Category: United States

Bucket List: Manatees!

Posted on by Annie

I don’t know why, but I’ve always loved the idea of manatees. I even picked Save the Manatees for my trailer’s Florida license plate. I tried to see some last winter, but the unseasonable cold had chased them out to the Gulf and my niece and I came up empty in Crystal River. When friends camping two hours south said they’d kayaked with manatees this last week, I realized I might have a shot. I was heading south anyways to meet up with some RVing buds and the park with the manatees was literally on the way home. I practiced folding and…

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New Mexico

Posted on by Annie

A year ago this month, I was hanging out in New Mexico, enjoying the desert landscapes. Some people might be heading to the great Southwest this winter, so here’s a few of my favorite places from 2017. And for those of us who aren’t going west this winter, here’s some ideas to dream about over the winter. About as far north as we’re going to get in this post is central New Mexico and Elephant Butte State Park. Bring your kayak or paddleboard, it’s a big lake. Most of the spots have hookups, but are not on the waterfront. Those…

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Tennessee Mountain Cemetery

Posted on by Annie

A dead-end road, a small sign, and a short walk uphill to a shady spot overlooking the river. That’s all it took to give a sense of place here in Carter County, Tennessee. Most of the gravestones are old, moss-covered, with the words engraved barely readable. There are a few newer ones, the granite sporting the shiny finish more common now that in the old days. That doesn’t matter, the families know who is buried where and they leave plastic flowers to remember those gone before. The graveyard is next to a tiny white clapboard church, one of the many…

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Sunday Serenity: Forest Bathing

Posted on by Annie

As the political scene heats up and the winter cold starts becoming a reality, let’s take a few minutes for virtual walk through the Cherokee Forest in Tennessee. Here’s the start of our trail, that red rectangle, or blaze, on the tree to the left. The Japanese call this Shinrin-yoku or forest bathing because it is truly a cleansing thing: to be surrounded by nature, from trees overhead to mushrooms and moss underfoot, with birds calling out as they fly across the sky. Look up and see the colors changing, nature on its steady cycle forward. See the harmony of…

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Chihuly at Biltmore

Posted on by Annie

Art in musuems is fine, but when the art goes three-dimensional and outdoors, it’s an immersive experience and I love it even more. Such was yesterday’s visit to the Biltmore Estate and the Chihuly glass exhibit. It was foggy when I arrived for the morning visit, making the photography easier than dealing with direct sunlight and glare on the glass pieces. There were a lot of the classic Chihuly shapes, familiar to me since I lived in Seattle and visited the Chihuly exhibit there several times. What is most striking about the daytime visit is how well the glass installations…

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