In early March I read that April 8th, 2024, would be the date of a special kind of solar eclipse. As happens these days with a 24/7 news cycle, scads of news stories hyped the big event to attract readers. The build-up to this unusually rare astronomical event grabbed my attention. My husband’s birthday is … More Under the Banners of Heaven, or the Stars
I have been a fan of the very silly movie version of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Especially the opening, when we are informed that the dolphins were really the smartest creatures on planet Earth, and left before the destruction of the planet took place. Apparently, I’m not the only one, because when I put … More So long, and thanks for all the fish!
Six years ago, my husband and I spent one early spring month mostly car camping around the southwest of the US. We ranged from the boundary with Mexico to the lower part of Utah, covering parts of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and the “four corners”—where New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona touch perfectly like … More Southwest road trip reprise
In the last week of September 2013 my husband Phil and I took a road/hike trip to the Olympic Peninsula. Olympic National Park is a one-of-a-kind wilderness in the US because it includes a temperate rainforest, averaging 150 annual inches of rainfall, along with two other major ecological zones, old growth forest and endemic animal … More Outrunning the Government on the Olympic Peninsula
Month seven of the coronavirus pandemic. Summer in Minnesota is short. It provokes a headlong rush into socializing, Bermuda shorts, BBQ’s, outdoor music, festivals, and ending in the final glut of the State Fair, the last two weeks through Labor Day. Summer 2020 was not so different, despite the narrowing of the choices for entertainment: … More Desperation Travel
I am a sci-fi fan and have been since I was a teenager reading Robert Heinlein in the bathtub. In the past couple of years I discovered Octavia Butler, an early African-American science fiction writer and winner of many sci-fi awards. In the mid 90’s she wrote a two-volume series called the Parable or Earthseed … More Road Trip through the Coronapocalypse
Helena is the Capital of the state, but only has 35,000 residents (There are only 1 million in the whole giant state!) As a result it has many of the features of a small western town in the U.S., but also features you would expect in a larger cosmopolitan area. I visit frequently from Minneapolis, … More Ten Things Helena, Montana has that my Hometown Doesn’t
Unless you are a hundred miler with a strong heart, do not visit Death Valley in the summer! This amazing national park is best visited in late fall, midwinter or early spring. I have visited twice—once in February and more recently around Thanksgiving. What makes it inexpensive is that you can take advantage of cheap flights … More Death Valley: A cheap, inspiring, nostalgic winter getaway
My Aunt Dorothy was a role model for me from an early age. Growing up in the 50’s, she was an unusual American woman in many ways. She had served in WWII as a WAC ; she had lived in other countries (France and Japan); she knew how to use a ham radio to listen … More Getting the Travel Bug from Aunt Dot
When you travel, where do you like to lodge? Hotel, motel, Bed and Breakfast, or Airbnb/VRBO? Since they came into existence we have stayed in quite a few Airbnb’s. I also have 3 friends who run Airbnb’s; two in Minneapolis and one in Brooklyn. They can be much more profitable than a straight rental. I … More To (AirBn)B or Not to (AirBn)B- that is the question
Other states, other lives, other souls 