On the road again…
When looking through our new deck of Radio Chatter cards, the question that stood out to us the most was the card asking “What other hobbies or activities have you incorporated into your travels?”
We have so many random traditions we do and activities we love when we hit the road, and they certainly have evolved over time. For instance, virtually every single road trip starts with Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” followed by the rest of our road trip song list accumulated over the 13+ years we’ve been in one another’s life. We’re always adding to it, so feel free to send recommendations! We have pretty eclectic taste in music, so different places seem to have their own sweet theme song. Not to mention, our marital superpower is the power of the earworm. Yep, without fail, there it goes!
Cartoon-Filtered Selfie at Mount St. Helens
Another thing we enjoy is taking a cartoon-filtered selfie in every epic state or national park or landmark, and printing them on small 8x8 canvases. We have quite the wall going of our adventures. We have also been collecting patches from all of the major landmarks, state and national parks to put inside our camper shell. It’s a fun way to remember all the places we’ve traveled, waking up in back of the Tacoma. The bed has been built out with a Luno air mattress, side custom shelves (for books, tea or coffee), ‘attic’ netting, lighting, curtains that can be velcroed up when wanted, and our patches that tell a story of the journey that is Uniquely Us.
So, ‘foodies’ may be an understatement. We. Love. Food. And trying new strange snacks, treats and meals is one of our absolute favorite road-trip activities, perhaps only second to coffee. Coffee is like its own separate love language.
Our First Ever Reuben!
Oof, thank Goodness we love hiking and being active also! One of the missions of our business, Uniquely Us Homestead and Adventures, is to support small, hole-in-wall, mom-and-pop, family-owned businesses as much as possible while on the road, as well as state and national parks and monuments. We make a point never to eat or get coffee at chain restaurants or stores/markets (at least not the ones that we are personally familiar with) when we’re traveling. It’s just one small way we can support, bring awareness and drive potential customers to the incredible small businesses that enrich communities. It also has regularly opened the door to some amazing finds!
For us, the destination is great and all, but the incredible food, coffee, and people we meet along the way is where it is at for us! Side note, anyone in suspenders is already a favorite. We enjoy taking the time to find small coffee shops, mom-and-pop restaurants/cafes and small town family-owned shops as well as trying things that we’ve never tried before. For example, when passing through different states, we will look up their state foods and see if we can find it. Last year we were in Nebraska, and internet searches wrestled back and forth between the Reuben or the Runza being the state sandwich. Let me tell you, Runza is amazing! It’s a hot breaded pocket stuffed with amazingness. Different options of amazingness! The restaurant we found had a south-western flavored one, with corn, meat, peppers, cheese and crunchy chips inside. A later stop in Nebraska satisfied our curiosity of trying a Reuben sandwich. It did not disappoint!
One of our best finds was an elk ribeye at The Lodge in Grand Tetons National Park while on our honeymoon. We salivate just thinking of it. So tender and rich, and of course, the breathtaking views of the Tetons didn’t hurt. Speaking of Wyoming, did you know there is a shop that you can sample a wide assortment of whiskeys and other spirits as well as oils and vinegars? It’s called Spirits and Spice in Jackson Hole, WY! You can thank us later. Every time we go through, we stop and get our fix of samples. If you’re traveling through Eureka, CA on your way up the Northern coast, another great stop we recommend is Los Bagels for breakfast or lunch. They make some of the most amazing sweet and/or savory bagels we have ever had. Try their Larupin (sweet mustard and dill) sauce. Worth the stop for sure! If you’re looking for dinner, we would highly recommend The Salt Fish. Their clam chowder has big, delicious chunks of potato, bacon and clam, and their fresh dinner bread drizzled with robust olive oil and butter is a comfort food seeker’s dream. Shameless grin for carb-loading. Sometimes, they will have swordfish, and if they do, get it!
