Category: Travels for Fun
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California Odyssey
In December of 1979, the road once again called me. It was a time to head west, a time for vagabonding, a time to visit my birthplace and meet with my grandfather and father after 11 years of absence. My travels would take me to the Pacific coast, to Southern California, to the San Jacinto Mountains, to Baja California, and to Mazatlán, Mexico. I would see 11,200 kilometers of the road in 32 days. 7,200 of those kilometers would be by hitchhiking. In the evening of 21 December, I found myself…
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BIG BEAVER TRAIL
Hiked in August 1980 while I was working as a park ranger at the North Cascades National Park. Noted for its old-growth forest.
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DOWN UPON THE SUWANNEE RIVER
Spring Break. April 1980 Spring break is a time to head south and party on some Florida beach. After weathering a Wisconsin winter, I had Spring fever, no doubt about it. But I wasn’t keen about the beach party scene. So some mates and I decided to go canoeing in Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp. My hometown mate, Dan Hartman, lashed a couple of canoes on my dad’s Vista Cruiser and drove from Amery to Stevens Point to pick us up. My mates, Steve Eklund and Jay Peterson, were joined by our neighbours…
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BAJA’S RED CARPET
Just say the word. Baja. Think of towering cordon cacti, grotesque elephant trees and winding boojum trees. Baja. Imagine long-tailed man of war birds, sailing pelicans and plummeting brown footed boobies. Baja. Dream about a remote wilderness peninsula 1280 kilometers long where the footprints of man are as scarce as rainfall. Baja. The very name rings with adventure. And the name rang so loudly in my mind that I was compelled to experience it on my own. PROLOGUE Mexican Highway Number One chalked up another victim: a second class bus on…
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ALONE ON THE ICE AGE TRAIL
I took a walk through time recently. Matter of fact, I walked thru a period of the Earth’s history that occurred 10,000 to one million years ago. And I witnessed the remnants of a tremendous battle that occurred against a frozen invader. I walked a portion of the Ice Age Trail. I arrived at the Intersection of Forest Road 558 and the trail at dusk on a warm mid-October day. I had hitchhiked to the southern border of the Chequamegon National Forest in Taylor County in northern Wisconsin from Stevens Point,…
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RED BEANS AND RICE
Buster Holmes’ Bar and Restaurant. One of the ten best underground restaurants in New Orleans. Red Beans and Rice – $1.00. I read the poster tacked on the telephone pole until my stare went blank. The picture of a fat, smiling man wearing thick plastic glasses and a white apron remained in my mind. I dug deeply into my pocket and felt for loose change; I had about two dollars. “What the hell,” I said to myself. “I need a good meal.” Red beans and rice would make my stomach dance…
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THE HITCH TO NEW ORLEANS
In March of 1979, I set out from home in Stevens Point, Wisconsin to catch some warmer weather during Spring Break. I didn’t have a plan but thought I’d try New Orleans. Below is an unedited copy of my journal notes. I brought my camera but rarely pulled it out during the hitch. 22 March (written on 25 March) I’m a bit curious about what will happen to me and where I’ll go in the next 11 days but for the most part I am confident things will go well. At…
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THAIPUSAM: A HINDU EXPERIENCE WITH PENITENCE
I stood among the faithful, the air thick with incense and devotion, witnessing a ritual that blurred the line between pain and transcendence. Each step was a surrender, each chant a prayer etched in flesh and spirit. I left not as an observer, but as someone quietly changed.
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