watching local couples dance.  The sense of community here was amazing, so many families here eating and dancing and catching up with one another.

We got back to the Sonnier's house and as we were about to go to bed so we could get an early start they offered to show us the real Louisiana if we wanted to stay one more day.  We had to get to Texas but we could afford one more day for sure.  

The next morning we got up early and walked around town with Hank.  The town was so quiet and the water on the lake so still.  The Sonnier's first took us to Leo's childhood home.  This was something out of the movies for sure.  This old Southern farm was littered with old alligator bones and the most beautiful donkey's I have ever seen.  The Sonnier's Louisiana tour took us to the Gulf of Mexico where we watched Hank first encounter with the ocean.  We could have watched him chase the waves for hours.  We ate Boudin, hurricanes, saw real alligators it was amazing.

Then as we drove down a dirt road we came across the most amazing thing to date I have ever seen.  An alligator graveyard.  Thousand and Thousands of bones, skulls, and teeth.  I can't explain why it was there or what it was.  Leo told us it had been there forever and before the hurricane, the collection was much much larger.  Even when I look back at these photos I can't believe we were there.

We had to be getting on our way, Texas was calling our name and we had tickets for Willie for Jerimiahs birthday.  Before we left we got a little help from some extends family welding up our ever problematic sway bar.  

It was a sad goodbye, we loved this town and we loved this family.  We hope to make it back soon to visit.

[americanfrolic]

We left the Trace heading toward Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Our friends from Our Wild Abandon had virtually introduced us to Penni and Dave, who had invited us to stay with them. The drive was only about 130 miles so we had plenty of time.  We had made our way down the Trace eating and stopping by all the amazing historical spots the trace has to offer.  It wasn't too long before we were in Louisiana.  We had heard amazing things about St. Francisville, LA.  The small Southern town is littered with old plantations, some even haunted.  As we headed down the beautiful Hwy 61 the scenery changed and we were soon surrounded by beautiful trees.  As we entered St. Francisville we looked right to a tunnel of trees and a beautiful gate, we wiped the Frolic around and entered.  There was an older man at the gate who told us this place was called Afton Villa, an old plantation that had burned to the ground and was made into a beautiful garden.  

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Waking up from a going away party is never easy, and leaving a place you feel has become your home with friends you love so much is even harder.  But we weren't done with our journey yet, the Frolic had more miles to travel and we had more of the country to see. It was Monday morning at the end of February so it was dreary and luckily we had already hitched up the night before so getting on the road was easy.  We made our way to Hwy 20 towards Jackson, Mississippi and honked at everyone as we waved goodbye to Birmingham.  

Now if you have been following us you know we rarely take interstates and opt for two-lane highways but today we just needed to get there.  There wasn't much we wanted to see and we were on a bit of a time crunch.  Jerimiah and Felice, our Texas friend we would be staying with, had birthdays coming up and we had tickets for the great Willie Nelson.  A couple of weeks is all we could spare as we headed North to Austin.  

Off of Highway 20 just south of Jackson is the Natchez Trace Parkway is a scenic two-lane historical drive spanning 444 miles from Tennessee to Mississippi.  We caught it late afternoon that Monday and found a Free campground called Rocky Springs just before dusk.  That is right my friends FREE (click through here for the link and GPS on where to find this gem.

We decided to stay hooked up which we do most stops where we plan on leaving in the morning. This spot provides no hookups so just know you have no water or electricity.  There are clean bathrooms and from what I can recall a nice hot shower.  

When we picked our nice level spot we saw a beautiful Ford ecocline camper van in the distance.  As I strolled Hank around to stretch his furry lil legs I strike up a conversation with them, hoping they would invite me over to take a gander at their amazing van.  The owners of my dream van were an adorable French Canadiana couple in there early 50's.  They granted my wish and gave me a tour of their rig.  It was perfect! I had a bit of envy for a self-contained travel mobile.  We traded travel stories and invited them to the Folic for a tour.  I gifted them a book of New England for their future travels and they later brought us a bottle of delicious wine as a thank you.  

We decided to take a hike around the Trace and see what this place was about. There was a small trail off in the distance, or at least we thought it was small.  We hiked along the river watching Hank play in the stream.  We later found out hikers leave, as an offering to all, cold beer to chill in the river.  There was none when we came down but just as a warning to all if you see some chilling it is meant to be there for all.

