Driving through the deserts of the Southwest. Watching hot air balloons soar into the sky while temperatures hover around -5 degrees. An epic summer road trip, which included standing beside one of the wonders of the natural world. Attending one of the oldest (and largest) state fairs in the country. A thousand-mile round trip to hang out with a bunch of Honda and Acura enthusiasts in southern Ohio. We certainly filled 2025 with lots of amazing adventures!
As the end of December nears, it’s time for one of my favorite posts: the year in review. I’ll count down the ten most popular posts from 2025, as determined by the posts with the highest view counts. Afterward, I’ll do a quick check-in on the vehicles in our garage, some feline updates, and then we’ll turn our attention to 2026.
A weekend in the seaside resort town of Cape May, breakfast and a stroll in Asbury Park, and then a week with friends in Sea Isle City. Come for the amazing coastal views, but stay for the mouth-watering food photos!
My wife and I celebrated our anniversary on both the east and west coasts of New Jersey. We started with a lovely dinner at a restaurant in a seaside national park, followed by a long weekend in New Hope, Pennsylvania.
One of the wackiest, and awesomest, places we’ve visited in recent memory! The American Treasure Tour Museum is a paean to all things 20th Century Americana.
The singular vision of one man, who chose to display not only his personal collection of hundreds of motorcycles, but also a considerable assemblage of American historical artifacts. So cool!
In late June, my wife and I set off on a road trip through 9 states and one Canadian province, traveling over 2,700 miles. The second half of the trip involved a visit to a historic town in Minnesota, a proper Wisconsin cheese shop, an historic gas station, and a visit to an awesome motorcycle museum.
A week spent in southeastern New Mexico, visiting family, learning more about extraterrestrial visitors, hiking through a national monument, and eating some amazing food.
The first leg of our 2025 summer road trip took us from New Jersey to Michigan. Along the way we explored the carousel capital of the world, hiked through a gorgeous state park in New York, ate lunch at the bar that invented the Buffalo Wing, and stood in awe beside Niagara Falls.
Garage Updates
2020 Acura TLX
It has been 27 months since I sold my trusty 2012 Honda Accord and took ownership of this gorgeous Acura TLX. The car has now has over 68,000 miles on the odometer, it has visited fifteen states and one Canadian province, and remains a trusty, comfortable, and sporty companion.Aside from a couple items addressed under warranty, the only unexpected expenses were an alignment, a tire puncture repair, and a new battery. Onward, little Acura!Grace, our 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee, was an absolute workhorse during the past year. Family responsibilities made us take several trips to the Adirondacks last winter, all of which were handled with zero drama. It also helped us pack up a week’s worth of necessities for our time in Sea Isle City, it took us on numerous adventures, and it even was parked in front of the World’s Largest Rocking Chair!This was, by far, the spendiest year for the Jeep in terms of maintenance and repairs. In addition to routine maintenance, she also needed several repairs as items such as the radiator and a driveshaft wore out after a decade of service. But what workhorse doesn’t deserve to be kept in tip-top shape? The Jeep is quickly approaching the 130,000 mile mark. Onward!Meanwhile, our two cats, Betty and Mikko, have brought a lot of joy into our lives. Mikko has recovered quite well from eye surgery earlier this fall. This is, without question, one of my favorite photos of them together, taken as I caught them engaging in mischief upstairs. “What did we do?” their expression says.
Blog Updates
In over nine years, over 22,000 people have stopped by this post to check out the 309 posts on this blog!
I started The Open Road Ahead back in March of 2016. For nearly a decade, I have chronicled my adventures along the highways and byways of this nation. From an initial post that was more of a novelty than anything else, this blog has turned into a labor of love.
I am planning a few special features for 2026 to celebrate the ten year anniversary, including a “behind the scenes” article of what goes into the planning and development of each post. Stay tuned!
And thanks for taking time to continue to read, comment, like, and share these road trip adventures.
The Open Road Ahead 
I always look forward to the top ten list! And love the picture of Betty and Mikko. Happy New Year!
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So glad you enjoyed the post, and that’s my favorite shot of Betty and Mikko! Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year!
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