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Remember that Purple Cow

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Nature, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , , , on October 23, 2012| 8 Comments »

“Hitler didn’t travel. Stalin didn’t travel. Saddam Hussein never traveled. They didn’t want to have their orthodoxy challenged.” — Howard Gardner

The purple cow at Highway 340 North Campground near Waynesboro, Virginia. — Photo by Pat Bean

Adventures with Pepper: Days 29-30

            Only a few days have passed since my mind wondered and wandered during a drive through Indiana in which I quoted “I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one …” to my canine traveling companion, Pepper.

Just in case you’re not into purple cows, what do you think about butterflies. I photographed this near the purple cow. — Photo by Pat Bean

Well, at the end of my gorgeous day’s drive through Shenandoah National Park, I was confronted with a purple cow. How funny, I thought, as I checked into the Highway 340 North RV Park just outside of Waynesboro, Virginia.

As almost all the places I had stayed at during the trip, it was quite nice with lots of friendly people. I decided to stay over a day and catch up on laundry and writing before I began my drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway

Book Report: I didn’t travel today and Travels with Maggie benefitted. The book is now up to 56,782 words.  It was a fun rewriting day as I got to relive my trip to Hawk Mountain with my oldest granddaughter, Shanna.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Fall colors in Minnesota http://tinyurl.com/9d3wjfq I never tire of Mother Nature’s autumn. How about you?

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Skyline Trail through Shenandoah

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 22, 2012| 9 Comments »

Layers and layers of colors ending in blue. — Photo by Pat Bean

“Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves.”
—Carol Pearson

Adventures with Pepper: Day 29

The wildflower season along Skyline Trail had ended, but their were still a few flowers, like this small beauty with drops of rain still coating its leaves, to be seen. — Photo by Pat Bean

While the rain had stopped, the morning was still overcast. It was going to be a dreary drive through Shenandoah National Park, I thought.

But then Mother Nature took pity on me. I had just barely started my day’s drive down the park’s 105-mile Skyline Trail when the sun came out and bathed the landscape with its light.

Rain drops on leaves glistened in the sunlight and the passing foliage took on a warm glow.

The leaves of the maples, oaks, elms, beeches, aspens and many others, were a variegated palette of color. They reminded me of the mixed-color yarn my mother often used in making afghans. If she were using Mother Nature’s half-summer/half-autumn colors this day, her crocheted blankets would range in hues from green to lemon yellow with shades of orange, plum and scarlet in between.

Rag Mountain framed by an old dead tree I found interesting. — Photo by Pat Bean

Shenandoah National Park is a long, narrow mixture of lands and forests woven together in a landscape protected for both its beauty and its wildness. Its Skyline Trail is a narrow, winding, hilly road with a 35 mph speed limit designed as the way for people in cars to enjoy it.

With 75 overlooks – I know I stopped at least half of them – and inviting trails leading away from the smell of the road,  Pepper and I found many reasons to at least briefly abandon Gypsy Lee, out home on wheels. .

It took me over seven hours to get through the park.  It would have been longer if I hadn’t have wanted to get off the road and Gypsy Lee hooked up to civilization before dark.

Book Report: Just to keep it moving forward, I added another few words, bringing Travels with Maggie up to 56,103. I think for the next two weeks, until I get off the road for a bit, the book is truly going to be moving at a snail’s pace. I have writing commitments for Story Circle Network of which I’m a board member and other priorities this coming week, plus other priorities on this current journey. I hope I’m not just making excuses.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day

Bean’s Pat: Unusual Travel Tradition http://tinyurl.com/9f3amqx This blogger sees the funny side of travel. A new find for me.

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Sitting in the Rain in Front Royal, Virginia

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Dogs, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 20, 2012| 1 Comment »

            “Into each life some rain must fall.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow  

Adventures with Pepper: Day 28

Earlier in the season, the playground and pool at Front Royal RV Park would have been cheery and bright. In the rainy day I was there, it just looked empty and forlorn. — Photo by Pat Bean

            After yesterday’s long, hard drive, I knew I was going to sit this day out at the Front Royal RV Park.

It was a big campground, and it was getting ready to close for the season. Unlike southern RV parks, which stay open all year, more northern ones start closing down as early as mid-September. Except for half a dozen RVs with a permanent look about them, and a couple of late evening drop-ins, I had the park to myself.

It would have been a great opportunity for a couple of long walks to stretch my legs and give my 10-month-old canine traveling companion, Pepper, an opportunity to use up some of her excess of energy.

Pepper watching the rain an oh so wanting to go outside and play. — Photo by Pat Bean

But it had started raining shortly after I had pulled into the campground, and it didn’t let up the entire day.The short walks Pepper and I took during slack times were with an umbrella for me, and a towel waiting inside of the door of Gypsy Lee to dry off my four-footed friend.

