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Things Go Wrong on the Road – Glacier National Park Part II

Things Go Wrong on the Road – Glacier National Park Part II

Glacier National Park. The park that we were most excited to explore. Amazing lake hikes, beautiful waterfalls, and the most spectacular white peak mountain views. Glacier is also the park that kicked our asses. We cracked the radiator getting here. Our computer broke. Stan popped a tire on the bumpy roads and needed new brakes from all the mountain driving. And I suffered a mild case of Bell’s Palsy. Part I of our adventure had its ups and downs. Determined…

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Things Go Wrong on the Road – Glacier National Park Part I

Things Go Wrong on the Road – Glacier National Park Part I

We made it! Glacier National Park may be the place we were most excited to go as we traveled the country. 1 million acres. 130 lakes. 200 waterfalls. The Rocky Mountains. How can we go wrong? We decided on a primitive campground on the southeastern edge of Glacier National Park called Cut Bank Campground. It was down a 5 mile dirt road. We didn’t realize it was a super rough dirt road. While Stan makes for a cozy rolling home,…

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Weird and Wild Adventures in North Dakota

Weird and Wild Adventures in North Dakota

Our first two days back on the road and heading west started well and seemed to help us achieve our balance goals. The first day we made it from Green Bay, WI to central North Dakota. The free campsite we’d picked turned out to be exactly what we needed. Our day ended by watching the sunset over the rolling grassy hills of North Dakota. Enchanted Highway We pushed to cover a lot of ground the first day so that we…

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Seeking Balance in the Midwest

Seeking Balance in the Midwest

After completing the first leg of our travels we spent a few weeks in Wisconsin. It was an event filled time. We visited family and friends, celebrated Tom’s father’s birthday, and my baby sister got married! Congrats sister! We also worked on Stan a lot. We made improvements to help with organization/storage, replaced some broken or malfunctioning items, and installed a solar panel. If you missed it be sure to check-out Tom’s full tour of Stan the Tan Van. The…

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Stan the Tan Van Tour and a Look at Vanlife

Stan the Tan Van Tour and a Look at Vanlife

It’s been a few months since Hitting the Road with Stan the Tan Van so we wanted introduce everyone to our tiny rolling home. If you’re considering or just curious about vanlife this van tour will help paint a picture of what vanlife is like for us and give you some organization ideas. Living long term in a van is getting more popular by the day. There are people with vans of all shapes and sizes tooling around the world…

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A Cave and a Conclusion in Kentucky

A Cave and a Conclusion in Kentucky

Caves have always fascinated me. When I was a kid I dreamed of living in a cave next to a large waterfall in the tropical rain forest. There would be delicious fruit trees outside my cave door where colorful birds sit and sing. Oh, and of course then there’s my pet tiger that guards the entrance. Hey, let a kid dream;) Cave Facts Well Mammoth Cave is really nothing like the cave I dreamed of as a child, but it’s…

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On and Off the Beaten Path at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

On and Off the Beaten Path at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a must stop when in Tennessee or North Carolina. Hey, could 11 million people be wrong? That’s right in 2016 the Great Smoky Mountains was the most visited national park with over 11 million visitors. This was more than double the number of visitors at the Grand Canyon—the number 2 visited park. Our stay in the Smoky Mountains was full of wildlife, history, and some of the most amazing views we’ve encountered. There is…

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Mystery and History at Shenandoah National Park

Mystery and History at Shenandoah National Park

Arriving at Shenandoah National Park felt like being transporting into an eerie, moody mystery novel. The park was socked in by thick damp fog. The kind that’s more cloud than fog. Leaving all surfaces glistening with a cold wet sheen and reducing visibility to minimal amounts. As we wound our way further up the mountains, the tree-lined road slowly appeared out of the dense white background. From the overlooks we could see only hazy outlines of tree tops below, with…

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5 Ways to Save Money Camping

5 Ways to Save Money Camping

Camping is our primary lodging on this adventure for a few reasons: be in nature, we love to camp, and save money. Once you’ve made the initial investment for gear (or a van/RV), camping can be an inexpensive way to travel or get away for the weekend. However, there are a lot of expenses you may not think of that can add up quick. We’ve camped at just about every type of site through the years. We’ve found that these…

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Thinking with our Stomachs in Charleston

Thinking with our Stomachs in Charleston

Charleston, South Carolina is an old city. Old by US standards at least. In fact, it’s so old that Charleston’s founding pre-dates the United States itself. It was settled in 1670 and originally named Charles Town after England’s King Charles the II. While we didn’t have a ton of time here, we packed our days (and our stomachs) full. Charleston captivated us in a way no other city on our travels thus far has. Food Food brought us to Charleston….

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