An Initial Rush Tour of the Southern Southwest

After leaving West Texas, we blew through the southern parts of New Mexico and Arizona on our way to San Diego, so I’ll do the same here. San Diego marked one of our few deadlines: our friend’s film was part of a shorts program at the San Diego Black Film Festival, screening on the last…

South Texas, Big Bend, and the Rio Grande; or the Time a Javelina Stole Becka’s Flip Flops.

Snake count 🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍 (three rattlesnakes, but luckily we saw the big ones from the car and the little one was fast asleep in the sun) Yep, that’s right, a Javelina stole my flip flops. That’s best-case scenario. Otherwise it was a coyote, or worse, a creepy desert person. Dan and I stayed just outside Big…

Checkin’ In

We’re going off the grid in South Texas for a few days, exploring Big Bend National Park and surrounding areas. See you all in El Paso!

The Everglades and Points Further North

The Everglades are immense, and we decided we’d either have to devote several days or limit ourselves to one quick stop. Due in large part to my paralyzing fear of snakes, we chose the latter option. I spent hours searching Dry Tortugas for the salt water crocodile but spotted a gator within the first ten…

Garden Key and the Dry Tortugas

Before we got off the ferry in Garden Key, I intended to combine Key West and the Dry Tortugas into one post. After spending 26 hours there, including our first time camping together, this particular national park deserves its own post. We reserved our campsite in early March, and after talking to other campers we…

Key West

I’d only been to Key West once before, with my friend Melissa and a few others, and I loved it. Dan is a fan of both Hemingway and quirky cites, so naturally we had to spend a few days there. Melissa flew down to Miami and we drove with her across the Overseas Highway. Hot…

In Which Becka Thinks She Hears the Tailypo

We left New Bern this morning after spending several lovely, relaxing days with Dan’s family, finishing up with a short drive to Kinston, NC for lunch at Boiler Room (best burger I’ve had in ages) and a quick side trip to Mother Earth Brewing (holy solar panels!). We arrived at Congaree National Park slightly before dusk, so we decided…

Get Out While the Getting’s Good

New York at night has always gotten to me. I love wandering around when the streets aren’t so crowded, when the air is a little colder and more crisp, and the lights brighter. I felt a pang as we drove through Manhattan, out of town for the last time for a long while, Monday night.…

Cadillac Mountain

Dan and I chose Acadia as our first National Park of the year because after a combined two decades as New York City bartenders, we thought it would be funny, and fitting, to spend one of the biggest drinking holidays watching the sun rise from a mountaintop rather than pouring booze for the green horde.…

Acadia Day 2, or The Day Dan Left his Phone on Top of a Mountain

Yep. Dan’s finger at the top of the photo marks where we parked, and his other hand shows where he left his phone.  We went up the North Ridge Trail (the red line, one of the more technically challenging hikes I’ve done due to snow and ice) and down the black-and-white road (unplowed paved road,…