The rest of the time, she and I watched the world behind rain-drop spotted windows.

Book Report: Still stuck. I needed and took a day of rejuvenation yesterday, and wrote not a single word on any of my writing projects, including this blog.

Bean’s Pat:   No recommendation from the Wondering Wanderer today either. My list of ones I wanted to give a Bean’s Pat vanished. I think it had something to do with my trying to clean up my computer.

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Stalled By Rain, I Turn to Computer Games

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 8, 2012| 2 Comments »

 “And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.” Gilbert K. Chesterton

Adventures with Pepper: Days 15-17  

On my earlier trip to Hannibal — when it was sunny — I climbed the 253 steps to the top of Cardiff Hill. At the foot of the hill is a statue of Tom and Huck. — Photo by Pat Bean

 I stayed over this day at the Mark Twain Landing campground, taking advantage of the scenic park to catch up on my writing. My plan was to get back on the road the next day. But a thundering rain storm, which began during the night and continued into the day, pushed that plan out the window.  While my RV, Gypsy Lee, takes steep hills and winding curves with ease, she doesn’t do slick well. Frustrated that my well-thought-out day of travel had gone awry, I spent most of the day playing computer games. I hate it when I do that.  It was still overcast the next morning but I took off anyway, stopping at the large Wal-Mart in Hannibal, about 20 miles east of the Landing campground, to stock up my depleted pantry. When I came out from my shopping, it was raining again, steadily and hard with no indication it would be stopping anytime soon.

At the top of the hill was the Mark Twain Lighthouse, which was built in 1935 to commemorate what would have been the witty author’s 100th birthday. It was never a working lighthouse. — Photo by Pat Bean

Time, I decided, to put Plan B into action.

I had passed through Hannibal, coming from another direction and headed another direction, in 2006. I had stayed that time at the Injun Joe Campground just outside of Hannibal on Highway 61. I back-tracked there now and settled in for the rest of the day.

This time I actually did get a little writing done, and a lot of reading, too.

Book Report: “Travels with Maggie” now at 54,915 words. Long drives and other projects keep the book moving at a snail’s pace. But I’m happy as long as there’s at least a little progress.

Bean’s Pat: Fly like an eagle http://tinyurl.com/8fauggm or soar like a red-tailed hawk.  The soaring red-tail, with sun highlighting its naming feature, is a common sight in my travels. It’s one that always makes my heart soar right up there with it. But I’ve never been able to photograph the flight. I’m so glad this blogger captured the awesomeness.

 

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Home on the Range with the Pony Express

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Dogs, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 4, 2012| 2 Comments »

“The first trip of the Pony Express was made in ten days – an average of two hundred miles a day. But we soon began stretching our riders and making better time.” – Buffalo Bill

Pony Express statue in St. Joseph, Missouri. — Wikipedia photo

Adventures with Pepper: Day 13 Continued

            Wow! Two hundred miles a day on horseback!. That’s almost exactly how many miles Pepper and I would be traveling today as we made our way from Prairie Dog State Park to Seneca, Kansas, on Highway 36.

The small pond at the Stallbaumer RV Park in Seneca, Kansas, where Pepper and I spent a quiet night. — Photo by Pat Bean

Our route took us in an almost straight line through Northern Kansas’ agriculture fields, most of which had already been harvested. A sign also told us we were passing through the birthplace of “Home on the Range.”We were also traveling the route of the Pony Express, which began in St. Joseph, Missouri, and went all the way to Sacramento, California. Historical markers, and an occasional hill-top silhouette of a pony rider reminded of this every few miles.

Red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures and one prairie falcon, well at least one I could identify, soared above as we passed. It was easy to identify the red-tails by the vibrant color of their tails, and the vultures were easily identified by the way they flew and the white pattern on the underside of their tails.

It took me much longer to identify the falcon, however, and I guessed it simply by the shape of its wings. As always, I wondered what it would be like to have the freedom of flight.

And so went this day’s drive, a bit of history, a bit of folk art, and a lot of wondering.

Book Report: I’m staying put today and haven’t got to working on Travels with Maggie yet – but I will. I gave my early morning, the time when I write best, to a paying writing gig, which I’ll announce at a later date.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat:  Daily Diversion http://tinyurl.com/8j6qhyo Just a reminder that there are things we can do when not connected the internet. Besides, I like the dog.

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Green River and Sandhill Cranes

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Birds, Favorite Places, Nature, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , , on September 20, 2012| 6 Comments »

            “In rivers the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time.” Leonardo da Vinci

Adventures with Pepper: Day Six continued

View of the Green River from the Dinosaur National Monument quarry overlook. — Photo by Pat Bean

            My detour off Highway 40 to Dinosaur National Monument on a rural back road followed the Green River as it flowed down to join the Mighty Colorado River.

