The desert here isn’t Banjo’s kind of place; the only mammals around seem to be the wild burros, and they act like they’re going to charge when they see her, so we stay away from them. Of course, we still take her on three walks a day, but they’re along the rocky, hard paths here, […]
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Banjo’s Errand Days
Since we left the Alabama Hills region of California, we’ve been less exploring and more on a mission: to get the damned door finally fixed on the Airstream at a dealership/service center in Temecula, California. The irony is we’ve been in two really stellar campsites during this mission and have hardly been able to spend […]
Sheltered and Satisfied
We leave today after a week here on the Missouri River in Montana, and it’s been peaceful, all in all. Exception: the constant insects—ants in the sand, covering your feet the minute you stand still, crawling on Banjo as she eats them one by one. Long-winged flying things (ants?) all in the tent and in […]
We Think We’re Such Badasses (Hiking to Bluebird Lake)
We decided not to hike the local trail here outside Eureka after Tracy rode his bike up and back and found evidence of the reported grizzly bear all along the way. Tree branches pulled down so the bear could get better access to the chokecherry bushes. Mounds of fresh scat. When Tracy rode the trail […]
Banjo: a Good Dog in a Bad Situation
Readers ask for more Banjo, so here’s a Banjo story that’s not particularly epic or even travel-related, but those Banjo-lovers out there might enjoy it. You know how we spend nearly all day outside, which leaves us dirty, sunburned, bug bitten, and itchy in general. So worth it. Banjo’s in the same boat. She asks […]
Banjo’s Big Day + Reunions and Sookie on the Water
When our days are this full with friends and special events because we’re in a town where we know people, I have a hard time organizing this blog. You’d probably appreciate it if I waited for a week to pass, then threw each topic into its own post so you could see (or skip) the […]
Iowa all over the Place
Iowa is a big state (to me at least, with its big sky and vast farms), but we always manage to hit several towns when we’re here. Below are shots from Elkader, Harper’s Ferry, Cedar Falls, and Waterloo. The Meeter’s Herb Garden Our last couple of days in Elkader we spent doing maintenance work on […]
xyHt What?
xyHt is the name of the magazine I helped produce for a hunk of my life. If you’re curious, hang on to your hat. (Otherwise skip this next paragraph.) The magazine is for a variety of professionals who locate and/or measure most everything: from exact spots on the ground, to big sections of land or […]
I Spent Mother’s Day with My Son!
Exclamation mark! because it had been a year since I’d seen Finn, so swinging an in-person visit on Mother’s Day, no less, was a triumph of planning. Truthfully, I’d planned on visiting him the day before, on his 23rd birthday, but he was busy that day having some well-deserved fun. And, to totally be level […]
Banjo Visits the Fairchild Oak
We drove a short bit yesterday to see one of the South’s oldest trees: a live oak that’s 400 to 600 years old. It has survived hurricanes, fires, floods and, as a nearby sign says, “the follies of man.” It was named in the 1960s after a botanist who loved it, and its current caretaker […]