Sweetwater Wetlands Park Tracy’s very wonderful sister took us to an unusual water filtration area that’s also a bird preserve. It’s a 125-acre man-made wetland that filters run-off water and pollution from Gainesville through a series reservoirs. They were built and opened to the public as a bird sanctuary gradually so the ecosystem could settle. […]
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Tracy and Shelly Go to a Boiled Peanuts Stand
Except, we haven’t gotten there yet! You guys know the classic stoner movie where Karl Penn and John Cho (Sulu!) get amazingly high and decide they want “something different” for their munchie food, which sets them on an epic journey to a White Castle restaurant. They end up going to jail, riding a cheetah, and […]
Texas, the Big Caricature
A friend told me that Texans are caricatures of themselves, and they don’t even know it. We keep saying that over and over here. It’s brilliant. What does this caricature look like? Texans: don’t wave. Not even when their arm is resting on the truck door as they’re passing you slowly down a narrow dirt […]
How Would You Rather Die—and Tamales!
We’ve had just two adventures outside the campground here in Livingston, and they both make decent stories. First, the Tamales You guys know that original Star Trek episode when the tiny alien guy insists that Kirk and his landing party drink with him before he’ll fess up to all the trouble he’s caused them? He […]
Headed Down South to the Land of the Pines
That line’s from Wagon Wheel and it’s about North Carolina, but it’s been on my mind here in Texas, oddly. We’re only passing through Texas to do a bunch of paperwork and appointments (more on that later), so I can’t give a full GDTRFB report. (That’s Going down the Road Feeling Bad as it’s written […]
Yooping
All broken things aside (my laptop is officially toast, as is my bike tire and pump), we’re making the most of our non-fixing-things time here. We’re in a small town that’s directly north of a very cool lift bridge that crosses the canal dividing the eastern portion of the U.P. Few large boats need to […]
The Mosquito Hike
You know things are quiet around here when I follow a post about seeing a bird’s nest with one about taking a three-mile speed walk around a wetland. But it gives me an excuse to provide your weekly mushroom slideshow! We booked it around this loop, skimming the interpretive signs and keeping Banjo on track […]
Eagle’s Nest Island
I’m one of those pitiable people who grew up when bald eagles were endangered and never saw them. I was in my 40s when I’d occasionally see one over the Potomac River in West Virginia or over Lake Anna in central Virginia, and I’d have a spaz attack. Now that I’m where they’re plentiful (Perch […]
The Sky on the Lake
I just can’t get enough of it. I would have spent more time on the water this evening had I realized when I got in the boat wearing my rainboots that eventually they wouldn’t really fit in there. Rainboots plus workout pants. My evening sky-appreciation attire.
Downtime in the Woods
I’ve described the campground where we decided not to stay and even the one we stayed at last, again, but I haven’t said much about this campground, and we’ve been here for five days. It’s peaceful here, so there’s not a lot to shout about. Biking Back Roads All the land around this lake is […]
