Roadtripping Tips and Tricks

My sister recently sprung the idea of a road trip on me. I road trip often, and I have taken her two daughters with me several times. The girlies are veteran road-trippers. My sister? Not so much. The last road trip I remember my sister taking was a whirlwind trip we took to Nashville to see Hayseed Dixie play at the Exit/In. (If you haven't heard of Hayseed then get yourself to Youtube now!). She fell asleep on the table at Waffle House.

My tips for road-trip success.

Tip 1. Don't put all your money in one spot. Do not rely just on your banks debit card. Many people do this, and if their card is lost or stolen they find themselves broke. I was in a situation several years ago were the bank frozen my account while I was a thousand miles from home. Thankfully I had cash, so the trip continued as planned while the bank worked through their issues. Split your cards and cash up, keep them in separate pockets, keep some locked up in the car. If someone steals your purse, or pick pockets you, you will still have money. 

Tip 2. Bring a physical map. We rely way to much on our GPS's and google maps. Buy a map, learn to read a map, and if technology fails you, your map will come to the rescue.

Tip 3. Pack Snacks. Or full on meals. When I travel I always have a cooler full of drinks, and another cooler with food. You can use divided containers and make individual "bento" style meals for everyone in the car. Prep as much of the food as possible before you leave. Cut up fruit and veggies, preportion dips in lidded sauce cups, make sandwich. Free water bottles to act as ice.

Tip 4. Dress comfortable. You will be sitting in a car for hours on end, dress for comfort not style. Everyone has their own version of "comfortable" clothes. Wear what works for you.

Tip 5. You will need Gas. If you like doing the bulk of your driving at night, like I do, you will need to plot where you will get gas. Some stretches of road may not have an open gas station for many many miles (I am looking at you West Virginia). So find sizable cities and top off the tank when you pass through. 

Tip 6. When the car stops, everyone goes potty. This has been a family rule as long as I can remember. On road trips, if the car stops for gas, or we stop for food, everyone gets out and goes to the bathroom. Go even if you don't think you have to, you don't want to find yourself in a Tip. 5 situation with a full bladder and no bathroom. 

Tip. 7 Use zippered pouches to store things you may need during the trip, chargers, extra batteries, etc. When you need it, it will be easy to locate. 

Tip 8. Pack a decent 1st aid kit, full of supplies you may need in an emergency. Tweezers, nail clippers, bandaids, advil, antacids, small scissors, etc. This could be a list all on its own.

Tip 9. Don't make your itenerary so tight that you miss things. If you are rolling down the highway and see a sign for something that looks awesome( Mister Ed's Elephant Museum), stop, make memories. American has thousands, probably millions of interesting roadside attractions. 

Tip 10. If booking a hotel room, book directly with the hotel/company. Several times I have arrived at my hotel only to learn they had way overbooked, and only people who had booked directly with the hotel was getting rooms. This may not be everyone experience, and if you are not traveling to a big event it may not be an issue for you. Its happened enough for me to want to warn everyone of the possibility. If you must book through a 3rd party site, call the hotel and confirm your reservation.

~The Wonderful

Hurt So Good

Road crews were out in force across my area today, attempting to dig us out from under a foot of snow. We are expected to get another 4 inches of snow tonight. I know some areas of the country get much more snow than this. I have friends in the Boston area that wish they only had a foot of snow to deal with. The last snow of this size my little part of the world received was way back in 1994. We were without power for weeks, school was out for a month. My father was snowed in a work leaving my mom, sister and I at home to brave the weather.

We dragged our mattresses into the living room, closed off every non essential room and spent our days playing board games by candle light. In the evenings we used the precious battery operated radio to tune into a request show. All of our local stations had been kick off-air by the storm, we never learned where this station was from, always seeming to miss the FCC required station ID’s.

One caller stood out, and to this day, 21 years later we still mimic her call, bring her up in conversation, and wonder aloud what ever became of her.

The request was simple. The lady, who sounded middle age, with a thick country accent wanted to hear John Mellencamps “Hurt So Good”. The DJ asked if she would like to dedicate the song to someone special and she said “My man loves it when I dance on our 3 legged table, and when I fall off it HURTS SO GOOD”

Here’s to snow days, three legged tables, and making memories.

