Heavy Petting: How many strange pets can one family have?

When our nest emptied, it emptied it not only of kids, but of pets too. We have nothing against pets. We’ve had both dogs and cats and loved them, but the GypsyNester lifestyle of no-plans and go-anywhere isn’t very conducive to taking an animal along. So, for now at least, we are finished with being pet parents.

But pets are often a part of parenting and I got to thinking about some of the colorful characters that were a part of my family through the years. When I was a little kid, our first pet configuration was a… CONTINUE READING >>

When our nest emptied, it emptied it not only of kids, but of pets too. We have nothing against pets. We’ve had both dogs and cats and loved them, but the GypsyNester lifestyle of no-plans and go-anywhere isn’t very conducive to taking an animal along. So, for now at least, we are finished with being pet parents.

But pets are often a part of parenting and I got to thinking about some of the colorful characters that were a part of my family through the years. When I was a little kid, our first pet configuration was a… CONTINUE READING >>

Courir de Mardi Gras in Church Point, Louisiana


Chicken chasing, colorful costumes and dancing on horseback? It’s Courir de Mardi Gras in Church Point! You’ve gotta watch the video to believe it…it’s, well, just watch… CONTINUE READING >>


Chicken chasing, colorful costumes and dancing on horseback? It’s Courir de Mardi Gras in Church Point! You’ve gotta watch the video to believe it…it’s, well, just watch… CONTINUE READING >>

Festival Fun And Frolics: Grand National 2018

Big horse racing events like Cheltenham and Aintree are super exciting to attend. Not just for the horse racing and the buzz of that but for the entertainment, fashion, and fun over the festival…

CONTINUE READING >> 

Big horse racing events like Cheltenham and Aintree are super exciting to attend. Not just for the horse racing and the buzz of that but for the entertainment, fashion, and fun over the festival…

CONTINUE READING >> 

U.P. and Over Big Mac – Loving Michigan’s Upper Peninsula!

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is the red-headed stepchild of the Great Lakes region.

Like kids left alone who’ve formed a tree house club, the people of the Upper Peninsula have developed a domain unto themselves, even a secret language all their own.

A conversation about a moose walking through town would sound something like this:

“Just seen a snow cow at da stop-and-go light.”
“Yah, Hey… CONTINUE READING >>

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is the red-headed stepchild of the Great Lakes region.

Like kids left alone who’ve formed a tree house club, the people of the Upper Peninsula have developed a domain unto themselves, even a secret language all their own.

A conversation about a moose walking through town would sound something like this:

“Just seen a snow cow at da stop-and-go light.”
“Yah, Hey… CONTINUE READING >>

Cowboyin’ Up in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is a city fueled by meat, and Mataderos is the barrio, or neighborhood, that traditionally supplied that fuel.

To celebrate that tradition and preserve many of the customs of the gauchos, who we would call cowboys, a huge event known as the Feria de Mataderos is held.

Thousands of people come from miles around to enjoy the food, music, crafts, and particularly the feats of skill demonstrated by the gauchos… CONTINUE READING >> 

Buenos Aires is a city fueled by meat, and Mataderos is the barrio, or neighborhood, that traditionally supplied that fuel.

To celebrate that tradition and preserve many of the customs of the gauchos, who we would call cowboys, a huge event known as the Feria de Mataderos is held.

Thousands of people come from miles around to enjoy the food, music, crafts, and particularly the feats of skill demonstrated by the gauchos… CONTINUE READING >> 

Time Traveling with the Amish

Where Indiana meets Michigan, Michiana as it’s known, time travel is possible. Here in the Land o’ Goshen, the Amish have settled and continue a lifestyle reminiscent of hundreds of years ago, placing merit on humility and hard work.

Elkhart County, Indiana has the second largest population of Amish in America. More than a religion, this is a way of life. The shunning of technology is not from an idea that new things are inherently bad, it comes from the drive to always remain humble.

We wondered how folks in Amish Country tame a wild hair and, after following a few leads, enrolled ourselves in a Dutch oven cooking class. It turned out to be quite the… CONTINUE READING >>

Where Indiana meets Michigan, Michiana as it’s known, time travel is possible. Here in the Land o’ Goshen, the Amish have settled and continue a lifestyle reminiscent of hundreds of years ago, placing merit on humility and hard work.

Elkhart County, Indiana has the second largest population of Amish in America. More than a religion, this is a way of life. The shunning of technology is not from an idea that new things are inherently bad, it comes from the drive to always remain humble.

We wondered how folks in Amish Country tame a wild hair and, after following a few leads, enrolled ourselves in a Dutch oven cooking class. It turned out to be quite the… CONTINUE READING >>

The Inexplicable Stairway to Heaven

As the legend goes, when the chapel was built without stairs up to the choir loft. Monks used ladders, but since this chapel was for nuns, a staircase was needed. Conventional stairs would take up nearly half the space in the little chapel, so the nuns decided to pray a novena for some divine assistance. On the ninth (and final) day of the devotion, a mysterious man with a few simple tools appeared and informed the sisters that he could fashion a suitable staircase, but he must be left completely alone. Locked in the chapel for three days, he finished the stairs and disappeared without asking for pay. Nobody knew who he was or where he went, so naturally …CONTINUE READING >>
As the legend goes, when the chapel was built without stairs up to the choir loft. Monks used ladders, but since this chapel was for nuns, a staircase was needed. Conventional stairs would take up nearly half the space in the little chapel, so the nuns decided to pray a novena for some divine assistance. On the ninth (and final) day of the devotion, a mysterious man with a few simple tools appeared and informed the sisters that he could fashion a suitable staircase, but he must be left completely alone. Locked in the chapel for three days, he finished the stairs and disappeared without asking for pay. Nobody knew who he was or where he went, so naturally …CONTINUE READING >>