After spending the past 7 months building out the adventure van of our dreams, we finally hit the road for a shake-down trip. That trip took us from the southern deserts of Utah to Las Vegas strip for the F1 race. Followed by a journey west to the California coast to stop in Cambria and Morro Bay. We started the trip to head home by stopping in the wine country of Paso Robles and even got to drive through Death Valley. A great way to start a journey of VanLife if you ask me! For the full write-ups check out …
One of the best parts about living in a ski town is the shoulder seasons, when you can combine multiple sports into a single day. Well, once the ski resort closes down for the year, it’s the perfect opportunity to combine biking and ski touring. Though we wanted to ride from our house, the spring melt made our route to cross the highway impassible, so we started from in town. After loading up the bikes, we headed up to Park City Ski Resort to tour up the last bits of snow to the summit of Jupiter Peak for an epic day out with a good buddy!
The entire journey was about 22 miles, with a total elevation gain of almost 3,700 ft, including the bike portion. I was shocked, to be honest, that I was able to make it all the way up to the peak and back, while skiing moderately well once I put the GoPro away! It was such a blast being able to ski my favorite line at Park City Mountain called Main Chute off the top of Jupiter peak without anyone else being remotely close to us. It felt like we had the entire resort to ourselves… and that Grouse of course. Luckily, my legs didn’t bonk until the last 1/4 mile on the rail trail while riding directly into the wind. So I’ll definitely take that as a win!
I’ve been to a lot of National Parks since moving out west to Utah, from the desert red rocks in Arches up to turquoise glacial lakes of Banff. Every single National Park is beautiful in its own way, of course, some more stunning than others. Beyond the national parks, there are so many incredible mountains and canyons through the American West that aren’t protected by the National Park System, and that has sort of taken the excitement and “wow-factor” away from visiting new national parks. Well, our stop at the Grand Canyon was happenstance on our way home from 2 …
A half marathon, in the desert of Colorado, right along the mighty Colorado River, what else could we ask for? Although we were reluctant to sign up for a spring race, because that meant we would most likely have to be training in the snow, Courtney and I both signed up for the Desert Rats Half Marathon in Fruita, Colorado. Better yet, this race would coincide with our third wedding anniversary right next to the town of Palisade, where we go every year to celebrate in Colorado’s wine country! Talk about a win-win! Well, it would be a lot of …
Returning to a place you’ve already visited might seem like a waste of time if your superficial goal is to see as many places as possible. Admittedly, as I get older, I’m enjoying returning to places I’ve only briefly visited before on a weekend trip, and trading that in for a longer stay to really experience a place. So when Courtney’s family picked Savannah to celebrate her father’s 70th birthday, I couldn’t have been more excited to get back to that charming, little southern city. Over that week, we did a lot of walking, a lot of working, a bunch of celebrating, …
1. Visiting the random towns is one of the best parts Crystal River, Florida comes to mind when I think of how powerful extended traveling can be. The stop in this town was only because it was on the way to our next destination as we were heading westward. This town is home to a manatee migration and has some of the bluest water I’ve ever seen. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d visit this town. Add to that, the countless stops on the Gulf of Mexico or even the wine region of Cottonwood, Arizona. If it …
Growing up on the east coast, I’ve spent my fair share of time at beach that I’d call beautiful. New Jersey has some of the widest beaches of pristine fine sand. New England’s beaches have a rocky mystic to them with the surrounding pine forest. Not to mention having been up the west coast, through the world renowned cliffside beaches of California, Oregon, and Washington. I’ll be honest, never in my life did I think I would spend much time on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. And even more, I never thought that I would say that the …
On our way up north from Fort Myers, Florida, we decided to stop in a town that wound up being one of the most memorable days of our road trip through Florida, to the town of Crystal River. The town itself was no different than the surrounding towns we’d driven through for hours. But for some reason, this town is the winter destination for countless Manatees during the winter months to escape the cold waters of the Gulf. And when we arrived at Three Sisters Springs, it felt like we stepped into a tropical jungle in another world with how …
After dreaming about building an adventure-ready campervan for over 10 years, my wife and I finally build our dream rig in 2023. We chose the big Ford Transit 350 Extended AWD as the base for our build-out to live, cook, and work out of. So far, we’ve been on the road for over 2 months and loving every minute of living on the road and living out of our van! This build took us the better part of 5 months straight and was completely exhausting. No sponsors, no outside help, just my wife and I spending every night after our …
The Island of Moorea, truly one of the most visually stunning places I’ve seen, let alone been to in person. Eight massive, jungle covered peaks extend out of the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Coral reefs wrap around the entire island, creating turquoise blue lagoons that surround the beaches on this paradise. Sharks and turtles navigate in and out of the lagoons, across their homes within healthy coral reefs. And if it wasn’t already amazing enough, you could stay in a bungalow on the water, for $100 a night! Too good to be true? As much as it seems like …
