Gather 'round…
It's 8:30. I've been up for an hour. Everyone else is still out cold in the tents behind me. I am overlooking Lost Creek Reservoir and surrounded by rhododendrons and all manner of exotic flora. It is peaceful here and I am doing my best to mirror that sentiment. Thank God we're here for three... Continue Reading →
Up at 5 this morning, and on the road for Oregon by 6. So far the day's drive has been a bit surreal. Idaho was over before we knew it, the SE corner of Washington was uncomfortable and strange, and Northern Oregon is it's own kind of strange. Within a few minutes of crossing over... Continue Reading →
Hitting the sack at Camp Coeur d'Alene tonight, the first RV park/campground I've ever experienced harboring FREE firewood. And us with not enough time in the day to even start a fire... Sigh. Up at 5:45, and only eight hours on the road today, but a nice four-hour stop at Lewis and Clark Caverns State... Continue Reading →
Columbus, MT, actually. Itch-Kep-Pe Park specifically. We hit the road at 4:20 this morning and drove for 14 hours through the flatlands of Minnesota and North Dakota, to make it here to our first stop, a free city campground on the Yellowstone River. This is the only place we will be without a reservation until... Continue Reading →
1 two-year-old $900 van 4 Ottingers (occasionally 5) 8 National Parks 14 States 23 Days 308 Gallons of gas (regular) 6,916 Miles Whew. I’ve yet to meet a good family vacation that was made better by the presence of a laptop. So I left mine at home. Thank God. I did blog. Sort of. I... Continue Reading →
There are airbeds everywhere. I'm in the throws of packing for a particularly ambitious three-week camping trip out West, a whirlwind tour of National Parks and wayward children. It is May. The camping gear emerges slowly from its slumber, and with each unearthing, there is fear and trepidation. For you never know what you'll find...... Continue Reading →
All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater My rating: 5 of 5 stars Can I give it six stars? Eight? I need more stars. A few weeks ago I was driving across the Colorado desert with my 18yo and she suddenly drops into a reminiscent haze in the midst of the red rocks and tumbleweed.... Continue Reading →
Lately I’ve been appalled at the state of the bathroom. There is an over-population here that can only be blamed on the raising of seven children, but now, at the cusp of that number plunging to two, the ammassment of toiletries here is looking more and more extravagant, possibly diagnosable. Let’s just address the lotions... Continue Reading →
I have just been buzzed by a pileated woodpecker. When I say buzzed, what I mean, specifically, is that I felt the push of his enormous wings. Lingering on the flash of memory burned into the back of my brain, I can count the barbs on his feathers. In more concrete terms, that sixteen-inch beast... Continue Reading →
Dare I even ask? The birds have already made their predictions, and have made the journeys that accompany them, and I hope for their sakes that it is indeed. For almost a month we've had strangers at the feeders. Dozens of redwing blackbirds blackening the trees outside my window, trying their hands at sunflower seeds. European... Continue Reading →
If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord. If any have labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If any have wrought from the first hour,... Continue Reading →
It’s day five of my five-day writing retreat, and I am winding down my time here in this Northwoods cottage with some of my writer buds. Two hours and counting, if you should want to keep track. The place we have this year is great. Spacious, warm, clean, and cozy. I don't have a lot... Continue Reading →
Tales From the Nexus 