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Baltimore & Washington DC

Baltimore  My wife was in Baltimore for a conference so I took the opportunity to leach off her hotel room and visit the area. Thanks to grandma and grandpa who made this possible by watching the kids. ;) Baltimore from the air Getting from the airport to the hotel was a breeze with a combination of the light rail and two rides on the free circulatory bus.  After dropping my stuff off I searched for food and ended up exploring the charming Federal Hills neighborhood. I saw the Cross Street Marked and assumed it to be a grocery.  I was surprised though that this grocery had the length of a block.  So curiously I looked inside where I found an indoor marked like the ones in Taiwan. I'm quite surprised to find one in the US.  There are several in this area as I found out later. Domino Sugar Baltimore After lunch at the marked I wandered a bit more and saw the gorgeous view of Baltimore and the Inner Harbor from Federals Hill park. Baltimore Inn...

Hotel Rumorosa

So this year will have no major trip in store but lots of smaller adventures.  For the fall I'll have two more lined up.  I'll be tagging along with one of my wife's work trip to Bostimore (not Boston but Baltimore, sorry insider joke).  Using her hotel I'll do bike rides with my folder around Baltimore and at least a day in DC.  It'll be the first time for me in Baltimore and the Capitol City. My second adventure will be far less urban, the plan is to bike from San Diego via Tecate and Mexicali to Calexico.  Then back to San Diego with the Greyhound bus.  Yes, that's Mexico, another first for me.  The route will have several exciting and challenging features.  For one there is the 4000 feet mountain range I'll be gradually climbing up and quickly descending.  Sweetened with a desert crossing.  But the different culture and the language, which I don't speak, will certainly be the most "adventurous" part of this trip.  Of course I'...

4th of July Ride

A quick decision was made to go on a bike ride over the extended 4th of July weekend.  I found a nice route to the two Boone County campgrounds that would keep the riding fairly short and enable us to do a loop from our home.  We didn't get packing until late Wednesday and had to do the final packing on Thursday. But with only 20 miles for the first day starting a little late didn't cause any issues.  Half way we stopped in Slater to eat lunch before continuing on to Madrid on the High Trestle Trail.  The night we spend at the Swede county park. Swede Park, no worries about tent sites. Our worries about having difficulties to find a open campsite was not justified.  The park had 10 tent spots that were nicely separated from the RVs and none were taken when we arrived.  Later that night only one other tent campers came.  Swede Park had a nice bathroom/shower facilities, great tasting water and some nice hiking trail in the woods to a prairie...

Standing Indian Loop Hike

Happy to share this trip. Leaving the kids with the grandparents we get to hike several days in  the Nantahala National Forrest.  Our route is a 30 mile loop with a significant amount on the Appalachian trail.  We arrived late afternoon at the Standing Indian Campground (backcountry trail head to be exact).  My wife got to experience the drill of picking up the rental car from the airport and swinging by REI to get the camping fuel for the hike.  For some strange reason though we ended up spending more time and money there end ended up with a few gear enhancement including trekking poles for me. Interactive route map. Packed and ready for the hike. Initially our plan was to hike to the newly constructed Long Branch shelter but it was getting late and we found a pretty meadow on the Long Branch creek that was perfect for camping.  After we got the tent setup a strong rain passed over us.  So we were lucky to duck into the tent and stay...