- Destinations, Education, Entertainment, Explore with Cassie, Food & Beverage, Latest News, Lifestyle
Places to Eat in Santa Fe, New Mexico from Frugal to Fancy
Story, photos and videos by Cassie Hepler I love food. Period. It doesn’t matter if it’s from a food truck, my neighbor, a street vendor or a fancy restaurant because I don’t have any food allergies thankfully. This whole hierarchy of travel tracking for only luxury food locations is just gross. Travel is travel. If you are out of your hometown, you are traveling. I don’t care if you’re staying at La Quinta Inn Santa Fe or The Inn of Five Graces, you’re still exploring another culture and this shaming people for traveling on different budgets is just so icky. When I was in my 20s, I was doing a…
- Destinations, Education, Entertainment, Explore with Cassie, Food & Beverage, Latest News, Lifestyle
Things to Do in Santa Fe, New Mexico Off the Beaten Path
Story, photos and video by Cassie Hepler After checking into my host hotel El Rey Court in Sante Fe, New Mexico, and gathering content all day, I was dead. As in I just drove there that morning with maybe five hours of sleep if I was lucky the night before and walked all over downtown. That’s honestly how I judge any place I go now… is it restful? Does it fulfill your mind, body and soul? So I allowed – or more like my body forced me to – take a juicy nap the afternoon after I arrived. It was then that I knew this place had healing energy and…
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Where to Stay in Sante Fe, New Mexico for Full Cultural Immersion
Story, photos and video by Cassie Hepler On the road again to Santa Fe, New Mexico’s capital and oldest city in the United States, nestled in the Sangre de Cristo foothills! This was a bucket list trip where I was only there once before when driving across the country to move from Philly to Phoenix, Arizona and since we were tethered to Optimus, the red Kia car via a U-Haul cab, I was only able to really enjoy that vivid, deep purple sunset at the hotel which is still engrained in my brain and I was determined to watch again. Because of the summer from hell 2025, I now bookend…
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Explore the Center of the World in Felicity, California
Story, videos and model Cassie Hepler, Photos by Delfin Welcome to the Center of the World in Felicity, California! Located on the Yuma, Arizona border, we ended up spending a glorious day shooting around this quirky place by default as our usual beloved Buttercup Sand Dunes were overrun with weekend RV and buggy traffic. (Hint: only go to the sand dunes on early weekdays for true lost in the desert vibes). But make sure to put Center of the World on your road tripping between states bucket list! We literally drove past it and were like what is that place only to end up there frolicking and having the best…
- Day Trips, Destinations, Education, Entertainment, Explore with Cassie, Food & Beverage, Latest News, Lifestyle
Go Backroading to Cleator and Crown King, Arizona
Story, video, modeling by Cassie Hepler, Photos by Catfan There’s a pirate ship in the middle of the desert! In this tiny town with eight residents of Cleator, Arizona formerly Turkey Creek or Turkey, it’s like a ghost town in Yavapai County, Arizona. It’s located in the Southwestern United States bordering Prescott as you continue to go north. The only way to get there is with a truck, motorcycles or ATV and it’s about an hour north of Phoenix to even begin your bumpy off-roading adventure. Explore the weird and wacky Cleator Bar & Yacht Club, your new favorite spot in the Bradshaw Mountains. Grab a Coke or a cold…
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How 5 Gyres is Fighting Microplastics: A California Love Story of Activism and Science
Meet Anna Cummins and Marcus Eriksen: the Environmental Power Couple Behind 5 Gyres Story by Irina Abraham Somewhere among the California hills, there lies a piece of paradise adorned with legends of Steve McQueen’s buried motorcycles, carefully crafted dinosaur sculptures, and breathtaking sunsets. The most fascinating thing about this place is its residents: there is a poet, a gold-bearing athlete, a muralist, and a promising young filmmaker. A power couple runs the place – Anna Cummins and Marcus Eriksen. They have sailed the roaring seas, unearthed precious dinosaur bone, and were a part of a team that discovered plastic micro beads were taking over The Great Lakes. Lucky to be…
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Best Hidden Gem Hiking in Las Vegas, Nevada
Story by Cassie Hepler, submitted images Because moving your body is the only way to keep it moving until you’re an old fart… You would think that walking flat – not even up a mountain or hill – would not produce many results. But alas, it does! A body in motion stays in motion and if you can just keep moving forward, that is the key to longevity and life. Currently they say get in 10,000 steps a day however sometimes that is impossible. For me, if I have a goal to reach that seems to motivate me more. That and being a couch sloth for a full day usually…
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Best Las Vegas, Nevada Photo Spots from a Model and Photographer
Best Photo Spots in Las Vegas, Nevada Story and videos by Cassie Hepler, Photos by Delfin I’ve been modeling professionally since college at Penn State University as a side hustle while I earned that Communications degree. And let’s face it, models were the original influencers but, like professional. After graduating and delving into the world of journalism fully in Philadelphia, I wrote a column at The Times Herald. At that point it was taboo to apparently model and have a brain so I was called into the office for questions about my modeling. My response was, “And this is a problem how…?” They had no response and released me back…
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Tips and Tricks for Hassle Free Disabled Travel
You might think that this story doesn’t pertain to you or your family because no one is disabled – yet. Key word is yet! Literally in the blink of an eye, you too can be considered disabled from a car crash, a freak accident or through no fault of your own or just age – and we all will get old if we are lucky enough. For me, I have a large rods and screws from a scoliosis fusion right above my hipbones to my chest and I might need to be fully fused to my hipbones someday. I also learned over the summer that if anything further traumatic happens…
- Day Trips, Destinations, Education, Entertainment, Explore with Cassie, Food & Beverage, Latest News, Lifestyle
Explore One of the Most Magical Villages in France, Cotignac
Story, photos and videos by Cassie Hepler I have these “feelings” if you will, that tell me about places, people and things. It is a blessing and curse honestly! Call it pattern recognition, my grandmother’s ancestry, witchcraft or whatever you want, I knew I would want to stay at the next stop for more than just a day visit before we even arrived. Something was literally pulling me there and upon leaving, was tugging at my heart strings to return. Cotignac, labeled as one of the most beautiful villages in France is almost accurate. I will take it up a notch and say it is one of the most magical!…
