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Pony Club Nationals
by Sophie Gary

FNN - The Birth

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A Walk Around Biltmore Estate

Don’t Buy a City Pass

How Tupac Shakur Bought Us a Free Brunch

Sublime Donuts

McPherson's Orchards

Jell-O Again / Jello-O Again II

Birds I Have Seen in Jon and Ryan's BackYard


Google Places and Platypie

Current Entry

Memories in a Garden

Before there was Danny, there was Lily

October 13
The past few months, we have loved watching our granddaughter compete in Eventing with Maggie, her new horse . However, it is rather difficult to write a travel blog when we are not traveling. We do plan to get back on the road soon. Still drawing...

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2016

`Horse of Gold

September 8
Horse of Gold
Growing up in Washington DC and on the Chesapeake Bay, I never really noticed that heat/humidity thing. But now, OMG, after spending my first summer in the area in over 25 years, I get it. "It’s not the heat, it's the humidity!" I was able to draw some, but weeks with temperatures over 90° and crushing humidity left me clinging to the air conditioner and reading trashy murder mysteries. I did make it to the Gold Horses at Arlington Memorial Bridge to draw for a bit

Memories in a Garden

July 21
Memories in a Garden
I am definitely time tripping as I go around sketching the Washington, DC that my family has lived in for four generations. So much has changed, but most of the places I am drawn (ha, ha) to are the same ones I have been visiting since I was a small child.

Drawing Einstein

July 7
Drawing Einstein
Drawing around Washington, DC is turning out to be lots of fun, if a little hot and humid. OK, very humid. I like being a tourist in my original hometown.

Muhammad Ali

June 16
Muhammad Ali- The Boy on the Cliff

We are hanging out in Washington DC this summer. We will be watching Calli ride her new horse-Maggie, seeing friends and family and I will be having Blue Light Therapy on my face and some other body parts. I plan to go out two or three times a week and draw some of my favorite places in DC. Yes, I will be wearing sunscreen, hats, long pants and long sleeves.

Albuquerque

April 14
Not Weird, But Albuquirky
In Albuquerque, it's a wind, wind situation... En plein air...Dust grit in my teeth and on my eyeballs Keep drawing. Faster. Stop being so neat! Easy to draw, hard to paint


George Manus, Metal Cutter, Welder, Artist

March 31
It’s ART, by George!
George Manus, Metal Cutter, Welder, Artist
If the wind is blowing 35 to 40 miles an hour for several days in a row, you know you are in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Between windstorms, I stumbled upon an intriguing sculpture garden not far from where we were camped. And the best thing about it was the sculptor himself, George Manus.

Sonora Desert Museum

March 17
The Day I Became a Sexless Old Crone
You never know when a life-changing event is apt to occur. Attempting to draw hummingbirds at the Sonora Desert Museum, I had the unfortunate opportunity to see myself as strangers see me. I’m over it though.

Sunland Park Racetrack

March 3
Living Beside Sunland Park Racetrack
Almost Free

We are headed back East, but not before we try living "almost free" next to a race track in far, far West Texas. 


Bureau of Land Management

February 11
Living Free on BLM Land...
where there is always live music nearby

Living free on public land can feel a bit third-world at times, but in fact our month here at Snyder Hill in Arizona has been one of the most interesting times we have had since we hit the road back in 2009.

Hidden amongst the rocks and scrub, musicians are all about us playing for the sun and stars.

Brand New Pearl White 2015 458 Speciale A Custom Ferrari

January 28
Tow a Vehicle? Only if it’s a New Ferrari!
Bernie’s dad has a bucket load of brothers and they produced a ton of cousins. It has been our pleasure to meet up with many of them in our travels. The Pobiaks are a fun bunch. Last month we enjoyed every minute of our time with Marilyn and Dennis Pobiak and their grown children (second cousins?) and their kids (???). Our camper, parked next to Dennis’ collection of beautiful Ferraris and classic American cars made it feel like we were living in a museum for a month.

Brand New Pearl White 2015 458 Speciale A Custom Ferrari

January 14
In Defense of the Stick
We succumbed! This year a selfie stick was added to our camera accessory pack. Love it. Bernie is still using the Canon 5D-Mark II for most of our couplies, but we confess that using the stick with the iPhone has added to the fun of taking another year of couplies as the world changes behind us.

2015

Hepburn’s Gray- crowned Rosy Finch

December 3
Following Fred
Oh the Pinks!
“Bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s...” a verb... We birded for a week with Fred. No casual watching - we observed, checked field marks and stalked the little feathered beings through acres of rabbit bush, across mountain ridges and up stream beds.  


Around the Delta and the East Bay

November 5
Drawing Around the Delta and the East Bay
or How I Spent My Summer Vacation
On any given day last summer, you could find me sitting on my little canvas stool, roasting on the Delta/east side of the Diablo Mountain Range or freezing on the San Francisco Bay/west side of the mountains. 


