Category Archives: Travel

Travel

Lava Fields in the Wind and Rain – Craters of the Moon

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Craters of the Moon, ID –

Bleak.

That’s what it looks like to me.

I’m glad that I didn’t have to cross this stretch on foot.

Or in a wagon train as a settler, for that matter.

The stories are all bleak.

The miles and miles of nothing but cinders underfoot.

Like millions of tiny razors, cutting and slicing.

Reducing foot and hoof to a bloody mess.

Makes me glad that I’m visiting now, and not back then.

Now, when we’ve got good pavement to drive on.

And good shoes to walk in.

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Travel

Zipping Through the Jungle – Zip Lining in Costa Rica

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Miramar, Costa Rica –

“Don’t step on the wood. It’s slick.”

Now you tell me.

We were about three quarters of the way through the series of zip lines. Twenty-five of them to be exact. And we had about a half-dozen still to go.

But to get to the next line, we had to hike down a series of steps carved into the mountain side.

These steps consisted of mostly dirt, with a wooden board acting as a retaining wall, at the edge of each step.

I had just put too much of my weight on the wood retainer at the edge of one of those steps.

And I had just gone flying down the mountain side, but not on any of the zip lines.

I went flying, on my butt, down several of the steps…

Ouch!

Actually, it was more of a whoops than an ouch.

It didn’t hurt.

As long as I didn’t move.

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Travel

Snow Tubing High in the Alps – A Visit to the Tobogganing Park

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Leysin, Switzerland –

I’ve been watching.

The older teens like to spin themselves before launching.

They also seem to get the highest on the banks of the turns.

Maybe there’s something to their technique worth trying.

So, on my next run, I sit and work to start myself spinning as I start to slide down the slope.

Down, around, up the bank of the turn, down and then up the bank of the next turn, and I’m at the bottom of the run.

It’s all over way too soon.

And soon enough, our two-hour window is over, and we’re turning in our tubes.

We’re tired, but it’s the good type of tired.

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Travel

Sandal-Making the Old Way – Visiting an Indigenous Village

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Cotocatchi, Ecuador –

The man paused to rest for a moment.

He had just reduced an agave petal to a set of threads.

And he had done this by setting it against a long board that he was holding against his body, and running a rock up and down the length of the petal.

And then, he was back in motion again, picking up another agave petal and starting again.

We had witnessed him doing this to several petals already, and he would continue for several more.

All to reduce the petals to the fibers trapped inside.

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Libations, Travel

A Day Amongst The Vines – Touring the Napa Wineries

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Napa, CA –

This is the life!

A glass of wine, a bite of food…

And someone else to do the driving.

I can see a couple of issues with touring wineries in the Napa Valley area.

Since I’m not from around there, I don’t know where the good ones are to go to for tours and tastings.

And since they involve drinking alcoholic beverages, driving might be an issue.

At least after visiting two or three.

Of course, I could just take advantage of an available spit bucket, and only taste the wine without swallowing it.

But where’s the fun in that?

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Travel

A Visit To The Mountaintop – Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep

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Chaing Mai, Thailand –

Yes, I know what they say.

“To find enlightenment, you must climb to the top of the mountain.”

How about I just ride the cable car instead?

It’s faster, and easier on the knees.

Yes, you lose the time spent in contemplation, as you are laboring your way up.

One step in front of the next.

But on the cable car, when you get to the top, you’re not nearly as out of breath.

At least for those of us not in great shape.

Plus, you avoid all of the people tempting you with trinkets or treats, trying to part you from your money, on the way up.

It’s much easier to say no when you’re going down the stairs and not huffing and puffing.

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Travel

A Long Soak in a Thermal Spa Pool

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Papallacta, Ecuador –

It was a cold, wet day. The rain falling non-stop.

We had planned on doing a little hiking around, to see what might be there to be seen, but the weather had other plans.

Well, seeing the sights wasn’t why we had come to Papallacta, so I guess it was only fitting that we wouldn’t get to see them, whatever they might be.

Even if it hadn’t been raining, it’s not like we would have been able to see much of anything. The fog took care of that.

That’s the thing about the weather, it doesn’t care what you have planned, it’s going to do what it wants.

And today, it seems to want us to spend our day being wet.

And cold.

And miserable.

But we had other plans…

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Travel

Living on Tonlé Sap

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Siem Reap, Cambodia –

It was dark.

So dark, I couldn’t see anything. Not even my hand in front of my face.

Yet on we glided, through the darkness, navigating the vegetation-lined water pathways back to the dock.

The rain continued to fall, and with no moon, stars, or any other visible light to guide us, I was placing complete faith in the boat driver to find our way.

On our way out, I had seen an occasional boat off in the trees, looking as if the driver had lost his way and crashed into the trees that rose from the meter-deep water.

Now I could understand how that might have happened without any sort of driver impairment.

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Food, Travel

Christmas in the Rhine Valley

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Boppard, Germany –

Sometimes, you don’t know why you do what you do. You just act on intuition.

Other times, you definitely know why you do something.

This was one of those times that fell somewhere in between.

Something had prompted us to pull off the highway, and go walking around town.

I just don’t remember what it was…

We had spent the night in Cologne. And luckily, our hotel had put out a very good breakfast spread for the guests.

But as we were leaving, we saw that they were putting out an even better spread for their employees, friends, and family. It was Christmas day, and they wanted to celebrate.

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