cottage living

We parted ways with Illinois on Sunday morning and said aloha, Indiana! Taking highway 12 all the way from Chicago to my family's cottage in Michigan, we got to see all the beauties that northern Indiana and Southern Michigan have to offer. Just to the north of Gary, Indiana is a right rad state park on the shores of Lake Michigan. Sand dunes, clear blue water, beautiful beaches, huge factories just down the way puffing smoke into the otherwise clear, blue sky.


Tom at the Indiana sand dunes park on Lake Michigan


After our short stop in Indiana, we made our way to the cottage, my family’s 130 year old summer home on Sand Lake, Michigan. Lots of family history here. My mom came here every summer as a girl; it was her family’s vacation home when she was young, and my parents bought it back when I was three. I’ve been here every summer of my life. It's where I learned to swim, ski, drive, smoke, etc, lots of formative experiences in this place. I suppose I won't be making it for the next few summers, so I was grateful to pay my respects this spring. It was 80 degrees when we arrived and broke in on Sunday afternoon (someone had sealed up the dog door, how we usually get in). Since then it's been a bit cold and drizzly, so we've spent the quiet hours of the days reading, fishing, cooking, and sitting on the dock. I love this place and I'll miss it lots.

Tom on the dock at the cottage.

Reading by the fire. Actually I don't read. I just harrass Tom and take pictures while he reads.

corn fields and college towns

From Marshall, Minnesota we took some back roads to our next destination, Madison Wisconsin, passing by miles and miles of corn fields, a number of wind power jammies, and Sleepy Eye, a quiet little town with, you guessed it, a bunch of people with sleepy eyes? Who named that town? Regardless, it was a fun trip and led us to a very fun evening with Tom's good friend Brian Hansen, Brian's very cool girlfriend April, and Ernie, their dog who is smarter and better looking than I could ever hope to be.

They took us out to have all the fun that Madisonians like to have, showed us how to walk into the street without concern for oncoming vehicles like you do in a college town, and took us down to the edge of one of those Madison lakes where there was a table where you get beer, and three hundred picnic tables where you could sit and drink it -ingenious! We had a great time with Brian, April, and Ernie, solved many of the world's problems in one evening, and decided that lawyers arean't that bad after all. Law school students, anyway.

From Madison we ventured south and east again to Chicago, where we sat in traffic for hours and hours and swore a lot. Once we got through the toll booth that was holding us and twenty thousand other cars up, and had vowed to support public transportation systems in every major city we would ever enter, we headed downtown to the preppy area around DuPaul university and bunked up at the Arlington House, an international hostel full of internationals. Being surrounded by Europeans and Asians makes you feel like you're somewhere exciting. Once we were showered (public style) and detoxed from the road madness, we went a few blocks south to meet up with Sarah, a great friend of mine from JMU and her girlfriend Jane, who, like Ernie, is shining and fun to be around. We strolled around town, Tom and I pretending like we're super at ease in the city and don't even think about getting mugged every time we pass an alley, and we hung out in restaurants and bars catching up, ripping on the government, and sharing stories of our sortid religious pasts -a topic I never tire of. I wish we'd had more time with Sarah and Jane, but we were all just passing through town and were lucky to get to play as much as we did.

Jane and Sarah. Check out Jane's blog: my silence is your comfort. It's rock solid.

two dozen sullivans

We'd worn out our welcome in Omaha on Thursday, and so we headed north by way of sunny South Dakota and on into Minnesota, where we saw as many Sullivans as we could see. We stayed at Grandma’s house in Marshall, MN for the night, and had a great time catching up with her and visiting with the seventeen other Sullivans that stopped by to see us. Lots of love in that town. From observing my in-laws I've concluded that Irish catholics are good and kind people with unending funny stories to tell. A fertile bunch, too.

There are four generations of sullivans in there. I can't wait to have eight or nine of my own.

Back to Tom’s Homeland!

We said goodbye to Tom’s parents in Kansas and headed north and east again to Omaha. Our westernmost destination of the trip was a mere twenty miles shy of the geographic center of the USA –maybe we’ll make it to those mountain states on our next road trip. We had a chill, long stay in Omaha, playing with Tom’s brothers Kirby and Patrick, and hanging with the good peeps Tom grew up with and has known forever. You can't replace old friends.



I spent the majority of my days landscaping Patrick’s yard, cause that’s the kind of thing I do for kicks. Lola, Kirby's polar bear/dog helped out a lot.

In the evenings we met up with lots of good friends to catch up, say goodbye, and present our sales pitch about what a fine vacation destination Bolivia is. So far, we think we have at least one taker; we’re hoping to see Anthony and Michelle down there by Christmas. Tony and Krista are in second place for likelihood of making the trek. We spent some good time with those guys around the fire pit at Anothony and Michelle's, reminiscing about all the trouble they've gotten into over the years. Remember, when your kids do something stupid, don't be mad, just think of the great story it will make years later.

We also got to play with Brian and Nicole, and their ridiculously cute baby Finn. Brain started an awesome tree service in Omaha, and you should call him if you have a tree that needs cutting down, limbing up, or just a good talking to.


















We had dinner one night at our fave Omaha eatery, the Indian Oven, with Anne Marie, a good friend I met in VA years ago. Her husband John is currently snorkeling on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean. It must be tough being an air force pilot. It was great to catch up with her and swap travel tales –she’s an adventuresome woman with more guts than most. More brains, too. And great taste in music. Great person all around.



Kirby and Patrick helped us get our beer fill before leaving the states, and we hung out with them most evenings at home and out on the town.

The beers I conquered (with a little help from my brothers).