Musings on Dreams Come True

September 10
Musings on Dreams Come True
I thought living on the ranch waiting for Leroy to be born was a long time. Not so much. Mike broke his finger rather badly back in March, and we have been living on the Diamond K Ranch ever since - 30 horses, a couple of cowboys, the owner, her daughter, 11 cats, two dogs, our two dogs and us. Little did I know how much I would come to love walking this beautiful water-deprived land.


Working Boat Lifts for 3 Months

July 9
Working Boat Lifts for 3 Months
Our travels came to a stop back in March when our son, Michael injured himself. Ever since, we have been living on small horse ranch with 30 horses, while Bernie works 6 days a week as a replacement for Mike’s right hand.


June 25
El Paso, a Painted Town
As an artist who never met a "white" space I didn’t want to fill, I belong in El Paso. A dusty, dun colored city, where the residents are attempting to cover the entire landscape with murals and brightly colored light sculptures. It’s in your face! Pretty means nothing. The brighter the better! Bring on the Roses!


May 27
Stalking the Wild Big Bird in Big Bend National Park
A Digital Sketchbook

The monkey on my back chattered away, "Don’t show anything." "Not good, not good..." This time, I put in my earplugs and went ahead anyway. Here is my first, short, on-line sketchbook... 

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May 12
The Trails Grow Longer and Our Packs Get Heavier
Lonely, Far Away - Big Bend National Park

We return to beautiful Big Bend National Park only to learn that we are no longer as hardy or as tough as we thought we were.


The Pomtini

April 14
The History of Three Tasty Drinks, once again my sweet tooth answers the call Cocktails: Citrus! Ginger! Pomegranate! Not only do we love them, but we love to create "healthy" and "nourishing" versions of these alcoholic delights.


Dan Flavin

March 24
Thorns in My Butt and Cement Blocks in the Weeds: Chinati, The Mecca of the Minimalist World
Chinati and Marfa have become an A-list ART destination - much to the dismay of the old-timers in this tiny West Texas town. And from what I could overhear, on one of our visits to the huge installation, there were an awful lot of people who had no idea what they were doing in Marfa, much less Chinati. One gentleman wondered aloud if the 15 Works in Concrete were former sweatboxes left over from the fort’s stint as a German POW camp.


February 19
We’ve Come This Way Before: Driving West Across South Texas...

West past Del Rio, Texas the Chihuahuan Desert stretches for hundreds of miles. The land is empty yet full, plain and gargantuan - it has been calling us back. We've been gone almost ten years. The land has waited for us.


Bill, the Ball Man

February 5
Urban Campground: Pecan Grove in Austin and Bill, the Ball Man

Back in the big, blue heart of Texas - Austin! Good music, good food, but most of all, good friends both old and new.

 


Pictures of the Day 2014

January 15
POD: Pictures of the Day 2014
I realize that everyone is doing selfies now, and yes, we’re still at it. Luckily, I married a man with a long arm, so we don’t need a "selfie stick" to include more than just one person in the picture. Enjoy!

 

2014


Crystal Bridges Museum

December 18
Great New Art Museum - If You Build It, I Will Come!

The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is surrounded by controversy. If you ever get to northwestern Arkansas, I suggest you visit... in fact, make the several hundred (or thousand) mile detour to see it. Walmart money or not, it is an evolving delight. There are several miles of art filled walking trails, a fantastic building, a very traditional growing permanent collection and forward looking exhibitions - great galleries, good to great art, knowledgable gallery attendants and good food and booze. It’s miles from nowhere, but go, you won’t regret it.


Five Years on the Road

December 4
Five Years on the Road
The second of November we began our sixth year on the road. Yes, we are older, yes we are still silly and yes, we never want to stop driving slowly about the country. Our memories include smoking 30 pounds of pork, dancing with huge cardboard sculptures, being trained by our two strong minded collies - Sully and Harry Fly and eating lots of fresh seafood. Horses, there were lots of horses.


Thanksgiving Pumpkintini

November 25
Drinking Pumpkins
We slaved away in our test kitchens with many pumpkin flavored items, mostly alcoholic in nature, to bring you this delightful Thanksgiving Pumpkintini. Enjoy!


Andy Warhol Museum

November 6
How to Visit the Andy Warhol Museum
The Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh? Spend the day! Enjoy the floating silver pillows, the soup cans, Elvis 11 Times, a stuffed great dane and everything else there is to see. Especially hang out in the Children’s Art Studio with all the other grown-ups. Here’s a short guide to help enhance your visit. You will also see Bernie and Peggy malfunction in a photo-booth.


Summer of the Pig

September 18
Summer of the Pig
Until I ate pork in Asheville, North Carolina I had forgotten just how delicious it can be. Dainty little vacuum packed tenderloins and carefully trimmed chops are not REAL pork!

Oink!


