Landscape Photograph

Impromptu Road Trip!

Road trip across the southwest

In both of our families, September and I are known as adventurers – up for just about anything, the crazier the better. So when September’s aunt & uncle needed their car and dog (the fluffy, enthusiastic pup Raffles) delivered from Sarasota, FL to San Francisco, CA, they called US to make the road trip!

On Saturday, Sep, Raffles and I will spend 6 days driving across the southwest U.S. The trip alone is nearly 3,000 miles and takes over 41 hours… excluding pit stops, detours and must-see sites (which I am a sucker for).

Our itinerary:

  • Day 1: Tampa –> Gulfport, Mississippi (588 miles; 8.5 hours) – Point B on the map above
  • Day 2: Gulfport –> San Antonio, Texas (600 miles; 9 hours) – C
  • Day 3: San Antonio –> Tucson, Arizona (870 miles; 12.5 hours) – D
  • Day 4: Tucson –> Kingman, Arizona (300 miles; 4.5 hours) – E
  • Day 5: Kingman –> Yosemite Village, California (520 miles; 8 hours) – F
  • Day 6: Yosemite –> San Francisco, California (200 miles; 4 hours) – G

We’re stopping at things like the Alamo, Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park (and if we have extra time, Joshua Tree National Park) but we’ve got some 30 other sites that are off-the-beaten-path…. sites like the world’s largest rocking chair, a 25-ton tiki head and a house made completely of beer cans, that are just too wild to pass up. At Roadside America, we searched for cities on the various legs of our trip to see what bizarre, strangely awesome, roadside sites we’ll pass. There are TONS!

Time will surely be a limiting factor on this trip but we hope to move quickly (seeing as much as we can along the way), so we can gain some free time at the end of our journey to enjoy the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. Neither one of us has traveled the southwest U.S. before and we’re so excited and grateful for this amazing adventure!

Be sure to follow along – we’ll be posting regularly with pictures, videos and fun updates! (Thank goodness for the mobile WordPress app).

ROAD TRIP!

Photo courtesy of DiscoverAmerica.com

Please note: Our online shop, Top Knotch Gear, will be “on vacation” and we will not be processing orders until we return. If you have any questions/requests regarding gear, please direct them to us via email. Thanks!

Categories: Adventure, Backpacking, Extreme Vacation/Adventures, Family, Florida, Hiking, Landscape Photograph, Mountains, Nature, Outdoors, Packing, Parachute Cord, Paracord, Photography, Planning vacation, Rock Climbing, RTW, Survival gear, Top Knotch Gear, Tourist Site, Trails, Transportation, Travel, Travel Photography, Trip planning, Uncategorized, UNESCO World Heritage, World's Largest | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why We Love Florida

Moving to Florida (we bought a beachside business on the Gulf) has been absolutely fantastic. Besides having a great starting location for our travels with easy access to the Caribbean, Mexico, Cuba and Central America, it’s warm even in the winter, we get an abundance of Vitamin D, there are palm trees and grapefruit trees in our back yard and the wildlife is awesome. We’re both from the midwest (Michigan and Pennsylvania), so the tropical flora and fauna are very exotic to us. (How often can you just pull off at a roadside park and see live gators!?). If you have never been to Florida or are looking for great location for a getaway, we highly recommend the Sunshine State. Oh, and stop by our shop – Beach Snoballs - on Treasure Island – we’d love to meet you!

This is a picture I took while we were moving into our new house – I found this little guy crawling on our mailbox!

Categories: Adventure, Animals, Backpacking, Beach, Beach Snoballs, Explore, Family, Florida, Food, Landscape Photograph, Nature, Ocean, Outdoors, Photography, Planning vacation, Plants and Flowers, Top Knotch Gear, Tourist Site, Travel, Travel Photography, Travel Tips, United States, Water, Wild, World Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Life’s a Beach

Check out this treasury on Etsy called Life’s a Beach! It’s all beach-related art by artists from all over the world! Excited for summer yet??

