News flash - people plan entire vacations around cool places to ride a bike! You've heard of ski-in-ski-out condos, but the new trend is bike-in and bike-out! Bike-centricity is the hot new amenity to type in the search box, and trail accessibility is the new black....
Mountain Biking
Michigan (The Great Beer and Bike State)
Oct 26, 2020
Trail usage is on the rise for runners, hikers, and bikers of all levels… especially the mountain bike niche. Dirt shredders and their two-wheeled creatures have come out of their homes from the COVID coop-up ready to roll. Trail builders, DMO’s (Destination...
Rugged Luxury (Michigan’s Upper Peninsula)
Sep 26, 2020
Lake Superior whipped up a September gale and slowed the RV down considerably as we made our way across the Mackinaw Bridge, to Marquette then to Copper Harbor at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Four important appendages (mountain bikes) were racked on the back of...
Exotic Indiana
Jul 29, 2020
As a travel writer, I get this question a lot: Where’s your next trip? Usually, it’s a quick top-of-mind answer, but now, my answers are nebulous and messy. “Well, we were planning a Lake Superior Circle Tour road trip, but we have to wait because the Canadian border...
Outside = OPEN (Learn to travel local)
May 27, 2020
Travel, road trips, and vacation planning have all taken a detour from our usual route. As May pushes into June and almost three months of the COVID Stay Home/Stay Safe order in Michigan, the travel pivot will continue. A staycation has become a bad word because we've...
The Little Red Riding Hood
Feb 29, 2020
Much like the Little Red Riding Hood story, Sedona is a village with beautiful scenery (a red rock riding neighborhood) to explore. However, beauty can also hold danger, a symbolic wolf…the advanced and rocky terrain. Riders will be lulled into gazing at the distinct...
Volcanoes and Vino
Dec 23, 2019
The #9SuperFriends trip to Chile and Argentina was anything but traditional. We traded seasons: winter for late spring and Thanksgiving dinner and turkey for a gourmet dinner in the heart of Chilean wine country, the Maipo Valley. Piles of beef and fish were the...
Ride Like a Girl – Park City, Utah
Oct 1, 2019
I am a woman. I am a mountain biker. I am in a significant minority. I want to inspire more women to ride.I want the sport to grow. I want people to get outside, to be mentally and physically healthy and connect with nature.The Outdoor Industry Association shows...
Michigan Mountain Biking
Sep 8, 2019
Is Michigan one of the Midwest's premier mountain bike destinations? Yes, but only if you are willing to cross the bridge to the U.P. the much wilder peninsula. The U.P. is home to two IMBA (International Mountain Biking Association) ride centers, one in Marquette and...
Fall for Duluth
Jul 12, 2019
Michigan is often called the Great Lake state, and its residents try to selfishly hog the accolades of all five of the amazing inland seas of freshwater. The reality, Michigan is great and is bordered by four of the five: Lake Michigan, Superior, Huron, and Erie. Only...
In the Mitten, Bike Beerventures
Jun 3, 2019
The Holmes & Watson Beerventure quest continues. Admittedly after hitting the 100 mark, the next phase seemed daunting. Michigan craft breweries pop up like springtime morels and it seems improbable to make a dent in visiting the almost 300 in the Great Lake...
Tucson Two-a-Days
Apr 8, 2019
We started our trip on a reverse red eye flight, going from east to west from the Great Lakes to the desert. To reverse means to go the opposite way or to flip-flop. We did all of those things this trip to Tucson. We reversed time zones, embraced an opposite climate...
The Noog
Jan 6, 2019
Christmas on the road usually brings some unique experiences. The sign said Bikers Welcome at Rumors Sports Bar & Grill and was open on Christmas. We were the wrong kind of biker but we went in anyway for a late dinner. As cigarette smoke drifted around in this...
Birthday in Bavaria
Oct 22, 2018
It was Kim’s 50th birthday. She wanted to go the Alps. A trip was born that brought six friends together for a tour around Munich, revelry at Oktoberfest and epic hikes/bikes in the Bavarian Alps on the German/Austrian border. Looking back, the adventure revolved...
BIKEpack Detour
Sep 23, 2018
BACKpacking = Strap 30 pounds to your back and go hike/camp in the woods. BIKEpacking = Strap equal amount of poundage to either you and your bike and pedal into the woods. Sounds like an easy transition right? Except for the gear that needs to fit in exceptionally...
Approaching 100
Sep 1, 2018
A pint of craft beer is on average 200 - 250 calories. So there’s a pork chop in every beer, perhaps a club sandwich as a point of measurement. Despite the caloric intake, the Holmes & Watson Bike and Beerventures churn on. There is no chance we are going back to...
One State Over
Jul 5, 2018
It's 75 miles across Lake Michigan aboard the Lake Express car ferry, Muskegon to Milwaukee. Often nicknamed the vomit comet, perhaps unfairly, as I have always had pleasant crossing experiences and missing Chicago traffic makes me want to skip like a kid through...
Unexpected AZ
Apr 8, 2018
The Arizona sun continues to call to me home. The state of my birth will always hold a special place in my heart plus I finally got to share it with the other half! Watson was pleased with both the hot temps in the Sonoran/Phoenix desert and the rocky trails that...
Christmas In The Carolinas
Jan 14, 2018
Many of us can relate to Clark Griswold’s tirade in the National Lampoon movie. He turns to his wife with eyes bulging, How can it get any worse? Look around Ellen, we’re on the threshold of hell! Holiday commercialism, family interaction, logistics, shopping and...
Close Encounters With Color
Oct 22, 2017
There are plenty of above 50 temps left in October (possibly November) to get on the bike and pedal this fall. My rule, although not scientific, is sound advice on when/how/where to bike. If it’s 45 degrees, it will feel like 40 on your road bike with more speed and...
Bend Or Bust
Aug 10, 2017
Adventures in healthcare gave way to a trip to Oregon. Two weeks ago, the thought of josh getting on a plane was unthinkable. An ER visit followed by a spinal injection had him feeling spry one week to departure. My teeter totter ride went from an attempted, yet...
Three Stitches
Apr 12, 2017
Crash is Josh’s nickname. He’s the more adventurous rider willing to push speed and limits. I am the one who ended up in a creek ditch thrown six-feet down. I was shocked after the bike and me laid to rest in a pile of brush and branch, blood oozing from various...
Tourist In Your Own Town
Mar 8, 2017
Most people tell me they don’t travel because of time and money. My gut tells me the real problem is defining what constitutes travel. What is it? What’s considered a vacation and where do you have to go to find a break from the routine? Not far as it turns out. I...
Destination Wedding (With No Guests)
Jan 14, 2017
I’ve been single since 1999, 17 years have passed since my divorce and the end of my marriage. I’d been in/out of relationships, navigating borders to stay safe from being disappointed and betrayed again but mostly just living life, not fixated on finding a soulmate....