WEBVTT - Bonus Episode! Meet Your Hosts 0:00:02.320 --> 0:00:05.120 Hi, I'm Matt and I'm Brad. You're listening to park Landia. 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:08.760 We packed up are loft in Chicago Botton r V 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:11.559 and now we're traveling the country full time with our dogs, 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:15.720 been exploring America's National Park. On today's episode, we're gonna 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:18.320 share with you about who we are and where we 0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:25.160 came from. Today we're doing a little bonus episode to 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:29.600 tell you more about us and our background and who 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:33.120 we are as as people recording this in our r 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:36.360 V right now. Yes, this special episode is recorded in 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:40.320 this very beautiful r V. Yes we have this, but 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:44.880 we turned the little dining table into a Makeshifts studio. Yeah, 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:46.519 and you know what, we'll throw up a photo of 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.360 that just so you can see kind of how we 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:51.960 record on the road, because it's kind of fun to see. Yeah, 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:54.800 we're still getting used to it. We're gonna first start 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:57.600 off with Matt, and where did you grow up then, 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:01.880 so to give a little background or a lot of 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:06.000 background condensed into a few minutes. Um, I grew up 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:09.479 in southern New Hampshire in a town called Candya, which 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:13.240 is a few minutes outside of Manchester, the state's biggest city. 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:15.360 But I'm still I'm not sure if most people are 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.560 aware that don't even exists. It's about an hour north 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:24.600 of Boston, so very like a peaceful, semi rural area 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:30.640 in New Hampshire. And I grew up with brother and sister. 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:35.240 I was the oldest, right, I'm the oldest, and we 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:40.720 had a lovely childhood um playing soccer in the local 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:44.200 sports league where my brother and I were always in 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:47.160 the same team, and we're always like the star athletes 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:51.240 of the soccer team were always very very good. And 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:53.240 can we just note real quick, I'm sorry I have 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:55.760 to throw this in there, but you might be the oldest, 0:01:55.920 --> 0:01:59.160 but sometimes you treated like the youngest where like your 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:02.440 sister and good, yeah, here's the youngest and then you 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:05.240 do Yeah that was I'm sorry, I have to bring 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:08.760 up embarrassing moments as well. That was the thing. But yeah, 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:10.840 that definitely happened. So I am got back out of 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.680 the star, right, let's get back on track with my 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:18.080 soccer stardom. So yeah, I remember like that was one 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:21.360 of my favorite memories was the local soccer league. And 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:25.040 this guy who lived on the street from us was 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:28.000 our coach for years and we're on the team with 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:30.600 his son and I feel like he always still preferred 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:32.960 Brian and I had to be like the starting soccer 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:37.080 players because we were really good. Yeah, so that was 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:40.400 really great. And then also all of us were really 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:44.520 into the outdoors. Nothing too hardcore intense. We wouldn't We 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:49.720 weren't into like intense hiking or like backcountry stuff or anything. 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:51.399 But when I say outdoors, I mean like we would 0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:55.080 explore the woods around our house because there's lots of those, 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.040 and all year around, whether it was winter and we're 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:01.080 like build forts or go sledding straight into the woods 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:06.720 like perilously, or in the summer especially just venturing off 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:09.240 into the hills and the woods and along the brooks. 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:12.480 And then that was that was so wonderful. And there 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:14.760 was like three My favorite thing there was. There was 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:18.680 three hills in the in the woods. Um and my 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:21.560 brother and my sister and I all kind of claimed 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:27.840 one and named one. And Brian's quote unquote mountain was 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:32.440 slide mountain, which kind of is a misnomer because you 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:34.720 can't slide off. It's like a sheer rock face, so 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:38.720 you just plummet if you go off of it. And 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:45.120 Emily's my sister, she had this kind of like tree 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:49.480 saturated mountain thing, and she called it Queen Mountain, which 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:55.160 is you know, fine, and then right, yeah, okay, and 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:57.800 then mine was on the other side of hers, and 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:01.200 early signs of narcissism here, I called mine mountain me 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:08.080 and that's just that's probably something to I could spend 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:14.240 a whole episode evaluating that from my psychological perspective. But yeah, 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.120 so this was like our domain, and we would do 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:18.520 all sorts of games here as we became teenagers, were 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:23.480 paintball back here with cousins and my uncle and yeah, 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:27.320 just all kinds of adventure. And in addition to that 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:29.159 kind of adventure where we