We followed the signs to a ghost town but as dusk fell we got deeper in the trail and had the little hint of and out leaving the woods.  We tried the modern thing and got the phone out to look at the map but reception was bad so we listened to the gut and trekked on to where we thought the camp was.

We finally made it back to the Frolic laughing so hard about being lost forever in that Mississippi woods.  I made a little dinner by lantern light since there was no power.  We enjoyed our bottle of wine we had been gifted by the Canadians and settled into the utter darkness of the Mississippi woods.  

This was the first night we camped with Hank and he earned his keep as a great watchdog.  One low growl warning was for our first sighting of Armadillo then the second low growl warning was a little bigger.  We think it was a deer but who knows, our flashlight scared it away into the night before we could get a good look.

The next morning we headed back to the Trace to make our way to Baton Rouge.  Before we left though we wanted to check out this little Ghost Town Rocky Springs supposedly had.  Deep in the woods about a couple from camp, we came to an old church and what was left of Rocky Springs.  It was a chilly and eerie morning.  Perfect for a walk through an old cemetery with beautiful graves and amazing trees.  As we walked it was impressive to see what artifacts were left of the town, two safes had rusted a bit but they marked a place where people not only lived but thrived. We hopped back in the van and headed South on the Trace. We had done a little research and knew there was an amazing fried chicken place just off the trace a little.  Not far milepost off of Hwy 552 exit we found Mr. D's Chicken.  When we walked in we were saying we were the first customers they had that day.  A warm greeting from the staff they told us to get a place and load up,  Its all you can eat from 10-4 every day and man oh man did we dive in.  Fried Chicken and all the fixings.  Don't you think for once second I didn't get me some dessert, the cobbler was calling my name.  This for sure is highly recommended.  After we ate we walked around, almost a museum for the millions who have dinned and the years they have been lucky enough to be in business.  We thanked our new friends for a great meal and got some tips on what to see off of the Trace.  

We headed to the Emerald Mound and did some hiking on some historic trails before entering the great state of Louisiana.

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We hitched up from Maggie Valley and caravanned with Mikey and Rita from The Wall of Death.  We decided to get to a Harvest Host spot in Georgia that was halfway.  It hadn't stopped raining for about a week so we just all piled into the Frolic where I made everyone dinner and we drank and played cards games.  I hadn't laughed so hard in a long time playing cards against humanity with the gang while the rain came down.  

The next day we made it Birmingham, Alabama.  We all needed to be here for the Barbers vintage Motorcycle fest and swap meet.  The Wall was set up for a couple days of shows and we were gonna set up shop for a couple months and try and get some work.  

We have always loved Birmingham and would frequently come down from Chicago to visit our friends.  We wanted to see if this was a place we would one day like to call home.  We had talked to our friends and they had all been looking for jobs for us traveling folks. Our friends Daniel and Allison had offered us a primo spot in their backyard for our time in Birmingham.

We got in with a week to get set up before Barbers started.  I got work straight away with Jrag printing where our friends worked.  I would be working in the screen printing department and instantly loved the job.  Everyone was amazing, we listened to great music all day and I was learning more about a job as a printer I had always been interested in.  The day I started work though was a bit tough for me.  I got a message very early that my dad had just had a stroke and he was in the hospital.  I knew just the facts and frantically called around to find out what was going on.  My parents and me a very close so news like this hit me hard.  My first reaction is to go home and be with my family but when you travel full time you have to assess the situation before you make huge plans.  I decided to go to work hoping it would distract me a little.  At this point, I and Jerimiah shared a pay as you go phone so I took the phone in case my mom was to call.  Jerimiah hit the streets liking for work at local bars and restaurants.  

As the week went on I talked to my family daily and was keeping track of my dad's progress.  It had been a couple small strokes and he was recovering well.  My parents told me as much as they would love me home it wasn't really necessary and I needed to stay and work in Birmingham.  I wasn't feeling very festive when the weekend came for Barbers but we were surrounded by friends and friends who are like family so it made the weekend the silver lining on a dark cloud.  

Jerimiah had offered his help assembling the Wall of Death again in exchange for some Barbers tickets so he was hard at work for that weekend.  

After the weekend passed, we settled into our new normal life.  Working a 40 hour week was a bit of a change.  Any chance to earn money is so exciting for me, I look forward to going in everyday however it did take me a second to get used the 9-5 life again.  

