Beyond Carhenge: The Jewels of Nebraska's Highway 2
This year marks our home state of Nebraska's 150th anniversary! To celebrate, Carson put together a list of the "The Jewels of Highway 2" for USA TODAY.
Read MoreLocal Color: Wisconsin
Like its bigger neighbor the South (hi, Chicago!), Milwaukee is indeed a city of neighborhoods, each with its own icons and features and people.
Read MoreThe Independent Bookstores Every Booklover Should Visit in the U.S.
I'll be honest. As a writer, I'm not a huge fan of spending my time on lists. But when you've traveled the country, you mentally accrue material like this whether you're trying to or not. And hey, if you have to write a list, what's a better theme than "The Independent Bookstores Every Booklover Should Visit in the U.S.?"
Read MoreLocal Color XC on KEXL 97.5
Mel talks on-air with Jeffrey Steffan at 97.5 about our year-long road trip, and takes a trip down memory lane -- she was an intern at KEXL in 2006!
Read MoreLocal Color: Michigan
I'd imagined a city brimming with beer, decidedly blue collar. Instead, Grand Rapids greeted us with new restaurants, modern high rises, art museums and bourgeois bars.
Read MoreLocal Color: Montreal & Toronto
As two new RV'ers, going international with our setup was a little daunting, but well worth it. We can confidently say: camp in Canada and you won't regret it.
Read MoreLocal Color: New York
Carson and I fell in love in New York. At least that's how I remember it.
Read MoreLocal Color XC in USA TODAY
For reasons we can't quite figure out, Cleveland gets a bad wrap--but we loved it. There's something about this rust belt city that felt more authentic - and much less whitewashed - than so many other cities we've toured on our yearlong adventure.
Read MoreLocal Color: Pennsylvania
I told myself before we started the trip that I wanted to see the Grand Canyon again. I just didn't expect to find it in Pennsylvania.
Read MoreLocal Color: Maine
You'll be hard pressed to convince me that you can do Maine any better than we did. But we'll let you in on a few bits of local lore and love from our best-ever hosts, Fran and Carey.
Read MoreLocal Color: New Hampshire
Our week in the Granite State convinced us that New Hampshire just might be the happiest place on earth. And we've got five definitive moments to prove our point.
Read MoreLocal Color: Vermont
We'll be back, Vermont. While we still think your Queen City isn't quite the place for us -- a little too small, a tad too remote -- but we can all agree that Green Mountain coffee is the best.
Read MoreLocal Color XC in Tiny House Magazine
We were recently interviewed by Tiny House Magazine about our experience living in Elsie, our 120-square-foot trailer and traveling the U.S. We cover everything from remodeling our THOW to living on the road, so if you've got any lingering questions about our lifestyle, start here.
Read MoreLocal Color XC in USA Today
The Ocean State was good to us. Read up on our latest adventures in USA Today!
Read MoreLocal Color: Maryland
Maybe it’s because we watched all five seasons of The Wire. Or the fact that we both liked Natty Boh before we even stepped foot in the state. Whatever conscious or subconscious factors were at play, by the time we left Maryland and set up camp in Delaware, we’d both fallen a bit in love with Baltimore.
Read MoreLocal Color: Iowa
We were pushing to get to the Army Corp of Engineers’ Acorn Valley Campground outside of Des Moines. It was Wednesday, early enough, we believed, to secure a walk up campsite at any number of state parks off I-80. But as we cruised from the Land of Lincoln into endless miles of cornfields, we kept coming up short.
Read MoreLocal Color: New Jersey
And the number one reason to visit New Jersey is...Hank Sauce. Hands down.
Read MoreExclusive Q&A: "West of Her" Director Ethan Warren Weighs Film, Prose and Billy Joel
During our stay in Massachusetts, Ethan and I would visit author John Cheever's grave and paddle a canoe to an abandoned insane asylum along the Charles River, but it seemed most appropriate to focus our Massachusetts coverage on Ethan himself, and the movie he sunk his heart into. On our last day in town, I sat down with Ethan for an extended interview about his life, his work, andWest of Her.
Read MoreLocal Color: Florida
The Merle Haggard cover band was in full swing, and two carafes of house Pinot Grigio were quite enough for me to saunter up to the lead singer, a cherub retiree in a straw hat and faded Hawaiian shirt, and ask if knew any Billy Joel. It was then that I knew. We needed to get the h**l out of Panama City, Fla.
Read MoreLocal Color XC in USA TODAY
Until we hit Richmond, our journey had been (relatively) conflict free. That all came to an abrupt halt in a city we were dying to see again, when it seemed like everything that could go wrong with Elsie, did go wrong with Elsie.
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