July 17-August 6, 2025 Earlier this month, we returned from a 20-night trip to Australia via Singapore. As in my previous trip reports, “we” is me, a 40-something professor; my husband, D, a 40-something teacher/pet sitter; and P, our 12-year-old son. It tends to take me a while to finish these trip reports, so IContinue reading “Australia 2025 Trip Report”
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Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 6
Charlotte, NC to Columbia, SC – Monday, July 28, 2024 (Author: J) Several of the major attractions in Columbia are closed on Mondays. I didn’t anticipate this being a problem because we planned to visit Congaree on our only full day in Columbia. But as I mentioned in Day 5 of the trip report, weContinue reading “Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 6”
Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 5
Charlotte, NC to Columbia, SC – Sunday, July 27, 2024 (Author: J) I was up before the rest of my family as usual, so I used the opportunity to visit the Ballantyne’s fitness center for a short workout. By the time I had finished my workout and gotten ready for the day, D and PContinue reading “Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 5”
Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 4
Shenandoah National Park to Charlotte – Saturday, July 26, 2024 (Author: J) Because of the bizarre aerobics of our nocturnal upstairs neighbors, we woke up on Saturday happy to check out of Skylands and start our journey to our next national park. Congaree National Park is about an 8-hour drive from Shenandoah, so we spreadContinue reading “Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 4”
Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 3
Shenandoah National Park – Friday, July 25, 2024 (Author: J) After a fitful night of sleep in our vibrating room at Skylands, I woke up to a beautiful morning in Shenandoah. The park recommends keeping food locked in your car to discourage late night bear raids of your room, so my first order of businessContinue reading “Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 3”
Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 2
Gettysburg, PA & Shenandoah National Park – Thursday, July 25, 2024 (Author: J) Thanks to a great night’s sleep at Hotel Gettysburg (which has very comfortable beds), we woke up on Thursday refreshed and ready for more exploration. The first order of business was deciding whether to eat some of our road trip provisions orContinue reading “Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 2”
Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 1
Massachusetts to Gettysburg, PA – Wednesday, July 24, 2024 (Author: J) We woke up early on July 24, packed the car, hugged our dog and cat goodbye, and hit the road by 6:30 am. (Pro tip: Have just 1 kid. It leaves extra room in the backseat for road trip snacks). The early start wasContinue reading “Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 1”
Trip Report – Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024
July/August 2024 (Author: J) This is the beginning of a long overdue trip report for our 2024 summer vacation: a 3-week Southeast US road trip. I initially delayed writing the report because it felt odd to write about the trip right after Hurricane Helene impacted some of the places we visited. From there, inertia setContinue reading “Trip Report – Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024”
Trip Report: Italy with Adventures by Disney Day 7
July 10, 2023 (Author: J) The best feature of the Hilton Molino Stucky is undoubtedly its air conditioning. Even when it is 95 degrees outside, the Hilton’s rooms are cool and comfortable for sleeping. Thus, I woke up well-rested on the final day of our tour. I immediately opened the window, inviting the stifling heatContinue reading “Trip Report: Italy with Adventures by Disney Day 7”
Trip Report: Italy with Adventures by Disney ABD Day 6
July 9, 2023 (Author: J) ABD day 6: time for our final transfer of the trip. The logistics for this transfer were a little more complicated than the last one because we were saying goodbye to the coach and heading to Venice by train. That meant that anything we carried on the train would needContinue reading “Trip Report: Italy with Adventures by Disney ABD Day 6”