Travels With Toohey

Category: Uncategorized

  • Test

    lkdvnldvndl

  • Kamp Klamath: The Final Entry

    July 5 – July 18, 2021 We decided in early June to finish our trip at the end of July, drive to Golden to fix up and sell the trailer, and move on to the next thing in life with no idea as to what that was. We also decided to take the last few…

  • California Edition 6: North Coast Culinary Caravan with the Clan

    June 17 – July 5, 2021 The Northern California coast is remote, rugged, and beautiful. It is visually stunning with its coastal mountain ranges, lush rainforest, and tall trees that all abruptly end in a dramatic scene where they collide with the Pacific Ocean. It is at this point that the ocean sends the force…

  • California Edition 5: Monterey, Big Sur, and the Collector

    June 15 – 17, 2021 Lysette likes to say I am a collector of things, to which I disagree. My position is that a serious collector of things would have lots of things, more like Fred Sanford of Sanford & Sons amount of things. A serious collector of things is way more disciplined and organized…

  • California Edition 4: San Simeon State Park and Pismo Beach

    June 9 – 15, 2021 This bogisode covers our first of what will be many stops along the California coast throughout the rest of June and half of July. The Hunt family interlude represents a big portion of this blog which is a slight stray from the nature stuff but a large portion of what…

  • California Edition 3: West to the Coast

    June 4 – 9, 2021 This blogisode is one of our shorter editions, as we left the Sierra’s south and west across the state to the coast. An area of Caifornia that doesn’t get the California love as it is mostly agricultural, ranching, and hot (no Elvis surf movies were ever filmed here). It does…

  • California Edition 2: The Upper Eastside

    May 23 – June 4, 2021 This blogisode features highlights of our wanderings through the Sierra Nevada’s along the 395 northern corridor including June Lakes, Lower Lee Vinings Campground, Tioga Pass Road, Yosemite National Park, Bridgeport, and Grover Hot Springs State Park. Rest assured that we are chronicling our journey daily through words and photos…

  • California, The Lower Eastside

    May 15 – 23, 2021 The Owens Valley River Basin lies between the White Mountains and the Sierra Nevada Range and at one time was a lush agricultural and ranching hub with ample water flowing from the snow melt off the Sierra’s. There is a complicated history of the area formed around the battle over…

  • Nevada

    May 12 – 15, 2021 On May 15, 2020, we left our home in Golden, Colorado with basic necessities and a few toys. Our toys included an inflatable stand up paddle board, two bikes, and running shoes. The requirement for bringing stuff was that it first should meet Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid of basic…

  • Highlights from our Adventures in the Desert Southwest

    April 21 – May 9, 2021 Since we’ve fallen way behind on our blog entries, we sought a way to catch you up without eliminating too much of the good stuff, so we are going to provide ONLY the good stuff. This blogisode eliminates the descriptive turns, brodies, trees, foliage, and details on the many…

  • Lee’s Ferry

    April 16-19, 2021 I recently read the book, Under the Banner of Heaven, by John Krakauer. This book was recommended by a frequent reader of the blog so I bit after previewing the free sample. It explores the history of the Church of the Latter Day Saints while using their past as a pivot to…

  • Grand Canyon National Park

    April 13 – 16, 2021 The Grand Canyon has history of exploration and profit seeking, from hotels along the rim that no longer exist, to tolls charged for using trails, and camps constructed for tourists along the Colorado River. Early explorers such as García López de Cárdenas of Spain never got to the river as…

  • Homolovi State Park to Flagstaff, AZ

    April 8-13, 2021 This Travels With Toohey blogisode features our camp at Homolovi State Park where ancient Native Americans left us lots of ruins, a visit to Petrified Forest National Park to witness really old trees (now rocks that look like the old trees), and to Meteor Crater where the most eminent danger was not…

  • Life Beyond the Moki Dugway

    April 6 – 8, 2021 This blogisode features action packed adventures at Goosenecks State Park, Valley of the Gods, and Johns Canyon, all tucked neatly between the frightening white knuckle descent down the Moki Dugway through the arid land smattered with amazing named eroded rock features to Mexican Hat, Utah. On a personal note, being…

  • Natural Bridges National Monument

    April 4 – April 8, 2021 We left Fruita, Colorado for our southerly jaunt into Utah on this day, Easter Sunday, 2021. We decided last night that Natural Bridges National Monument would be our destination. The journey took us along I-70 for a few miles to exit 204 towards Cisco, a town which might no…