Jerimiah had been Interviewing like crazy and he was getting no frustrated nothing has panned out yet when Corey from jrag offered him a position with the vinyl wrapping department.  He could learn and new skill and work 40 hours like me it was perfect and like clockwork as soon as he accepted every bar and restaurant called and offered him a job.  Funny how things work out.

It's so hard to put into words how amazing our time in Birmingham was.  We felt we had really had found a place we could call home.  We would even look at Craigslist to see what the cost of living would be.  We have an amazing group of friends here in Alabama and everyone made us feel so loved.  Every week there was a dinner party, a show to see or a bone fire to sit and drink by.  Time was flying by.  In November while exploring the city with our friends we met the soon to be love of our lives.  Sitting on the floor of Faith skate shop laid the sweetest, calmest pup we ha ever met.  We found out he was up for adoption and Crys and Peter the skate shop were fostering him.  Crys saw how we looked at him with love in our eyes and she suggested we take him for a trial period and see if we fit together.  Jerimiah looked me as to say 'can we?' I needed to think about it for a minute.  Where would he sleep, how would we afford a dog with no steady work? How would we travel with a puppy? As we laid awake the next night we both obsessed about Hank.  Would he like us? Would he cuddle with us? This is a big decision but when you are living on other peoples property it's even bigger.  We have to think about more than just us and what we want.  We talked to Allison and Daniel knowing full aware they could be uncomfortable with bringing a puppy into the mix.  They already have two lovely dogs and well it's their house.  They were amazingly supportive of us adopting Hank and welcomed him into the mix. Our trial was a joke as soon as we got him home we knew he was never leaving.  

Life was good.  My da was getting better day by day, we had a new puppy, jobs a place to live and great groups of people around us.  

The Holidays were approaching and the southern winters were like a Chicago spring.  We were lucky enough to have some family in the area for Thanksgiving.  A touch of home was really what we needed.  We had been on the road about 6 months and had no plans of going back anytime soon so being able to see family is such a sweet gift.

We were working 40 hours a week but we were not saving as much as we wanted.  The holidays took a chunk.  I flew home to see my family, after my dad's stroke it wasn't even an option to not go home.  Then Hank needed stitches after day of serious playing, the van needed some work.  We had planned to leave after the New Year but that wasn't looking like it may be tough.  Again when people offer you a home, and a job you have to consider them before you make a giant decision.  Would Daniel and Allison be fine if we stayed another month or two? Would we have work?

Everyone welcomed us to stay and asked us to never leave we were overjoyed.  We were able to do some major exploring with our friends around Alabama and actually save what we needed.  

We made a final date of our departure.  At the end of February that was it, we had to leave Birmingham.  We had so much left to see, so many more states to explore before we could pick the place to be our home.  The weeks before we left were bittersweet.  We moved the camper from our friend's yard to the Haints Motorcycle shop.  We have the Frolic and the van a well-deserved makeover.  We were beyond thrilled with the outcome of this makeover too, if you follow us on Instagram you may have seen the changes.  The van got an amazing vinyl wrap courtesy of jrag.  We used the Gorgeous George graphic and our friend Nick added his artist touches making it an all over van graphic.  The Frolic for a full makeover from our friend Brian.  He is an incredible painter and had the whole camper painted in a short amount of time.  We caulked all the holes where water was leaking and even made little vinyl graphic replicating the 1970's Frolic logo.  

The Haints had offered us a going away party at the end of the month at their new shop which would be a great send off for our exploration to the West.  

When we left that morning at the end of April our hearts were heavy.  How can one be so excited for the future but sad to leave the present?

The west was calling our names so we loaded up our road dawg and headed towards Mississippi to see what the frontier had to offer.  

This post would be nothing if I didn't thank everyone who helped us.  Daniel and Allison, we owe you so much for welcoming us to your home, we love you both so much.  your

Nick, Laci, Jazmine, Dick, Seth thank you all for taking a chance on two hill jacks in a trailer.  Brian my friend every rain storm we thank you for the amazing job you did to keep the Frolic dry and pretty.

[americanfrolic]

One of the craziest cosmic connections one can have I think is being in the middle of nowhere or somewhere you haven't been before and running into someone you know.  How in this big overpopulated planet of ours, you can cross paths is something almost magical.  It always brings a smile to your face with an electrifying excitement.  