Categories: Adventure, Art, Beach, Black and Blue, Bracelet, Etsy, Explore, Family, Gear, Jewelry, Landscape Photograph, Ocean, Outdoors, Photography, Pinterest, Plants and Flowers, SCUBA Diving, Top Knotch Gear, Travel, Travel Photography, Water, white and blue, World Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Islands for Everyone!

As cabin fever sets in and winter blues hover in the air (unless you live in Florida, no winter blues here), why not take yourself on a tropical getaway? Say, to an island that’s perfect for your personality?! CNN Go has put together a list of islands that are perfect for all kinds of people – nudists, families, loners, lovers…. you name it. Here are some of the findings:

World’s Best Islands For…

Naughty Nudists
Rab, Croatia – The birthplace of skinny dipping where clothing is optional. There are 3 different nude beaches where all of your parts can get some Vitamin D.

Nature Nuts
Sark, Channel Islands – It’s here, off the French coast of Normandy, that you can see the Milky Way nearly every night. There are no street lights or headlights because cars and bright lights are outlawed – perfect for stargazing space freaks (like me)!

Family Frenzies
Oahu, Hawaii – I’ll admit, the thought of visiting an island where are bunch of kids are running around is a turnoff to me. But Oahu is a great destination for families because of all the activities to keep young ones entertained – things like surfing school, giant mazes and water slides.

Lusty Lovebirds
Lizard Island, Australia – Between the 24 private beaches, the torch-lit dinners at the resorts and the Great Barrier Reef, this island is sure to make sparks fly. I know it’s going on our itinerary…

Laid Back Loners
Ogasawara Island, Japan – Traveling solo isn’t a bad thing, especially if you enjoy the quiet of being one with nature. South of Tokyo, this island has few inhabitants and a ferry is the only means of connecting the island to the “real world”… otherwise, you’re on your own! (Bring your survival bracelet!)

Party Peeps
Ibiza, Spain – Yes, the same Ibiza that J-Lo sings about. Known for its sweaty summer raves, there are tons of clubs with head-throbbing trance music if you’re looking for a party scene-getaway.

Movie Star Madness
St. Barts, French West Indies – Pretty, posh and full of paparazzi, this is THE island for celeb sightings. It’s also a gorgeous place with white sand beaches, just like in the Hollywood movies.

To read about the other island recommended, check out CNN Go’s article.

Happy island-hopping!

Categories: Travel, Adventure, Globetrotting, Outdoors, Backpacking, Nature, Transportation, Love, Family, Photography, Travel Tips, Summer, Plants and Flowers, Tourist Site, Explore, Top Knotch Gear, Landscape Photograph, Travel Photography, Planning vacation, Trip planning, Nude Hiking, Naked Hiking, Naturalist, Ocean, SCUBA Diving, News, RTW, Around the World, Nude Beach, Celebrities | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Top Destinations for 2012…

… according to CNN Travel. The list includes some great U.S. cities! Check out all of the locations here.

Myanmar (formerly Burma) is one of the top destinations! It's on OUR list!

Categories: Adventure, Airplanes, Asia, Backpacking, Explore, Family, Florida, Globetrotting, Landscape Photograph, Mountains, Myanmar, Nature, Outdoors, Packing, Photography, Planning vacation, South America, Top Knotch Gear, Tourist Site, Trails, Transportation, Travel, Travel Photography, Trip planning | 1 Comment

ROAD TRIP!!!

So tomorrow (Friday) we’re leaving at sunrise to begin our adventure down to Florida! For those of you who haven’t read or heard, September’s family bought a beachside business in Treasure Island, Florida (on the Gulf side of the state – about 15 minutes away from St. Petersburg) and we’re moving down to go run it! [See the post about 'Relocating to Florida' for more info.]

We’ve packed up our apartment. We’ve stuffed the car. We’re trying to get our bunny in her pet carrier for the ride (she’s very stubborn and doesn’t like to be contained) and we’re shutting the door (for now) to our life in Michigan. We’ll drive all day down to Conyers, Georgia (about 13 hours) where we’ll spend the night with September’s sister and her family. Then, we’ll be back up Saturday morning to make the rest of the drive to St. Petersburg, Florida where we’ll be living! The trip is a little over 1,234 miles (crazy – 1,234…)

We start at point A - our apartment in Michigan. We'll drive to Georgia (Point B) and then end up in our new home in Florida - Point C!

