Osa, Costa Rica: December, 2021 Continued from: Costa Rica: Coconuts on the Playa Costa Rica is the most biodiverse place on Earth, and nowhere is this more true than the Osa Peninsula, which doglegs out from the southwestern coast between Uvita and the border with Panama. This area of impenetrable and unbroken mountainous jungle is aboutContinue reading “Costa Rica: Swinging with Sloths”
Tag Archives: active travel
The Greenest Mountains: Burlington and a Big Red Bus
Jeffersonville, VT: June, 2021 It wasn’t far after crossing the Champlain Bridge that I began to notice signs in both English and French and saw Vermont’s namesake mountains paralleling the lake shore. It could have been self-manifesting confirmation bias but the trees really did look greener, as if they permanently retained the squint-inducing electric limeContinue reading “The Greenest Mountains: Burlington and a Big Red Bus”
Australia Pt. 6 – Northward: Going Troppo in the Gum Trees
Mount Molloy, QLD – June, 2011 Continued from: Australia Pt. 5 – James Cook University: Aussie-isms and the Poison Room Continued here: Australia Pt. 7 – Following the Endeavour: Camping with Critters and a Tour of the Shire If you can look past the driver sitting on the opposite side, school busses are the same across hemispheresContinue reading “Australia Pt. 6 – Northward: Going Troppo in the Gum Trees”
The Manchester Road Race: A 4.748 Mile Thanksgiving Parade
Manchester, CT: November, 2017 Unlike further inland, the trees of the coastal northeast retain their leaves a bit later – the crunchy, half-shriveled ones that look as if they were photographed in sepia tone and make a scrape when they finally fall onto the pavement and blow across serpentine Connecticut lanes between century old stoneContinue reading “The Manchester Road Race: A 4.748 Mile Thanksgiving Parade”
South of the Bay: A Layover in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Point Lobos
Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA: September, 2019 “In your piece on San Francisco, I’d like to be referred to as ‘the Baron Salvatore Luis IV or else you cannot use my likeness” – My brother Mike, after reading the first two installments in this series. It was checkout time at the hotel and I had a flight toContinue reading “South of the Bay: A Layover in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Point Lobos”
Below Treeline: Spring in Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain NP, CO – May, 2017 We entered the National Park during a driving rainstorm after a perfectly clear drive up from Lyons. Longs Peak was shrouded in several layers of gray, after appearing dauntingly above the foothills for most of the trip. Pyramidal with snow covering the top third, Longs Peak looks likeContinue reading “Below Treeline: Spring in Rocky Mountain National Park”
North of the Bay: Redwoods and Sonoma with my Brother
Sonoma County, CA: September, 2019 I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in the northbound lane again, this time by car and with my brother. We had one last full day in the Bay Area and wanted explore the areas north of the city, mostly the coast and redwood forests of Marin and Sonoma Counties butContinue reading “North of the Bay: Redwoods and Sonoma with my Brother”
Lanterns and Microbats: A Nighttime Tour of Mammoth Cave
Mammoth Cave NP, KY: August, 2018 Mammoth Cave National Park is the nearest to where I live, just edging out Cuyahoga Valley by minutes, but I had yet to visit. It is not named for the prehistoric elephantine species, but the cave’s position as the world’s largest, though the adjective itself comes from the iceContinue reading “Lanterns and Microbats: A Nighttime Tour of Mammoth Cave”
The Actual Southernmost Point: Then and Now on Florida’s Beaches
Key West, Fl – May, 2019 (Key West Trilogy Part 1 and Part 3 here) This one actually starts at…. Panama City Beach, June (I think) 1996 (I think): Dad spotted a conch lying on the seabed about ten feet below the surface and told me to stay where my feet could touch the sandyContinue reading “The Actual Southernmost Point: Then and Now on Florida’s Beaches”
The Hopeful Blues: Memphis and the St. Jude Half Marathon
Memphis, TN: December, 2018 –Tennessee is said to have three Grand Divisions, physiocultural regions represented by the three stars on the state flag and on the Titans logo: East – Mountains – Bluegrass Music – Smokies Central – Plateau – Country Music – Nashville West – Delta – Blues Music – Memphis The northeast tipContinue reading “The Hopeful Blues: Memphis and the St. Jude Half Marathon”
Hug, The Traveler* 