When we took off from Asheville early in the morning we had no idea what the day held.  Hell, we didn't even know where we were sleeping that night.  We knew there was a place called Maggie Valley about 40 minutes east of Asheville and there was a Motorcycle museum called Wheels through time that we hadn't ever been to.  So after we hitched up and Dewayne helped us get the Frolic fixed up we headed out.  I drove the Frolic and Jerimiah and Maniac rode the bikes out of Asheville and on some beautiful back roads through the North Carolina hills. I have to say it really felt great to get behind the wheel and get my confidence back driving our home around.  We rolled into Maggie Valley and found a small RV park that wasn't too expensive for us to camp for the night.  After the Frolic was parked I hopped on the bikes with the guys and we rode over to Wheels Through Time.  Once we pulled in we saw the familiar colors of the Wall of Death silo.  We all started to laugh with excitement.  For those who haven't heard of the Wall of death let me share with you a piece of history.  The WOD is one of the last remaining sideshows acts in America.  Featured in 30 ft wide silo men and women race around the silo challenging gravity on motorbikes and go-carts, crazy to think that this death defining act has been traveling the country since the early 1900's.  We are lucky enough to know some of the current performers and to have witnessed this show more than a couple times.  We were not only excited to see this thrill-seeking show we love so much but to run into some friends in this small little mountain town.  

The day was gloomy and the clouds hung low over the mountains making the day annoyingly wet.  We ran to the silo to see our friends and find out how long they would be in the area.  We soon found out we all were headed to Birmingham, Alabama in the next week for the Barbers motorcycle show and had about a week to waste after their next WOD show.  

After our hi's and hellos, we ran into the museum for a tour before the next showing.  

I would have to say Wheels through time had one of the largest collections of rare and one-off bikes and automobiles I have ever seen.  The owner Dale has collected Over the years some amazing pieces and tells the story of each piece so well.  It's hard to not want to walk through a couple times to make sure you have seen everything they have.  The museum is always packed with what I could tell and we felt at home with all the fellow travelers the museum seemed to attract.

Later that day after the final show we got to talking with the Wall riders about what it took to tear down the Wall and it seemed they needed a few extra hands for the breakdown and even the set up once we all got to Alabama. Talking with Dale from Wheels Through time he offered us a place to set the Frolic next to the museum so we could help break down the Wall.  

We can't express how amazing it was to be able to handle a part of history like the Wall of Death.  The side shows life is one for gypsies and travelers who seem to be our people now.  To see a glimpse into the life of the of one of the American sideshows was quite an honor.  To be able to take apart this silo where they race with gravity piece by piece was amazing.  To see all the hard work it takes to build up the sides and how each part fits like a puzzle and how each member of the show is responsible for building this together.  Building trust of not only a strong team but for their life on the road together.

The rain in Maggie Valley was building strength leaving us small intervals of peace to break down the wall.  We camped out and cooked under the shelter outside the museum sharing stories of travel and life on the road.  When it came time to leave it took a team to get the Frolic out of the mud, the rain and washed out the ground beneath us and with a little help from we got the Frolic pulled out and ready to hit the road.  We had planned to caravan with Mikey and Rita from the Wall making our way to Birmingham where we would set up the Wall once more and where we planned to set up for a few months and pick up work and check out the city for ourselves.

[americanfrolic]

We had left the Blue Ridge Parkway and made it to a campground just East of Asheville.  The day before we got in contact with DeWayne from A Broken Spoke and he had offered us a place to stay at his Motorcycle shop, and although we had never met he came highly recommended by some mutual friends.  We had heard great things of Asheville but knew little about the town and at this point, we still had no internet or working iPhone without the help from wifi.  We got out the trac phone and called DeWayne the next morning, we drove over the Mountain to see what Asheville had in store for us.  We were greeted with the warmest Southern greeting from DeWayne and all the Broken Spoke crew.  We found a great spot behind the shop to set up the Folic.  When you travel as much as we do and live this life you are grateful for a place to crash for the night and grateful for the hospitality.  Sometimes the simplest things like electricity or a bathroom become a luxury.  It seems silly but it's nice to learn to appreciate these things in life, to learn a bit of gratitude you may have lost in your everyday life before.

