Letters From the Road Podcast

LFTR Episode 76 - Now that we are settled in at home it’s time to recap the summer that was! We try to walk backward through our week at home in Leavenworth. Then we talk favorites, biggest surprises, and things we’d do differently next time from our Great Lakes Summer of Song.

Highlights include:

* Ponderosa pines smell WONDERFUL!

* If you make it easy for us, we’ll buy a car. Even if we haven’t driven it yet.

* Jamie got another new job! (Podcasting doesn’t pay the bills)

* Housing costs are so, so high now.

* The joy and pain of school scheduling 

* We zig-zagged everywhere this summer - some planned some not

* This happens so much for us to go to events, see family and friends, etc.

* We kept this trip despite establishing a home base in WA

* No leaf peeping for us!

* More challenging travel than our Alaska summer?

* Humidity is evil

* Favorites: upper Midwest, music and theme parks!

* Surprises: Great weather at pictures rocks, unplanned Wisconsin stays and bike trails

* Favorite concerts: Noah Kahan in St Paul, braving the rain with the kids at Railbird, a spiritual experience at Mt. Joy in Toronto 

* Do differently: one or two concert plans in a summer is enough, in fact fewer firm plans in general is nice, skip Madeline Island in June, cheap and free stuff is often more fun

* We say it’s quicker to go to Vancouver than Deception Pass from Leavenworth. At least with normal traffic, it’s not.

* Best Great Lakes summer: Minnesota North Shore, Wisconsin, Michigan including UP, Chicago, Cedar Point if you’re into that

Links:

* Icicle Gorge Trail

* Subaru Solterra

* Our summer of song itinerary

Thanks for listening! As always you can find LFTR at

http://lettersfromtheroadpod.com, and you can email us at [email protected].

Find LFTR Diaries on the LFTR YouTube channel.

Find us on socials @lettersfromtheroadpod!

If you feel like kicking us a few bucks because you like what we do you can Become a PenPal and chat with us and others in the PenPals Discord.

LFTR Episode 75 - We are feeling fine. Really. We’re totally recovered from the letdown. Listen!

Highlights include:

* Great N/A beer!

* Made it home! 

* Took forever to park!

* Got a pizza!

* Finally settled in… to discover a (mouse) mess that couldn’t wait til morning

* Getting back into normal (but not Normal) life

* Getting used to lightning fires

* A beautiful hike overlooking town

* DNC got us fired up… and ready to go!

* Book ban BAN!

* I love bittersweet. The comedown/letdown can be hard.

* Structure can be good! This we tell ourselves.

* We can’t help but add chaos if things are getting too ordered (boring)

* Sad is hard

* Sunsets and rainstorms and sunrises and fall

* Summer camp for grownups

* I don’t wear a helmet walking around the campsite! (But maybe I should)

Links:

* Athletic Brewing Co

* Rudloof’s Pizza (und Brats)

* Icicle Ridge trail

* Tiramisu (@seattleanimalshelter on Instagram) adopt her please!

Thanks for listening! As always you can find LFTR at http://lettersfromtheroadpod.com, and you can email us at [email protected].

Find LFTR Diaries on the LFTR YouTube channel.

Find us on socials @lettersfromtheroadpod!

If you feel like kicking us a few bucks because you like what we do you can Become a PenPal and chat with us and others in the PenPals Discord.

LFTR Episode 74 - We’re a long way from where we were in Ohio this week because we finally were able to Go West. We drove 1700 miles over 4 days (plus one day of no driving but working in storage units) because we had to boogie. 

Highlights include:

* The second trip to the mothership - not quite as amazing as the first.

* Please take stuff from our storage units

* Walmart party in Mitchell, complete with charcoal grilling

* The west is the native habitat of RVs

* RV travel hack - take a nap for an hour when storms roll through!

* “But it’s a dry heat.”

* I like beer and trucks and butts, okay?

