Gearing Up (and Down) for Alaska
We’ve got two weeks before we cross into Canada and start our journey north, which means that our stops these days are all about last-minute Alaska provisions.... Read more.
Warm Friends in Cold Places
We’d just pulled into a casino parking lot in Altoona, Iowa, and were setting up inside when a security guard knocked on the trailer door. We brace for trouble:... Read more.
Mom in Decline, with Kindness
This entry is part of a deeply personal series, called Wish You Were There, that’s unrelated to travel. There’s so much I don’t want to remember about the... Read more.
Update on that Wind and Water Business
This is the screenshot I sent Melanie and Doug last night while Tracy and I were driving east through the top of Missouri. I thought we were headed to that red star... Read more.
Misadventures with Wind and Water
Well, the water was a mishap; the wind was a near disaster. Flying Kayaks We were driving away from a big storm in Oklahoma and Kansas, into an area with less risk... Read more.
Diagonal Bed Tiny House
There are a few delectable aspects to this Tiny House that make me glad I worked on it, but so many other parts were such a pain that I’m also glad I simply got... Read more.
On One Block of Tulsa
I’m so grateful that someone I’ve never met named Jennifer was reading this blog and suggested we stop in her town; otherwise we would have driven past this... Read more.
I Got the Bigger Half
That’s what my friend, Karen, and I used to say when we were little to my mom as she fixed us lunch. “I want the bigger half!” My mom tried to explain that... Read more.
That Time with the Tacos
This entry is part of my personal series on grief, called Wish You Were There, that’s unrelated to travel. There are a couple of weeks in my past with Kim and... Read more.
Emergency Helicopter to Martinique
This entry is part of my personal series on grief, called Wish You Were There, that’s unrelated to travel. When I try to write about my sister, Kim, and her daughter,... Read more.
Hello, North Texas
Just a quick post here, as our first day near Dallas/Ft. Worth is full of errands so I should get going. Hico That top image is from the small town of Hico, where... Read more.
Highs, Lows, and Weird in ATX
There is so much about Austin, Texas, that maybe once was weird but now is American cliche. Young people with long, groomed beards and handlebar mustaches. Statement... Read more.
Austin = D.C. with Cowboy Hats
I joked last night to Tracy that Austin, Texas, seems just like Washington, D.C. but with different hats. He looked around, at the hordes of sweaty soccer players... Read more.
What 10 Million Bats Looks Like
They don’t look like anything I can describe, is what they look like. There is no way to capture in a photograph, or even a video, the enormity and beauty of this... Read more.
Hiking Texas’ Hill Country
My Texan friend, Karen, told me that this central region (the Edwards Plateau) is lovely, and right she is; it’s unlike any part of Texas we’ve seen. Not to... Read more.
I’ll Meet You at the Gator, But First I Gotta Get Around This Turkey
I texted that to Tracy yesterday afternoon while we were both hiking here at Choke Canyon State Park in south Texas. He was up ahead, and he’d found an alligator... Read more.
Crafty Nomad (kind of)
It’s a chilly, rainy day in south Texas, so I’m looking around inside for something to do that’s moderately productive. This is where “craft” enters my... Read more.
On the Road Again 🎶
And man does it feel good. Yesterday, we finally pulled out of Brownsville, Texas, and drove north for a couple of hours, including through a customs checkpoint... Read more.
Banjo Doesn’t Care Where We Go (We’ve Planned Anyway)
Banjo is always excited to hop into the truck and go, but she’s pretty blasé about the route. There’s no hanging her head out the window with ears blowing in... Read more.
Fixing to Get
Yes, that’s the Airstream not in our site at Honeydale Park. For the first time in almost three months, we towed her out, but not for the spring leg of 2023 traveling.... Read more.
That Cracker Dog’s Gonna Flop Bot (and other family sayings)
This entry is part of my personal series on grief, called Wish You Were There, that’s unrelated to travel. Turns out those two phrases did not originate with my... Read more.
Be Glad You Missed the Grateful Grannies
That’s the name a neighbor and I chose for our karaoke duo—see, we’re grey-haired ladies singing Grateful Dead songs in front of strangers, and not well, either.... Read more.
The Warm and Lively Colors of Charro Days
I looked up the traditional colors you see in Mexican culture so that I’d know what to call them, and I found “warm and lively.” Perfect! Although, the day... Read more.
Culture Smash in the RGV
In the last couple of days we’ve attended Charros Days (a celebration of international goodwill between Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico): plus a competitive... Read more.
Tiny Victorian House
Oh, this Tiny House confounded me! From the breakable thin pieces of wood to the cloth that wouldn’t cut straight to the anachronistic Victrola next to the TV... Read more.
Oh So Brownsville
Tracy saw a stray dog in Lowe’s the other day, just trotting down the aisles like it lived there. Then he heard an announcement over the loudspeaker: “If anyone’s... Read more.
When You’ve Done So Much You Forget It All
That image up top is from three years ago today, the first night we slept in our new home. Okay, it was in the dealer parking lot in New Jersey and our next-day... Read more.
Tracy the Cable Guy (aka: How He Installed Starlink)
Tracy’s been hard at work since we got here figuring out how our Starlink satellite system can be fitted for us. The whole thing is complicated, and, like with... Read more.
I Am My Parents More Than Ever
This entry is part of my personal series on grief, called Wish You Were There, that’s unrelated to travel. It’s been 40 years since my mom and dad were together,... Read more.
I Got More than Cheap Dental Work in Mexico
Last year we parked at the border with Mexico and walked into Los Algodones for dental work, and it was a bit of an eye-opener for me, not as much in how Mexicans... Read more.
