Eight
Grayton State Park, Florida, U.S. – In which we make it to the sunny, white sand beaches of Florida for Elliott's eighth birthday.
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Friends of a Long Year is a weekly, private mailing list bringing stories to your inbox like the olden days. It's written in the spirit of Mary Austin. It was once called Place Without a Postcard, which neatly summarizes what I like to write about.
Archive
I Like New Orleans Better
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. – New Orleans is a remarkable place. I can't tell you what makes it so magical, but it's the only city we care to visit.
Galveston Sings
Galveston Island State Park, Texas, U.S. – Padre Island storms push us north to Galveston Island where we can't escape the rain, but at least has some indoor attractions.
November Sun
Goose Island State Park, Texas, U.S. – A welcome warm spell on the beaches of Port Aransas.
Halloween and the Big City
Plano, Texas, U.S. – What's a broken shifter cable when you've got places to be?
Going Down Swinging
Lake Arrowhead State Park, Texas, U.S. – Can you take apart your valve train, change out your head gaskets when you don't know what you're doing?
Rodeos and Fur Trading Posts
Lamar, Colorado, U.S. – When in Lamar, check out the rodeo if you can, and definitely make time for Bent's Old Fort.
Broken Down In Lamar
Lamar, Colorado, U.S. – Think you're going somewhere? Think again. Sometimes the world's agenda does not match up with yours.
Under The Bear’s Lodge
Devil’s Tower National Monument, Wyoming, U.S. – We turned southward, bound for Tucson, and ended up spending longer than we'd intended at Devil's Tower National Monument.
Ease Down the Road
Little Missouri National Grasslands, North Dakota, U.S. – Boondocking in the Little Missouri Grasslands, near Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Goodbye Big Waters
Washburn, Wisconsin, U.S. – Wrapping up our time in Washburn and saying goodbye before heading west.
Porcupine Mountains Backpacking
Porcupine Mountains, Michigan, U.S. – A few nights spent exploring the old growth Hemlock forests of the Porcupine Mountains.
Grandparents
Washburn, Wisconsin, U.S. – Showing my parents around our temporary home of Washburn, Wisconsin.
August Jottings
Washburn, Wisconsin, U.S. – Some (mostly) unedited journal entries about our time in Washburn, at the county fair, and by the lake.
Around Washburn
Washburn, Wisconsin, U.S. – Lake Superior has many faces, depending on where you go. We've found quite a few different beaches we love this summer.
Ten
Washburn, Wisconsin, U.S. – A whole decade. Happy birthday girls.
Midsummer
Washburn, Wisconsin, U.S. – Nice cool temps, nearby water to swim in, somewhere to train Jui Jitsu... what else do you need really?
Holiday Road
Copper Falls State Park, Wisconsin, U.S. – The 4th of July weekend is always crowded. To find a place to stay we hit the road north, to the middle of nowhere.
Hello Milwaukee
Harrington State Park, Wisconsin, U.S. – We're not big on cities, but Milwaukee is an exception. It's just big enough to have plenty of great food, but small enough that there's no traffic. Just about right.
Illinois Beach Oddities
Illinois Beach State Park, Illinois, U.S. – It's fun to do something for no reason at all. That freedom of the will, the capacity to choose and act as we wish is the foundation of all human delight.
Prairie Notes
Prairie Pines Campground, Illinois, U.S. – There's hardly any prairie left, but even as farmland there is something about the middle of America that I love.
Long Way Around
Indian Springs State Park, Georgia, U.S. – Beginning the long journey from the Outer Banks to the Great Lakes, where we'll be for most of the summer.
Seining With Val
Oregon Inlet, North Carolina, U.S. – It doesn't happen often, but sometimes you meet people traveling and you just click.
Back on Ocracoke
Ocracoke, North Carolina, U.S. – Two weeks enjoying the weather, the sand, the sea. Aside from food and good company, there's not much else in life you need.