  • On the Road Again

    Fruita Colorado, Colorado National Monument, Rabbit Valley March 29 – April 3, 2021 Yes, we’re back at it after our 3 week hiatus. We left Golden with some sadness in our guts as we said goodbye to friends, familiarity, and, of course, modern comfortable working fixtures. But knowing full well the journey was calling with…

  • Golden

    March 7 – March 31, 2021 Home is where you feel at home and are treated well. Dalai Lama This blog is short on content but big in meaning. The time out taken from travel over 3 weeks in March was a much needed reprieve from our new normal to one where we took care…

  • The Bee-line to Golden

    March 2 – March 7, 2021 The Rio Grande river starts at over 12,000 feet in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado where the snow melts producing pure fresh water, the nectar of life. From there it drops, flowing through Colorado’s San Luis Valley providing water for growing crops in an otherwise dry land. It…

  • Texas Episode 6: Big Bend National Forest

    February 26 – March 2, 2021 Many people we’ve met along the way have reported to us that Texas has a really low percentage of public to private land ownership. This fact impacts our travels as it becomes difficult to find camping spots other than private RV, state, and federal (national park) campgrounds and limits…

  • Texas Episode 5: Crossing the 100th Meridian

    February 22 – March 2, 2021 The TWT team would like to thank all of you for your comments. We get many in the blog itself but more who send us text, emails, and even call from time to time. We have one friend from Savannah who is an engineer for a business jet manufacturer.…

  • Texas Episode 4: Stormy McWinterstormface, 2021

    February 10 – 22, 2021 We have the ability to travel anywhere in the world but we ended up stuck here, smack dab in the middle of a natural disaster. The Kemp I finished reading the book, Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne during our first few day in the hill country. I…

  • Texas Episode 3: Fredericksburg and Cycling the Texas Hill Country

    February 3 – 15 Our drive north to Fredricksburg wasn’t all that interesting. We saw the usual large ranches, herds of beef (with all their legs), and goats and sheep. We passed roads named Rifle and towns named Geronimo, all quintessential Texas. The roads got hillier and the trees changed from short oaks to short…

  • Texas Episode 2: Goliad – Small Town, Big History

    February 1 – 3, 2021 Travel Journal Our plan was to move inland, away from the coast and into the area of Texas between Austin and San Antonio known as the Texas Hill Country. Fredricksburg is the town that Lysette wanted to visit for cycling so it became our destination. We needed one stop on…

  • Texas Episode 1: Port Arthur, Sea Rim State Park, & Galveston

    January 29 – February 1, 2021 My impression of Texas entering the state was as a massively large southern state, hugely full of itself with big oil, large ranches, dual axel pick up trucks, huge belt buckles, 10 gallon hats, and strong egos. What I have learned is the state of Texas, although still a large…

  • Louisiana: Palmetto State Park

    January 26 – January 29 Our time in the state was brief. Most people think of New Orleans when they think of Lousiana but this town wasn’t in our plans. I have spent my share of time there with college football, watching UGA lose their national championships hopes to Pittsburg with a Dan Marino last…

  • Mississippi Territory

    January 16, 2021 – January 26, 2021 This is a bonus Travels With Toohey History Moment. Something that has always interested me about Mississippi and Alabama were that they were close to being mirror images of each other. This got me thinking about why? My research found that both states were a part of the…

  • Sweet Home Alabama

    January 13, 2021 – January 16, 2021 I have often wondered when looking at the map of this area why Alabama didn’t get the panhandle part of Florida which would have given it more of the beautiful beaches. Apparently the first annex of the Mississippi Territory which included Alabama didn’t include any waterfront property but…

  • The Quagmire of the Florida Panhandle

    January 3, 2021 – January 13, 2021 Our final days in Florida, spent along the panhandle moving west, were interesting, perplexing, and possibly considered a quagmire* of sorts. The premise of our quagmire is that, as we left Savannah in November, our intent was to explore only the panhandle of Florida and to forgo the…

  • Perry Florida KOA and the New Year Celebration to Nowhere

    December 31, 2020 – January 3, 2021 A quick note from the Travels with Toohey Team: We want to thank our consistent readers and those who have commented on the blog. Please know that even though we don’t reply that we do enjoy reading each and every one. It gives us great enjoyment knowing that…

  • Cypress Creek Preserve and Caceres Organic Blueberry and Turmeric Farm

    December 27 – December 31, 2020 Sitting in one spot for 12 days was nice and something we’d both enjoy again in the future, given the right place. The problem with this, unlike the Ortona Locks, is you have to commit while not knowing what the campground is like. So with no long term prospects…