Calli make set-ups and playing out elaborate stories with her Breyer horses

September 12
I’m With the Band Eventer
It’s dusk, the fireflies are blinking and I’m sitting outside the camper watching a little girl across the way prancing her acrylic horse on a picnic table. Softly, I can hear her singing, "Do you wanna build a snowman..." It seems so long ago that I watched little Calli make set-ups and playing out elaborate stories with her Breyer horses. (And we thought THAT was expensive!) 


Hughes Brothers Tire Company and neighborhood hangout

The Quest for the Perfect Art Bag
Every woman wants the perfect pocketbook and every artist or would-be artist quests for the perfect bag to hold their supplies while they nimbly traverse the the world sketching happily. The bag must be ightweight, roomy, self-cleaning yet sleek and stylish. After 70 years, my search is over. I have achieved THE BAG!


On the road with Pen and Sketchbook

On the road with Pen and Sketchbook:
Letter from the Editor and Webmaster (aka Peg's daughter):

It is high-time Peg put more of her original art work on here.

And so it shall be.

That is all.


Tri-colored Collie

May 28
Meet Harry Fly Taylor, Our First Tri-colored Collie
We have a new puppy! We have a new puppy! A big baby, that still has a tiny puppy squeaky-bark. We’re teaching him to man up and lower the bark. Yup, we're doing a lot of basso barking to encourage him.

Did I mention, we have a NEW PUPPY?


Rolex Kentucky: Best Weekend All Year

May 1
Rolex Kentucky: Best Weekend All Year
Dressage, Cross-Country and Stadium Jumping: We joined 4 young teenage girls, one mother and 60 horse-and-rider combinations from seven nations to watch the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event last weekend. It was a thrilling (exhausting for us) marathon. One of the girls, Sophie Gary, has written a wonderfully breathless account of the events that absolutely captures the tempo of the weekend. And so, if Jack Kerouac had been a young girl, one who loved her best buds and horses, it might have gone something like this... Sophie is officially our first Guest Writer...

Great Blue Herons

April 10
They Are Among Us: There is a great deal to learn about the life history and behavior of the Great Blue Heron, but you won't find it in this post. Instead, be charmed... be amazed... 

Soldiers of a Faux War

March 25
Soldiers of a Faux War
I shall remain forever confused by the desire of some people to reenact battles, to shoot glorified cap pistols at each other, sleep on the ground, eat almost nothing and pretend it is anything like a real war...ort Fisher, Fort Anderson and the Battle of Forks Road around Wilmington, North Carolina... we relived them all in one form or another.

Requiem in Glass: Brady's Greenhouse

February 20
Requiem in Glass
The Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, North Carolina is a good enough reason to travel this country. It is an innovative gateway to wonderful regional art as well as a center for art classes, activities, events, music and living history - plus it has a beautiful cafe with a superb chef and a full bar! 

Zentangle from my Waiting Sketchbook

February 13
Chocolate and Wine, Tar Heel Style
Wilmington, NC - I haven't thought much about Valentine's Day since elementary school. Back in the 1950s, the week before the big day was rife with giggles and mysterious smiles as we each dropped our lacy heart creations for our special friends into a large cardboard box decorated with cut-out red hearts and white lace paper doilies.

Wilmington, North Carolina. Warm Weather, Hot Food

January 30
Warm Weather, Hot Foo
Wilmington, North Carolina — After a visit to the very large and popular seahawk sculpture on the University of North Carolina Campus (Visitors love to climb on her back and reenact scenes from Avatar), we headed for the Front Street Brewery in downtown Wilmington. Bar food, beer and football hype -- here we come!

Sully the puppy

January 17
Lassie, Hit the Road
In just a few days we will be heading away from the northeast towards parts unknown.... I'm ready for a lonely ocean beach somewhere, a place where I can do my version of contemplative thinking. The big thoughts, like should I keep on hi-lighting my hair with purple? Should I stop eating red meat? Is Hugh Jackman as nice on the inside as he is on the out?

Couplies: Forty+ Years

January 9
Couplies: Forty+ Years
So Selfie is the Oxford Dictionary’s 2013 “Word of the Year.” Good for us and our Couplies! We have been taking pictures of ourselves for a really long time. We took the oh-so-young picture of us on the About Us page in 1970 with a shutter release cord, Bernie’s dad’s tripod and a couple of gelled spotlights.

 

2013

Christmas 1944

December 24
"I'll Be Home for Christmas"
At a recent party, the hostess asked us to share our favorite Christmas memory. I came up with something nice and upbeat. That's because every time I try to tell my real favorite Christmas memory I blubber like a baby. I know Christmas 1944 is my most haunting...

Travels with Sully

December 5
Travels with Sully
Our Sully, he’s a road dog. Since he came to us as a puppy in 2005, he has logged more than 80,000 miles in the camper. He’s crossed the country to California twice. Been to Key West, the fence in San Diego, the Olympic Peninsula and way down east in Maine. He loves New Orleans, St. Louis and Austin.

