Blogs, random thoughts, travel
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Wolves!
Anytime we can mix wildlife with our travels is a win-win in my opinion. On our trip to Lake Superior this past fall we had great sightings of bison, beavers, and bald eagles. But breaking with alliteration, one of the most memorable was WOLVES!
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I'm a Worrier
Camped somewhere in the forests of Wisconsin I worried that the banjo-playing young man with a large chained dog, whose camp we used for a U-turn, would walk through the woods and find us while we slept. I’m not sure if I was concerned what harm he might do to us or if he would just play his banjo all night. -
Border Crossings
Eventually a woman leaned out of a window and waved me forward. I asked if I did something wrong at the scanner but she ignored my question. I handed her our passports showing we were US citizens. She still asked where we were going and did we have a reservation for tonight? (I’m thinking: ‘I’m an American, does it really matter where I’m going?’ but of course did my best to come up with the name of a state park we were going to camp in that night.) Then she asked ‘was this a camper with a bed and was anyone sleeping in the back?’ I replied it was just the two of us. I was not about to let her know there was a passenger with Chihuahua Mexican-heritage, without a passport, snoring on the floorboard between our seats! Annie may have lived on the streets for a while, but she could not have survived serving time in a border holding cell at this point in her privileged life. -
Impromptu Blue Ridge Parkway Trip
We said we would stop at just one overlook but that’s like eating one potato chip. I found myself pulling into each one that offered a view. The leaves in this lower elevation area were just beginning to change colors. I have a favorite tree on the Parkway at the Craggy Dome Overlook and it was my goal to get there. -
Oops I Did It Again
With much less trepidation than the first time around, I published a second book this week. “Living With Wanda 2: Campervan Adventures Continue” is now available on Amazon as a Kindle eBook or in paperback. -
They say You’re Getting Old When . . .
If it is possible to “inherit” a trait from a non-blood-related person I would say I inherited my love for birds from my mother-in-law. As long as I knew her, she had multiple feeders strategically placed throughout her yard. It didn’t even bother her when a varmint like an opossum would dine on the bird seed because she knew it would spread a few seeds on the ground and attract another variety of bird to the yard.
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Everybody Loves Annie
We recently took advantage of a wonderful service offered by our local fire department, River Falls Fire Department: we had them replace our smoke alarms. Before you accuse me of being too lazy to replace my own batteries, let me explain.
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The Broken Wing
As I write this, there are about a dozen Titmice gathering outside the sun room windows as if they are plotting something sinister.
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Great Planners
All this activity had Annie super excited! She followed every step we made. About 2 PM we loaded her up and left. She was panting and trying her best to put down the window as we drove out of the driveway. After the first twenty yards we looked at each other and remarked that we had forgotten our wedding rings. We decided it wasn’t worth turning back for them. But that must have gotten Jenni thinking about other things we forgot. Less than a mile from home, she asked if I had packed Annie’s leash. I had not. -
Back to the Ultimate Outsider Challenge
When Jenni and I purchased our state park pass in February 2021, we never imagined we would only be a third of the way through the forty-seven parks after two full years. Of course, in those two years we logged nearly 30,000 miles visiting another forty states. But it was time to get serious about checking off a few more South Carolina state parks.
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Owl Box
It was a unique gift that really got my heart racing a few months later. Last year for Father’s Day, my eldest son gave me an owl box he built hi...
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