  • Ortona Lock: 12 Days of Christmas Highlights

    December 16 – December 27 Our return to Ortona Lock Campground would be the first of a repeat camp since we started our journey in May. We stayed here on our southbound journey for two nights and thoroughly enjoyed the feel of the place and the facilities. During that time and with a bit of…

  • Big Cypress National Preserve

    December 14 – December 16 You will find this blog much more appropriate in length based on words and pictures but huge on quality. You will also note a tone of exhaustion and fatigue as we struggled to find our happy spot in this camp. However, as we prepare to post this blog entry, now…

  • Florida: Southbound & Down to Key West

    11/20/2020 – 12/14/2020 Note from the TWT Team: We are currently sitting in Ortona Lock Campground, east of Fort Meyers enjoying a cool, brisk, sunny Christmas. In fact, the temperatures were forecasted as the same here as they were for Golden, Colorado. You will read about this place in this blog and as it worked…

  • The Okefenokee Swamp

    11/16/2020 – 11/20/2020 We left Savannah eager to continue our journey, heading south on coastal Highway 17 where we weaved over and under I-95 committed to stay off the interstate and keep it slow. Highway 17 is also a road where my great great grandmother and namesake, Blanche Kempner Nussbaum, lost her life when she…

  • Savannah Bananas

    10/27/2020 – 11/16/2020 Note: We decided to create an Instagram account so we can post more real time status of our journey. As you know, our blog which takes more time to create is running up to a month behind. We hope you find this enjoyable. Toohey (@travelswithtoohey) • Instagram photos and videos Savannah is…

  • Tybee: A Beach Vacation

    October 22 – 27 Travel Journal We left South Carolina traveling through the low country along highway 17, over the Savannah River Bridge that locals still refer to as the Talmadge Bridge, which was actually an old metal bridge that has since been scrapped. We drove through the Savannah downtown historic district then south to…

  • In My Mind I’m Gone to Carolina: The Carolinas

    10/15/2020 – 10/23/2020 The North Carolina mountains hold a special place in my memories. One of the earliest trips was with my mom and dad to the High Hampton Inn after dropping my sister off at camp for two weeks. We stayed there for a few nights enjoying time with my grandparents who made their…

  • Almost Heaven: West Virginia

    10/7/2020 – 10/13/2020 West Virginia was an intriguing place. A beautiful place, wonderful mountains, full of rugged adventure, a place that at first glance seemed to have let time get away. As we spent days exploring the land, wandering down small country roads with old farms, seeing their way of life, we began to fully appreciate…

  • Pennsylvania: The Birthplace of The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States, and Ticks on Toohey

    9/27/2020 – 10/7/2020 The last blog entry, provided a brief list of things that have made the trip from the red dust of Utah to the stink bugs of Ohio. We have found a new entry to the list which now includes ticks. As of this writing, Toohey has become host to about 6 but…

  • The Buckeye State

    September 20 – 27, 2020 There have been bits and pieces that we pick up from each state that travel with us along our journey. For example, we continue to clean the red dust we picked up in the deserts of Utah, the grey dust along the gravel roads in Idaho, Oregon, and Montana. We…

  • Michigan: The Mitt

    The Travels With Toohey Team crossed the Mackinac Bridge over the Strait of Mackinac, took the first exit off I-75, and turned the rig right. Our goal for the day was a sloverlanding drive along the small roads of the west side of the Michigan Mitt, along Lake Michigan, down to some place near Traverse…

  • Michigan: The UP

    I first saw the term Yooper on a coffee mug while waiting for the boat ride to witness the iconic Pictured Rocks. After a few minutes of trying to understand what I was reading and then pronounce it properly, it made me laugh. And then my inquisitive mind took me down the path of wondering…

  • The Wisconsin Shore

    I’ve always enjoyed the State of Wisconsin with each visit having been positive including fun business trips to neat towns of Milwaukee, Madison, and a life dream of seeing a game in Green Bay. I have a love of all things cheese and when introduced to this magical little thing called a curd, I was…

  • Minnesota: The Northside

    My only personal experience with Minnesota had been a business trip that extended to the weekend in St. Paul, Minneapolis. Mostly, I remember being frisked by police while leaving a busy restaurant at a music event on Hennepin Street. In short, I was wrongly suspected of stealing a purse, but was only temporarily detained in…

  • North Dakota: Fifty was Nifty

    Two things: Thing 1. As of this writing and certainly your reading of this blog, I have now officially visited every state in the good ole U.S. of A, with North Dakota being the last. Mind you, this was over a lifetime and mostly accomplished for work purposes versus play. Our drive from Fort Peck…