Thanksgivings

November 27
Thanksgivings Past - Traveling Only in Time
It’s not just the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy; or the stuffing, crab bisque or pumpkin pie that I remember. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it is filled with memories of grandmothers and grandfathers long gone from this planet, and of hysterical failures and serving faux-pas. Much of the real excitement used to center around the carving of the big bird itself.

Asbury Park

November 7
Asbury Park: No Dusty Arcades... No Carnival Life on the Water
Last week, i found myself once again in Asbury Park, New Jersey, staring at an almost empty beach and boardwalk. I stood in the sand thinking that this little piece of urban decay never really seems to change. It appears that even after Hurricane Sandy, it has been restored to all its full neglected, dilapidated glory.

Gravel patch kids

October 24
So Long and Thanks for All the Fish
For months I tried to imagine what it would be like to leave the hatchery, to say good bye to the almost one million babies that I had cared for since they were just fry, less than an inch long. When I left last week, the salmon that would be remaining in the pools through the winter were as long as 7 inches. Big kids!

Pursuit of the Moose

September 26
Pursuit of the Moose
Much as I have enjoyed the moose-burgers, moose steaks and moose sausage that Fred the Foodie at the hatchery has been gracious enough to share with us, Isave been longing for a real live moose. True, a head with at least a 50” antler spread hangs over our office door, but it doesn't really count as a moose. Its a deadhead.

Rugged Food Foraging

September 12
Rugged Food Foraging
It turns out that Bar Harbor has a few small brew pubs and some foodie joints, and so in the spirit that once led us up and down mountains, we visited a couple of `them.

Tough job, but we ate and drank our way through it...

I love football!

September 6
In the Voice of John Facenda, "And So It Begins..."
Watching football is a lot like eating a really great black and blue New York strip steak - I don’t really want to know too much of the back story. Both the meat and the game are guilty pleasures I cannot seem to forgo. I love football!

We Walk Around, We Throw food, We Clean

August 29
We Walk Around, We Throw food, We Clean
...and we love it
We are still working in our spa-like, fish-filled waterfall. All day long gravity pulls the water from Green Lake above, through the hatchery, out through the settlement ponds and into Graham Lake below. The water flows at about 5,700 gallons per minute.

Bugging Out

August 20
Bugging Out: For some time, I have been meaning to post a piece about bugs. You know, bugs that have bugged me. They have caused temporary blindness, unbearable itching, sleepless nights, wrenching fear of disease, legs and feet on fire, appalling swellings about my nose and cheeks and a slapping, batting variation of St. Vitus’ Dance...

The Crying Fish

July 18
The Crying Fish
We followed the government pick-up truck as it sped beneath the pine trees along the back roads of Maine from the Veazie Dam on the Penobscot River to the fish hatchery almost 30 miles away. The vehicle was carrying precious cargo - a tank containing 8 adult, endangered, sea run atlantic salmon.

A Great City to Walk in

July 9
A Great City to Walk in
The Spirit of St. Louis, it’s more than an airplane, beer, and an arch... Deep in the heart of flyover country lies the once great metropolis of St. Louis, Missouri, and in our hearts one of the most interesting cities in the United States. Come. Stop. Walk.

 

The Perfect Lobster

June 18

The Perfect Lobster
This is going to be about cooking lobsters, but it could just as easily be about butter. I’m pretty sure I could eat a boiled turkey vulture if I had enough butter to dip it into. Surely the earliest people to eat homarus americanus must have had drawn butter to drench the meat of such an vicious looking creature.

Green Lake Fish Hatchery

June 6
One Fish at a Time - Raising Atlantic Salmon
Working in Green Lake Fish Hatchery is like living in a waterfall.  All day long we listen to the sound of rushing water as it pours from pipes and freshens the 46 tanks in the salmon nursery... all day long the dedicated biologists, assistants and volunteers (us) monitor, hand feed, clean and flush the tanks for the 900,000 tiny, little fry babies.

Stalking the Wild Fiddlehead

May 23
Stalking the Wild Fiddlehead
I am alone, and I mean alone, in the woods. No one around at all. Each morning I have walked down to the hatchery tanks to watch the salmon fry grow for a while. After watching 17 episodes (at least) of Law and Order in all its various Iterations, it came to me that I probably should attempt to do something with my life..

Fiddleheads, Fish and Vodka

May 16
Fiddleheads, Fish and Vodka

We shopped our way from Boston to Maine, stocking up at big box discount stores: 50 pounds of dog food at PetCo, 50 rolls of TP at Costco along with enough charcoal to grill 50 steaks. Oh yeah, and six liters of cheap vodka. (To fully immerse yourself in the Kirkland Vodka controversy just Google Costco Vodka.)

Route 66

May 10
No Blue Highways This Trip
I can see why they call it flyover country. From the interstates, this whole country looks mostly - BIG! Interchanges are banked with the same fast food signs KFC, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Burger KIng, Pizza Hut... Failed motels, gas stations, casinos, grain elevators, Wal-marts, wind farms, refineries, and trains appear over and over along the highway...

