Dadcation
September made the long hours of August worth the toil. On Labor Day, we flew first class to Munich–the first time we’ve been able to fly east across the Atlantic and actually lie down + sleep. I loved Bolzano, Italy, the town that can’t decide if it’s Austrian or Italian, so it’s both–the food, the service workers, the winding and climbing streets or sidewalks–it was all awesome and needed more days, but it was just the bookends to our hike across the Dolomites. We even made time to…
My Eagle scout friend Jody (whose ceremony I attended nearly 30 years ago) planned a family camping trip to Cloudland Canyon State Park in northwest GA for his birthday weekend, so being a good friend, I invited myself (plus my 3 children, wife, and dog) to join. We enjoyed it so much that a couple weekends later, we did it again, this time at DeSoto State Park by Fort Payne, Alabama (just east of Rome, GA), but this time, we didn’t bring dogs (but added our friend Jim…
I’ve had some amazing experiences at the 33 U.S. National Parks I’ve visited: rock climbing in Yosemite, biking through snow above the Grand Canyon, paddling under snakes at Congaree, hearing a ceremonial flute serenade at Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde. At Bryce Canyon, however, I had 2 experiences that rival the best of the best. Like Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon is an international dark sky park (it got the designation in 2019). Fittingly, one of the ranger-led activities one can choose is a guided constellation tour, so we…
When you can’t fly across an ocean, you seek recreation in more pedestrian pursuits, so this Spring and Summer, we’ve gone camping more than we did in the prior 10 years combined. A friend from undergrad named Charles invited my family to join his at Stone Mountain’s campgrounds, so we did; it was the first time we’ve spent more than a single night in a tent at a campground. He had lots of camping stuff–a camp stove, camp chairs, and camp coffee maker burner things. We had a…
We left San Francisco and headed south to one of our county’s newest National Parks, Pinnacles. Pinnacles is small in terms of acreage but offers some great hiking trails and rock climbing. It’s also home to endangered condors and bats, among other wildlife, and the trails offer views over the canyons that send warm air currents upward for gliding condors to hover above; their nests are along the tree branches lining the steep walls. There are a couple caves, too, but they were closed during our July visit…
*Thanks to Hanes for sponsoring this post* Colorado has 4 distinctly awesome national parks. I saw 3/4 of them in 1987 when my folks drove my brother and me from Nashville in a two-toned ’83 Suburban, and I’ve wanted to go back with my own family and explore the diverse national parks of Colorado ever since. We finally went this summer. Of all the parks we were slated to see, I was most excited about returning to Mesa Verde National Park. It’s my mom’s favorite of all the national…
Last week, we completed our much-anticipated walk from the Irish Sea to the North Sea along Hadrian’s Wall in northern England, and it was the second life experience (the first one being going to war) I’ve had which I can now describe with the phrase, “I probably wouldn’t choose to do it again, but I wouldn’t take anything for the experience of having gone.” Our journey began with a Friday night cookout in the backyard of our late friend Oren Miller‘s wife’s aunt, followed by a trip to…