  • Montana: Mountains to Plains

    One of the things we have enjoyed most has been visiting family and friends along the way. Montana, a huge state, the 4th largest in terms of area of all 50 states, would provide the most family and friends interaction of our journey to date. We were able to meet up with several of my…

  • Goodbye Oregon, Hellooo Washington

    Today was going to be a big push north into Washington with the destination of a horse rescue farm just outside of Port Angeles, WA. We set our plan in motion crossing the vintage looking metal expansion bridge over the Columbia River and into the state of Washington. Our first introduction was a drive that…

  • The Oregon Coast is the Most, Well Almost

    While sitting here this morning working on the blog, Lysette asked if I could look at some pictures with her. The photos we scrolled through were of Toohey, capturing a playful youthful looking dog, acting so puppyish and vibrant. For those not reading his bio, he is in his 13th year, has a chronic right…

  • Change Happens: Lewiston, Idaho to the Oregon Coast

    We’ve covered a lot of ground since our last post, both in travel experiences and distance, making this entry somewhat long. In fact, it made Lysette yawn repeatedly while I read it to her in its entirety, but admittedly, it was late. All in, we saw amazing stuff, had wonderful experiences, but both of us…

  • Missoula, MT to Lewiston, ID: The Amazing Highway 12

    Wondering about wandering. Our journey so far has been more about simply wandering up the road versus having any set plans. When we get somewhere we have to decide, day by day, do we stay or do we move on. Where is “move on” if we decide to move there? Our original plan was to…

  • Sloverlanding from the Tetons to the Sawtooths and along the Salmon River

    Daily travel can get exhausting, but the benefits of us doing it together have been pretty profound over our first month. A month ago, we would each sort of do our thing around the house with infrequent conversations about the common issues. We both worked in different industries spending lots of time and energy in…

  • Teton Valley, Idaho: Rainy Days to Rainey Bridge to Moose in the Mountains

    We left Bear Lake as we have with most places, wanting more. But also knowing it will be there next time and to get more would require warmer days. So we made our push north across the state line, our first deep dive into Idaho.  We drove into Driggs and made two moves included in…

  • The Relationship Between Jimmy Buffet Songs and Bear Lake, UT/ID

    You can debate your favorite Parrot Head songs but the similarity referenced is in the turquoise blue color of Bear Lake’s water. Bear Lake is referred to as the Caribbean of the Rockies because of its luminescent blue water. It is a large lake surrounded by mountains and shared by two states. It is used…

  • Uinta National Forest, Challenges, and Porcupines, oh my… – 6/3/2020

    Bonus Feature of the Blog: Notes on the variety of camps. There are private and public camps such as KOA’s and RV parks that come with full amenities including pools, playgrounds, and dog parks. In fact, one KOA host informed us the specifics of the varying levels of KOA’s with the mack daddy having restaurants.…

  • The Cattle Drivo to Provo on Juno Firsto

    “Even if my neighbour doesn’t understand my religion or my politics, he can understand my story. If he can understand my story, then he’s never too far from me. It is always within my power to build a bridge.” – The Alchemist,” by Paulo Coelho While sitting here, I noticed this. An empty, eaten can…

  • Hmm, Why Not Fish Lake National Forest? 6/1/2020

    When we went to sleep Wednesday night we had readied everything to move our home 255 miles to Ely, NV. By 7 AM the next morning, that idea shifted based on the upcoming wind/weather forecast in Ely, our underlying need for lush mountains and cooler temperatures, and quite frankly, Patsy, a full time KOA resident…

  • KOA’s are A-Okay 6/1/2020

    The one daily risk we are fully aware of out west is that of fuel for the Tacoma. Having spent 33 years in the risk management field, I am a bit over conservative with the risk of running out so I watch the fuel gauge like a hawk. The little truck works really hard to…

  • Stop 1 – The Slow Break San Rafael Swell, Utah 5/26/2020

    We call this the “slow break” as we used this first stop as our easy button to transition into the trip of unknowns. It was easy because we have become familiar with the San Rafael Swell area after 3 years of camping here over Thanksgiving holidays. We also had a couple, (acquaintances) from Golden join…

  • Getting to Go

    Preparing during the pandemic. This post will roll through several dates until we leave. March 21, 2020 All the planning and prepping for this trip has been energizing and fun. We both learned a lot about getting the house ready for renting, taxes, Tacoma trucks, mechanical stuff, people, and resigning from great companies. The best…