Boca Negra Canyon and Volcano

April 29
Old, but not “Old Masters”
On our hard drive back to the east coast, we did stop outside Albuquerque, New Mexico and take a few hours to hike around the Boca Negra Canyon and Volcano. It was a beautiful morning on the mile high trail and locating the petroglyphs was a lot of fun.

Leroy the Foal

April 19
Birth of the Horse King
Time compressed before our eyes last week. Sally was still clinging to the creature growing inside her body.  Clenching her birthing walls together she was standing firmly foal-le

 

No Foal News

April 5
It’s Getting Biblical...
For 40 Days and 40 nights we have been at the Diamond K Ranch waiting for our grandhorse, Sally, to give birth to her foal...On the 39th day, April 3, we marked her pregnancy at one year. That is a long, long time to be pregnant.

 

Hollywood

March 19
Hurray for Hollywood...sort of
Oh to return to those glamorous days of yesteryear, when on star-studded nights, Carmen Dragon conducted the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Lana Turner placed her hands and shoes into wet cement in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater... and a huge real estate sign promoting the housing development, Hollywoodland, watched over Tinseltown...

Foal Network News

March 14
Esther Williams visits her Dream House - at last I have come
A few weeks ago we visited Hearst Castle, high on a hill, near San Simeon overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I had always  remembered the mansion in Citizen Kane and had hoped to someday visit it. As I grew older, I learned that the mansion in the movie was mostly painted screens and the exteriors were photographs of another castle...

Fish? Millions of Fish Eggs? Fish Hatchery?

March 5
FOAL NEWS NETWORK
As native Washingtonians, and having raised our two children in the city, I cannot but wonder how it is that they both have ended up living horse-centric lives—Liz, with her daughter, an event rider, and Mike with his wife, a rodeo rider, now raising horses. Once again we find ourselves in the land of horse trailers...

Fish? Millions of Fish Eggs? Fish Hatchery?

February 26
Fish? Millions of Fish Eggs? Fish Hatchery?

Having grown up on the Chesapeake Bay, Bernie and I have always enjoyed fishing and crabbing... but fish husbandry??? Last fall we visited the Elk River Hatchery. We loved watching the tanks of steelheads, rainbow trout, and chinook, and the room with millions of steelhead and chinook eggs in incubating boxes. It got us thinking...

 

The Acorn Woodpecker!

February 19
Nuts - It Takes a Flock

A new bird (to me) has taken over as Number One on my list of Top Birds. He has been described as, “the epitome of avian entertainment,” This bird is charming, hardworking and sociable. They are neither large (slightly smaller than a robin) nor rare. However, if they are around, they pretty much take over the neighborhood...

“Drive-Over” Country: Under the Overpass

February 13

“Drive-Over” Country: Under the Overpass "
Back in the 70’s, my tastes in photography inclined towards abandoned buildings, tagged subway cars and construction sites. That was good, because as a result of the ’68 riots, the nation’s capitol remained pretty run-down and empty for years...

San Deigo Zoo, Otis

February 6
San Diego: Walks on Two Kinds of Wild Sides
We are pretty sure we are going to be one of those old couples that one day just walks off into the desert. Hopefully into a gloriously setting sun. We love to walk somewhere. Anywhere. Not all walks are divine, but in San Diego, we took two swell ones.

The White Camper Tour with Sully

January 29
The White Camper Tour with Sully
Yep, we are inside that white box enjoying a “pink” cocktail while we wait for the coals to get hot enough for us to grill eggplant slices, portabella mushrooms and red peppers for our quesadillas.

Tidal Pools and a Sculptor

January 22
Tidal Pools and a Sculptor
Over 400 feet above sea level, Cabrillo National Monument has it all: Fabulous views of San Diego and the Coronado Islands, Navy jets flying past, beautiful sunsets on the Pacific, a Cape Cod style refurbished lighthouse and an occasional pod of passing gray whales.

POD 2012

January 15, 2013
POD: Picture of the Day 2012
Watch our hair grow;
Watch us grow older;
Watch us in health and sickness.
For most of 2012 we managed to take a picture of ourselves almost everyday.

Remembering the Desert and Southwest Texas

January 8, 2013
Remembering the Desert and Southwest Texas
It’s the the beginning of a new year, and for a change we are not traveling on New Year’s day. For the first time since we left New York City in 2009 we have decided in advance to stay someplace for at least a month. The place we have chosen is San Diego, California

2012

Holidays on the Road

December 21, 2012
Holidays on the Road
Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve! These are serious holidays, and they all occur within a few minutes of each other. Singing, spinning, jumping, drinking...

Dale Chihuly

December 12, 2012
Maybe Dale Chihuly is all there really is?
Like my mother, and her mother before her, I am a crow. We have each loved bright, shiny, colorful things...especially glass with light shining through it. This explains why, for the past ten years I will always make the extra effort to see the works of Dale Chihuly if they are nearby...

