South Dakota’s Wall Drug evokes competing emotions. My feelings on the subject are divided. As the Persuaders once sang, it’s a thin line between love and hate. Or to paraphrase Dickens: it is the best of tourist traps; it is the worst of tourist traps.
Let’s start by hearing from the prosecution. The argument for hating Wall Drug? Read More
April 1 The Virgin Galactic corporation today announced a unique joint venture with Airstream designed to bolster the fledgling space tourism industry. The two companies will partner to offer “Cosmic Camping” ™ to intrepid and well-heeled adventurers. “Since the glory days of the Apollo program, Airstream has enjoyed a historical association with space exploration,” Virgin [...]
First of all, if you are interested in LLH and our travel antics, we encourage you to visit and “LIKE” our Facebook page. I realize not everyone uses Facebook, but (current stock price notwithstanding) it really is one of the easiest and most effective means of communication we have today on these here Internets. The [...]
We recently returned from a walkabout in the U.S. Virgin Islands. As you might have guessed, we didn’t take our Airstream. (I’m still trying to figure out how to cross oceans with the thing.) Although we weren’t exactly camping, we did visit a beautiful national park – the U.S. Virgin Islands National Park on the [...]
We’re currently on a walkabout in Europe, after completing a transatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2. We have visited England, Greece, & Turkey on this trip. Next week we head home, again on the big ship. Here are a few pics from the Eastbound crossing.
To paraphrase Sinatra, “Dumb mistakes? I’ve made a few.” Yes, throughout the course of our travels, I’ve made my share of dumb mistakes. Of course, what I’m referring to are more accurately described as careless mistakes. A dumb mistake is something you might make on an IQ test. A careless mistake is far more common [...]
I’m not much of a “festival” kind of guy. As I’ve written before in this space — believe it or not — I’m an introvert. For me, true bliss is not likely found in NYC. It’s found in BFE. You can have Manhattan. I’ll take camping in the mountains of Wyoming where we’re surrounded by [...]
“I don’t get the Airstream thing,” a gentleman recently posted on our YouTube Channel. Fair enough. Believe it or not, I know what he means. The pragmatist in me (remember, I survived college on a steady diet of Ramen noodles and Taco Bell) understands his point of view, even though I do get the Airstream [...]
Suppose you had an extra couple of billion dollars in your bank account that you wanted to give back to your community. What would you do with it? Here in the United States, you could just cut a check to each individual resident. It would be one hell of an automatic bill pay. Assuming we [...]
About 20 years ago, my best friend Mike and I loaded up my trusty 1985 Honda CRX (a tiny 2-seater, but you could cram an adult male bison in the rear hatch) and headed west on the first great cross-country road trip of our lives. We departed in early August. Our route took us from [...]
Here ya go folks. Fresh new post from the hardest workin’ man in the bloggin’ business! Sure, I don’t post as often as some. But hey, who else gives ya a FRICKIN’ TV SHOW in their blog? (Oh, I guess Diablo Cody does — in RED BAND TRAILER. Anyway…) You must agree that this is [...]
This video clocks in a little longer than our usual fare. I can’t determine what the ideal length might be for an Internet video. For some people, the shorter the better. (For you short attention span people, our shortest video on YouTube is about 9 seconds long.) Other people tell me they want longer videos. [...]
As we meander around North America, we always set aside a little time to stop in local eateries. It’s often rough on the waistline, but many fond travel memories are made at the dinner table. We’ve found all sorts of fun places along the way. Some new, some old. Some expensive, and some cheap. Some [...]
Our visit to Amish country sent us back a few hundred years. While not quite the Wacky Wayback Machine of Amish land, Mackinac Island rolled the clock back at least a century or so. Mackinac Island is a charming tourist destination that’s distinguished by what it DOESN’T have: motorized vehicles. It’s also a quaint little [...]
Several years ago, my brother and his family lived in Detroit. I thus visited the Motor City many times. While we spent much of our time just hangin’ out in the suburbs, we also explored vast expanses of urban sprawl for which Detroit is famous (and/or infamous). Thereafter, whenever someone mentioned “Michigan,” my brain conjured [...]
Okay, this is a weird one. The Amish pose a compelling conundrum for a travel blog. We travel types are motivated to explore. Not unlike Captain Kirk, we seek out new life and new civilizations. Most of us embrace modern technology along the way (yes, you can have my iPhone 4… when you pry it [...]
Alumapalooza is a gathering of Airstream enthusiasts. It’s unique because it takes place on factory property in Jackson Center, Ohio. We camp right behind the building where our Airstream was built. Camping at Airstream has many upsides. While at the factory, we took advantage of the excellent Airstream Service center. Our Airstream “Liv” got new [...]
Here on LongLongHoneymoon.com, we like to consider the plethora of ways in which people use their RVs. While the most obvious may be old fashioned campin’ in a campground, RVs (and especially Airstreams) tend to crop up in unusual places. We’ve seen Airstreams used as modern art, juice bars, BBQ joints, rooftop penthouse apartments, pool [...]
For the past several days, we have been in Negril, Jamaica attending a destination wedding. We stayed at an all inclusive resort. It’s kind of like a cruise that doesn’t cruise. In other words, you pay one (slightly exorbitant!) price, and that’s it. At the resort, all food, drink, and activities are covered. Even tips [...]
