Month: October 2017

Getting Ready to Write

Posted on by Annie

Facing a big challenge starts with the commitment to do what is necessary to succeed, following by the preparations to ensure that the goal is reached. I’ve made the commitment and I’m almost at the end of the preparations. This post is one of the last things on my list before the challenge begins. November is NaNoWriMo time, also known as National Novel Writing Month. The challenge: 30 days, 50,000 words. I’ve finished it nine times out of ten, and found it to be creative, agonizing, frustrating, and fun. Having to produce an average of 1667 words per day means…

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Weekly Update: Oct 25, 2017

Posted on by Annie

As if I’m not confused enough trying to keep calendar dates straight, this week I’ve been on the borderline of Central Time and Mountain Time, which “smart” phones and laptops that want to switch between them so I am never sure what the correct time is! I end up googling “What time is it in Denver?” at least once a day! It is fitting, then, that today I’ll make Denver, after five hours or so of highway driving. Let’s recap this crazy week: Wednesday: Drove 170 miles south from Minnesota to SE of Des Moines. Thursday: Drove 100 miles south…

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Lake Ogallala

Posted on by Annie

Way back in the day, my nephew, Kevin, and I had spent a night in the town of Ogallala. After a day spent in the car driving the length of Nebraska, I had promised him a movie, and that one-screen theater in Ogallala became my introduction to the X-Men series. I think of it every time I see one of those films. So when I needed an overnight pit stop this past spring, I went with Lake Ogallala State Recreation Area (SRA). It out to be beautiful beyond my expectations, and I was disappointed I was only staying the one…

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Sunday Serenity: Making the Time

Posted on by Annie

You might think that with semi-retirement and full-time vagabonding, I would have plenty of time to do everything. I thought that too, until I started living this lifestyle. Beside the usual grocery shopping, laundry, and cleaning tasks, there’s the “let’s move to a new campground” part that can take the better part of a day. This week has been one of those rare times where I’m moving quickly to get from Point A (Wisconsin) to Point B (Colorado). The weather is changing it up, so I want to get there a day earlier than planned, which means I’ve driven four…

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Iowa Back Roads

Posted on by Annie

The Interstate highways are great if you want to get from Point A to Point B as fast as possible. If you want to actually see the state you’re driving through, the back roads are the best. I’ve spent the last two days driving through Iowa, mostly because I’d never been here before and I wanted to see the small towns, the farms, and the wide open spaces I’d heard about. And Iowa did not disappoint. There are so many farms, massive places where the main house and outbuildings are completely surrounded and made small by the acres of fields…

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