Thanksgiving

November 14, 2012
Small Camper, BIG Thanksgiving Dinner

This is what it’s like to have a cozy camper Thanksgiving. We cooked, snacked, drank wine and watched football all day. It was dark out by the time we overate our traditional feast.

 

The Portland Art Museum, Dan Flavin's neon sculpture

November 5, 2012
iPhone and I Visit The Portland Art Museum
: The teenagers were having a lot of fun with their phone cameras and the Greek Statues at the Portland Museum's exhibit, The Body Beautiful. Mimicking poses, standing with Hercules like he was a personal friend, self-portraits... I too wanted to play with my phone camera, and so I did.

Seattle

October 29, 2012
...and the Fourth Year Begins
Standing over the Pacific Ocean on the northwestern most tip of the United States, I pulled out our still shiny old flask filled with a fresh pouring of Duck Hunter’s Special (a warming 50/50 blend of carcinogenic cream sherry and bottom shelf, burning bourbon) and we toasted the moment!  Double goal achieved.

Tale of Two Meals

October 22, 2012
Tale of Two Meals
One of the greatest pleasures we have had driving up the Pacific Coast of the United States is preparing and eating the fresh fish. In as many places as possible, we have purchased the freshly caught fish from boats in the harbors, taken those fresh fillets or steaks home and grilled them.

Green Gingerbread

October 8, 2012
The Fog and the Redwood Forests
Here along the Pacific Coast of Northern California, fog does not creep in on little cat’s feet. It lurks off shore, like it is hiding the edge of the world... Early mornings I watch it sweep across the horizon and roll towards land...suddenly I cannot see the edge of the cliff just off to my left.

Green Gingerbread

September 24, 2012
Of Broken Glass, Green Gingerbread and Chain-Saw Bears...: One of our favorite things to do is visit wildlife refuges. We started in the early 1970s because the only place to see rare Canada Geese back then was on the DelMarVa peninsula. Every winter we would drive to Blackwater or Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. There we would stand and listen to their wild calls...

Same Braxton, but this Fort Bragg is in California

September 17, 2012
Same Braxton, but this Fort Bragg is in California

The hand lettered sign on the cinderblock building said, RV Overnighters. It was with some trepidation that we pulled off California Highway 1, just south of Fort Bragg and headed towards a clump of older double wides we had seen from the road. Maybe just for a night we thought... if they have a space...

Oysters warmed in garlic butter

September 11, 2012
The North Coast with Oysters
Back again traveling the coast of the United States... We picked up our journey at Muir Woods National Monument, an ancient redwood grove just north of San Francisco. It was especially nice to leave the 100+ degree temperatures around Oakley, CA and travel just 60 miles west where the temperature in the forest that afternoon hovered around 70 degrees.

London Olympics

September 4, 2012
Night Sounds and Trains Passing By

Our apartment in New York City was located right over the tracks of the northbound Number 1 train. Living on the first floor, nights we could lie in bed and feel the rumble of the train as it headed beneath us up Broadway to Van Cortlandt Park-242 Street in the Bronx. Sometimes I imagined lonely people sitting in empty cars...

London Olympics

August 27, 2012
Pepper Pickers and Eating Local
I was just a kid during WW2, but I remember my grandparents had a Victory Garden. Until the day they died, it would have never occurred to them not to grow their own fruits and vegetables. Every year at the end of the summer, I had to help my grandmother “put food by.”

London Olympics

August 20, 2012
Straddling Two Worlds
Just east of San Francisco, lies the Delta Country of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, an unusually hot and dusty place in July... Fast forward to London, England, early August, where Calli, Liz and I journeyed to watch the 2012 Equestrian Olympics.

Las Vegas

July 17, 2012
A Real Manhattan Theater Wedding
A few weeks ago we took a whirlwind trip to New York City for a very special wedding. Our friends, Jon and Ryan were wed on the stage of the Mint Theater in the Theater District of Manhattan. They were married on June 28 before Bernard Pobiak, a Universal Life Church minister, while friends and family joyously watched.

Las Vegas

June 18, 2012
Viva Las Vegas
It was the summer of 1956 and I was on a family road trip across the US in our four-door, hardtop, aquamarine and white Buick Roadmaster. The night of July 1st, we stayed in a small motel out on Las Vegas Boulevard and it was fiercely hot. My dad got tickets to see Ken Murray, Busty Marie Wilson and the Blackouts (showgirls) at the New Frontier. But I had other plans...

Arches National Park

June 5, 2012
Canyons: All Grand
Yesterday in Zion National Park, Utah, we had the most wonderful hike I can remember. We hiked a mile down an accessible path to the Narrows, waded into the Virgin River and walked along in the shaded water between canyon walls thousands of feet high -sometimes so close we could touch both sides.

Canyon de Chelly

May 28, 2012
Seeking Edward Abbey's Solitude...
I'm standing In a place I have wanted to be since 1969 when I first read Edward Abbey’s, Desert Solitaire. Gazing across a wide gorge at Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, I am exhilarated and yet ridiculously disappointed and frustrated.