“Do they still make those things?” Every Airstream owner, sooner or later, hears this question. This indicates the degree to which the Airstream travel trailer has achieved iconic status. But if I were running the company, I’d find the question deeply troubling. I mean, if your potential customers don’t even realize you are still manufacturing [...]
Probably the highest compliment I can pay Niagara Falls is that it looks fake. To be more precise, at times the natural scenery is so spectacular, it seems to good to be true. We snapped a couple of photos with our SLR. Viewing the results, I just shook my head. But it is true. People [...]
While in Ontario we spent a few days “driveway camping” at the home of Christina and Richard, our Canadian “snowbird” friends who spent last winter enjoying the balmy weather along the Alabama and Florida Gulf Coast. We had a blast meeting friends and family, and even got the opportunity to celebrate Canada Day along with [...]
When visiting different places, travel “experts” tell us to visit museums, tour historic buildings, and generally behave like obedient fourth graders on a field trip. Our approach, for better or for worse, has always been a little different…
For the past six months, Maine has been an ethereal, theoretical destination for our Long Long Honeymoon. If we had a dollar for every time we exclaimed, “This spring, we’re taking our Airstream up to Maine!” our fuel expenses would be covered. So now that we finally made it, has Maine lived up to our [...]
On our Long Long Honeymoon, we’ve enjoyed our share of rustic camping locations. Places like Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and Glacier National Park come to mind. Getting back to nature is what camping’s all about, right? But what happens when we take our “condo on wheels” into an urban environment like NEW YORK CITY?
As a general rule, our “Long Long Honeymoon” is a lighthearted show. We focus more upon the fun stuff than the alternative. I figure there’s enough bad news in the world. Why add to it?
As the clock winds down on our final day in Buenos Aires, I thought I’d jot out a few last minute notes about our trip. Some of these notes will eventually work their way into the script for our Argentina videos. Producing video is a time consuming process. But unlike sausage and legislation, it’s sometimes [...]
There comes a time in every creative venture when the show must travel overseas. The Brady Bunch went to Hawaii. The Facts of Life went to Paris. And Steve Urkel? I guess Urkel never went anywhere, although I really wish he had done so. (He could have stayed for a long time.) So it only seems reasonable [...]
An Australian state is offering what it humbly dubs, “the best job in the world.” The person or persons hired for this job of “island caretaker” will be paid handsomely to lounge around a lush island along the Great Barrier Reef. Job duties include sunbathing, swimming, and occasionally fishing leaves out of the pool. It [...]
Airstream and KOA have launched a joint venture allowing people to rent nights in new Airstreams. This is actually a great way for those curious about Airstreams and RVing to test the waters. It would also just make for a fun trip. We’ve stayed at the Las Vegas KOA. We had a great time, err, [...]
We experienced a few episodes of extreme wind and rainfall in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It’s always interesting to ride out a storm in an Airstream. Due to the trailer’s aluminum skin, you enjoy the “rain on a tin roof” effect that’s actually rather soothing (assuming, of course, your shelter doesn’t topple over in a [...]
One of the best upsides to RV ownership, as we’ve discussed, is the ability to haul around your own hotel room. It’s even better when you park it right next door to a major community event. That’s just what we did in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when we attended the fantastic International Balloon Fiesta. Owning an [...]
How valuable was this camping experience? We’ve been told that a half acre of land on the Las Vegas Strip recently sold for $47 million. And yet, here’s a massive swath of such land dedicated to a full hookup RV campground. So I guess our little campsite is worth at least $5,000,000, and the campground [...]
Traveling to historic places is obviously good for the mind. Nothing enhances one’s understanding of history like viewing what’s left of it. But it’s also good for the soul. There’s something both sobering and magical about being amongst sites that were occupied by humans long ago. It provides perspective. It’s not just a matter of [...]
Do you believe in miracles? Sometimes in our RV travels, we come across things that cannot be easily explained. That was the case a few weeks ago in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where we explored the Loretto Chapel and its “miraculous staircase.” As you’ll see in the video, this hand built wooden staircase is a [...]
Here’s a paradox about full-time RV travel. Let’s call it the RV Exercise Paradox. If you camp for a short period of time, you probably spend a LOT of time outdoors getting exercise. You go to your campsite, set up camp, and explore your surroundings with gusto. But if you camp a long period of [...]
Having traveled some 40,000 miles around the continental United States, I can draw a few conclusions about regional insect behavior. Overall, our Airstream cabin has remained blessedly free of multiple legged creatures. Sure, the occasional bloodthirsty mosquito manages to invade our inner sanctum. But mosquitoes are easy to spot against the white lining and wallpaper [...]
“If you RV long enough,” someone told me, “you’re gonna have a flat tire.” The truth is, you’re probably gonna have several flat tires. After all of these years of automotive development, we still haven’t progressed beyond wrapping our wheels with inflatable rubber. I was hoping that here in the 21st Century we’d have tires [...]
Camping in Los Angeles? It may seem slightly absurd, but we’ll all agree it’s much less absurd than camping in New York. When I think of LA, the word “urban sprawl” comes to mind. It’s just a ridiculously large and diverse landscape. Back in the roaring 1990s, I lived in LA for a couple of [...]