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Zombies Have Eaten New Orleans

by Brian on January 29, 2014 in Louisiana, Travel, United States

Louisana State Museum, locked up tight

We haven’t been outside this morning so it’s quite possible that the Big Easy is completely overrun by zombies. Considering the way the city basically shut down yesterday and is expected to remain closed today, we think that’s likely.

Jackson Square Park, Closed

The forecast didn’t call for zombies, though. It called for near-freezing temperatures and some rain. So naturally they locked up all the museums and the parks because, well, zombies.

It has to be zombies because no one closes down for cold weather, do they?

Un-Terrifying Update: So we peek out our door this morning ready to beat back the marauding undead hoard and see this . . .

No dead people feasting on the living but just enough ice to require a few minutes of window defrost – oh, and shut down the city.

RV No More – The End of an Era

by Brian on January 27, 2014 in Travel

Goodbye RV, it was fun while it lasted.

It was almost exactly four years ago today that we took possession of our first-ever RV. It would be another couple of months before we spent our very first night in a campground. We then proceeded to live in the thing almost every single day since.

During these last 1,394 days, our motor home has taken us to the rugged shores of Maine; backed up to the shocking blue waters off Key West; discovered things we never knew existed; climbed the Rocky Mountains; survived the Badlands; drove the Pacific Coast Highway; and made some 241 other stops along the way. Last week, our motor home made its final stop with us as its owners.

The Best Reward Card for Travelers

by Brian on January 24, 2014 in How To, Money & Finance, Travel

It is a perennial budget traveler question: which credit card reward gets you the most free travel?

Nearly two years ago we did a deep dive into the most generous reward cards and came to a surprising conclusion. For the average user, the best cash back cards handily beat the best travel reward cards. We think that is still largely the case today.

So why, then, are we now ditching our no-fee cash rewards cards for the Chase Sapphire Preferred? Because when the facts change, we change our strategies. And since we last tackled this issue, lots of facts have changed.

Walking on Fire

by Brian on January 22, 2014 in Hawaii, United States

Something we failed to mention in our earlier post about our Hawaiian lava trek was this guy. We have no idea who he is, or what happened to him. He simply popped up on the horizon perilously close to flowing lava and in near total darkness. Then he disappeared. Down a lava tube? We don’t think so, but we don’t really know either.

An Honest Appraisal of Our Alaskan Travels

by Brian on January 20, 2014 in Alaska, Travel, United States

It was the best of times, it was just meh sometimes, it was an occasion for adventure, it was an occasion for boredom, it was a place of indescribable beauty, it was a place of insufferable kitsch – in short, Alaska was what we brought to it and sometimes what we brought just wasn’t enough.

Before leaving for Alaska I spoke with a woman who owns a campground that is a common launching point for road trips to the great white north. She said that people returning from their dream Alaskan excursion tell her they either loved the trip or hated it. Before actually going I couldn’t understand how anyone could hate Alaska. Now that I’m back, I can perhaps see where they’re coming from even if I don’t share the intensity of those feelings.