Canyon de Chelly

May 21, 2012
Continuing in the Footsteps of Timothy O’Sullivan: Timothy O’Sullivan, as part of two US Government surveys in the years from 1868-1874, traveled about the American West in a horse-drawn wagon - photographing the western landscape. From the beginning of our travels in a motorhome back in the 70s we always wanted to have a mobile darkroom...

Halcyon Horse Show

May 14, 2012
Still Living with Horses
Part of life on the road includes flying back to see my granddaughter for a few days every eight weeks or so. The other morning Calli and I were talking and saying good-bye for a while. She suggested that I write more about family and horses on because I love her and everybody there so much...

Santa Fe, NM

April 30, 2012
Walking Around Santa Fe, NM
One of our favorite things to do is walk around a new town. Living in a small motor home means we don’t do much shopping, but we enjoy looking in the windows, eating out and meeting people. On our last day in Santa Fe, we decided to do a bit of "cocktailing" and grazing downtown.

The Open-Minded Collie

April 23, 2012
The Open-Minded Collie

When Sully was only four months old he had already discovered how wonderful it is to meet and share nose touching, body rubbing  and butt sniffing with beings who are not just like himself. We are so proud of our Sully and the way he embraces all mammal-kind...

Pitfalls of life on the road

April 16, 2012
Pitfalls of life on the road
Flat tires we've had a few...  When you get a flat tire in an 11,000 lb. motor home you don’t just jump out, jack it up and change the tire. That just just cannot be done, especially with huge 18 wheelers passing within inches of your disabled home. Here is how it actually goes...

The Wild Bunch: Single Action Shooting Society

April 9, 2012
The Wild Bunch: Single Action Shooting Society
Last Saturday we were invited to watch a Wild Bunch Shoot-Out in a mock-up of an old west town...And so it was early on Saturday morning that we found ourselves way, way far away in a very barren landscape watching members of the Chisum Cowboys Wild Bunch compete Cowboy Action Shooting™.

Writing on Property :)

April 2, 2012
Writing on Property :)
Growing up in Washington DC, for years I thought all public art was white and reflected the color of the sky... usually a cool bluish white... monuments, memorials, even the Capitol and White House. Then one day in the very early 80s a marvelous face showed up high on the side of a building...

The Austin Rodeo

March 26, 2012
The Austin Rodeo
Box seats at a big rodeo? Of course we would love to have them! What? A card for entry to the Founder’s Club above the arena for appetizers before it starts, a pass for free parking by the door, tickets to X-100, a private music venue, after the rodeo? Yes. Yes. Yes... and there was more...

Bernie and Peggy, Mall Cops

March 19, 2012
Bernie and Peggy, Mall Cops
It was a dark and stormy afternoon and we were the only two brave souls booked into the Segway Nation Tour...Yes, we took our lives into our hands and decided it was time to brave the jeers of family and friends and take a segway tour.

Spring, when my fancy turn to thoughts of Mom

March 12, 2012
Spring, when my fancy turn to thoughts of Mom
Last week-end I was able to enjoy a sentimental return to the Lady Bird Wildflower Center outside of Austin. Ten years ago I had visited the gardens on the only four generations trip - Liz, Mom, Calli and I - were ever able to take together.

Everyday Pleasures

March 5, 2012
Everyday Pleasures
What other small things have we done so far this year that we have really enjoyed? With that in mind here is a short list of everyday pleasures while living day to day on the road in Mid-Texas.

A Roller Derby Babe

February 27, 2012
I Coulda Been a Contender...
I have discovered what I want to be when I grow up: A Roller Derby Babe. There will be breast augmentation involved plus work in the weight room and a shot or two of HGH. But hey, I’m up for it... and I do so love wearing ripped black lace tights...

For Want of a Shoe...

February 20, 2012
For Want of a Shoe...
Day after day we were camped or moving slowly through the sleet, snow or freezing rain. And every day I was slapping myself with a cold, damp sock for being lazy and not buying myself a pair of warm waterproof shoes at Harry’s while I was back in New York City...

Visit to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum

February 13, 2012
isit to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
We are POTUS geeks. We know it. Library, Birthplace, Museum, Summer Home, Winter White House, we visit and love them all.Over this past weekend, we spent several hours visiting the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library & Museum In Austin, Texas.

Donut or Doughnut?

Feburary 6, 2012
Donut or Doughnut?
It’s hard to remember the exact moment when my love for donuts started us on a quest across America to find the perfect one. Whatever it may have been, that memory is clouded in a haze of sugar, sugar glaze and pink sugary frosting.

big migrations

January 27, 2012
Seldom seen...
As amateur birdwatchers, we always like to see the big birds, and the big migrations. It is, after all, much easier to identify a bird that stands 3 to 4 feet tall than a tiny warbler 40 feet up in a tree. Years ago, during our journeys around the country, we ALMOST saw two wonderfully large bird events... 

