Annette and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
I was driving to my cousin's house for dinner last week when two warning lights came on in the car. Then the instrument panel went dead. When I put on [...]
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Feb, 2019
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Aug, 2018
Crossing Lake Michigan on the SS Badger Ferry
Turns out my one day of pure R&R this summer was spent crossing Lake Michigan on the SS Badger Ferry (our trip to New Orleans wasn't exactly R&R). Assembling this [...]
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Aug, 2012
Vacation Serenity
I've been quiet on this blog because we have been on vacation, including four rather blissful days without Internet access while we were staying at a beach house in Marin [...]
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Jan, 2012
Candle Smoke Writing
Here's a different kind of writing for you: Candle Smoke Writing, or rather, historical graffiti. My son and I stopped by Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky on our way [...]
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Sep, 2011
Photo Essay: The Spoils of Travel or What Do You Bring Home from a Trip?
A month has passed since we returned from our road trip to the Southwest, and only today have I unpacked the last suitcase: mine. It always works like that: I [...]
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Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 13 (the last one): Homestead National Monument
Then, as now, windmills dot the flat landscape. They provide the crucial source of power to pump up water. After catching our breath at the alpine views of the Rocky [...]
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Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 12: Mesa Arch Photo Essay
Mesa Arch @ Canyonlands National ParkMy son has this view as a wallpaper on his computer, and I have to admit I always thought it was fake until I spotted [...]
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Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 11: Arches National Park Photo Essay
To quote my daughter: "This is cooler than Monument Valley." Some whining from my sons was involved because we were "hiking again" until they realized the arches offered climbing opportunities. [...]
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Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 10: Salt Lake City
My number one goal for our visit to Salt Lake City was to float in the Great Salt Lake. A few years ago on a trip to Israel, we'd all floated [...]
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Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 9: Las Vegas with Kids
One thing I liked at the Hoover Dam: Those cool 1930s Art Deco towers. What to do in Las Vegas with kids? First of all, I must say Las Vegas, [...]
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Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 8: Wild Horses near Las Vegas
My daughter's number one wish for this road trip (every family member got one) was to see wild horses. I was nervous about that - after all, they are wild, [...]
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Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 7: Death Valley Photo Essay
This photo is a tribute Cath Barton's cover photo "Eleven" of Prime Number Magazine's Issue 11 that also features my essay "Waiting in the Dark." I was about to take a picture [...]
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Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 6: The Canyons
I haven't quite figured out yet what it means to visit great places like Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and Zion National Park a second time, except that it is [...]
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Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 5: Rafting the Colorado River Triggers Childhood Memory
View from the Glen Canyon Dam down to where to floats disembark One way to keep family members happy on a long road trip is to ask beforehand what each [...]
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Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 4: Bluff Fort and Natural Bridges National Monument
Bluff Fort: The only original cabin still standing sits on local sandstone slabs to keep the wood from rotting. And keep in mind: no chain saw to cut down those [...]
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Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 3: Ancient Pueblos – Chaco and Mesa Verde
The road trip report continues: Here I am in full hiking regalia, ready to tackle what turned out to be a rather tough climb to a plateau to overlooking Pueblo [...]
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Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 2: Texas Panhandle – Santa Fe
The report from our road trip to the Southwest continues, this time with a program in contrasts: So the Texas Panhandle is flat, so flat you feel some higher power [...]
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Jul, 2011
Road Trip Report 1: St. Louis – Oklahoma
Some impressions from the Big American Road Trip with my family, driving from Chicago to explore the Southwest this summer. City Museum St. Louis - the name does it a [...]
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Jul, 2011
Oklahoma City Memorial: Every Item Had a Story
We visited the Memorial of the Oklahoma City bombing on Thursday, and it saddens me how oddly fitting that visit now is given Friday’s rather similar tragedy in Norway. Visits [...]