This facility is the world headquarters for the peregrine fund in Boise, Idaho. Their primary mission is to preserve endangered raptor species through captive breeding, but they have impressive education programs that make it an amazing place to visit. If you’re like we were and aren’t entirely clear about what a raptor is and what…

I’ve been traveling in the winter backcountry for most of my life with no formal avalanche education. While most of my activities have been fairly low risk for avalanche exposure, and I’ve listened to some avalanche awareness presentations, I finally admit that those measures are not sufficient in the long term for my activities. It’s…

We go to the Indian Cove campground to watch the eclipse and then sleep in the tent. It’s cloudy when we leave, but occasional gaps in the clouds reveal glimpses of the moon, so we remain hopeful. Moonlit Clouds That’s the closest we get to a clear sky. Shortly after getting the tent set up…

Today we drive further into Joshua Tree to the Ryan Peak trail. We’re doing another hike, but I’m feeling growing urges to climb, for whatever reason. Ryan Peak Trailhead The summit provides great views over both the Colorado and Mojave deserts, but it’s hard to take your attention off of the alluring stacks of rock…

Even though she has a cold, Ann seizes this opportunity to take a train to her old neighborhood in Brooklyn and visit some friends. Meanwhile I spend a few more days in Vermont, then drive to Schenectady to pick her up at the train station there. (A little lesson from people who follow a lot…

Jason gives me a nice peek into the Plainfield community by taking me to a couple of fall events. The first is a harvest party, a pot luck featuring one of Jason’s lambs roasted whole and and fresh apple cider. There’s a cold wind, but everyone has themselves and their children wrapped in layers of…

We decide it’s time to embrace Wal-Mart’s liberal overnight parking policies for thrift and expediency of travel. For our first night, the hard part turns out to be finding the Wal-Mart. Our first attempts lands us at a closed store, cruising the abandoned lot in the rainy dark. Plan B is a nearby Target, which…

It’s time to say goodbye to mountains. Our last black hills campsite wasn’t far from 7,242-ft Harney Peak – the highest peak east of the rockies at about the same elevation as my birth town of Laramie, Wyoming. It seems like a good way to greet the plains is to visit the badlands. Badlands Our…

Our days have been so varied and interesting lately that I don’t mind so much when a more mundane occurrence consumes my birthday – our refrigerator quits working. We drive to Laramie to diagnose it, Annemarie and Huntington rescue us with ice, coolers, and a place to park for the night. We learn that the…