Category: road trips

Road trip to Medieval France: Following the trail of the Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade

June 1, 2018

Prologue: I am an avowed Francophile.  All told, I have spent about nine months in various regions: in 1965, 1993, 2005, 2006, and 2015.  French is the only second language I can speak conversationally.  We have hosted four French foreign exchange students and my daughter spent five weeks living with a family in Aix en … More Road trip to Medieval France: Following the trail of the Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade

Big Muddy Meander: Chapter 3-from the Delta Blues to the Chicago Blues

April 7, 2018

Well, we’re back home now. We made a mad dash two days early, April 2, to avoid snow and ice storms coming down from the north. After 3 and 1/2 weeks following the Mississippi to the bottom of Louisiana and back up, I know a lot more about this river that, if stretched out, would … More Big Muddy Meander: Chapter 3-from the Delta Blues to the Chicago Blues

Biking New Orleans

March 30, 2018

Before leaving Minneapolis a friend who had been there said she had taken a bike tour in New Orleans and it was fun. We brought our road bikes on this monthlong trip down the Mississippi River, along with our kayaks. We booked an AirB&B in the Lake View neighborhood, which is near Lake Ponchartrain and … More Biking New Orleans

One Man’s Ceiling is Another Man’s Floor: Big Muddy Meander chapter 2

March 23, 2018

(Title thanks to Paul Simon) A week after starting our meander we arrived in Louisiana, camped on the northside of Lake Ponchartrain, kayaked the Tchefuncte River, spent three days biking ALL around New Orleans, and finally landed on the south end of Cajun Country in a gorgeous restored bank AirB&B in Patterson on Bayou Teche. … More One Man’s Ceiling is Another Man’s Floor: Big Muddy Meander chapter 2

“I had my own blog for a while, but I decided to go back to just pointless, incessant barking.” (not!)

March 8, 2018

This cartoon is courtesy of the New Yorker.   It’s been one year now since I started this travel blog. 31 posts by me; 4 guest bloggers; 735 visitors reading from 16 countries; over 1600 views.  Google analytics says the most popular time to view is Monday at 6 am!! That can’t be true. If any … More “I had my own blog for a while, but I decided to go back to just pointless, incessant barking.” (not!)

Southwest Road Trip: Chapter 2-Busted Flat at Hoover Dam (with thanks to Janis Joplin)

February 9, 2018

On day 8 of our month long road trip through the American Southwest we reached our campsite at Lake Mead near Hoover Dam. Hoover Dam was the first dam on the Colorado River built during FDR’s presidency.  This water recreation area on the Arizona border is a short tourist bus ride from arid Las Vegas. … More Southwest Road Trip: Chapter 2-Busted Flat at Hoover Dam (with thanks to Janis Joplin)

Red Clay, Cacti, and Ravens: A Southwest US Car Camping Trip—Chapter 1

January 13, 2018

The southwest region of the United State of America was not meant for modern human settlement.  Much of it is desert: dry, rocky, hot and splendid.  The Sonoran and the Chihuahuan Deserts are classic arid deserts that cover much of the Southwest low land and largest cities, while the high desert defines places like southern … More Red Clay, Cacti, and Ravens: A Southwest US Car Camping Trip—Chapter 1