Link Love

If I ever find myself near Crossville, TN I am definitely visiting the World’s Largest Tree House. This magnificent feat of engineering is 90′ tall, contains 80 rooms, and is supported by a combination of one ginormous 80′ tall white oak  & 11 other supporting oak trees. Sadly, the tree house is currently closed under orders of the fire marshall. I still want to visit.

We are currently parked on the shores of Caballo Lake with a gorgeous view of the Caballo Mountains on the far side of the lake. Yesterday I was researching possible hiking trails in the mountains and came across article after article referencing Spanish Treasure Found in the Mountains. So if you don’t hear from us for awhile it would be safe to assume that we found some Spanish treasure, bought a private island, and are currently lying on the beach drinking Piña Coladas.

Have you ever heard of a Bosque? The word means woods or forest in Spanish, and here in the southwest it is used to describe the unique ecosystem that surrounds the Rio Grande River. It makes me happy to be experiencing this fascinating forest in the desert firsthand, and I’ve been busy learning the names of the plants that live in the Bosque.

One of the absolute best things about traveling around the US is discovering and enjoying local food. In case you’re wondering what to look out for in each state The Lonely Plant has a handy dandy State-by-State Guide to Iconic Foods. I am not sure how they came up with this list, and exactly how authentic it is, but from now on it’s my mission to eat from the list every time we go to a new state. On that note, a few states I need to avoid are: Delaware- Scrapple (google it), Montana -Rocky Mountain oysters (NOT really oysters, but instead a part of a bull’s anatomy that I would rather not ingest), and Minnesota – lutefisk (aged, lye-soaked white fish).

Just as I am gearing up to publish Part 2 of my Airstream Kitchen post all about planning, shopping and preparation, Lynne from the blog Tales from Mutiny comes along and beats me too it! I am kidding of course. If I only wrote blog posts about subjects that have never been written about before, I would never have anything to write about. Her awesome post offers great tips on saving money and staying green while cooking and eating in an RV. She includes some yummy sounding recipe links and even some great ideas for natural cleaning. You should definitely check it out.

Speaking of RV cooking, last week I had a moment of culinary mastery when I made this Whole Grain Cinnamon Swirl Bread. It was incredible and we had to restrain ourselves from eating the entire loaf in a single gluttonous bread-gobbling feast. The recipe was super simple, and if it didn’t take nearly 4 hours to make, including numerous rises and lots of kneading, I might make it every week.

One more food link. Airstreams are a popular method of advertisement for many brands. The latest company to jump on the Airstream bandwagon, errr…trailer, is Chevre, the makers of some mighty fine tasting Goat Cheese. We are huge goat cheese fans around here, and obviously we love Airstreams, so this seems like a perfect match. I only wish the road trip was coming a bit farther west so we could snag some yummy samples.

Did you know that for several years Airstream made a toy hauler? This 34′ beast is pretty slick looking, but even at that size what you gain in toy hauling space you loose in living space. Which means you have room for you kayak and motorcycle, but have to sleep in a tiny bed squished in the corner. I pick a comfortable place to sleep over toys any day.

Love, love, love these Airstream T-shirts. $36 + shipping seems really pricy for a t-shirt though.

I thought this list of the Best North-South Roads was interesting. Of the six on the list we’ve driven sections of only three including US 101, US 89, and US 1 (not with the Airstream).

Lots of RVers know about the Bumfuzzle family. They became famous (on infamous to some) in the traveling world about 10 years ago when the then childless couple decided to sail around the world- with no prior sailing knowledge. Tim & I both just finished reading their book about that journey around the world. We’ve often indulged in thoughts of living on a sailboat, and this account was eye-opening on several levels. While we are far, far from giving up the Airstream for a boat, it’s still fun to dream at times of a completely different kind of adventure.