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I Didn’t Know My Family
My Backstory My childhood home consisted of my mother (Peppi Louise Musser) and my older sister Beth. There were no grandparents or any other biological relatives in my life. There was also no father, but that is a subject for another post. All I knew was that something bad happened to my mom in her…
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Washington DC… with a side of Phoenix, Arizona
Yes, I know the geographers out there are probably going, “Hey, hold on, wait just a minute…..those two places are thousands of miles apart?!” True! But, that’s where we were over the past couple weeks. You see, #vanlife brought us to Washington DC, and then we flew from there to Arizona for Thanksgiving with our…
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Philadelphia, PA
I have lots of love for the city of brotherly love. It is a wonderful place to experience American history, taste delicious food, and cheer for professional sports alongside some of the most passionate fans in the nation. It seemed only fitting to start our Philly weekend at LOVE park. Saturday After our traditional photo…
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Lancaster, Pennsylvania
The largest Amish community in the world is in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Until we visited Lancaster last weekend, I had only heard a few things about the Amish, and I wasn’t really certain about those things: I was very curious to learn more about the Amish and get some of my questions answered, so I…
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New Jersey
New Jersey has some very unique and distinctive characteristics, as compared with other states I have visited. In the short two weeks that we spent there, I noticed some things that make you go hmmmm (as the song says), and others that make you go ahhhhhh! I’ll do my best to explain. There is a…
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Old Sturbridge Village: Phantom by Firelight
Dan surprised me last week with a trip to Old Sturbridge Village (OSV) in Sturbridge, Massachusetts to see, “Phantom by Firelight,” an annual Halloween event. He said he thought I would love OSV because he’d been there before as a kid and remembered it being similar to Silver Dollar City (SDC)–a place in Missouri where…
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Connecticut
We’ve been making our way down the eastern seaboard from Maine for several weeks now, and we spent last week in lovely coastal Connecticut. It was my first time! Milford, Connecticut Our trifecta of essential locations (1. Cracker Barrel for sleeping, 2. Planet Fitness for exercising and showering and 3. Panera Bread for working) happened…
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Salem, Massachusetts at Halloween
Many would argue that Salem, Massachusetts is the Halloween Capital of the world. Yes, I know that my Anoka, Minnesota friends would disagree, but having spent Halloween in both places, I’d say the two are highly comparable. Both do Halloween celebrations BIG TIME!! Let me know what you think in the comments. Salem, Massachusetts is…
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Boston in the Fall
Does anyone know the Veggie Tales song, “We are the Pirates who don’t do anything?” My kids were big Veggie Tales fans when they were little, and this song got more than its fair share of play time in our house. Anyway, one of the big repeating lyrics is, “and, I’ve never been to Boston…
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The Cog and The Kanc
Last weekend, we were in leaf-peeping heaven! I have never seen anything so visually stunning it in my entire life. It was like being in a cartoon or a carnival, with every deciduous tree at peak vibrancy and color saturation. I kept saying to Dan, “Is this real life?” We visited two of New Hampshire’s…
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Bangor, Maine and Acadia National Park
Last weekend, we visited Bangor, Maine and Acadia National Park, since they are both within a few hours drive from camp. This post is a compilation of my journal of that trip, our itinerary, and some general thoughts–in no particular order. Bangor, Maine I wanted to visit Bangor because it is known for being the…
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Day Trips From Camp
Camp Getaways While we love to spend most every waking moment at Pike Camp, we can start to feel a little bit of “cabin fever” if we don’t get out regularly during extended stays. So, for a short getaway experience, we enjoy traveling to the nearby towns and cities. Each place offers its own unique…
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The Magic of Camp
Camp Mihaska When I was a kid, Camp Mihaska was a wonderland to me. I spent 5 or 6 consecutive summers there in the 1980s, and it has lived in my imagination ever since. I remember the dense forests full of tall trees with cabins nestled in neat rows. There was a big lake where…
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#Vanlife Begins
Get Ready, Get Set, Go! At the beginning of September 2024, Dan and I packed up our lives, giving away, selling, or donating everything except the essentials and our most cherished memories. We’ve dreamed of this for a long time, and now we’re officially living our vantasy—our DIY camper van is our new home, wherever…