would do lots of family 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:33.360 vacations and trips, and a lot of that was at 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.720 the time like stuff I wasn't super interested in. I 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:39.200 was just boring Brady kid, and I'm sure like my 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:43.120 brother and sister were the same. And especially during summer vacations, 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:45.159 we just wanted to like hang out in New Hampshire 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:47.159 and probably go to the mall, which is so stupid, 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:52.040 but we would do all these adventurous travels, like one 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:55.520 time we took a train a sleeper car from Boston 0:04:55.560 --> 0:04:59.480 to Seattle and that took a few days probably, and 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.200 what an epic adventure that was, and that's something I 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:04.240 would love to do today, but at the time I 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:08.719 was just like whiny and like over it. And another 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:12.600 trip which was I think very formative and had long 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:17.440 lasting like memories even at the time that I didn't 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:19.400 realize it was. We flew to Las Vegas and then 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:23.880 rented a r V and drove around to like place 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:28.599 like the Grand Canyon and Zion and I think Bryce 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:33.160 as well, and that was not only like an amazing 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:35.280 and fun thing to do as a family and an RV, 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:38.559 but like I think that was the first and only 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:43.200 time that we've visited national parks as the family. So fortuitous. Again, yeah, 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.159 very fortuitous. So I basically did what we're doing now, 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:48.839 but as a kid, and for like a week and 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:52.640 for like a week, yeah not like where are you're in? 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:58.200 Yeah right, that's crazy. It's just crazy. So yeah, that 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:01.800 was a snippet of like my upbringing. And then for 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:04.960 college I moved. That's when I moved to Chicago after 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:08.880 horrible high school. Um just you know, high school sucks, 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:11.320 but I wanted she get away and do my own 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:13.839 thing and kind of start completely fresh. So I moved 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:16.200 to Chicago to go to culinary school at Robin Morris 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:19.960 University and had a wonderful time. That was a blast, 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:24.880 even though I didn't I don't cook professionally now or 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:29.359 really ever, but you learned all the techniques. Yeah. So 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:31.440 I got into food writing. I kind of stumbled into 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:34.720 and start of writing for the college newspaper, and that 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:40.080 was a wonderful experience and again very fortuitous, and I 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:42.480 just discovered like, oh, I like food writing more than 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:45.159 I like cooking. So I just applied what I learned 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:48.880 in a different direction. And all these years later after 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:52.760 culinary school, have basically completely forgotten every skill I've learned 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:57.200 because I don't cook really at all anymore, so those 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:02.120 lessons are are long gone. But I have the great memories, 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:06.400 and it's what helped me established myself in Chicago as 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:09.880 a writer, and then did that for years and years, 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:13.520 and then transitioned into more travel writing and then after 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:18.200 that into more like nature national park writing and all that, 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:21.200 and that started this path that ultimately let us here. 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:26.240 And I met you in Chicago obviously, yes, yeah, while 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:29.800 I was living in Ukrainian village. Remember driving up that 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:35.920 first date and you were in front of our loft. Yeah, 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:39.520 you had Huck and Finn your I know, so I 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:42.800 had had them both for a few years at that point. Yeah, 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:45.480 when you drove in from your You're living in the 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:48.160 suburbs at the time, and you drove in, parked your 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:50.520 car and you saw I was just like outside taking 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:54.120 them for a little walk. So that's when I first 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:58.280 fell in love with you. Yeah, and that's but that 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:01.800 that lefted its hold still to this day some of 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:07.280 our most special members because it's where we literally met. Um. 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:09.720 It was the first property we bought together. You know, 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:11.520 we rented it for years and then we bought it. 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:16.720 Very meaningful and and yeah, I know it. Uh. I 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:20.440 really missed that loft, all of it, the neighborhood, the building. 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:24.200 It was just a really wonderful place to be and 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:26.760 spend a few years and invest in two and then 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:30.360 you know, yeah, home is where mad is though. So 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:35.480 well park Landia would turned soon after this short break, 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:38.200 and then we will talk more about my life and 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:51.520 growing up. I am Matt and I'm Brad. This is 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:56.440 park Landia. So now we're gonna learn more about Brad 0:08:56.720 --> 0:09:01.080 and his upbringing and where he came from. I didn't 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:08.640 wanted to say hello, hey, Finn, Hi, yeah, come here. 