The U.S. manufacturing sector may appear to be shrinking, but it’s making a comeback at the same time. American production remains as hip as recycling and microbrews, particularly in the outdoor industry. We are proud that a few of our preferred gear companies produce homegrown gear. We visited our first stateside factory in April 2013, when…
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Currently spending time with/where: We are down to the wire with our time in Danville. We close on the house today in less than 3 hours!!! Current plan: Wouldn’t you like to know??? Better yet, wouldn’t we like to know? Current mood: Bittersweet about saying goodbye to our house and our friends in Danville one more time.…
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J & I engage in plenty of outdoor sports–hiking, paddling, biking, rock climbing, XC skiing, etc. Our participation in them depends on the area where we live and how much time we have. Mountain biking has never really been in our rotation of activities. J has done it a few times, but is definitely a…
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We stayed in 25+ different hostels/holiday parks along Te Araroa and most of them were great, but they do vary. We thought a review post might be helpful for anyone planning to hike the trail, or just visiting New Zealand. A general observation is that hostels are more crowded on the South Island than on…
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We hopped over the state line this weekend to go camping and paddling with some Danville peeps. Now that we’ve been back in the good ol’ South for almost 2 months, it really just feels like we never left. Which is probably why when I didn’t flinch when one of our group members said, “Oh…
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Not many extended families can really say they all get along, but J’s family can. As such, they have maintained a great tradition of family reunions. A first family reunion took place in 2012 in Virginia Beach, where his grandmother and some other family live. With 6 grandkids, plus 6 significant others, and now 5…
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I am behind on blogging. I mean, I am blogging here for Big Agnes and Gregory, but I am neglecting my own blog. My excuse is just being consumed by a major case of purging, going through our house and possessions with a fine-toothed comb. Also, we are trying to figure out our next move…
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We are back in Danville and I must say, we had a great time in Jersey. It was jam-packed, as usual, but we got to see a bunch of folks. I previously mentioned that our last visit to Jersey was March 2014, so this was a long time to stay away. All of my family…
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Currently spending time with/where: I added this “currently” label because we bounce around so much! This past week/weekend, I took a break from Danville and spent time in dirty Jersey visiting family and friends (won’t hit everyone this time around … next time!). I mostly have been having some summer fun with the niece &…
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I promised I’d balance out my Debbie Downer posts, so here are some happy scenes from Danville! As I said, we have some really awesome friends here and have been squeezing every droplet out of our free time for some fun, despite the surrounding drama. There’s been lots of outdoor recreation, weekly 1/2 priced Sushi…
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So it’s pretty suffice to say that since we returned from New Zealand, we’ve had a black cloud following us around, or maybe it is just reality overcompensating for our 6-month escape. Someone said this line to us the other day and it just about sums it up: “Wish in one hand, shit in the…
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If this week were not emotional enough, we have other bad news. Mr. McKinley passed away Saturday night. McKinley, who would have been 11 this June. McKinley, who was part of our Danville story as we adopted him in December 2004, shortly after moving to town. McKinley, who was my best coworker and kept me…
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We’ve been in Danville, VA, since May 6. Danville, for those who don’t know, is one of our many home bases. Danville is a small town of roughly 40,000 people on the border of North Carolina. Manufacturing, tobacco and textiles were its main industries for much of the 20th century, with a key business being…
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Earlier this week, we left Colorado and landed on the East Coast, specifically in Virginia. I am long overdue for a post on our current and future plans, but unless you want some nonsensical words strung together, you get a smattering of pictures from the rest of our time in Colorado. J’s youngest sister has…
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Current mood: missing New Zealand. Seriously, it is SO disappointing to be “back to life, back to reality.” It doesn’t help that everyday I do a little organizing/labeling/editing of our 1,000+ pictures and am instantly transported back to some point during our 5-month adventure. I find myself day dreaming and night dreaming of New Zealand. …
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We made the most of our 5 days in Sydney, taking all modes of transportation to get around (including walking of course!) and seeing a variety of sights and tourist attractions. We rented an AirBnB in Darlinghurst, which was walking distance from the downtown. It was a tiny studio apartment, but much, much better than…
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Well, our 5-month New Zealand grand adventure has come to an end. We flew out on Friday morning and are now are in Sydney, Australia. This was after a brief “oh crap moment when the airline said, “do you have a visa?” And we said, “no, we are only in Australia for 5 days.” And…
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Dunedin was never a planned destination for our post-Te Araroa travels. Dunedin was the Plan B when Mother Nature decided New Zealand should have the shortest fall ever and go straight into winter, thus axing our the last of our backpacking plans. We went from the snowy West Coast mountains to the rainy East Coast…
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We spent the weekend in Te Anau, gateway to Fiordland National Park and Milford Sound. We stayed right on the lake, which is gorgeous in itself. Te Anau Lake is the second largest lake in NZ and the largest freshwater body of water in the Southern Hemisphere. Our main activity in Te Anau was to…
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