Today we woke up expect­ing some rain on our final day of the trip. We were pleas­antly sur­prised when we were greeted with clear, sunny skies instead! We hit the road between 8 and 9 am, headed for Beloit, Wisconsin and home. It was a gor­geous day, bright and sunny, on the warm side. Probably the nicest weather day we’d had the entire trip.

We awoke early to a bright, shiny day, grabbed a quick con­ti­nen­tal break­fast from the lobby of the Super 8, packed our bikes, and headed out of town. Destination? Shotgun Eddy White Water Rafting!

We rode back through Shawano past the Menominee Indian Casino before hook­ing a left onto a nice curvy, hilly, tree-lined coun­try road for about 10 miles before reach­ing a gravel entrance for Shotgun Eddy. On the way, I spot­ted an Bald Eagle fly­ing grace­fully above us.

In honor of the 75th anniver­sary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia’s small towns and com­mu­ni­ties along “America’s Favorite Drive,” are cel­e­brat­ing with spe­cial events and fes­ti­vals all sum­mer long.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is an iconic travel des­ti­na­tion, stretch­ing 469 miles from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains. Reconnect with loved ones and nature in this pris­tine part of Virginia where music fes­ti­vals, arts and crafts fairs, and food and wine events show­case the tra­di­tions and hos­pi­tal­ity of Virginia’s Blue Ridge region.

State offi­cials and local vol­un­teer groups cel­e­brated a vari­ety of improve­ments at Hueston Woods State Park with rib­bon cut­ting and ded­i­ca­tion cer­e­monies on Wednesday, accord­ing to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).

Today, July 1, 2010, Starbucks will turn on free Wi-Fi with one click at all U.S. and Canadian company-operated stores. Customers with Wi-Fi-enabled lap­tops, tablets and mobile phones will have unlim­ited Internet access to surf the Web, con­nect with social net­works, search for hotels and local attrac­tions, and more at any Starbucks. Most recently, the free Wi-Fi ben­e­fit was lim­ited to two hours a day and only avail­able to mem­bers of the My Starbucks Rewards pro­gram. The new, unlim­ited Wi-Fi offer­ing fea­tures a one-click entry point, so a user­name or pass­word will not be required.