Kirby, Tom’s youngest bro, with Jenna, his superly cool fiancé.

Ma and Pa Sullivan have moved to Kansas!

Leaving Arkansas, we bid adieu to the mountains and said aloha to the plains of Oklahoma and Kansas. They look a bit like this:

And sometimes, when you go through a town, like this:

Mighty flat out here. But beautiful nonetheless. It was a short ride to Salina, where Tom’s parents have just moved on account of a job with Schwanns, the ice cream people. We had two fun relaxing days with them, laughed ourselves senseless watching home videos of the Sullivan fam back when the boys were wee ones, celebrated sleeping in a real bed and having an entire bathroom to ourselves, and enjoyed the good company of ma and pa Sullivan. We’ll miss them lots.

The Pork Days

From Nashville we continued west, stopping in Memphis per a friend’s recommendation to have ribs at a little joint on 2nd St and Union called Rendezvous. They had two things on the menu: ribs, or a half order of ribs. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a pig that good in my life. Truly amazing. Not a cheap pig, though. We split a whole rib, and it ran us over twenty bones.


Tom awaiting his ribs at Rendezvous

From Memphis we went on to Arkansas, taking the Pig Trail up to see our friends Maggie and Matt in Fayetteville. The Pig Trail cuts the corner off two interstates I can’t remember the numbers of, which makes sense because interstates are pretty much unmemorable. Country roads and highways are the way to do a roadtrip -they give you a much better feel for the people, the towns, the lay of the land you're visiting. The Pig Trail is awesome; it takes you through some fantastic mountains and valleys and follows and crosses the Mulberry River. Gorgeous part of the country. Arkansas is cool.

In Fayetteville we dined at an Italian place called Pesto with Mags, Matt, and mama P, Maggie’s mom who was also in town for a visit. After dinner we had coffees and beers and played pool until it was bedtime, and in the morning after a fantastic breakfast at the Stay-Inn-Style B&B we all went to the farmer’s market, where the boys, who are charming and well-raised, bought tulips for the women they love.

At the farmers’ market in Fayetteville

I like him.

Oceans, Mountains, and Music

We said farewell to the beach and our friends of Morehead City on Monday after easter, heading to Asheville, NC, famed hippie town of the mountains. Fun place -we played downtown and had dinner with Tracy, my friend from JMU who is so freakin’ smart she has her PhD and is a professor at UNC-Asheville at the tender age of 29. We also got to hang with Mark Capon, another friend from JMU and co-captain of Harvest Records, a stellar record shop in west a-ville, and we slept in the narrow confines of other record captain Matt Schnottball’s twin bed, who was busy being in Mexico that day. Matty, sorry we missed your pretty face. Thanks for the bed. Come see us in Bolivia.

From there we ventured on to Great Smoky Mountain National Park, crossing from NC into TN. Neither of us had been to this most visited park of the US, and it was a worthy detour. There are small “Quiet Walking Area” trails that beat the pants off the over-treaded trails near the large parking lots full of SUVs. We also passed some sweet swimming holes we would have tested if the weather were a touch warmer.

We landed in Nashville on Tuesday afternoon, just in time to see my rockstar friend Stephanie Chapman in concert at a bar called 12th and Porter. The show was dy-no-mite. Steph and I met our first year of college, and I remember one night when we were hanging out in a friend’s dorm room, he was playing his guitar, and Steph was all, “gee, I want to learn to play the guitar.” Now she’s a freakin’ country music star. What a babe.


Steph and her husband Nathan rockin' the house at 12th and Porter in Nashville.

the beach be cold

it's nippy out here in atlantic beach, which is near morehead city NC. Arrived late last night and my brother in law Joe had a nice big bourbon on the rocks waiting for me, It was a long day yesterday moving out all of our stuff and saying good bye to the place we've lived in for he last eight months, but it was about time that we got the show on the road. Hanging out with the Dolans here at the beach is always a blast, laughs flow freely as do the beverages. Easter at the beach, boy am I going to miss this when we are in Bolivia getting carried away by mosquitos.



Leah and Narda on the rum punch

p.d. jose, margaret, & leah working the mamosas

we done built a shed!

On Tuesday, with the help of our good friend Ryan, we put up the fabulous shed that will hold our belongings over the next two years. Many thanks go out to our sis and bro, Leah and Joe, who invited us to build it next to their garage. Little did they know, we would purchase the cheapest and ugliest shed Lowes had to offer. It’s not exactly air tight or tornado proof, but I think it will do the trick.

Here's the foundation. It only took us eight hours to build. But it's dern good.

It's my shed in a box! (please refer to "SNL Christmas short" video on Utube to get this joke. It's worth it.)

And this is me, Tom, and Ryan putting this bunch of tin together.

And Voila! We're done!

And then we spent two days packing up all of our earthly posessions and loading this beast with plastic tubs. That part was miserable and exhasuting and altogether unworthy of photodocumenting. But it's done!!! And now we're off on our road trip -first stop, Morehead City, NC with the Dolan crew for easter weekend. Can't wait!!!

leaving soon

So we're getting ready to leave soon and the excitement is setting in, new life , new country, new group of folks we'll be interacting with. Its all pretty amazing to think about. I'd probably be pretty happy settling down here in virginia having a child or two and climbing that old corporate ladder......but no we're moving thousands of miles away to dig some wells and latrines. I can't wait to take the five thousand mile road trip we're about to take, to bad our truck doesn't run on some sort of renewable energy (like baby seals), but it should be alot of fun seeing friends and family we haven't seen for quite awhile. be writing another bit soon probably on the road.