The Asheville boys made sure we saw their city.  In Asheville like a lot of other Southern towns, bars are called Private Clubs and you need to be a resident of the city or a guest of a resident to enter.  Some you have to pay a small fee to get a membership card to enter but with all the ones I went to we had to have the guys sign us in.  It seems a little outdated and for me and I couldn't understand how the rule works with tourist but I guess it helps to know someone if you plan to go out.  The bars though are pretty rad. We always found good music, friendly people and by the second night, we were becoming friends with all the locals.  Like any small city, you seem to run into each other a lot if you make the rounds.  We had only planned to stay a couple days and wanted to maybe see a little more of North Carolina but as most plans, they change.  We got offered a little work and when someone offers you work when you're on the road you take it.

Jerimiah got to work with DeWayne getting some bikes up and running, I found some vintage gems and got them up on, our vintage shop, and got them up to sell.  Then we both did some Landscaping for my Cousin Gene.  Gene owns an amazing Bed and Breakfast outside of Asheville called Acorn B&B which is right next to the Sierra Nevada Brewery, which if you have a chance check it out.  The Sierra Nevada like many other breweries are finding a home on the Eastcoast and the home SN has built is by far one of the friendliest and most beautiful breweries I have ever seen.

Our two day trip to Asheville was getting extended but we didn't care we were having a blast.  We were getting a feel for the town.  If we lived here could we find work, could we find a house?  Did we like the people?  It was all seeming like this wild little city was getting added to our list.  

We got the bike out and rode around the city exploring the backroads and small towns, found the flea markets.  We met some amazing people and it looked if we wanted to look for a house we could find something to rent maybe even cheaper then our Chicago apartment.  

We rarely can afford to do many tourist activities but my family used to work at the Biltmore Estates and we were given some free passes.  We rode the bikes out early in the day with our friend Maniac and I am so glad we took the bikes and not the van. The property from the very first entrance is immaculately beautiful.  Americas largest home was built by the Vanderbilt family in the late 1800's. It is adorned with beautiful gardens, a winery, and even a small farm.

We decided we would stay through the week and leave after the Hillbilly Hootenanny car show which was at the A Broken Spoke lot. The car show was an all-day event with bands, cars and great food and friends.  It was going to be hard to say goodbye to Asheville we were really getting a feel for the city and had started to settle in but we needed to make it to Alabama by the second week in October and by this time we were well into September.  DeWayne helped us make a few adjustments to the Folic and we said our goodbyes to MaMa, Sissy and the boys.  We love you Asheville and just know you are on the list of places we would love to live whenever this crazy journey of ours ends.

[americanfrolic]

We left Charlottesville early in the morning hoping to catch the sunrise off the blue ridge parkway. We have parked about 20 miles away from the point where the Shenandoah national park meets the Blueridge.  We had already explored the Shenandoah National Park so blue ridge highway was next on the list and from what we could see we could take it all the way down to North Carolina which was our next destination.

The fog was thick that morning and the sun bounced off the moisture making our drive even more slow and peaceful. We drove for an hour or two and then picked one of the few exits the parkway has to stop for gas.  We rolled over to a straight up country general store with two gas pumps and an amazing country kitchen.  We had hit the breakfast rush full of old mountain men and old ladies who came to drink their coffee and take in the morning gossip. We fueled ourselves and the van up and headed back to the parkway.  It was beyond a beautiful drive and Jerimiah was itching to take some photos.  So when we got to a famous strip around the mountain he asked that I take over driving so he could get a photo of the camper coming around the bend.  I was nervous as could be and needed a moment to psych myself up.  He got out and skated to a spot to get the shot framed up and I got behind the wheel and headed up the mountain.  I was shaking, I had lost my confidence driving the camper and the ridge was much larger to me in my mind.  After a couple laps back and forth though I started feeling a little better.  On the last lap around I slowed down enough for jerimiah to get in and was shouting at him to hurry.  He got grumpy at me and when I went to give him my dagger look I saw he was tore up.  He had gotten speed wobbles skating down the mountain and dove to save his camera and ending up tearing himself up real good. When I asked him what happened he said once he hit the pavement he slid 15ft on his stomach.  

When we got to a park store to grab some postcards so old ladies pointed at Jerimiah and started laughing.  They said " didn't we just see you on the parkway? " They were cracking themselves up teasing him.  "We sure thought we would see some wildlife but we didn't expect to see a bearded man skating down the Parkway".

