Tag: north america
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a non-camper’s guide to camping
My friends and I traipsed along a wooded path. Pine trees towered above our heads, and their needles and cones formed a blanket beneath our feet. Beams of sunlight darted through the sparse canopy, warming the air that was still cool even in June. Scrubbier greenery lined the path, and a bunny scampered away at… Read more
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photoessay: the colorful lakes of the canadian rockies
A big part of visiting the Canadian Rockies parks of Banff, Jasper, and Yoho is exploring their various lakes, famed for the array of colors you’ll find among their sundry waters. Lakes in the Rockies come from glacial melt. Glaciers erode rocks, which turn into finely ground particles that suspend in the lake water. The… Read more
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chasing wildlife through the canadian rockies
My friends and I were driving south down Rt 16 toward Jasper. I was sitting in the driver’s side backseat, peering into the distance toward the Athabasca River, looking for wildlife drinking by the riverside. Nearer to the road, I glimpsed pale shapes moving. They were whitish, or perhaps tan or grey. My brain frantically… Read more
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3 reasons to travel while grieving
I’ve been absent here for a while. And it’s not because I haven’t traveled. I spent a week in Banff, Canada and its environs at the end of June, a trip I hope to write about in coming weeks. I just haven’t been up to writing. On June 5, in the middle of the night,… Read more
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a getaway in the woods
My first day in my Getaway, I awoke around my normal weekday time of 5:30, gazed out at the flecks of light beginning to show in the forest outside my window and shot a couple photos of the coming dawn. Then I snuggled my pup Felix, who was nestled beside me, and fell back to… Read more
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5 things to do in new orleans other than eating and drinking
The city of New Orleans conjures for most people images of drunken debauchery. Drinking monstrously large hurricanes at Pat O’Brien’s. Waltzing down Bourbon Street with open beers in hand. Women flashing their boobs in exchange for Mardi Gras beads. Of course, there’s also the gluttony—oysters, fried fish, shrimp, jambalaya, gumbo, étouffée, beignets, po-boys. The list… Read more
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christmas in the land of the luminarias
In December, all around New Mexico, brown paper bags line the stucco tops of walls, the walkways leading toward front doors, and the edges of gardens. To the uninitiated, this might a strange configuration of objects more commonly used for carrying school lunches. But come nightfall, the bags come to light, transforming from paper bags… Read more
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the amazing life of humpback whales
Prior to my Alaskan cruise, the only whales I’d seen on whale-watching excursions had been orca, which I’d seen on two separate excursions in the Salish Sea, courtesy the highly recommended Puget Sound Express. In Alaska, I desperately wanted to see some other varieties of whales. As I mentioned in my first Alaska post, I… Read more
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all about alaska’s glaciers
When people ask me how my trip to Alaska was, my quick, flippant response is, “a lot of glaciers and whales.” Which may sound as if I’m being dismissive of the experience, but the truth is, the glaciers and whales were both amazing. More to follow on the whales in my next post. Today, we’re… Read more
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the towns of southeast alaska
Our seven-day northbound Alaska cruise on the Celebrity Millennium made four port calls: in Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point, Juneau, and Skagway. Each one boasted its own culture and history, although sometimes we had to work to find it amid all the kitchy cruise ship shopping. Personally I avoided all the duty-free jewelry shops that seem… Read more