“…there are no endings, only pauses when we look for new beginnings once again.” ~Grace E. Easely These words to a poem I read and memorized years ago always come back to me when I get to the end of something. I think Grace Easely hit upon a genius idea when she realized that every…
Category: travel
Before I Die
If you haven’t heard of the Before I Die Wall, the idea started with artist Candy Chang of New Orleans, LA. A close friend of hers had died unexpectedly, prompting her to think about all the things she would regret not doing, if she were to die then. In response, she created a mural that…
Travel Diaries: California, the Heights
I didn’t visit the mountains in California during my road trip, but I’d been to a couple of different ones before and after. Idyllwild was the first mountain town I visited, just a couple of road hours outside L.A. It was mid August, with triple digit temperatures in the San Gabriel Valley. I thought I…
Travel Diaries: California, the Scenic Route
My 9-week road trip had largely been uneventful, until the end. None of the things I worried about had happened. My car didn’t break down or run out of gas. I wasn’t stranded in the middle of nowhere at night (or by day). I didn’t have to drive in heavy snow–this was a real concern…
Travel Diaries: San Francisco
One of the ways in which California surprised me was the variety in landscape. I suppose I hadn’t given it much thought before moving here. A number of mountain ranges surround Los Angeles, including the Santa Monica mountains, complete with deep canyons and cliffs that drop off into the sea in and around Malibu. One…
California Dreaming
There is so much to say about California that there is just no way I’ll be able to write about it in one post. I’ve moved to California twice, each time a little reluctantly. Each time from Texas. Apparently, There is no love lost between the two states, especially because Texans think that Texas is…
Travel Diaries: Oregon
My drive through Oregon during my 2013 road trip was a quick one. I didn’t even stop in Portland, but headed straight for Eugene to meet a friend for dinch. I had been to Portland the summer before, and I had greatly enjoyed being there as I had known I would. Several of my friends…
Travel Diaries: Washington
I finally realized why it’s taken me a year and a half to write the last few posts about my Summer 2013 road trip across the United States: every time I thought about my drive through the Western states (which are the ones I haven’t written about yet), I was overwhelmed by the feeling of…
Travel Diairies: Big Sky Country
I’d been to Montana two times before, but my visit this past summer was just magical. I was so exhausted from having driven over 8,000 miles at that point that all I could think of was getting some rest. I found it in Big Sky Country. Driving into Billings, MT from Rapid City, SD I…
Travel Diaries: The Dakotas and the Lakota
My visit to the Dakotas began in the North. I went to Fargo, ND to tour Bonanzaville, a village that preserves North Dakotan history. As soon as I walked into the Cass County Museum and viewed the different exhibits on Native American culture, I realized that I’d been catching glimpses of Native American history throughout…
Travel Diaries: Minneapolis
I saw a lot of farmland in Minnesota. Indeed, as one travels further West, urban skylines give way to the more pastoral scenery of ranches and farms. I didn’t get to see much of Minneapolis because my visit was short, and I also didn’t make it into its twin city, St. Paul. That will have…
Travel Diaries: Wisconsin
My first awareness of Wisconsin came through the children’s clothing company, Oshkosh B’Gosh, which I discovered was also headquartered in a Wisconsin city called Oshkosh. It was named after the Native American Menominee Chief Oshkosh, whose name means claw. Years later, I learned of Milwaukee and Madison, as I toyed with the idea of going…
Minda Magero 