We have come to realize life in the Frolic is more leisurely.  Driving a 1972 camper you have to realize the speed limit back then was way lower and the Frolic just can't do that fast.  We knew we weren't going to make it to North Carolina so we found a Harvest Host winery not far off the parkway in Virginia.

We got in right before dusk and I was certainly happy to see they were still selling wine.  We parked the camper and headed to the shop to meet the owners and their amazing Bulldog mascot.  We sat on the veranda and sipped wine with our Furry bulldog host as the sun went down.   We woke super early the next morning to get back on the parkway and head to Asheville North Carolina. The fog was thick when we woke up the next morning so we had to wait for an hour or two for the sun to come up and the fog to dissipate.

We had gotten instructions on how to get back on the parkway and some fun things to see along the way. We weren't far from the North Carolina border and had heard about a little town off the Parkway called little Switzerland.  We found it on the map and decided to be adventurous and check it out. Huge mistake! The town was a couple shop and no parking since it was on the steepest hill imaginable.  We were pretty much trapped in the gnarliest road we could be on towing a trailer.  I have to tell you I fell even more in love with Jerimiah that day as he drove the hairpin turns so effortlessly.  We passed motorcycles that had driven off the cliff and could smell our brakes a burning.  But he remained cool and focused and got us down the mountain.  When we got to a place to pull over, we did.  Our brakes needed to cool down otherwise we were gonna be in trouble.  It was a beautiful day and as we walked around the area we saw a church with a basketball court and lucky for us Jerimiah had just bought a basketball.  We played a serious game of horse and laughed about that ridiculous road we were just on.  I love when people suggest things for us to check out but I think sometimes people forget what we are towing and how that effect things.   We got back on the road and decided to stay off the parkway.  Back to two-lane highways, our safe place.  We were not gonna make it to Asheville but we were gonna be close.  We found our office space or as you call it McDonald's and settled up for some free wifi and found an RV spot with one of our Passport America membership. Asheville was just over the mountain and we had talked with a friend of a friend D'Wayne who said we could post up at his shop.   We settled into a pretty chill RV park with free wifi and called it a night.

[americanfrolic]

Charlottesville held so many things for us.  Friends, a possibility of work and a place to put the camper while we flew home to Chicago for a wedding.

The drive was amazing.  It was beautiful and simple, two things I love when driving our home across the country.  We made good time and got into the city late afternoon.

Our friends from Chicago had opened a restaurant called Oakhart Social and when we got in that is the first place we headed.  The head Chef Tristan had worked with Jermiah back in Chicago and I have to say this new restaurant tops any food we had had while traveling.  If ever in the city please stop by and tell them we said hello.  I recommend any cocktail (the have a talented bar staff) and def get the shaved salad and the wings oh and also the pork belly. I could go on but I will let you experience it for your self.

Our time here was amazing and this city quickly got added to the list of possible contenders for our permanent residence. We set up at the bar manager Alib's house.   20 miles outside of town tucked away he has an amazing 70's style home.  It is our dream house actually. We picked up work at The restaurant and fell in love with the staff.  Two things one looks for, amazing housing options you can afford, and a good community of people.  It's so hard to make friends in a new spot when you get older and I have to say Charlottesville welcomed us with open arms.  

We had nature 20 miles in the opposite direction of town.  We were right at the point where the Shannendoha national park meets the blue ridge parkway. We were able to take the bike up to the Shannendoha NP and although we saw no bears I felt we got to experience nature in its finest way.  We also were able to hike up an amazing trail Stoney Man to a pretty famous view.  

Although we left and came back I still feel our time in Charlottesville went so quickly.  It was hard to pack up and say goodbye.  We loved everyone so much and for the first time felt like we found a place we could call home.  

But there was more to explore and we needed to be in Alabama by the second week of October and September was now well on its way.  

We headed to the Blueridge parkway with North Carolina as our new destination.  

