Category: Travel

  • Exploring the UP, Part II

    There’s a storm coming. We knew we were going to get rain tomorrow and had been planning activities accordingly, but we were surprised when we pulled up Weather.com this morning and found a “Gale Warning” banner across the top of the screen. That’s new for us. Living in the Midwest, we’re accustomed to all kinds…

  • I Really Shouldn’t Complain…

    Seriously. I shouldn’t complain about having to come home from Mexico. Granted, I had to leave this… But I got to come home to this… So you see, it’s really ridiculous for me to complain. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this gorgeous spring for anything! I hope your spring, wherever you are, is just…

  • Suffering Rum Withdrawal

    I was rather surprised–shocked, really–to discover that it’s been nearly six weeks since my last post. I had purposely taken a break from writing to tackle the ever-increasing stack of books that have been collecting on various shelves and tabletops around here since before the holidays (I hate how unread books have a tendency to…

  • Brownies So Good, No One Will Ever Know They’re Gluten-Free

    Ever since going gluten free (GF) nearly a year ago, I have searched for and experimented with a multitude of GF alternatives for certain foods. Unfortunately, my efforts have largely been for naught. Don’t get me wrong, GF food isn’t all horrible; but, as a general rule, it is different than the “real” food it’s…

  • 15 Days, 4,072.7 Miles, and One Amazing Little Travel Companion

    After 15 days and 4, 072.7 miles, the Tedster and I finally pulled into our driveway last night, spent but happy for our efforts. We were ready to be home even if home was covered in snow and the car thermometer barely topped 20 degrees F. Tom made sure the cold crap-ola outside was negated…

  • Today was a Gas…

    …literally. Teddy tooted all the way across New Mexico and half of Texas, which not only made for a rather unpleasant journey, but also a lot of–as it turns out–unnecessary stops at rest areas and truck plazas where we’d pile out of the car and I’d lead him around pleading, “Go potty, Teddy!” in as sweet a voice as…

  • Pissy Attitude Successfully Adjusted

    Okay, so the temperatures here in Tucson since my arrival last week have been cooler than normal, and the sunshine has been intermittent at best. Maybe not what I was counting on, but still, I’ve had hours-long stretches of sunshine to bask in on several occasions—which is way more than I was getting at home—and…

  • Random Ramblings from the Road

    Although I’ve had nearly two days to recuperate and gather my wits after three days on the road, I’m still not feeling particularly coherent. Moreover, I’m not feeling at all motivated to be coherent, so I’m just going to bullet-point a few random thoughts and observations about our adventures thus far: T. Boone Pickens–or someone…

  • Adjusting a Pissy Attitude

    Maybe it’s my hormones. Maybe it’s these goofy braces that cause me to make highly embarrassing, cow-stuck-in-the-mud sucking noises unwittingly in public. (Ever had a toot or a belch sneak out on you? Yeah, it’s like that.) Maybe it’s the fact that we’ve had less than a total of six hours of sunshine here in…

  • Escaping the ‘burbs

    When I was a kid in the 1960s, going to downtown Kansas City was a big deal. We always knew a week or so in advance that we were going and, on the big day, had to dress in our Sunday school clothes and nice shoes. We rarely went unless it was for a special…