I am constantly amazed to discover that some of the most beautiful locations in the world are some of the most underrated or unadvertised. Pictured Rock National Lakeshore, stretching from Munising to Grand Marais, Michigan is a perfect example of this idea. [View Full Entry]

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Get your mind out of the gutter. Yesterday we talked about two of the traditional foods of Wisconsin (cheese and beer). Today we talk about one of the traditional foods of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan - pasties. Pasties (rhymes with nasty not hasty) are an enigma for a lot of people. Amy was in the lobby of our hotel one day on the trip and another guest came in and asked about why so many people mis-spelled pastRies. But make no mistake, pasties are NOT pastries and they are a wonderful food. Imagine a hand held pot pie stuffed with [View Full Entry]

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"In heaven there is no beer. That's why we drink it here..." If there isn’t beer in heaven than Wisconsin is NOT heaven, because there is plenty of beer here. And those of you who know me KNOW that I really hate to take a trip of any kind without sampling the local beer and, better yet, touring the local breweries. Monroe, Wisconsin (our stop for the first night) features a large brewery that used to be the James Huber Brewery but now operates under the Minihas name. It’s something of a “contract” brewery, producing beer under a number of different [View Full Entry]

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What's the FIRST thing you think of when you think of Wisconsin? Well, ok "Dang Packers" was my first thought too. But AFTER that? Right. CHEESE. We spent our first night in Monroe, Wisconsin which is the county seat of Green County Wisconsin which happens to be considered the "Little Switzerland" area of Wisconsin. Driving around the county it does have a vaguely "Swiss" feel to it (if you don't mind the fact that those inclines the cows are wandering across are mostly hills and nothing even remotely reminiscent of an Alp). But what says "Switzerland" more than cheese? On [View Full Entry]

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I have to admit, I had a little Willie Nelson running through my head the last couple of hours. You see, after nearly three years off, my family and I have started off on the classic great American roadtrip. Yes, Amy and I packed the three kids (Margaret - 8, Caroline - 5, and James - 21 months) into the van this morning and have headed out for a 17 day adventure. Ok, we might not be covering the traditional National Parks or hitting Walley World like the Griswold's, and many of our stops will be on the "slow and easy" [View Full Entry]

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Well, my trip has finally come to an end. It felt a little bit like the season finale of "The Amazing Race." When I landed in Cedar Rapids yesterday and cleared security I kept looking for Phil Keoghan to greet me with a large check, but he wasn't there. However, I was greeted by three beautiful ladies who were cheering just as loud as the crowd of "eliminated" contestents would have had it been a final episode of Amazing Race. It was a long trip, and it took its toll at times - sometimes physically, often mentally and emotionally. But it [View Full Entry]

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The last three days have been very nice, slow days. In fact the days have been so slow it isn't worth writing up each day individually so I will lump them together here. I have had a chance to simply hang out with Kris, Thom and family, and see a little bit of daily life in Germany. Well, ok. To be completely fair, I am not sure that Kris and Thom represent "native" Germany since they live in Army housing and spend much of their day interacting with English speakers rather than German speakers, but it has still be a nice [View Full Entry]

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Ok, so today's post isn't actually being written FROM Lorsch, Germany. However, this small town along the Rhine river plays an important part in today's activities and my "cultural excursion" for the day. The day started with an opportunity to attend Justin's tee-ball game, followed by a nice walk down to the Wiesbaden Kurpark (the generic name given to German parks where the mineral baths are traditionally located). In the afternoon, Thom, Kris, and I drove about 30 minutes from their home in Wiesbaden to the town of Lorsch. Lorsch is one of a series of smaller towns located along the [View Full Entry]

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Well, after more than three weeks of traveling occasionally with colleagues and often by myself, I have landed back in Germany and was greeted by family - My cousin Kris (McFall) Salo and her family. After a lot of time in hotel rooms and English conversations that were limited to work related issues, it was nice last night after getting here (almost 9 hours from the time I left the hotel until Kris and Thom picked me up at the Weisbaden train station) to sit in a living room and carry on an "adult" conversation (of course with Justin and Teagan [View Full Entry]

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No, I didn't do my Maria interpretive dance today, but I am not more than 30 minutes from where Amy did hers in 1999. I think I may have just had my favorite day on this trip. I know that both Mom and Katie would have enjoyed it, and I think Amy would have even liked it. For the first time in three weeks I actually had a chance to get away from the middle of a town and enjoy the quiet of nature. Now the fact that it was high up in the Dolomites in the Sudtirol (probably one of [View Full Entry]

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