Recommended Winter Reading

Suzanne from Take to the Highway went to Newfoundland this summer and I missed it because I haven't read a single blog in 6 months.  My secret is it out! I spent some time last week catching up on a few including hers and I highly recommend you read the series. I'd like to follow up on a comment she made in one post about hiking.  She had inquired about hiking trails and then stumbled across a good one even though the person asked said there weren't any.  To this I will let everyone know that in Newfoundland 95% of land is leased "Crown Land" and is considered accessible to the public and few trails are marked like the Skerwink Trail and East Coast Trail. Best to plainly ask "Where is a good place to go for a walk?" because knowing where to go is sometimes the safe thing with all the cliffs or other obstacles you could come across.  Or just park the car and strike out across the land because private property is not a concept in the same way up there as it is here.  And while you are out bring a bucket and pick as many berries as you want!

Picking wild blueberries in Argentia

No one is going to ask what you are doing on their land if you walk across their "yard", in fact you are more in danger of being invited in for a cuppa tea! It is due to Crown Land that you can pretty much pull over and park your RV wherever you want like Suzanne did, or pack a tent and strike off out into the wild.  Want to know more, here's a link.

Other reading that I am excited to share is Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson.  I was giggling so hard and long during the first chapter that the cats were sure I lost my mind.

Me - pretty darn happy a few days ago to be on a walk when it's above freezing
Wayne - not as happy because his ice is melting for ice fishing

Jenny suffers from a long list of mental illness issues, but you almost forget that because you are laughing so hard at her observations.  The cover features a raccoon with its arms outstretched and a disturbingly cheerful grin...it is based on her real life taxidermy buddy but I will say no more so the laughs aren't spoiled for you. A great quote: "...when cancer victims don’t respond to medication, no one blames the cancer victim; people with mental illness don’t get the same respect."

Now I'm reading Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire by Kurt Andersen, and while I'm not too far into it yet I'm enjoying the look back on how our country has a "rich" history of extreme behavior and belief systems that goes back to the Puritans and other groups who founded this nation.  Our founding fathers who wrote the constitution of course were more about rational thought, but it's been a struggle between rational thought and our tendency to be "predisposed to believe exciting untruths" since the beginning. From the Puritans and Quakers in the 1600's to the birth of Tent Revivals and speaking in tongues in the 1700's Americans moved on to romanticising frontier life and being sucked in by entertaining fibs like traveling medicine shows, and our predisposition to believing in conspiracy theories.  What other countries have given birth to characters of such fantastical blends of truth and fiction like Buffalo Bill and Daniel Boone or have spent decades trying to prove there was a conspiracy around Kennedy's assassination?  Here's a tidbit about the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago I never knew, Aunt Jemima pancake mix was a new invention being advertised and they hired an actual woman to play her while flipping pancakes and telling plantation stories.  Read more here.  Here's a doozy: In the 1890's after a run of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show in New York someone decided a great idea was to put on a show that would provide a picture of life in the south called "Black America" featuring “the labors that the Negroes of slavery days engaged in, and the happy, careless life that they lived in their cabins after work hours were over.” Another shocking revelation was that Henry Ford was anti-semitic and even wrote The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem.  Honestly! 

As I'm reading the book I'm amused at the things I recognize in myself, like my love of immersing myself in mysteries and acting out the books I read as a child, especially those frontier stories.  One of my favorites was Caddie Woodlawn, that one probably provided hours of re-enacting entertainment, not to mention the schoolhouse scenarios I made my cousins play out after watching "Little House on the Prairie".  Let's not forget my fascination with the 1893 World's Fair, those Art Deco 1920's and trying to find adventures in the "wild" to this day.  Obviously I'm American enough to suffer from an addiction to nostalgia, but the trick is knowing where to draw the line and know what is real and what is fantasy.

What are you reading?

Life on the Crystal Coast

The hours are slipping by quickly here in Cedar Point on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina.

The campground is spacious, the sites seem mostly level, the bathrooms are clean but without electricity to use your hairdryer but that's alright because there is electric at your site.  No water and no sewer, but what do you expect for under $30 a night in a prime location?  Sites in neighboring campgrounds might include wifi and cable, but they also run about $75.

