Travel

Road trips in the Los Angeles area definitely call for at least one canyon drive. For me, the perfectly banked curves, the shadow and light, the rush of excitement as you catch your first glimpse of the Pacific from high above, feels almost like coming home. I lived in Southern California for thirteen years. Driving… Read More

The journey across America was in full swing. We’d learned a lot: which apps to use, for instance, and what to plan for, what to be spontaneous about. We’d gotten better about documenting. I’d also been collecting images of textures and organic patterns discovered along the way, for use in our SmithHönig design process back… Read More

Although Cabin Creek Landing is a fly-in bed and breakfast inn, with its own small airstrip, we, of course, arrived by car. Our meandering 19,000 mile road trip across America had taken on a life of its own, calling us to remote fields and small highways and oddball attractions in state after state. We arrived… Read More

At the beach near Ft. Bragg, just north of Mendocino, California, Mr. H pulled into a cove and attempted a swim.  Even in late summer the water was numbingly cold. We discovered – later – that water temperatures run about 53º F here, even in the summer!  The shock didn’t deter Mr. H.  from his… Read More

I love a summer road trip that includes sweaters. When I was younger and tanner, my favorite outfit was short shorts and an oversized cable knit.  Living in California introduced me to cool night breezes along the coast, even after a scorcher of a day, and I loved it. It was the opposite of Georgia… Read More

California’s Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, or PCH, is one of the most “road-tripped” highways in the world. It takes top rankings in most guides to road trips in the US, and for good reason. When I lived in Los Angeles, I used to drive through the canyon with dinner in a basket, drop… Read More

Anniversary celebrations behind us, we left Santa Fe after a quick breakfast and headed out Highway 14 toward our next stop, Tinkertown Museum.  When I’m close to an artist’s personal compound, or any quirky outsider installation, I take a detour to visit. I’m completely fascinated by folk art, craftiness and the commitment to a creative… Read More

Mr. H and I travel somewhere for our anniversary each year. We plan a special day, just for us, and ‘get married’ again, complete with a special dress and a photographer. We choose a unique event or landmark to help commemorate the day. We’ve been married by an Elvis impersonator under the Las Vegas sign,… Read More

Even in summer, the air cools as you drive through the Colorado mountains toward Aspen and Vail. These two resort towns are exceptionally cool in attitude, as well. They’re famous for skiing, celebrity sightings and luxurious, laid back style. We had left the cowboys and carnivals of Cheyenne behind. Now, our plan was to spend… Read More

The drive from Carhenge (Alliance, Nebraska) to Cheyenne, Wyoming is just under three hours on back roads. But we’d been unable to find a hotel room, since we were arriving during the height of the Cheyenne Frontier Days festival. On our drive west, we’d also made stops at Chimney Rock and Scott’s Bluff National Monuments,… Read More

Like many before us, we packed up our belongings and headed west. The lakes of Wisconsin were now summer memories and adventure stretched in front of us, across the flat Western plains. We had half-planned a driving route on rural backroads, which meant a slow pace and lots to see.  The first planned stop was… Read More

At least one of your summertime dreams looks a lot like Wisconsin, whether you know it yet or not. Growing up in Georgia, I didn’t really have a clear picture of Wisconsin. I had vague imagery of dairy farms, cheese hats, and hyper-enthusiastic sports fans, but not a lot more. So my expectations for the… Read More