Sorry, but my transitioning back to the East Coast has caused me to fall behind with my posting here. This is the first of three posts that will have to serve as placeholders until I can find time to catch up. Only this one will be published in the meantime with references to all three …
Did I mention that I’m a Trekker (okay, Trekkie, whatever)? I first started watching the original series in syndication in the early 1970s. In the early 1990s, I attended my first Star Trek convention in Tallahassee, Florida, while I was a grad student at Florida State University. While my personal collection of Trek mostly consists …
I am a North Carolinian, born and raised, but I have now spent nearly a third of my life in Iowa. I decided I wanted to take in some parts of my adopted home that I haven’t visited before I hie myself back to the East Coast. As usual when I plan a trip like …
When I first started sharing stories and pictures about my travels, I had set up the blogs on WordPress, taking advantage of their free service. However, I’ve noticed that the free service has been adding more and more advertising to the pages, whereas this blog–which uses WordPress to create the posts but is hosted on …
I’ve been back from my three-day tour of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Voyageurs National Park for two days at the point I created this post, and both parks are still on my mind. What an impression each made on me in such a short time! Folks crowd onto Yellowstone, Yosemite and other big parks–and …
I had new tires placed on SB this past Friday morning and, on impulse, decided I needed a short test drive before putting her on the road for a more extended trip. So I decided to do a quickie trip to Le Claire, Iowa, a 130-mile trip that is almost a straight drive down I-80 …
On my birthday (Thursday, September 17th), I took my usual day off. I decided to do some car shopping while I awaited the final steps before the insurance company claimed RB. My research had led me to decide on the Kia Soul for my next car. The closest dealership is in Des Moines, so I …
My 2006 Food 500, which I’ve dubbed the Red Barron (or RB for short) because of the way she handled herself on the road and anywhere I deigned to take her, and I have been through a lot since I bought her in 2009. I’ve noted many of our road adventures on this site …
Unfortunately, the forecast of cold, rainy and windy weather for most of Saturday was absolutely correct. Since Sunday’s forecast was for more of the same, and I really had no interest in dealing with the anticipated crowds of the following weekend’s Tulip Time festival, I decided to just go and hope for the best. Pella, …
I’ve lived in Iowa for nearly 12 years and only visited Pella twice, neither time when the town’s famous tulips were in bloom. A library colleague has reminded me that this is tulip season there, and she found on her visit there yesterday, they are, indeed, in glorious bloom. So, I’ve decided to further delay …