When you embark on a trip with three dogs to a state park where you need to bring your own linens and food, packing the car is a noteworthy activity. A successful car loading looks like this: all of us in the SUV with the ability to see out the back window. That, of course, is the finished product.
Read MoreBreaks Interstate Park, located in a rural section of the mid-Atlantic on the border of Virginia and Kentucky is smack dab in a beautiful, mountainous region with undulating mountains and hills spanning out across the two states, and a 1,000 foot deeply cut gorge called Breaks Canyon. The river that runs through the canyon is one of the deepest east of the Mississippi, one of several places colloquially called The Grand Canyon of the East.
Read MoreAfter a slow-down in March, I picked up the pace and read a total of 19 books over the course of March and April in total, getting me a couple of books ahead of schedule again.
Read MoreThe ten short stories that comprise Sabina Murray’s latest work, Muckross Abbey and Other Stories, range in length from 16 to 34 pages, which means that each is bite-sized and a quick read. I quickly discovered that as I wrapped up each tale, I immediately wanted to move straight into the next and read the entire book in just a few short sittings before bed (more on that later).
Read MoreCrooked Plow begins with the curiosity of two young sisters going awry. Belonisia and Bibiana, enamored by a shiny knife they find tucked away in luggage under a bed, decide to explore the taste of the metal. They wonder: Will it taste like a spoon? This activity is as ill-fated as it sounds with both receiving serious injuries to their tongues, rendering one essentially mute for life.
Read MoreThe Appalachian Trail is established and well-known, perhaps making its greatest foray into general consciousness a quarter century ago with Bill Bryson’s 1997 tome *A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail*. I have lived in the shadow - or the dust, as it were - of the trail for about 30 years with sections running close to several places I’ve lived in Virginia.
Read MoreFebruary added 7 more books to the 8 completed in January, putting me on track!
Read MoreBenedict Arnold: It is a name that is immediately recognizable to most in the U.S. If you were to poll people about what they know about him, most would probably immediately describe him as a traitor and would hopefully also realize that the historic moment he was affiliated with was the American Revolution. Beyond that scratch on the surface of history, probably most people would come up blank with anything else to share about Benedict Arnold.
Read MoreSmith Mountain Lake State Park is in Bedford County, Virginia, about halfway between Roanoke and Lynchburg. The park is situated on the north end of the large body of Smith Mountain Lake, which itself spans both Bedford and Franklin Counties with a small bit in the southeast falling in Pittsylvania County. We live on the east side of Roanoke, closer to the lake, and the drive is roughly 45 minutes, so it is a very doable trip to get some hiking in or otherwise enjoy the amenities on a beautiful day.
Read MoreThe drive from Spokane, Washington to Banff is about 6 1/2 hours but of course that is only if you drive straight through. Stopping for the necessities like food, gas, and bathrooms means it is a pretty solid day’s trek, also dependent upon the border crossing from the US into Canada. The drive left the state of Washington pretty quickly and then spanned much of Idaho’s panhandle before crossing into Canada. From there, the topography began to change with the towering mountains first in the distance and then rising up and around us until we climbed ourselves up into them.
Read MoreI listened to the audiobook version of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Widsom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, read by the author herself, in what has to be one of the most soothing voices I have ever heard. Combining her voice with the content of the book itself, I found Braiding Sweetgrass to have a meditative quality, relaxing me the same in a way similar to when I listen to audio-guided meditation sessions.
Read MoreThe first story opens in the Place des Vosges, the first planned square in Paris, where Victor Hugo resided in the 19th century. His home, situated in the southeastern corner of the square, is a museum open to visitors. The ghost of Victor Hugo appears in the square and engages in humorous dialogue with a former teacher of his works. Thus begins Redkina’s romp around the city.
Read MoreWith a title like Looking for the Hidden Folk: How Iceland's Elves Can Save the Earth, I was both intrigued and wary of a tome on the supernatural. Having read a prior well-researched book by the academic author, though, I cracked open the first page ready to go wherever Brown decided to tred.
Read MoreI’ve read 8 books, which means I’m on track. This does not give me great comfort - I like to start the year off further ahead!
Read MoreThis post will be far more spare than five days spread across these two cities suggests because the bulk of our time in these spots was to visit with family - first to attend a wedding in Seattle and then to visit other relatives at their home in Spokane.
That doesn’t mean that we didn’t see anything at all, though!
Read MoreOur 11-day road trip that would carry us across international borders twice started with a couple of days in Vancouver before we headed to Washington state and ultimately north again to Banff.
Read MoreHorsepen Trail is part of the large Carvins Cove Natural Reserve in Roanoke, Virginia. The cove is comprised of over 12,000 acres and includes a 630-acre reservoir. It is nestled in the Roanoke Valley near Tinker Mountain and has pretty mountain and water views, depending on your exact spot. The Reserve is half in Roanoke County, half in neighboring Botetourt County (pronounced bot-uh-tot).
Read MoreWhen I dream of hitting the road for an extended road trip to just go and explore without any time constraints, I mostly picture spots out west. It makes sense. There is ample open space, more solitude, fewer cities. I often picture spots from this particular trip - most particularly Banff, in Canada’s Alberta province, nestled in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Read MoreGil has decided it is time to make a change in his life and so, sight unseen, he purchases a home in Arizona and heads out - on foot - from New York. After months of walking across the country with long, desolate roads, truck stop food and truck stop companions, he arrives at his new home in the Arizona desert, a home he later nicknames “the castle”.
Read MoreI have always been a voracious reader. That is, once I started reading.
In kindergarten, my teacher did not believe in forcing kids to start reading and operated under the perspective that they’d learn it when they were developmentally ready. The science supports this, but many parents and schools still feel the need to push kids along. For most of my youth, I was the youngest (or one of the youngest) kids in my grade so yeah, I was not ready to read in kindergarten.
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