This past summer, we stayed at Oakland House Seaside Resort, in Brooksville, Maine, along the Eggemoggin Reach in Penobscot Bay. The property is large and consists of several business entities. We lodged in the hostel,…
Ten Years on the Road, Part Two
I grew up in western Pennsylvania. There were woods nearby, and while I often played in them, their wonders---the trees and birds, the changing seasons---escaped me. I never asked why the robins flocked to the…
Ten Years on the Road, Part One
We're driving in a dust storm somewhere in the Navajo Nation in Arizona. We’ve just passed “Church Rock,” and to the north in Utah is The Valley of the Gods. We can barely see the road,…
"That Which is Full of Wonder"
There is something astonishing about rock arches, and every time we see one, we marvel that nature could produce such works of art. How can there be such a thing as Landscape Arch, the longest…
Strikes and Spares
We were in Las Vegas, a cheap stopover on our way to a month or so in southern Utah. Our hotel, South Point, is on Las Vegas Boulevard but far south of the Strip. It’s…
These Homes Were Made (and Paid for) by…
When we lived in Pittsburgh in the 1990s, my mother came to visit for a few days. She always wanted to see the Henry Clay Frick mansion, so we drove to Wilkinsburg, just outside the Pittsburgh…
Elko, Nevada: Ranches, Mines, and Mountains
We first heard about Elko, Nevada from a couple we met on a trail in Zion National Park. While trading travel stories, they said that the Ruby Mountains outside Elko were spectacular. We were…
A Nation in Decline?: Part 4: Mother Earth,…
When we are on the road, Karen usually drives. I plot out the directions before we leave and write them down on the notepad most motels provide next to the telephone. Even though the…
A Nation in Decline?: Part 3: An Unhealthy…
We were in Torrey, Utah hiking in Capitol Reef National Park. We got a room for a week at the Affordable Inn for a reasonable rate, which surprised us, since it was near the beginning…