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:14.640 Oh yeah. So I'm saying that's built in Detroit, driven 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:19.680 in Chicago or around the US nowadays. But um, I 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:22.199 actually have to tell you I didn't grow up in Detroit. 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:25.600 I grew up a mile north of Detroit and East Point, 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:30.080 which used to be named East Detroit. Um. And for years, 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:32.000 my high school is East detrit High School, and just 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:35.400 recently they rebranded it to East Point, which is the 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:40.280 actual city's name, because they finally decided to catch up 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:43.720 with the times. I remember there's times like we were 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.240 at we're at games, are like, oh my gosh, you 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:48.880 guys have weapons because you're from Detroit. You're just Detroit. 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:55.040 I'm like, jeez, oki, But it's kind of funny. But honestly, 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:59.320 my my childhood, we uh grew up on the on 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:02.320 Steven's Dry I've been the smallest house on our block 0:10:02.400 --> 0:10:05.559 and I loved it. Um, there's so many great memories 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:08.160 there that I had. And um, you know, we had 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:11.360 a huge backyard and that's the most important piece because 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:17.120 in this backyard my dad had built a fort a 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:20.880 play for it, and it was it wasn't anything too crazy, 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:23.080 but it was just like a little room, four walls 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:25.520 and a tented roof. I was able to climb on 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:28.360 the roof, which led me jumping off onto it, into 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:30.720 a trampoline, into a pool, you know, all those kind 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:33.559 of fun things. But and then at one year, I 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.320 think he made an extension where he put a a 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:40.400 tire swing in and I remember like spinning in that 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:43.600 tire swing, but it was too close to the support 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:47.920 beam and the actual play for it, and I smashed 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:50.360 my head right into the side of it because I 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:52.760 got pushed too hard in these circles because you're on 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:55.240 a tire swing, so you have to go to the 0:10:55.280 --> 0:10:59.480 max because that's just life. But um, and it was great. 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:02.400 You know. There's just so many childhood memories in that backyard, 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:05.600 but one of my favorite is in the back corner 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:11.360 there was two poles that were like splits where like 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:14.120 kids could get in between and it would lead into 0:11:14.120 --> 0:11:18.920 our dead end street and the house right behind usum 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:23.640 belonged to my childhood best friends Christina and Leah, and 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:27.280 they to me, they were like the little house on 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:33.520 the Prairie style of family, and I personally was like 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:39.480 the bad boy. My nickname was Badly Bradley. So um. 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:42.120 But it was a really like romantic childhood in that 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:47.880 aspect of like adventure. And while our family didn't go 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.000 on a lot of trips, I'll tell you that I 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:55.200 explored every corner of East Point, all the houses and everything. 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:58.120 I was in mayor's houses like with their kids, and 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:01.400 and uh I was also in the not so best 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:04.880 neighborhoods with other kids. And but it was one of 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:07.200 those things that it it uh it allowed me to 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:10.319 start understanding people. And then I remember on that dead 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:14.320 end street there was Nancy and Santy. They had a 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:17.880 tomato garden in their backyard and there was like all 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:20.320 different kinds of tomatoes and they would like grow them. 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:22.520 So it was like actually like my first like lessons 0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:26.920 in gardening, and um, we would just get those tomatoes, 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.120 cut them up and then put salt over them and 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:31.319 just see them. And that would be like the midnight 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:36.200 they stacked versus a um, you know bag of chips 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:39.240 or something like that. And uh yeah, I mean there 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:41.280 was times where I ran away from home and like 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:42.760 they would know I was at their house because I 0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:44.760 would just look in their fridge and like take their food, 0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:47.280 and Nancy would call my mom be like, hey, your 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:52.040 son's over here, some worries. I'm gonna feed them. Yeah, Man, 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:56.240 memories your childhood sounds like t Killa mocking Bird or something. 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:00.840 It really is, like it was a magical childhood. And 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:03.240 then of course there's like dramatic changes. You know, when 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:09.400 I turned thirteen. You know, I come from a split family. 