Ocean Bleu in Newport, Oregon
If you’re traveling through Ogden, Utah, then swing into Rovali’s for some of the tastiest Italian food and the bakery is to die for! We would (and have…don’t judge) drive there from Northern California just for dinner. The catalyst was seeing a lavender honey cheesecake on their menu, but know that their cakes typically need to be ordered in advance because they make everything fresh. In southern California, Pismo beach area has a coffee shop called the Kraken that just so happens to have the buttery richest chocolate croissants we have ever had. The butter almost tastes carmelized! Pismo also has some insanely good clam chowder at Splash café. When we traveled throughout Oregon, Newport had an awesome seafood spot called Ocean Bleu Seafoods @Ginos. This place was one for the record books. Sooo good. Funny, not funny, we had a bunch of leftovers with us at camp while on our way back towards home, and woke up to a total stranger staring at us through the camper shell window, after rifling through our ice chest in the middle of the night and walking off with said delicious leftovers and whatever else he could carry from our ice chest! That was a memorable trip for multiple reasons.
Thankfully, we love cooking, so we equally love staying and relaxing at camp (usually off-grid) and making our own deliciousness. We’ll make a point to swing into local grocery markets and general stores for groceries beforehand (and possibly pile on the strange and interesting snacks). Our most recent trip up the coast landed us with curry chocolate covered cashews, Espresso cheese and blueberry maple chicken sausages. We will usually do a bit of our meal prep at home, cutting up and freezing some veggies and meats, pre-making dips or salads, etc. This saves not only time, but also space when we’re packing.
As mentioned earlier, we, at Uniquely Us Homestead and Adventures, not only enjoy the exploration of beautiful places, shops, foods and coffees, but feel strongly about supporting the amazing small businesses and mom-and-pop shops all over country. It breaks our heart to see how many local community stores and businesses are being taken over or replaced by large corporate companies. The small town of Bishop, CA (outside of Alabama Hills) is an example of this. We love hitting the tri-county Mule Days Fair every year during Memorial Day weekend, stopping into Schatz Bakery for fresh breads, snacks and deserts to take back to camp. There’s usually a line around the building, but it goes fast. They seem to have their operations down to a science. And if you need coffee, you can also go up the street to Black Sheep. It’s fantastic, and even has delicious breakfast burritos. Unfortunately, each year, we see fewer and fewer small family businesses still in business, replaced by larger chains. The very things that add so much charm, personality and culture to these towns are struggling to continue.
We are passionate about supporting these types of small businesses- with our money and our time when we’re in the area, but also in bringing awareness to them when we’re not. To do this, we created a section on our website where we can track and highlight the many coffee shops, diners and stores by state as we find them. Our hope is that you and others can swing in and give them a try and join us on our journey. The best food and libations are still from the hands of the family-owned spots and small restaurants making incredible and unique tasties that will stick in your mind, just as much as the amazing places you will see on your adventures. Sometimes more. Okay, so one final standing tradition we have on road trips, is ending the adventure by stopping by this Mongolian BBQ hole-in-the-wall spot near our home. It is a great way to end our trip, with comfort food in a relaxing atmosphere, recalling the many memories and heart-filled moments of another great trip in the books.
Our Ride and Our Pups!
We are outdoor adventure-loving foodies that have found a deep love for travel. Uniquely Us Homestead and Adventures LLC was (formally) established in 2023 in the hopes of getting away from today’s 9-5 madness. It all really started 13+ years ago when we met and began doing yoga and rock climbing together, and it’s been an adventure ever since. As of this year, we will have been to 32 national parks and countless more state parks and monuments. We love exploring the roads less traveled with our 1yr old German Shepard, Rowen, in our 2021 Toyota Tacoma (which previously was our Toyota Camry pushed and packed to the absolute limit). We would love it if you would join us on this adventure and in supporting the many hardworking small businesses and mom-and-pop shop s on your next road trip. You can follow us as well as find more info and reviews on amazing stops on our website and social media accounts.