The kitties weren't too crazy about the ride down in the truck but they have settled into the camping lifestyle nicely.  They sit at the door and meow to go outside, and today they started running at trees and climbing up!  Thank goodness for those leashes or we might never see them again!

The best part of Cedar Point is walking right over to the marsh at any time of day to check out what is going on over there.

We've also explored outward a little, including a trip to the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.  Cory loves aquariums, and Wayne enjoyed the visit too.  He even got into petting the shark in the touch pool.

The best thing about this aquarium is their outdoor exhibit which housed a snake area, box turtles, and of course watching the birds and crabs in the marsh.

Wayne counting the box turtles, Cory spotting Mud Crabs

There is plenty to see indoors as well, as much as at other aquariums we've been to and for almost half the price.  We paid under $35 for all three of us and I didn't regret a dime.

Spider crab

We got advice from a worker on where to find stuff out in the wild and learned about the sea turtle nesting season that is just beginning.

Sea turtle skeleton

Cory's favorites are the jellies and I was happy they didn't have them lit up like a disco show.

Back outdoors I've seen a few very small lizards, this one below and a bright green one on the boardwalk at our own little marsh.

The beach is not our thing though.  We stopped by today to see what all the fuss was about and my men were so unimpressed they didn't even leave the walkway.

I made it as far as the tideline and checked out the shell shard collection for a few minutes.  We plan to get out to one of the little islands instead, these kind of beaches are for sun worshippers.   It's not really in our DNA being Newfies and all.

I am going to be spending some time in the parking lot just behind the campground over the next few days trying to get some shots of the osprey nest there.  Here's a teaser, I only had time for a few quick shots of what I assume is Papa standing guard so far.

I've been too busy reading the book "Flight Behavior" by Barbara Kingsolver.  Here's the one sentence lead in synopsis  In what may be the first novel to realistically imagine the near-term impact of “global weirding,” Barbara Kingsolver sets her latest story in rural Appalachia . In fictional Feathertown, Tennessee, Dellarobia Turnbow--on the run from her stifling life--charges up the mountain above her husband’s family farm and stumbles onto a “valley of fire” filled with millions of monarch butterflies.  Such a great book I couldn't put it down and read it in 2 days!  Filled with scientific information but in a way that is natural to the story of the lives of the characters who are so well imagined.  The author studied biology in college and her knowledge of animals blends into the story so seamlessly from the butterflies to the sheep and collies on the farm of the main character.  Loved it!

So that's life on the Crystal Coast so far, kitties are enjoying the view and so are we.

Books of 2015

Happy New Year!  I thought I'd bring in 2016 by talking a bit about some of the books I read in 2015.  I get a lot of ideas on things to read from other bloggers so hopefully my list will inspire someone else.


"Then We Came to the End: A Novel" by Joshua Ferris - guess I'm starting with what I felt was a dud.  It gets great reviews but it was much like watching the TV show "The Office".  I just don't get cubicle culture and why it would fascinate viewers or readers.  To each their own.  I didn't finish it.

However I really have enjoyed the three novels by Donna Tartt that I've read!
The Goldfinch , The Secret History, and The Little Friend were all very different stories but what they have in common is complex characters whose tale unwinds slowly.  Of the three my favorite was "The Secret History", I won't give it away but here's the blurb from Amazon: Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and forever, and they discover how hard it can be to truly live and how easy it is to kill.


"Songs Without Words" by Ann Packer was a very honest look at the relationships we have throughout our lives and the emotional devastation of mental illness on individuals and their loved ones.  I know this is a topic of personal interest with our situation, but this was definitely one of the best books I've ever read. I'm looking forward to reading other works by this author!

"The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins has unexpected twists and turns and was a unique story that I really enjoyed.  Only disappointment here was that she is a new novelist so there isn't more to snatch up and read!


