Lake Havasu City: London Bridge and Lighthouses

Lake Havasu City: London Bridge and Lighthouses

Lake Havasu City is noted for the London Bridge, which was our main reason for visiting the western Arizona city. The city is also popular for water sports and spring breakers. What we didn’t know until we got there is that the Lake Havasu shoreline is lined with two dozen lighthouses, all working replicas of lighthouses from the East Coast, West Coast and Great Lakes.

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Viewing Elephant Seals near San Simeon

Viewing Elephant Seals near San Simeon

We had heard that elephant seals spend only two months onshore. The rest of the time they’re far into the ocean. That is true. Maybe it was an assumption on our part, but we thought they all came onshore at the same time, and that we were lucky to hit the right season when we saw hundreds of elephant seals at the Piedras Blancas rookery near San Simeon, California. The truth is, you can view elephant seals at the rookery almost always, more at some times of the year than others.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in U.S. Long Cuts. We are merging U.S. Long Cuts with Midwest Wanderer, adding a “Beyond the Midwest” menu option.

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Landscape Across America

Landscape Across America

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain

–Katharine Lee Bates

During our twenty-day road trip from Chicago to Monterey, California, down to Santa Monica and back across Route 66, my favorite patriotic song, America the Beautiful, came to mind. The topography constantly changed. From mountains, some still with snow, to lush valleys, to the hot, dry desert and ocean views, the landscape painted a beautiful backdrop for our trip. We’re sharing some of the scenic areas that we drove through in this video.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in U.S. Long Cuts. We are merging U.S. Long Cuts with Midwest Wanderer, adding a “Beyond the Midwest” menu option.

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Moqueca: Eastern Brazilian Coastal Cuisine

Moqueca: Eastern Brazilian Coastal Cuisine

One of the highlights of traveling is trying new foods. In Oxnard, California, we tried a whole new cuisine at Moqueca, as neither of us had eaten Brazilian food before. Specifically, Moqueca serves capixaba cuisine, the food of Brazil’s state of Espirito Santo on the coast of Brazil’s southeast region.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in U.S. Long Cuts. We are merging U.S. Long Cuts with Midwest Wanderer, adding a “Beyond the Midwest” menu option.

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Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach, Oxnard Calif.

Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach, Oxnard Calif.

After a long afternoon tied up in Southern California freeway traffic, we arrived at the Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach in Oxnard, with little time to spare before we had to rush out for dinner. There would be no time right now to enjoy the beach at the only all-suite beachfront resort in Southern California. However, I was thrilled to find two bathrooms in our suite. We could both freshen up at the same time without tripping over each other.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in U.S. Long Cuts. We are merging U.S. Long Cuts with Midwest Wanderer, adding a “Beyond the Midwest” menu option.

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Channel Islands National Park Adventure

Channel Islands National Park Adventure

Off the coast of Southern California sit five islands that make up the Channel Islands National Park. The only way to get there is by private boat or by the park’s concessionaire boat service, Island Packers. We took a day trip to Santa Cruz Island, a little more than an hour away by boat. What we found once we reached the island was a whole different world from the busy California coast.

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