Not a slouch in itself the Green, which begins in the Wind River Mountains of  Wyoming, is 730 miles long and a major tributary of the Colorado.

I had rafted this section of the river, through Split Mountain Gorge into Dinosaur National Monument, back in the late 1980s, and I had canoed a section of the river from Ouray to Sand Wash in the 1970s.

So while I have a fondness for all rivers, I have a special fondness for the Green. It was an expected pleasure to watch its passage from behind the wheel of Gypsy Lee this morning.

What wasn’t expected was the flock of sandhill cranes in a meadow near the river. I had to stop for these.

A flock of great blue herons in an irrigated agriculture field just outside the entrance to Dinosaur National Monument near Vernal, Utah.

The herons were an unexpected sight, the kind that continues to make travel so alluring to this wondering wanderer.

Book Report: Travels with Maggie now at 50,402 words. Over half-way there. Yea!

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Running with Scissortails http://tinyurl.com/8q45ucg One of these things is not like the other. Personally, I hang out with scissortails at every opportunity, but I’ve never seen scissor-tailed flycatchers anywhere but Texas.

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City of Rocks

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Birds, Dogs, Nature, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“If you see a whole thing – it seems that it’s always beautiful. Planets, lives … But up close a world’s all dirt and rocks. And day-to-day, life’s a hard job.” – Ursula K.Le Guin

This photo doesn’t do City of Rocks justice but it was the best one I took because of being so pressed for time. — Photo by Pat Bean

Adventures with Pepper: Day One

            I took a longer detour than I had expected yesterday when I visited City of Rocks State Park in Southern Idaho on my way to Ogden, Utah, where I’ll be staying for the next few days before the real start of my journey begins.

But I was quite pleased with the shot I got up an osprey hig up in a tree over the Snake River. — Photo by Pat Bean

The reason that it was longer is that a bridge was out, and I had to double back to continue on my journey. It also made me pressed for time because I needed to get into Ogden in time for a party and a play my friend, Kim, had planned for our evening activities.

The City of Rocks is just that. It was a landmark for early pioneers traveling the California Trail. Just as impressive as the jumble of rocks that today are a haven for rock climbers — sadly I didn’t have time to do much exploring or picture-taking – was the City of Rocks Back Country Scenic Byway that encircled the Albion Mountains. And I got to see it twice.

My lack of time was also due to the fact that I had dawdled earlier in the morning, taking Maggie for one last long walk in Lake Walcott, and then spending a bit of time beside the Snake River to watch the parade of pelicans that lazed below the Minidoka Dam. And then there was the awesome osprey that was also hanging out beside the river that stopped me for a while, too.

Book Report: Travels with Maggie has grown to 43,888 words. I got up early and wrote this morning.

Bean’s Pat:  Since my internet connection is acting like a pouting brat who won’t come out of her room today, I haven’t been able to do much blog browsing. So the only Pat the Wondering Wanderer is giving out today is one to me for getting up early and writing, even though I partied until late last night.

Well, maybe also to the crew and actors of Avenue Q, the play I saw at the Rose Wagner Theater in Salt Lake City. I had never seen a raunchy puppet show before, and my friend was afraid I would be offended. I wasn’t. I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my seat. Despite its X rating, the play had a positive upbeat message. I mean how can you get offended at naked puppets, whose bodied ended at their midriffs, having sex.

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Favorite Things: A Bit of Whimsy

Posted in Art, Birds, Favorite Places, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on September 4, 2012| 5 Comments »

I Often Fine It in Zoos

This artist captured a scene I can remember from when I had a young son and we had a cat. Albuquerque, New Mexico, Zoo — Photo by Pat Bean

“In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine.” – Ralph Waldo Anderson

Frolicking young elephants at the Dallas, Texas, Zoo. — Photo by Pat Bean

 

Grinning hippo, Henson Robinson Zoo, Springfield, Illinois. — Photo by Pat Bean

When I travel, I often stop to visit zoos along the way. Besides my job at watching animals, especially if the zoos have given them adequate habitats to meet their needs and keep them happy, the grounds are usually full of botanical wonders. These green spaces also attract wild birds, which is why I always carry by binoculars with me when I visit. An extra bonus are the artistic efforts that have take place to enhance the zoo experience. Most zoos I have visited offer animal artists to show off their talents, often in a whimsical way that makes me smile.  Book Report: Travels with Maggie now at 42,248 words. Not a lot accomplished over the Labor Day weekend. I worked in the entrance kiosk here at Lake Walcott on Saturday and Sunday, and then hosted friends for a Labor Day picnic and day of playing Skip-Bo. I’m hoping to get in a good stretch of writing this afternoon.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Serenity Spell http://tinyurl.com/cjyxyg8 I love this little squirrel and the blog’s message to look for the magical things in the universe.

