The Final Leg

Dear Mike,
The last portion of our trip begins with another jaunt into Canada. First we'll go through your boo's hometown, Toronto (August 21), then Montreal (August 23), followed by Quebec City (August 24).

Next we'll be feasting on lobster in Maine...under the stars in Acadia National Park (August 25) and then in the beautiful city of Portland (August 27).

We're really excited to travel through New England villages in Vermont and New Hampshire.

We think you need to visit your girl in Boston around August 29th so we can go out and see the city together.

After visiting Providence and Hartford, we'll go bonkers in Yonkers (September 1) with Aunt Judy. We'll head into the city while we're visiting her.
Philadelphia (September 5) is next on the list then Baltimore (September 6), Washington, D.C. (September 9), Richmond (September 11) and finally Greensboro. We expect to be back mid-September.

Just writing this out is exciting! We are so ready to hit the road! 13 days until we leave the state of North Carolina.
~Kristen

America's Breadbasket....Mmmmm bread.

Dear Mike, 
We'll be heading back east as we enter the Midwest during the second week of August. We're visiting the Badlands National Park (August 12) where we hope to see a sweet big horn sheep scaling the buttes. Then we'll head to your old stomping grounds, Minneapolis, to visit Jill & Andrej. From there we hit up the Windy City (August 17) and then Albion, Michigan (August 20). 


Any advice on things to do in the midwest? 


~Kristen

The Pacific Northwest

Dear Mike, 
We are stoked about our visit to the Northwest. We're going to spend a week and a half there visiting friends and exploring an area neither of us have seen before. Here's what the route looks like for this portion of the trip...

We're staying with one of Mario's JET friends, Allee, in Portland (July 27). We hope to spend a lot of this time camping and hiking in the  National Parks...Crater Lake (July 25), Olympic National Park (August 1), and Glacier National Park (August 10). 


We don't have a place lined up Seattle or Vancouver yet. We may use Airbnb to find a cheap room unless you have a friend we can crash with...


Anyways, we have lots of things to prep for the trip. Only one month to go! 
~Kristen


**Note: Mt. Spokane is actually a Washington State Park. Typo. 

Shrimp, Shrimpy, Sanguine the Penguin, Mr. Roboto...

The jury is still out on the name, but this is our new car! It is a 2011 Honda Fit. So far, we love it. Despite it's tiny appearance, it actually has quite a bit of room inside. The seats fold perfectly flat, and it gets great gas mileage. Here is another shot that is a bit more stylish from the front shot with my hipstamatic app...
That's all for now, I guess.
~Mario
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:N Greene St,Greensboro,United States

California Emissions

Dear Mike, 

California is going to be sweet. LA, deserts, the California coast, giant trees, wine country... It's got it all. This is the state that I'm the most stoked about visiting. I have really only been to California once and that was an accidental layover in San Fransisco for a day. Sure, I got to see the city with a tour bus driver named Lyle, but this time is going to be so much better!

We are going to look at more fuel efficient cars tomorrow, because gas is supposed to hit 5 or 6 dollars a gallon this summer in California. We were going to take Kristen's car on our journey, but her Kia Optima only gets about 23 Highway (it's a V6), which is a bummer. Depending on gas prices this summer, would spend as much as $4,000 on gas alone in the Kia. So, yeah something more like a Prius or a Fit is on the horizon. I know that neither of those cars are as cool as your Mazda 6, a car which, in your own words is only "sweet enough" by your standards, but if it's roomy and gets good gas we're happy. In LA and San Francisco, we'll be on the lookout for some epic cheap art for you (which you can then get framed for 10 times what it's worth). 

More to come this weekend.

~Mario
**Approximate date of arrival: Joshua Tree (July 5), San Diego (July 6), Los Angeles (July 7), Big Sur (July 10), Sequoia National Forest (July 11), Yosemite National Park (July 13), Santa Cruz (July 16), San Francisco (July 17), Napa (July 20), Davis (July 20), Sacramento (July 20), Redwood National Park (July 24).