* When you’re in such a big place problems can’t quite get to you

* The freedom of open roads and no services for miles

* Our favorite things about western states - we especially get into California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and talk about how we haven’t don’t enough in Colorado and Utah (Obviously we love Oregon, and Washington, too)

* Mountains v Oceans!

* What should we do this fall in the PNW?

* Jamie’s pushing the 2nd dog thing hard.

Links:

* Bridger Brewing Co - Three Forks, MT

* Sheridan, WY KOA Journey

Thanks for listening! As always you can find LFTR at

http://lettersfromtheroadpod.com, and you can email us at [email protected].

Find LFTR Diaries on the LFTR YouTube channel.

Find us on socials @lettersfromtheroadpod!

If you feel like kicking us a few bucks because you like what we do you can Become a PenPal and chat with us and others in the PenPals Discord.

LFTR Episode 73 - We are taking a break from the rig and recording in an AirBnB while Flo needs some work. We talk about GenCon and try and figure out why we feel safe in some places and not others and how we can make all the places more inclusive for everyone.

Highlights include:

* A cute neighborhood in Columbus, OH

* Tankless water heaters are not meant for campers

* The roads in the Midwest aren’t much better than in Alaska sometimes

* A KOA that wants to call the cops on you! Cute!

* Airbnb, like it or not, can be a really good option for visiting places without your camper but with a family/group and/or pets

* Parking was easy at GenCon!

* Visiting GenCon with kids

* A small panel with the McElroy’s

* Actually way more things at GenCon are ticketed events than we realized

* Apparently this week we are a tabletop gaming podcast

* When Clay’s in charge of plans they’re unsurprisingly a bit… looser

* Safe spaces are about respect

* GenCon was very LGBTQ+ friendly! 🏳️‍🌈 

* Some stories of feeling unsafe on work travel

* Feeling unsafe at campsites

* Stuff is just stuff. Safety is personal safety for you and loved ones.

* Scary animal stories

Links:

* German Village - Columbus, OH

* GenCon

* Sundown towns

* The McElroy family

* Thunder Road Vendetta Maximum Chrome Edition (sold out)

* Let’s Go To Japan! 

* Gnome Hollow

* Flip 7

* 10 days in the USA

* Gorus Maximus

* North Mass Boulder - Indianapolis 

Thanks for listening! As always you can find LFTR at http://lettersfromtheroadpod.com, and you can email us at [email protected].

Find LFTR Diaries on the LFTR YouTube channel.

Find us on socials @lettersfromtheroadpod!

If you feel like kicking us a few bucks because you like what we do you can Become a PenPal and chat with us and others in the PenPals Discord.

LFTR Episode 72 - This has been such a jam packed summer and we are happy. We’re also, admittedly, quite tired if you can’t tell by listening. Perhaps we’ve discovered a new Inside Out emotion: Happytired? We talk about this wonderful feeling as well as our time in Warren Dunes, Indiana Dunes and Cedar Point.

Highlights include:

* We’ve gone no alcohol for July but probably will keep it up for a while, maybe longer (if I do)

* A quick and dunes-less trip to Indiana Dunes

* Some National Parks you can just show up - others you need to really know the cool things to see ahead

* “Vegetated” sand dunes

* A giant sand dune they call a mountain you can run/fly down. 

* Jamie’s guide to backing in

* “Listen to your partner” applies in many situations

* Dishy disaster

* Either I’m (Clay) getting old or Cedar Point’s coasters are more intense than most!

* Favorite coasters discussed: Gemini (1979 wooden racing coaster), Magnum (1989 the original hyper coaster >200ft tall), Iron Dragon (ride in cars hanging underneath over a pond), Steel Vengeance (Hybrid coaster built on the structure of a wooden coaster, really unique and tons of airtime), Gatekeeper (B&M wing coaster that goes through keyholes in the entrance gate to the park), Valravn (dive coaster)

*  The end of a good trip is happytired

* Some favorite summer happytired memories from our childhoods

Links:

* 1933 Century of Progress Homes (Indiana Dunes NP)

* Warren Dunes State Park

* Mt Randall loop trail (All Trails) - I would suggest not going up the big dune like this map shows but going up through the woods on the north leg of the trail and taking a left to loop back around to the big dune then go down it

* Cedar Point

Thanks for listening! As always you can find LFTR at

http://lettersfromtheroadpod.com, and you can email us at [email protected].

