There are so many aspects of culture that we take for granted. Who stops to wonder why our cities use billboards to advertise? or why our cars are named as they are? or why we expect schools to be free but not health care? One aspect of culture I have been wondering about and have…
The story of people in the Grand Canyon reaches back to prehistory. On our trip through the canyon, we would interrupt our leisurely drifting from time to time to visit sites used by early Native Americans, or more properly, ancient Puebloans, who established seasonal encampments on the eroded slopes of the canyon walls. These included…
We read that our next destination, the medieval city of Bruges in northern Belgium was known in years past for its textile industry, but that today it is best known as a place to find excellent beer and chocolate. While Aaron drooled at the shops with hundreds of amazing beers in the windows, Mali and…
In planning our visit to Iceland, one of the things I looked forward to was visiting a geothermal power plant, something I had been interested in for some time since the health of our planet hangs in the balance. As our world becomes increasingly enamored with electronic devices, we need a way to provide the…
Several friends have asked a bit about our everyday life on the road. What do we do to fill our time? What didn’t we know that we wished we had known? How have our habits changed and which therefore leads me to wonder how have we changed? Our lives have finely slowed down significantly, as…
The region we descended through traveling from Navajo Lake to our entry point on the Colorado River at Lee’s Ferry is another of those under appreciated areas of the Southwest. As we entered Arizona (my first time in this state!), we skirted the Vermillion Cliffs, a magnificent sandstone cliff face of varying colored layers carved…
An aspect of traveling that I enjoy is seeing another culture’s alternative solution to a problem. This was no where more apparent than the Dutch solution for around-town transportation: the Bicycle. As my daughter said, “The Dutch got it goin’ on with commuting!” Bikes were everywhere when we arrived, on every path and down…
Strolling through the red light district on a cloudy Dutch day is one of the basic characteristics of a local tourist. As I meandered down the cobble stone roads, flanked on one side by the luminescent red glow of individual rooms with barely clad women advertising their bodies, and erotic shops; and on the…
One of my former pastimes was using the Stumble Upon function on the internet whereby one can spontaneously “stumble” with one press of a button, upon a website that you would likely be interested in. I say “former” because recently my internet time is preciously hoarded for blogging time, and because the majority of…
After a spectacular night viewing the Milky Way from the the sunset vista at Bryce Canyon National Park, we broke camp the next morning with the intention of heading to camp at Zion. A fellow camper said we needed to arrive by noon to even get a spot, so we reviewed the map and found…