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:11.640 You know, my mom and dad got divorced. My dad left, 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:15.200 um I did his thing, but my mom in that 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:19.319 same year and my sister went into the army, and 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:25.080 my mom worked her rear off two support me and 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:26.959 to be there for me as much as she could 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:29.360 while she was going throwing things. And we have come 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:32.400 up on a mutual agreement that we grew up together 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:39.840 and that was so important to me because she she's 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:43.280 helped me build my character. And uh, we also have 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:46.000 another joke where it's you know, she might not have 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:47.840 been able to pay for college because I also went 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:50.679 into the Marines, but she definitely paid for the School 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:53.240 of hard knocks because every time I fell, she had 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:55.640 taken me back up and you know, take care of 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:59.559 me beautiful. Also in thirteen, you Knowle and Christina moved 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:03.840 to Fraser, Michigan, and UM, you know, so I kind 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:06.480 of lost my support system, but that was no one's fault. 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:10.000 We were growing up and so, UM, it's one of 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:12.520 those things that, uh, I had to I had to 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:15.200 grow up quick and learn how to take care of myself. So, 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:17.920 you know, I got my first job at sixteen at 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:20.400 a hardware store, joined the Marines at seventeen with my 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:24.040 parent signatures on the dodge lines. I did four years 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:28.080 in the Marines, and UH, when I got out, I 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:30.880 really got into activism because I served during Don't Ask, 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:35.720 Don't Tell, and I was out it, so it really 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:41.360 wasn't something that I wanted to happened to other people. 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:45.760 So when I moved to Illinois, before meeting matt Um, 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:49.960 I was going through UM like counseling and also working 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:55.480 the activism route for marriage equality in Illinois. And during 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:58.840 that time it was a really interesting time because I 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:02.520 would be the president of our college at Page Pride 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:06.520 Alliance and Sociology Club, and I would work with the 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:09.360 students that were younger than myself. I would tell them 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:12.200 who I am, my story, and we would work to 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:16.560 get better systems in place at the college and in 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:21.440 the state level, and it was just a really amazing 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:25.080 and interesting time because by the end of the marriage 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:27.920 equality route, I mean knocking on seven thousand doors talking 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:31.280 to representatives. We ended up winning by two votes, but 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:34.240 I was exhausted with marriage. I'm like, I'm never getting married, 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:41.160 ever getting married. And uh, all of a sudden, one 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:45.840 of my friends told me to download the app Tinder, 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:48.440 and I said, no, I don't want to. I don't 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:50.040 want to date, don't want to do do anything. He goes, 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:52.480 just do it, and so I said, okay. So I 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:57.600 swiped right on this really handsome gentleman in a banana sweatshirt. 0:15:57.680 --> 0:15:59.520 I mean it has bananas everywhere. And if you go 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:03.120 to Matts, I'm saying, you'll see that picture and while 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:08.160 cut out of that picture and um and that's Matt 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:14.320 Kersey dot com. Yeah. So it's actually kind of fun though, 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:18.320 because uh so we connected and you know, the rest 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:22.480 is uh sweet history, as they would say, um and 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:25.160 through Matt, I actually decided to go to Robert Morris, 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:28.200 which I was part of the Eye Center and Live 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:32.240 Broadcasting scholarships there, and I had a really great time 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:39.240 learning about how to be technically savvy with no equipment 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:45.520 from recording to like broadcasting too audio and it actually 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:47.920 kind of helped me set up for this. Now, enough 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:51.520 about each of us, but together, we don't have a 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:56.680 let's say, story about like engagement Like. I mean, it 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:58.920 was cute, it was fun, but I think our real 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:01.120 story was when we were shot thing for engagement rings. 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:07.800 So it was late fall, probably November, and we were 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:11.760 downtown Chicago. I don't know what we're doing. We were 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:16.280 just going out for the night or something. And while 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:18.480 we're downtown, at some point you're like, I think you 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:22.639 suggested like we should look for engagement rings. So I 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:26.359 was like sure. And then instead of going into some 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:30.720 specific store because we had nothing in mind specifically or 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:35.160 I didn't, um, you came up with this idea, this 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:39.159 game or something called fate. Yeah, you came up with 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:43.920 this idea called fate, and you suggested, like we kind 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:47.360 of walk, just walk around downtown Chicago, and then at 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:50.680 each crosswalk, if it was the walking symbol, you would 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:54.400 cross it. If there was a flashing like saying like 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:59.040 stuff or something, you turn right or whatever. And then 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:02.120 if it's completely opps then you turn left and you'd 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:04.640 look to see if the other Man's walking man was there. Yeah, 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:08.000 so basically, you never move backwards. You can only