AKA: Walking along Wooded Paths and Stepping aside Every Few Yards to Make Way for Others AKA: Pictures of Banjo’s Butt Tracy’s graciously done a lot of research to find us things to do each day, not that we’re bored, but we do want to take advantage of northern Wisconsin and Michigan while we’re up […]
Categories
Kayaking Our Corner of Lake Superior
This wide-open water is one of the reasons we brought the ocean kayaks—they move quickly so you can paddle from a ho-hum spot where you’ve put in to a more spectacular spot like one of the many islands around here. Tracy had in mind us kayaking out several miles to the famous Apostle Islands, but […]
Key Is Entering the Water Lilies Slowly
I finally found my groove in my new kayak (and with myself), at least for this lake. I slowed all the way to a meander as Tracy paddled away at his own rate. As long as I’m not trying to keep up or catch up, I seem to be okay. It’s the fast paddling that […]
Five Days by Black Lake
If you’ve been following along with me, you may remember my huge relief at spending five days in Savage River State Forest in Maryland, where we had no electricity and no cell service for a glorious five days. That was extra peaceful and quiet because we’d been camped at Small Country in Virginia for two […]
Love Me Two Times, Iowa
We’re back in Iowa—in Elkader, the small town where Tracy’s best friend and his wife live. We weren’t keen on visiting (hence the second take) because they’ve been dealing with all the decisions and stresses you’re faced with as small business owners these days (they own a brewery and tap room here). After Wisconsin though, […]
Finally, a Sunrise to Ourselves
Turns out that’s what Banjo and I were missing the most here in this full campground without an easy place to walk. Don’t get me wrong: there are beautiful trails around the lake and all over Cedar Falls, but everyone else thinks they’re great, too. Dawn Walk This morning I got us out of the […]
So Far in Cedar Falls
We’re in Tracy’s hometown, and I tell you what. You know when you’re driving through someone’s old stomping grounds and at every corner they say things like, “Well that entire complex is new,” and “I think my dad had a special dinner there once,” and it goes on and on and is annoying? I actually […]
It’s Hard to Photograph a Prairie
Especially when a certain someone is wearing a ginormous hat to ward off mosquitos and insists on getting in the middle of the photo. It’s also hard because there’s something about the whole of the prairie, with all the different flowers and grasses, that I can’t capture on my phone. You’ll just have to see […]
AM Hikes, PM Lounge
This place, Ohio’s Shawnee State Park, is really growing on me. On the advice of a couple of friends (hi, Melissa M!), I’m reading Blue Highways by a fellow named Least Heat-Moon. He reminds me how travelers set themselves up for failure by assuming what a place will be like before they get there. Perhaps […]
Living Between Two Worlds
I feel like I’m in a Star Trek episode where the transporter has malfunctioned (in the future no one says, “broken”), and I’m stuck between two planets. It’s not as bad as the time in The Next Generation when Geordie and Ro got stuck walking around the Enterprise like ghosts and had to figure out […]