[americanfrolic]

Financials: Not our favorite subject but we figured we would share with you guys a little behind the scenes with our income situation so it might help some of you later down the line. Some people that travel full time have jobs where they are able to work from their computers, some are photographers or they just have seasonal jobs where they work half the year and travel the other half.Some people out there on the road even get paid to travel. Well, long story short none of that applies to Stef and I. As much as we wish it did we worked for a year straight, saved every penny we made, sold everything we owned and hit the road hoping for the best  and living on our savings. We hit the road in early June and were able to travel freely until August, although we were not financially hurting we always agreed to pick up any work if it was offered to us. Stef was able to pick up work through an event company and ended up working a weekend gig at a children's hockey camp in Maryland. A little further down the coast in Virginia, I was to pick up some hours through some friends working a security job at a local bar in Portsmouth. While in Portsmouth we also visited some of Stef's family friends and they offered us both a day labor job which involved us ripping out a kitchen floor. Leaving Portsmouth we headed to Charlottesville Virginia where Stef and I both had  an opportunity to work at Oakhart Social Restaurant And Bar, picked up a 1 day yard work gig for Stefs Uncle in Asheville North Carolina, I worked in The Broken Spoke motorcycle shop for a day and we even got to help rip down the famous Wall Of Death in Maggie Valley NC.

Before we left Chicago in June the plan was to stop in Birmingham Alabama, visit some really close friends, take in the city to see if we would ever want to live here and pick up some more work for our next leg of our journey. We have been in Birmingham since October 10th, parked the camper in our wonderful friends Bowles and Allison's backyard and Stef had a job about a mile from where we are parked. Me, on the other hand, was not able to find work for about 3 weeks. One of my good buds Jonathon set me up with about 4 different restaurant/bar jobs that all looked very promising by the interviews but they needed time to find room for me or just took to long to get back at me. I ended up talking to some friends that work with Stef but in the Vinyl Wrapping And Sign Dept. They told me they were losing a couple of guys and if I wanted I could come do a trial over there for a day. It ended up working out great and they day I decided to work there I had about 3 of those bar jobs calling me asking when I could start. I kindly said no and started my new and exciting job learning the ways of Vinyl Wraps and vehicles.

In our heads, we thought we would have left by Jan 1st and headed west. We had a few hiccups with the van, we acquired a dog, and probably ate out and drank too many beers. Granted it's been fun and we do love it here theirs still a lot to see so we buckled down on Sunday and wrote out a complete (well estimated) budget plan to get us out west. Our next step was to...

-Write down our current balance in our checking -Add our upcoming income for the remaining weeks we have worked here in Birmingham. - Subtract our bills for each month *AT&T *Credit card *Pet insurance *Adobe Lightroom * Camper, Van and motorcycle insurance.

 Before we left we downsized our lives and that included our bills as well. We did a suspended service on our cell phone's which only allows us to us it on wifi and have a flip phone to make calls and send texts. Which we will talk about in a later blog post all of its own. With the bills taken into play theirs always other expenses to consider while traveling.

- Food - Camping - Gas - Van/Camper repairs - Medical bills - Emergency plane tickets back home - And anything else that comes to mind..

  Now that we see what our Bank account will look like before we leave and actually feel ok with the number in it, we try and figure out our next stop and if we have any opportunities for work there.    Our plan now is to head towards Austin Texas and see everything in between here and there on two-lane highways like we always do. We have some awesome friends we will be parking the Frolic with right outside of Austin and we hope to be able to pick up work, explore Texas, save a little cash and eventually hook up again and get on the road. We understand this is probably a crazy way of life for most people, and some of the time it's really hard for us as well. But with the hard times come the amazing people, beautiful places and insane memories we have from each place. And in the end, that's what life is all about.

[americanfrolic]

Leaving Maryland, we did a much better job avoiding major cities.  We wanted nothing to do with D.C., we had heard so many horror stories about driving with a trailer around government buildings, and that was enough to make us want to get on our way.  We were in Virginia very quickly. I was back to my atlas, guiding us on two-lane highways.  We weren't going to make it to Portsmouth so we found a Passport America RV site in a small town.  It was dark when we got there and I am kind of thankful for that.  We avoid RV parks for a reason and this again made us comfortable with our decision.  Within minutes of our arrival, we had been insulted by the owner, seen domestic violence and been greeted by the intoxicated yet friendly full timers.  We were glad one night was all we needed.  The next morning we headed towards Portsmouth.  We had arranged to stay with friends and had decided to stay for longer than we had stayed anywhere.  Our friend was in the service and would be leaving soon so we wanted to make sure we spent time with him.  We also needed to find a little more work and regroup before we started to head West.  I can not thank our friend Jeff enough for his generosity to let us set up the Frolic on his side yard.   It was a great couple of weeks.  We got a bunch done but didn't have to rush to do it.   We spent time in Virgina Beach where we swam in the warmest ocean I have ever been in.  We saw a Bruce Springsteen impersonator and Jerimiah harassed kids on the boardwalk to not skate mongo.