move 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:10.200 forward because I'm really cheesy, So if you haven't figured 0:18:10.240 --> 0:18:13.119 that out yet, I love being cheesy, and you know 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:16.719 it's you can never move backwards. Yeah. Anyways, so we 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:19.320 were doing that and letting that dictate our direction, and 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:21.480 I was getting worried because like it seems like it 0:18:21.520 --> 0:18:24.399 was taking us towards Navy Pier and I'm like no, yeah, 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:26.280 and it's crazy because we're like we were right next 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:29.360 to Jeweler's row. I'm like, that's easy. But there's at 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:31.520 one point where we walked around the building like two 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:34.040 or three times, like it was like so silly. And 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:35.679 that's when I think you were like starting to like 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:39.719 boil over. Well I was just like, yeah, I'm getting 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:44.959 probably called and like hungry, I'm sure, and we wind 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:50.200 up on Michigan Avenue at Sacks fifth Avenue. I think, yeah, 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:52.439 well yeah, but it happened. Was like we were I 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:55.480 saw the walking symbol and I'm like, we need to run. 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:57.879 So we started to run because I knew that there 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:01.120 was and I just knew that we had to run, 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:04.840 and so we we dashed to make sure that we 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:10.480 made that walking man symbol. And then we get there. Yes, 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:12.400 so we get there and then we go in and 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:14.680 go up to the men's department start looking at the 0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:18.080 rings and they have a good selection, and then we 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:21.920 both see this ring that has black diamonds on it, 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:24.119 and we sell it together because we were looking by 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:26.760 ourselves and nothing. And then we get together and we 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:28.760 start looking in. The first ring that we see is 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:32.040 this ring with black which is I mean, just beautiful 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:34.240 in and of itself as a ring. But like I 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:38.600 thought it was extra fortuitous because the first song I 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:42.320 ever played for Brad back when we first met was 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:46.119 this song called black Diamond by air A y e R. 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:51.920 And it's just a beautiful, lovely, upbeat romantic song black. 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:54.359 You know about black diamonds being like this rare gem 0:19:54.400 --> 0:20:01.800 and finding it and yes, and I usually expressed that 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:04.239 with music. I guess let someone else be cheesy for me, 0:20:04.920 --> 0:20:08.359 but um so it was really special and exciting. I 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:09.879 was like, Wow, what are the chances that this is 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:13.800 even here at all, this black diamond ring? And I 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:15.919 just loved it. And it's also just like different, not 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:22.280 your usual diamond and gorgeous, So Brad like kind of 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:26.119 half sneak, like I tried to be sneaky. I know, 0:20:26.320 --> 0:20:29.000 I'm pretty sure I knew what you're doing, so I 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:31.760 like can pretended to go continue and look around while 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:36.200 you bought it. Sometimes I think I'm so slick. I'm 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:40.200 not so. Yeah, So that's how that happened. And then 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:42.800 it was probably a few weeks after that that you 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:46.719 actually proposed with that ring. Yeah, and I had that 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:49.520 matching ring without black diamond. Yeah, because I'm not extra 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:53.960 I mean what I mean, I don't deny it. We 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:57.439 are so thankful for all of you who listened to 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:03.000 Parklandia the podcast, and we just wanted to introduce ourselves 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:06.320 and a little bit about our lives and who we are, 0:21:06.440 --> 0:21:10.240 how we met, and you know, to give you some background. 0:21:10.400 --> 0:21:13.200 Stay tuned because we're going to have more special episodes. 0:21:13.400 --> 0:21:15.879 We're going to have more lots more fun stuff, fun 0:21:16.600 --> 0:21:20.680 fun things. We're gonna introduce more RV topics, more reviews 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:25.959 about different products within the RV industry, and things in 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:29.600 the future seasons and you know there's gonna be many 0:21:29.600 --> 0:21:35.240 surprises ahead. And keep on listening and enjoying this travel together. Yes, 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:38.080 and we love any ideas and feedback you guys have. 0:21:38.400 --> 0:21:41.000 You've been sending some great ideas, so continue to do 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:46.000 so on our Parklandia Rangers group on Facebook. We're also 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:49.840 on Instagram at parkla India Pod and Twitter at Parkley 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:53.560 India Pods, so we're pretty easy to find and reach, 0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:56.600 so please continue to do so. We we love it. 0:22:06.680 --> 0:22:09.400 You've been listening to the Parklandia Podcast, a show about 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:13.120 national parks by I Heart Radio, created by Matt Krouac, 0:22:13.359 --> 0:22:17.120 Brad Carouac, and Christopher Hassiotas, produced and edited by Mike 0:22:17.200 --> 0:22:22.120 John's executive produced by Christopher Hasiotas. Special thanks to Gabrielle Collins, 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:24.919 Crystal Waters and the rest of the Parklandia crew and 0:22:24.960 --> 0:22:27.159 Hey listeners. If you're enjoying the show, leave us a 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:30.640 review on Apple podcast. It helps other people like you 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:32.840 find our show. You can keep up with us on 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:36.000 social media. Check out photos from our travels on Instagram 0:22:36.040 --> 0:22:39.000 at Parklandia Pod, and join in the conversation in our 0:22:39.000 --> 0:22:42.199 Facebook group Parklandia Rangers. Thank you so much for listening.