Snow days

Snow started falling around 3am, by the time we ventured out to the chickens 5 inches covered the ground. Kentucky doesn't do snow. When in advance of the storm the weather station called this a "potentially historic snowfall" people flocked to the stores. Shelves were emptied. An arctic front is dropping into our area, temperatures will be near or below freezing for the next week.

The Wonder Dogs have been out to play and potty. They are now curled up on heated beds enjoying a lazy Monday.

I see left over feijoada, hot chocolate, and snuggling in the future.

Snow provokes responses that reach right back to childhood.~Andy Goldsworthy

In the vein people in Louisville, Ky attempted to organize a massive snowball fight at Waterfront park. The event was shut down, for one reason or another. 

The Wonderful Garden

Sometime last winter while snuggling up with the dog wonders and a cup of Nutella hot chocolate I mentioned to the Wanderer that I would like to plant a few tomatoes in the back yard. This idea blossomed well beyond a some Roma's. By spring our a couple acres of side yard had been tilled up and planted with a myriad of veggies and melons, yes even my precious tomatoes. An old shed had been emptied and was slowly being converted into a coop. Two brooders in my kitchen housed tiny little chicks. The Wanderer and I had thrown ourselves full force into farm life.



I have gardened off an on since childhood, and have tended chickens on occasion. The Wanderer, despite owning a pair of bibbed overalls had never farmed. A nice neighbor from up the road used his tractor break the ground for our garden. This is a great perk of living in farm country, neighbors are willing to lend a hand and offer helpful advice and guidance.

This winter we have been plotting and planning our garden, huddling up with our Baker Creek catalog trying to decide what we want to plant next. I see at least one variety of Pepper Tomatoes in our future.







~The Wonderful

The Paths We Take

Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying...Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows. ~Pope Paul VI

 I have made mistakes, stumbled down the wrong path only to come crawling back again. Now I am finding contentment in the simple things in life. Fluffy chickens in the yard, a garden full of fruit and veggies, snugly dogs sleeping at my feet while I write. I am a person trying hard not to let the mistakes of my past dominate my future. I am not where I thought I would be at this age, but I think I am right where I need to be.



For many years I have been an avid blog reader, my bookmarks is filled with links to blogs on various subjects. Recently the Wanderer has introduced me to the world of Podcasts. The motivation for this blog came from the changes the Wanderer and I have been going though, the journey we have chose to be on.

I am creative and crafty, don't be surprised if you see an occasional craft project pop up on this page. I love to cook, and bake, expect recipes. I live for a good roadtrip, expect adventures.





~The Wonderful

Serendipity, or ways we change over time.

When you wake up, and everything has changed.

You know, if current me ran into a wayward futuristic time traveller, and time traveled to 2005 and told old me "Hey, you know something, you will WANT to garden, you will WANT to raise chickens, you will WANT to live off the land..."  I would have laughed at that version of me.  

Until recently (last 3-4 years) I could have cared less about my impact on this world.  I could have cared less if a crew would have came in and clear cut the forest behind my house.  Or that I feel it was perfectly normal to hop in a vehicle and drive 20 minutes each direction to get food.  I would have thought it ludicrous to want to sit outside around a fire at night, lay in a hammock by day.

I would have not appreciated the hard work involved in taking a seed, water it daily if it was dry, and working it to harvest.  I know I could have did better with that garden this year.  Two surgeries based on my former lifestyle proved to be a major hinderance.  If you would have told me after reading all the books on raising chickens, I could somehow keep 10 chicks alive until maturity... Oh what a year it's been.

Hello,  I am just a Wanderer.  A Wanderer of the world, a Wanderer of life, a Wanderer in the most literal sense.  I am in the middle of a life changing transition.  I'm working to get healthy.  I am working for a change.  In my life.  In your life.  In the world.  We take life too seriously, to sit back and enjoy WHAT we have.  Whether you believe in a higher being, deity, power, or subscribe to a host of other theories... You cannot deny, even the plainest things on earth, have an inherent beauty to it.  I hope to show you this blog, and be able to look back upon these works myself when I am older, a journey through life.  A journey of discovery.  I love to cook, I love to grow (gardening, planting, mentally, and skills), and love to create.

The Wanderer is how I shall be known.  Because honestly, that's all I am.