Inside Outsider Art in Houston, Texas

January 19, 2012
Inside Outsider Art in Houston, Texas
One of the great reasons to return to Houston is to visit their Visionary Arts Center, The Orange Show. Created by postman, Jeff McKissack... using recycled and found objects, the multifaceted sculpture turned what was once an empty lot in East Texas into a great piece of folk-art... 

New Year’s Day 2012

January 5, 2012
New Year’s Day 2012
We are now undertaking a major, fast road trip — 500 miles to Houston, Texas. The Houston Texans just  earned a wildcard berth in the NFL play-offs, so we are headed south to Reliant Stadium in Houston to tailgate one more time this season. (If we get there, and can prepare ourselves, it will make an even 10 stadiums we have visited in the two years we have been on the road.)

2011

Celebrating Two Years on the Road: Part 2

December 15, 2011
Celebrating Two Years on the Road: Part 2

the good, the bad, and [my God] the food

Nashville, Tennessee

December 9, 2011
Nashville, Tennessee ...and a night walk
...they have both kinds, Country AND Western

Celebrating Two Years on the Road: Part 1

November 17, 2011
Celebrating Two Years on the Road: Part 1
..the ever under-appreciated "Cotton Anniversary"

Sketchbook

November 6, 2011
Maybe I Can Never Go Home - Except in Old Drawings
...AKA the entry where our webmaster strong-armed me into posting my own art

The Biltmore Estate

October 6, 2011
The Biltmore Estate
...where even the catfish are elegant

Potatoes and Art in Charlotte, North Carolina

September 29, 2011
Potatoes and Art in Charlotte, North Carolina
The starchy-art set...

The End of Summer

September 14, 2011
The End of Summer
...after the boys of summer have gone

The Horses of Summer

September 6, 2011
The Horses of Summer
A horse is a horse, of course, of course...

Cajun Artists

August 19, 2011
Cajun Artists
...making the Big look Easy

Denison, Texas

June 28, 2010
Keeping a Town: Five Grown Women
...the proper care and feeding of Denison, Texas

The Elvis Experience

June 10, 2011
The Elvis Experience
It's like he never left the building...

Learning to Like CatFish

June 1, 2011
Learning to Like CatFish
...but still prefer the tase of the one that got away


Winchester House: Collage, colored pencil and pen and ink

May 9,2011
Visiting Historical Hysterical Houses
Really important people and their really important homes...

New Orleans: Redux

April 30, 2011
New Orleans: Redux
Cafes, Squares, and Divas. Oh my...

Eatin’ Good on the Bayou

April 14, 2011
Eatin’ Good on the Bayou
... doesn't EVERYONE know what a Turducken is?

Venice, Louisiana: "The End of the World"

April 1, 2011
Venice, Louisiana: "The End of the World"
... and we feel fine

A Month in a Big Cold City: Atlanta, Georgia

January 12 - February 10, 2011
A Month in a Big Cold City: Atlanta, Georgia
... as God as my witness, I'll never buy a City Pass again

The Night of the Giant Elvis

February 22, 2011
The Night of the Giant Elvis
...and other really BIG things

February 3, 2011
I, Sully, Tour Atlanta
...dog days of Atlanta

January 6, 2011
On the Road Again (Slowly)
... or "Why we never get very far"

2010

Fifty Hook-ups - Riv Vu
December 3, 2010
..it must be hard to imagine us or anyone else for that matter camping in Jersey City

Three Weeks in Wonderful Rochester
... at last, RUST
October 22, 2010

News and Flashbacks About the Dog(s)
... for the first time, we have only one dog
September 10, 2010

Key Lime Pie in Annapolis
…good company, a lovely setting, lots of yachts about and Big Tuna at a table behind us
August 4, 2001

A Dream
…but I woke up in the Walmart parking lot in Wilson, NC
July 30, 2010

Breakfast at the Shrimp Shack: Key Lime Pie
…the quest for the best key lime pie I could find
July 10, 2010

Talladega
...stayed in a mud-hole campground and took the grand tour
June 12, 2010

Update for March and April
… headed for Miami very slowly
May 22, 2010

Bernie and Peggy Experience a Four Month Delay...
… somewhat chagrinned to report that we have not gone very far afield and certainly no new places
March 20, 2010

2009

Leaving New York
November 30, 2009
...we started to talk about what we would miss most about the City

First Trip in the New Camper
… is it possibly all about the food?
June 3, 2010

Bernie and Peggy and the 40 Drawers
... surely we can condense our lives into 40 drawers
May 13, 2009

Travels with Dogs
… the pups do like to take in the sights, meet and greet the people, and enjoy the activities
March 31, 2009

Keep Driving, Honey
... I think I have a pretty good idea of what people might think our life will be like on the road
February 26, 2009

Several of you sent decor suggestions...
...will there be a housewarming?
January 21, 2009