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Favorite Places: Lake Walcott

Posted in Art, Birds, Favorite Places, Lakes, Nature, Travel, Travels With Maggie, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 31, 2012| 5 Comments »

            “To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.” George Santayana

            The above quote fit my blog, but the one below made me laugh.  I couldn’t decide which one to post with my column, so I’m sharing both.

            “A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing and the lawn mower is broken.”—James Dent.

The sage brush in an area adjacent to the Lake Walcott campground is beginning to think it’s already autumn. — Photo by .Pat Bean

Summer Comes, Summer Goes

The brown-headed cowbirds that earlier thronged my bird feeders have already migrated elsewhere — Sketch by Pat Bean

            I can’t believe my summer at Lake Walcott State Park in Southern Idaho is coming to an end. But then they do say time flies when you’re having fun.This green, manicured park that sits beside the lake and the Snake River is an oasis in a dry high desert region that this year has been plagued by wildfires. While it was a hotter summer here than last, it was still heaven compared to central and south Texas weather, where I usually spend the winters. There, they not only have the heat but high humidity as well.

I have three children in those regions who frequently remind me how lucky I am not to be there.

But the house sparrows, as noted from the ones feeding beneath my bird feeder just this morning, are still sticking around. — Photo by Pat Bean

Last year when I arrived at the park, it was still winter and the trees were bare. This year, on the exact same day, May 15th, it was 90 degrees when I arrived and the trees were already full of leaves. It cooled off, however, and it was almost July before I had to start using my RV’s air conditioner daily.

Now, I’m seeing signs of fall creep into the park. Many of the park’s birds, like the colorful Bullock’s orioles and the American goldfinch are already migrating south. Most robins, as well. Instead of seeing dozens of these birds on my walks through the park, I’m now lucky to see one.

Book Report: Travels with Maggie, 41,820 re-edited words. Not much progress but I’m hoping to spend all afternoon working on the book. I decided to blog earlier today and clear my decks. A young blogger asked today what was the best writing advice his readers had ever received. I told him, it’s “Write! Write! Write!”  

The wondering wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

          Bean’s Pat: Lifescapes: The Texas Hill Country http://dld.bz/bJNbr The sounds of summer. This is a blog for nature lovers written by Susan Wittig Albert, author of the China Bayles mystery series written for herb and plant lovers. .

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Okefenokee Swamp: Part Two

Posted in Favorite Places, Nature, Travel, Travels With Maggie, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on August 16, 2012| 6 Comments »

Buttercup: “That’s the Fire Swamp. We’ll never survive.”

Wesley: “nonsense! You’re only saying that because no one ever has.”

— From the Princess Bride by William Goldman

Note: Yesterday I used part one of a  travel writing class assignment as my blog. The second part,  which is below, was to write about the same subject with a different voice. Do you think I succeeded?

It’s All About How You Write It

A Pogo welcome to Swamp Park — Photo by Pat Bean

A million years ago, a sand bar along Georgia’s Atlantic coastline cut a basin off from the sea, eventually creating a freshwater wetlands that extended the state’s coast by 75 miles. We know that wetlands today as The Okefenokee Swamp, a place made famous by the antics of Walt Kelly’s political comic strip “Pogo.”

I got my first look at  this home to alligators, lakes (60 of them), screaming panthers, and a dozen islands at Swamp Park, a small section of the 600-square mile whole located near where the 266-mile long Suwannee River begins life. The Okefenokee also gives live to the 90-mile long St. Mary River and both streams flow through the park to the ocean..

Park gardeners had a fondness for green animals. — Photo by Pat Bean

Okefenokee means trembling, or trampoline, earth, a reference to the land’s spongy moss base.

It was autumn when I visited but wild flowers were still growing and green leaves peeked out from the thick strands of moss that drooped from tree limbs.  In an attempt to mimic Disneyland, a  black, red and gold painted engine dubbed the Lady Suwanee took passengers on a tour around the park, past huge stands of saw palmetto, a chickee (a raised wooden platform with a thatch roof used as a shelter by Indians), and past a moonshine still. Bootleggers once found the swamp a handy place to hide from the law.

Book Report: Travels with Maggie now stands at 35,367 words.  I spent all morning rewriting, which is why you got something already written for my blog. I hope you didn’t mind.

Bean’s Pat: The Serenity Game http://tinyurl.com/bw3m6bk I like this take on “Atlas Shrugged,” a book I read at a time when I was rearranging my entire world.

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