Outland Adventures

 Hey Y'all! We try to keep it pretty positive here, but we also have to keep it real too. So for that reason here's the things we didn't love this past month. ..Err maybe that's bottom three?!?! 1) Replacing the belt...again.  The new one, to bypass the smog delete, lasted less than a day (drive time). We then had to replace it with the old one, thankfully Chris thought to keep it. We had that most of the way back on, when we got kicked out of that parking lot, and had to remove it, put away the tools, limp it across the street, and get 'er done in a Lions Den parking lot. It only took about 30min from there, and thankfully it was a beautiful day. We're never in a rush, but it was annoying. 2) Sugar Hollow Park Campground  Bristol, VA This is a first come, first serve park. (No big deal, we've done that before- with Cowford Campground in AL.) So, I called- nicest lady ever on the phone, said only 3 spots were taken so we should not have any issue later in t...

 Hey Y'all! So, we told you the plan was SC, but we didn't really say where... Spartanburg- for the next week or so, then we'll continue down I-26, before heading back to TN for Christmas, and PET Scan. Our travel day, Saturday, was nice- we took our time through TN & NC. And got to SC around 4pm or so. In TN everything looked pretty "normal" until it didn't. The devastation cause by Helene is still very evident in and around Erwin. Though 26 is open, there is a spot where it's one lane. No loads over 10ft wide, and no commercial vehicles allowed, as of November 9th. Things cleared up for a bit after that, and the weather was fantastic. We spent over an hour just meandering the NC welcome center, and doing the short hike to the overlook. As we reached the actual mountain towns, and cities- the sites were unrecognizable from previous trips. A lot of work has obviously been done, but the impact of the storm really became apparent very quickly. The highwa...

 Hey Y'all! We were fortunate to do/see a lot of different places this past month. We traveled from NE Ohio, through OH and KY, where we spent a day in Corbin, and then onto NE Tennessee, we took a few days in Bristol, VA, and spent a week in the great outdoors at the quiet, serene Mammoth Ridge near Greeneville. In-between trips in TN we stayed at my mom's and did the whole doctors appointments and scans thing, again. PLACE- While in Ohio we really had a blast, and there's so much to share there it'll be a couple of videos, very soon. Our favorites were the haunted attractions, and getting to cross another National Park off our list with Cuyahoga Valley National Park . Brandywine Falls History runs deep in the valley, with over 12,000 years of human occupation. From the unwritten stories of pre-contact peoples to the environmental disasters and comebacks of modern times, humans have left an impact on the valley. Here along the Cuyahoga River, humans have used, shaped, ...

 Hey Y'all! So, Chris turned 45 this year! Here's part of what we did to celebrate: The entryway. My drink, Chris' is in the background. Mine is a Bloody Mary, his was a Slimer themed drink. Hugs from Pennywise, lol. The Pennywise (my meal). Best Friends since childhood. Ladies! Birthday Guy!! Gentlemen! There will be a video very soon on our experience at The Haunted House Restaurant , but I will say we had a blast!! He then spent the afternoon playing Diablo with our friends. It was a slightly rainy day, but we still had a ton of fun. Thanks, The Outlands

 Hey Y'all! We can't believe it's November already! We've been Full Time at this for 9 months now, WOW! We slacked hard with the blogs in September & October, so we plan to stick with it and do a few extras (as well as extra videos) here in November. Here's the schedule: 31st Thur- Blog Schedule VIDEO-  Video- KY Music Hall of Fame & Museum 5th Tues- Chris' 45th Birthday Extravaganza (10/06)  7th Thur- Our Favorite Things/Places/Experiences This Past Month VIDEO-  Ohio, Smucker's Store 12th Tues- Where Are We? 14th Thur- Our Least Favorite Things/Places/Experiences This Past Month VIDEO- Rainy Day in the Van 19th Tues- Mastering Chores: Van Life 21st Thur- October Photo Dump VIDEO-  Ohio, Zoo, National Park, Ski Show, & More 26th Tues- What Travel Day Looks Like: Van Life 28th Thur- December Blog & Video Schedule VIDEO- Travel Day (DITL) Thanks, The Outlands Have a blog or video idea or suggestion? Leave us a comment on any of our social medi...

 Hey Y'all, I had the idea to do a van life specific Q & A, but finding questions was harder than I thought. Eventually I came across this blog , and took the questions from there. How do you find places to sleep as a van lifer?  Sometimes is fairly easy, and you find a parking spot or campground, and hunker down. Other times it seems everywhere you try has no overnight parking signs. That's when we scour the apps, and other online resources. We like all the same ones I'm sure you've seen mentioned before. One website, that admittedly needs some updating, is  freecampsites.net but it's still a decent one to check if the others are coming up with nada . What is the hardest part of van life? For us it's the yucky days. If it's storming outside for hours on end we don't really want to venture out, but we also get bored just hanging in the van. We have a blog post recently about our rainy day activities, but they're still the hardest part. How do yo...

 Hey Y'all! Tuesday came and went, but I did manage to get a blog up... even if it is a day late. Are our thoughts the same now??? Why'd We Choose A Conversion Van? July 20, 2023  Hey Y'all! So, why did we choose a conversion van? After our brief trip to  Indiana , we realized a minivan was not going to work. This was already a probability in our minds, but when the offer was made we had to at least check it out, and try some planning in person. While there we just couldn't come up with a build (layout) either of us were comfortable with, being a full time couple (soon). I think for a solo traveler minivans are great. We knew long ago (2004) we liked this size van, and we had an 1988 Ford Econoline 150. We used it to move to Tennessee after our car (Chevy Caviler) was totaled, and drove it for about a year afterwards. Being from Ohio, and us being young and broke the van had too many issues for us to afford to keep.  We also knew we didn't want any towable, a standa...