We sure will  miss Michigan, especially the Michigan summer. But we have a fantastic adventure ahead of us! We’ll try to update the blog while we trek down south, so check back again! And we’ll definitely put up new pictures once we get settled and situated in Florida.

Sunset on Lake Michigan in Grand Haven.

Thanks everyone for your support and safe travels!

~September & Morgan

 

 

 

Categories: Adventure, Business, Explore, Family, Florida, Landscape Photograph, Michigan, Nature, Outdoors, Packing, Photography, Random, Stumble Upon, Summer, Top Knotch Gear, Transportation, Travel, Travel Photography, Trip planning, Uncategorized, United States, Water | 1 Comment

AWESOME Travel Photography by Kenneth Parker

We stumbled on Kenneth Parker’s photography site yesterday. His photographs are AMAZING. If you enjoy travel, nature and landscape photography, you’ll definitely want to check out his site: www.kennethparker.com! As a [much less experienced] travel photographer myself, I am truly inspired by his work and what he’s able to capture. It’s just awesome!

Burmese Temples - Photo by Kenneth Parker

Ruins and Roots in Cambodia - Photo by Kenneth Parker

Categories: Adventure, Africa, Asia, Backpacking, Cambodia, Circumnavigation, Explore, Globetrotting, Hiking, Landscape Photograph, Mountains, Myanmar, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, Plants and Flowers, Random, Red, South America, Stumble Upon, Summer, Top Knotch Gear, Tourist Site, Trails, Transportation, Travel, Travel Photography, Water | 2 Comments

2011 Lonely Planet Travel Destinations

The Lonely Planet just released their list of top 10 travel destinations for 2011! How many of these places have you visited? Are any of the countries on your summer travel itinerary? Let us know!

  1. Albania
  2. Brazil
  3. Cape Verde
  4. Panama
  5. Bulgaria
  6. Vanuatu
  7. Italy
  8. Tanzania
  9. Syria
  10. Japan
Brazil, Panama, Tanzania and Japan are all on our ’round-the-world itinerary! If you wan to read more about the individual countries and learn tips and tricks for your travel, check out what the Lonely Planet has to say about the 2011 list of travel destinations. Have any travel stories from these places? Please share them with us! We love hearing about other travelers’ adventurers and experiences!

Vanuatu

Tanzania

Categories: Adventure, Africa, Asia, Australia, Backpacking, Circumnavigation, Europe, Explore, Food, Globetrotting, Hiking, Italy, Japan, Landscape Photograph, Latin America, Mountains, Nature, Outdoors, Packing, Photography, Planning vacation, South America, Summer, Top Knotch Gear, Tourist Site, Trails, Transportation, Travel, Travel help, Travel Photography, Travel Tips, Trip planning, Water, white and blue | 6 Comments

Norway

We found this picture on StumbleUpon and wanted to share it. It’s a photograph of Norway.

Categories: Adventure, Backpacking, Circumnavigation, Europe, Explore, Globetrotting, Hiking, Landscape Photograph, Mountains, Nature, Norway, Outdoors, Photography, Plants and Flowers, Stumble Upon, Top Knotch Gear, Tourist Site, Trails, Travel, Travel Photography, Water, white and blue | Leave a comment

Volcanic Lightning!

This photo of volcanic lightning was taken in Chile (about 500 miles south of Santiago) as volcanoes in the Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle range exploded ash into the sky on Monday! Isn’t nature awesome?!

Want to see more? Check out NPR’s video of the volcanic lightning:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/06/07/137034549/spectacular-lightning-show-as-volcano-erupts-in-chile

Categories: Adventure, Backpacking, Chile, Circumnavigation, Explore, Globetrotting, Hiking, Landscape Photograph, Mountains, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, Red, Science, South America, Summer, Top Knotch Gear, Tourist Site, Travel, Travel Photography, Volcano | Leave a comment

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