Find LFTR Diaries on the LFTR YouTube channel.

Find us on socials @lettersfromtheroadpod!

If you feel like kicking us a few bucks because you like what we do you can Become a PenPal and chat with us and others in the PenPals Discord.

LFTR Episode 71 - We’re nearing the end of our Summer of Song and wondering What’s Next? We discuss our week in 3 different Michigan State Parks including beach days and family bike rides.

Highlights include:

* An interesting bike path detour in Traverse City

* A campsite by a rocky beach with fossils in Petoskey

* Beach Party in Holland

* Hiking through woods and over sand dunes in Warren Dunes

* We can’t really know what’s next… and that’s probably good

* Biden is stepping aside and Harris feels… hopeful

* We’re not preppers, but we’re prepared (to go survive in the woods)

* Have a plan, but plan to change your plan

* Stories and morbidity

Links:

* Traverse City State Park

* Stonehound Brewing

* Petoskey State Park

* The Backlot Petoskey

* Tap 30 Pourhouse

* Holland State Park Beach Campground

* Warren Dunes State Park

Thanks for listening! As always you can find LFTR at

http://lettersfromtheroadpod.com, and you can email us at [email protected].

Find LFTR Diaries on the LFTR YouTube channel.

Find us on socials @lettersfromtheroadpod!

If you feel like kicking us a few bucks because you like what we do you can Become a PenPal and chat with us and others in the PenPals Discord.

LFTR Episode 70 - We can barely contain our Joy this week, but we’re not sure why! Maybe you can let us know.. We left the gin out of our G&T’s and got sillier. 🤷 We recount our week in Toronto and seeing Mt. Joy

Highlights include:

* Dry July, y’all (so much good N/A stuff out there)

* TMI about sleeping habits

* Seeing Mt. Joy as a date night 

* Shout out to the broad squad!

* Maybe the best crowd all summer

* The beautiful and garish Niagara Falls Canada side

* A Burger King roller coaster

* Doing Niagara cheap

* Sleeping at the ONroute

* What to expect when crossing borders (plus tips for making it smooth)

* Order the apps at a brewery, not cabbage

* Looking forward to Traverse and Michigan beaches!

* Jamming at Mt. Joy with our thousands of closest friends

* Music brings out the feels

* The pursuit of joy as a family value

* Being cheesy AF

Links:

* Partake Brewing

* Budweiser Stage (Toronto)

* Mt. Joy

* Clifton Hill

* Niagara Falls Canada

* Archival Brewing

* Traverse City State Park

* Jesus and Astrovans

Thanks for listening! As always you can find LFTR at

http://lettersfromtheroadpod.com, and you can email us at [email protected].

Find LFTR Diaries on the LFTR YouTube channel.

Find us on socials @lettersfromtheroadpod!

If you feel like kicking us a few bucks because you like what we do you can Become a PenPal and chat with us and others in the PenPals Discord.

LFTR Episode 69 - This week we have a (nice) chat about how the hell we ended up here? We recount the emotional rollercoaster of realizing we had issues with the rig and blowing up our plans for the week to take care of it. We also wax nostalgic about our first camper - and how our Butterfly Effect was a broken tent set off a series of events that changed our lives forever.

Highlights include:

* Flint, MI is cute!

* Airstream alignment is weird

* An unplanned trip to “the mothership”

* jk we do have frontend separation on Flo.

* But, she’s patched up and scheduled for a full fix under warranty next month!

* Glorious, full power AC

* A chance to use our 20A dogbone (at 13A)

* An epic fail of a back in (even after 4 years of this, still do it once in a while!)

* We didn’t seriously consider getting a camper until our tent broke

* We were never home for more than 2 months at a time since!

