Tales from the Nexus
The other night, Wednesday I believe, we were out at Picnic Flow enjoying the waves on the basalt and the dancing moon in the ‘tide’pools. The Flow is this amazing tilt of lavarock, just shoving out into Lake Superior, and a favorite place of ours at Gooseberry Falls. We're especially drawn out there at night,... Continue Reading →
A gorgeous jaunt on the North Shore, if a bit short. First, a photo essay: That pretty well sums it up. Except I didn't manage to take any pictures whilst vehemently scrubbing my face Thursday night, when the wind and the cold conspired against my headlight and it exploded to drip battery acid on my... Continue Reading →
We’re headed to the North Shore tomorrow. To our beloved Gooseberry. Life’s thrown some sucker punches our way this year, and the enthusiasm is tempered, but still, deep down, it is there: the primordial pull towards the mighty Gitchi Gummi. I’ve got a plethora of reasons that this trip will inevitably be bittersweet, but also... Continue Reading →
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich My rating: 5 of 5 stars I think that The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse has been on my to-read shelf for almost a decade. Back in the days when my super-reader-friends were just introducing me to good... Continue Reading →
So... About that thing I whined about for an entire month, and then never even talked about after it happened... Observant readers may have noticed that December's Truth Be Told event wasn't the end of me. Truth be told, I thought it might be. There was a bit of complaining. And whining. Lemme' just look back...... Continue Reading →
I had to make a clandestine run for breast milk this morning. One of the kiddos, who shall remain nameless, appears to have contracted pinkeye over the weekend, and for those who don't know, breast milk is the single best cure for pinkeye. Scoff if you must, but don't cry to me about your goop.... Continue Reading →
I was recently asked to be one of the featured storytellers for the next installment of Truth Be Told, an open mic storytelling event that our local celebrities—I had no idea that I didn’t have a clue how to spell celebrities until this moment… huh—anyway, an event that our local celebrities Steve and Kobi have... Continue Reading →
That three-week jaunt out to the West Coast took a pretty hefty bite out of the old PTO bank this year. We managed to salvage a Boundary Waters out of the remaining shreds, but the annual pilgrimage to the North Shore was left with an empty purse. It is, however, completely unacceptable that a year... Continue Reading →
I'm home. Again. Pulled in late last night from driving home with Rachel from Oregon. I have crossed the bulk of this country three times this year, something I never thought might happen. I am more of a slow traveler, and until now, a 35+ hour drive to get to any destination, even one as... Continue Reading →
We never found Delaware. All those miles, and all that adventuring, and Delaware was nowhere to be see. We did hike with a lovely woman from Delaware, so maybe that counts for something. We even threatened to follow her back to her car, but--ridiculous her--she let her Rhode Islander friend chauffeur her across the country.... Continue Reading →
I spent a few years in Ames, Iowa, back in the day. Wallowed through a few years of school here, met my first husband in the vicinity, generally milled about some. Ames happened to fall directly on top of the need for dinner tonight, so we stopped in. While I would have liked to have... Continue Reading →
I've never had the experience of winding down from a vacation before actually getting home, and I don't totally hate it. We are pretty-well wasted, which doesn't lend itself to grand adventures with family here, but just hanging out might be even better. And maybe the vacation let-down will be a little bit less, having... Continue Reading →
Uff. We hit the end-of-trip wall. Started the day with big plans to go to the pool with the kids today, and then all run up to Rocky Mountain National Park tomorrow. Ended the day with a short trip to the park across the street with the kids, and maybe a jaunt to the pool... Continue Reading →
Wow. Bryce Canyon. Wow. But already I'm ahead of myself... The Airbnb was great. The beds were passable--let's be honest, they felt like heaven compared to the string of second-rate Intex--and, and as previously mentioned, the place was clean and cozy. A win. And after the refund from Utah's finest state park, pretty modestly priced,... Continue Reading →
You know that hiking in from the highway option if you miss curfew? Turns out people use it at all hours, and the quickest way back to any site in the campground is through our site. Thankfully none of them were putting forth any effort at being stealthy, so I had no fears that they... Continue Reading →
Up at the butt-crack of dawn and eager to get moving. From furnace to fire, but there is always hope that Utah's in for an unexpected cold front. How was the drive? Hot. Hotter than the fourth level of hell, where the AC is most definitely broken. Fortunate turn of events though... In a wave... Continue Reading →
Big Trees. Indeed. The little energy we had to expend today took up up to General Sherman, and the desperately-in-need-of-renovation Lodgepole Visitor Center. The Giant Forest Museum further down was quite nice yesterday, but the Visitor Center up by the Lodge is stuck in the wrong century. I can only hope it's next on the... Continue Reading →
Obviously, up early to beat the oppressive heat. So far the Intex is withered, but still inflated. I'm not ecstatic with how very squishy it is in this climate, but I'm happy to be slightly aloft of the razor gravel, so... The drive into Sequoia was lovely, I'm sure, but to be painfully honest, we're... Continue Reading →
Took the wrong road out of Big Oak Flats this morning. Just out of camp. Somehow we wound up on the steepest, snakiest beast we've seen thus far, and that is saying something. It was paved beautifully, probably preserved by the total lack of traffic. We burned some serious brakes, even in 1st gear the... Continue Reading →
It was predicted to be (and was!) a hot one out there today, nearing 90, so we went into the day knowing that no hiking would be done if the matriarch (that's me) was to survive. Auto Tour Day. The main attractions left on our Yosemite list fit the bill perfectly: Glacier Point and Tioga... Continue Reading →
Now this is what I'm talking about. This is terrain I can manage. Life. Is. Good. First stop today was Hetch Hetchy Dam and Reservoir. The fine folks with the chocolate yesterday told me that they'd just been up to Hetch Hetchy, and there was virtually no one there. Particularly by the standards of... Continue Reading →
"The mountains are calling and I must go." ~ John Muir I've been thinking a lot about all things big and magical. About a greater scale and a deeper reality. The expanse of the ocean. The tall trees. The neverending desert. I've been mesmerized by my own tininess. And today... Yosemite. Wow. I am indeed... Continue Reading →
Driving, driving, and more driving. I'm not California's biggest fan at this point. It's just not tripping my trigger. I'm not sure what I expected, but whatever it was is not being realized. I've just got a not-so-great vibe going. Sigh. We did pass through San Fran today. Made a quick stop of it. Crossed... Continue Reading →
Up at 6, out by 7:15, in search of California's Redwood Forest! We said goodbye to Oregon, and passed through border fruit inspection with flying colors. I was reminded--by my children--after driving away--that we were, in fact, harboring the very kinds of citrus fruits I just denied to the nice fruit policewoman back at the... Continue Reading →
So there's this guy. He draws in the sand. He used to do it just for himself, early in the morning. Giant labyrinths in the sand. Until folks started printing newspaper articles about alien landings and crop circles. Denny Dyke is now the man behind Circles in the Sand, his home-grown mission to bring people... Continue Reading →
![[Way Back Wednesday] A confession...](https://kjottinger.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/a-confession....jpg?resize=40%2C40){kind=small}
