from rscottjones

A few shots from various stops today along the St Croix National Scenic Riverway, Jen’s 396th National Park unit (and apparently my 244th park unit I’ve revisited). Not a bad way to celebrate Jen’s birthday 🏷️26.05A

Can anyone explain what the hell I’m looking at here? 🏷️26.05A

Road trip supplies 🏷️26.05A

Metallic intersections 🏷️26.05A

An unsuccessful acquisition 🏷️26.05A

Heading out on another random road trip (well, once we land in our initial destination and get the rental car 😜) 🏷️26.05A

Struggled mightily the last few days trying to decide if I needed to pull the plug on my involvement in the campaign against a data center proposed for my neighborhood. It’s hard to walk away from the fight, but ultimately the best idea, imo. Wishing everyone else well in the fight!

Had to ditch my old color laser printer after 2 rounds of failed fix attempts (new drum + toner, but it’s something else). I don’t really need to print in color anymore, so I followed The Verge’s advice and just bought whatever current monochrome model Brother sells—no need to compare specs.

After a late start this morning, we skipped our Prescott daytrip plans in favor of checking out Wicked Rain, a PNW-inspired craft beer bar in Gilbert. Good beer (we had two 4-rated hazy ipas from Portland’s Great Notion) and good food (I had the Seattle Dawg, winner of Phx Mag’s best hot dog).

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted 10 photos for the month. This post technically has 12 images, but only 10 photos I took. Anyway, here’s a sampling of what happened in April 2026.

We started the month in Boston. Jen was there for work and I had tagged along to make use of the free hotel downtown room in a city we probably wouldn’t pay to visit again. I revisited a few of the popular historical sites, but also marked off the JFK Library (I’ve been to most of the POTUS libraries at this point, but it’s not a specific quest for me, yet at least) and the USS Constitution, both of which I had missed during prior visits. On her day off, we also made it up to Lowell NHP, a national park unit she needed to revisit. We also made sure to hit a number of breweries around Boston, though we’re generally unimpressed with all but Trillium.

After work one day, we stopped by the Herberger Theater in downtown Phoenix, a location both Jen and I needed on our Phoenix Points of Pride quests. We skipped seeing a show, but instead stopped in for a Grand Canyon art exhibit they had going on (RIP North Rim Lodge). Afterwards, we grabbed dinner and a beer across the street at the downtown Huss Brewing location, one we had been lax in marking off.

After finally getting some tannus armour installed in our ebike tires, we finally took them out for a longer ride—a 13 mile roundtrip journey over to Freely Taproom for lunch and a beverage. It was a pleasant ride, primarily along greenbelts and residential streets, and a relaxing way to enjoy a Sunday afternoon that featured some great weather. I expect we’ll make this journey a regular occurrence (in the non-summer months, at least).

I prepped Sam the Subie for trade-in, removing all the stashed emergency gear (video coming) and taking a few photos with her and, well, also saying a quick goodbye. She’s a bit long in the tooth these days and a bunch of things haven’t worked in years, but we’ve made some amazing memories together along the way. I’m going to miss having her. We considered keeping her through the summer just as my kayaking vehicle, but the added insurance costs just aren’t worth it.

We struck out at the dealerships we had targeted, so Sam remains in the family for a little bit longer. But we did manage to secure a reservation on a vehicle, a 2026 Toyota Grand Highlander hybrid, Nightshade edition. We’re excited for the upgraded driving experience, and oh my look at all that interior room!

We spent nearly four years trying to decide which roadtrip vehicle would replace the subie, and we finally landed here on the Grand Highlander. Still versatile enough like the Outback, but with more space, and a hybrid battery. We’re excited for the extended (and more comfy) camping road trips it’ll allow. We take possession (and hand over Sam) in just over two weeks.

I made it over to Cold Beers on my dad’s birthday, the second since he passed. I got a Spellbinder and an extra PBR in his honor—our usual orders when we we’d go there. Some other patrons who knew him got a PBR, too. Damn I miss him.

The last few days of the month saw me heading off towards Colorado, stopping for the night in Albuquerque. I arrived at my hotel just in time to catch this fading sunset. The plan for this trip was to pick up Jen in Denver, then explore some Kansas counties en route to our Behind the Fence tour at Los Alamos National Laboratory. I’d drive home after she flew out of ABQ.

I arrived early in Denver, as I was trying to beat some snow that was starting to fall along my drive. I spent several hours working on data center campaign stuff at a local brewery a few blocks from my hotel. I’ve devoted a lot of time trying to stand up a neighborhood organization to oppose this development.

We’re starting to look at electric coolers for our road trips. Any tips? How loud are these to sleep next to inside a vehicle? We’re intrigued by ones that integrate their own batteries—like the Anker Everfrost 2—since our trips usually involve driving to a different campsite or hotel each night.

Still plenty to post from our last road trip to CO, KS, and NM, but here’s my updated county map.

I managed to mark off 30 new counties (dark blue; light blue ones were revisits), filling in a pretty big hole in Kansas. That brings me to 2262/3144, or 71.9% of the US. I should reach 75% next year.

The second map shows the counties Jen and I have visited together (43.4%). Kinda fun to see our crazy road trip routes.

Coronado found no gold in Kansas

I’m familiar with a slip ’n’ slide, but this is my first slipper slide.

America’s “first Y2K protected community” is, appropriately, named Protection. I’m wondering if it was protected simply because it lacked any computers at the time.

Pizza, beer, and live music at Alva Brewing tonight.

Your town only has one water tower?! Damn, I bet you’ve only got cold water, too.

Around Dodge City

When your state includes two time zones, you apparently need two timezone-specific sundials.