* If you have a way to trial run full time road life, do it

* The pros and cons of being untethered

* The magical Sonoran desert

* Single aisle campers are great!

* Other “butterfly effects” in our lives

* Getting out (of normal) helped us learn more about ourselves

Links:

* Tenacity Brewing

* The Terraport at the mothership

* Sterling State Park

* Bronte Creek Provincial Park

* Taxa Mantis

* The Butterfly Effect

Thanks for listening! As always you can find LFTR at

http://lettersfromtheroadpod.com

, and you can email us at [email protected].

Find LFTR Diaries on the LFTR YouTube channel.

Find us on socials @lettersfromtheroadpod!

If you feel like kicking us a few bucks because you like what we do you can Become a PenPal and chat with us and others in the PenPals Discord.

LFTR Episode 68 - We were feeling a bit Uneasy this week (and specifically on an intense ferry ride) and Jamie wrote a letter about it. Things were back on track for a bit this week until they weren’t. We discuss our time in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Mackinac Island, as well as being uneasy (both personally and for our country).

Highlights include:

* A hike that ended up being a trip to the beach.

* A hike that did happen to a picturesque lighthouse on a rocky cliff

* A beautiful boat ride at pictured rocks

* An encounter with our old Mantis and the new family who travels in it!

* A perfect day on Mackinac Island (after a thrilling speedy ferry!)

* Funny how the cheap and free things are often more interesting than those that charge admission

* Crossing into Canada but getting halted in our tracks

* Why when we suddenly change plans do we end up swimming?

* We can’t dehumanize. Even when people dehumanize us.

* Democracy only works when everyone agrees it’s worth it

* Human rights are not political, are not radical

* Your dollar is not more important than a human being

* The overthinking spiral and how to break it

* Clinical Anxiety/Depression vs general

* Can’t afford therapy? Try podcasts! 👌

Links:

* Bay Furnace Campground

* Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

* Au Sable Light Station (and the trail to it)

* Pictured Rocks Cruises 

* Our old Mantis

* Straits State Park

* Mackinac Island Ferry Company

* Lucky Bean Coffee

* Mackinac Island State Park

* Arch Rock

* The lawn at Mission Point Resort

* The doghouse at Windmere Point

* KOA Sault Ste Marie

* Texas SB 8 led to higher infant deaths

* Depresh Mode Podcast

Thanks for listening! As always you can find LFTR at http://lettersfromtheroadpod.com, and you can email us at [email protected].

Find LFTR Diaries on the LFTR YouTube channel.

Find us on socials @lettersfromtheroadpod!

If you feel like kicking us a few bucks because you like what we do you can Become a PenPal and chat with us and others in the PenPals Discord.

LFTR Episode 67 - Do you ever get handed lemons by the universe? Big or small, sometimes it can feel like you got a bunch of lemons dumped on you and you’re just expected to make Lemonade for everybody. You don’t have to. Don’t worry about it. That and our time at Lake Superior in Northern Wisconsin.

Highlights include:

* Getting blasted on Madeline Island (not the fun way).

* Bailing out of the island to Ashland

* A date night! Friday Fish Fry in Wisconsin!

* What’s a pasty?

* A (past) kayak adventure on Lake Superior

* Processing our emotions is healthy (thanks Inside Out!)

* Why can’t we cry?

* Appreciating a good wallow (or not)

* Life is short - Eat the ice cream

Links:

* South Shore Brewery

* Madeline Island

* Big Bay Town Park

* Tom’s Burned Down Cafe

* Kreher and Prentice Park in Ashland

* Good Thyme

* Lawry’s Pasties (we went to the original location in Ishpeming)

* Bay Furnace Campground

Thanks for listening! As always you can find LFTR at

http://lettersfromtheroadpod.com, and you can email us at [email protected].

Find LFTR Diaries on the LFTR YouTube channel.

Find us on socials @lettersfromtheroadpod!

If you feel like kicking us a few bucks because you like what we do you can Become a PenPal and chat with us and others in the PenPals Discord.