We hunted for more treasures for our Vintage store American Frolic Treasures.  We were able to pick up work, Jerimiah at a great place Cogan's and both of us did a small construction project. Big thank you go out to Sharron at Cogan's and Rosie and Donald for the opportunity to work.

We were also able to explore we took mini rides around on the bike and one big ride to Richmond with all our new and old friends. The ride to Richmond was amazing.  The weather was perfect and it was a couple hours away.  We spent the weekend camping and hanging around wading in the river and it was perfect.  I wish we would have had more time to explore Richmond but who knows maybe we can go back someday.

Our time in Portsmouth went fast and when it came time to leave it was a hard goodbye.  Again we can't thank Jeff and Jay enough go for their hospitality.  And forever grateful for Ms.  Lara Smith and her gift of our American Frolic print.

We were trying to stay in Virginia and had planned on heading to Charlottesville which was just a little over three hours away.   Again we got out our trusty atlas and planned our route West.

[americanfrolic]

The days after we left Massachusetts were very hard.  

We got lazy navigating around major cities and let the GPS guide us right into the New Jersey Turnpike.  We got around New York without problems but I failed to remember what came next and I feel my copilot wings should be stripped away.  We sat there on the NJ turnpike in standstill traffic, going two miles in two hours.  

We found an escape finally and went to get off.  When going through a toll where six lanes of traffic go down to three a New Jersey US Coach charter bus hit our camper.  It was awful and infuriating.  We had ownership of the lane, we were all the way in with our van and 3/4 of the way in with our camper when the bus sped up and dragged along our camper tearing the back panel from the side panel.

We got out and tried to handle the situation.  We ended up waiting over 3 hours to have police come all the while on the New Jersey Turnpike, stuck crowded around cars on hot pavement with a broken home.  When the cops came we told our part of the story they said this wasn't the first bus that had done this(we had heard this from drivers all afternoon).

The police made no judgment of who was at fault, they just handed us a piece of Xerox paper that gave a website buycrash.com.  Seriously that was the name of the website.  We have never been able to get a police report from the accident and we never were able to file a claim.  

We were shaken to the core after the incident and it was now pitch black.  We were too far away from the Harvest Host we had set up to camp at and we had no internet to find a campsite.  We wanted to get off the road and we need a comfortable place to rest.  So we found a hotel and called it a night.

The next morning we woke a little less frazzled and headed into Pennsylvania.  We couldn't get out of Jersey fast enough.  

We had found a harvest host on the border of Pennsylvania and Maryland which was perfect since Maryland was our destination.

I had picked up some work with an event company outside of Baltimore for three days and we need to get there quickly.

The drive through the Pennsylvania farmland helped to calm our nerves.  We headed to the Naylor Vineyard in Stewartstown just South of York, PA.  We arrived late afternoon and found a spot by the vines and the popcorn fields to set up.  We were greeted by the staff and Mr. Naylor himself.  They were kind and generous folks and the wine they made was delicious. And man did we need a glass of wine. They said we could stay longer but we thought it best to get a move on.  We did want to have a little fun though and get back to enjoying our journey so we headed to the Harley Factory in York, PA.  They have free tours and free is just up our alley. On the way to the factory we stopped at a Home Depot and Jerimiah repaired the camper.  He was not happy about it, it was an infuriating task but I have to say he did a great job.  After the tour, we headed towards Germantown, MD.  I had found a campsite not far from the event.  We had to be there for three days but we don't like paying for places to camp if we can help it so we decided to stay the first night at a Walmart. Then we would head to the campground for the second night.  

This was a couple first for us.  This was the first time we had picked up work. We had made it two months with no work and we're doing fine but we agreed if any work comes our way we would take it.  And we had also never stayed at a Walmart.  I have to say sleeping at Walmart was the best night sleep we had in a very long time.

The weekend was spent with me at a kids hockey camp and Jerimiah loitering at coffee shops doing work and organizing our camper and van i.e. our life.  

On the last day of the hockey camp, Jerimiah picked me up in our rig. I got to show off my home to my coworkers and then we headed off to Virginia to stay with our friend Jay outside of Virginia Beach.

We felt so much better, we were rested, happy and refocused on the journey ahead of us.