Looking for something less intense?  Dean Koontz writes thrillers that are a little easier to read lightly.  I read my way through the Odd Thomas series this year and found a new hero to love.  The 7 book series features Odd Thomas, a short order cook in a small town who sees the dead and feels compelled to help them.  His internal dialogue about his misadventures with the dead and the bad guys who did the deed is witty and he has a heart of gold he shares with his friends both old and new.  Fun reads!

The Moonlight Bay series only has two books and was more traditional Dean Koontz fare.  The main character suffers from a genetic disorder and cannot go out in daylight.  While exploring the night he witnesses events that lead to uncovering a disturbing mystery that will affect everyone he knows and loves.  Like other Koontz characters he has a golden retriever companion, which encourages me to share that my favorite Dean Koontz book is "Watchers".  Like the Moonlight Bay books it deals with the question of animal experimentation and where science might take us, for better or worse.

"A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail" was an easy pick when I was looking for books that explored hiking as a topic.  Bill Bryson explores the theme that the journey is the destination, and that there is always more to learn about the world and about yourself.  Another book with this same theme was of course "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed, another good read.

I do read non fiction too, especially travel related books.  Not so many of them this year, but I did read This Superior Place: Stories of Bayfield and the Apostle Islands Dennis McCann.  It was disappointing.  It read like a collection of those little boards on the side of the road.  Very dry, feel free to skip this one when you see it in the gift shop, you're not missing anything.

"East of the Mountains" by David Guterson was an interesting concept and a nice little read. I read it because the author wrote "Snow Falling on Cedars" which I read years ago and adored.  This book and its main character who is dying from cancer handled the subject in an interesting fashion and while it wasn't a page turner it was easy enough to stick with it to find out whether or not he decides to take matters in to his own hands and exit life early.

The Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell was a re-read decision of mine.   I picked it up at book 8 and have made my way through to book 16 so far because I couldn't remember where I left off and the books are that nice balance of intriguing but not exhausting.  The first book was published in 1990 and I have 6 more to go to get caught up.  Like Stephen King she is a very prolific author, writing forensic thrillers from a strong female perspective.  Great recurring characters with interesting back stories, the books focus more on the heroes than the perpetrators of the crimes.

Speaking of Stephen King, I purchased "The Stand" and have it on standby to dip into now and then when I don't have any library books to read. Stephen King is like that boyfriend you can't help but call even though you know it probably won't turn out the way you want it to.  Most times I enjoy the ride but am disappointed in the ending, but this is his masterpiece and nothing about it disappoints.  I also read A Good Marriage  which explores that age-old question of can you ever really know what someone else is thinking...and doing?  I like his novels like this one that deal less with things that go bump in the night, people are horrific enough as this tale shows.

More books next time, settle in with a good one this weekend and stay warm and dry!

Sheboygan's Post Office Mural

I'll take a short break from posting the Ashland murals since I'm hitting the road and driving two hours north to stay in a rental in Sheboygan with my mother for the rest of the week.  I'm bringing lots of books and even my sewing machine because there's a chance we'll be snowed in on Tuesday, but at least we'll have a great view of Lake Michigan, right?

And speaking of Sheboygan, I can't believe I never posted the post office mural from Sheboygan!  I was going through my photo files deleting stuff and a quick check verified that somehow this one never made it on to the blog.

Schomer Lichtner was commissioned in 1935 to paint the murals by the Treasury Art Relief Project.  They were gorgeous when my friend Jeanna and I saw them, the murals were restored in 1986.

Jeanna was impressed when we walked inside and found the series on display. Nothing like some marble to frame your art, right?

Also on display was the artist's drawings and the telegram telling him he was awarded the project.  These murals were painted during the Depression and meant work for artists who otherwise might not be getting paid.

Speaking of getting paid, I just finished reading "Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich.  In the late 1990's with some 12 million women being pushed into the labor market by welfare reform, she decided to go undercover and find out just how they were going to survive on the wages of the unskilled--at $6 to $7 an hour, only half of what was considered a living wage. She looked for a job and a place to live, worked that job, and tried to make ends meet as frugally as possible but quickly found that of course it was impossible to live on minimum wage.  She lived in Florida and Minnesota, worked as a housekeeper, a waitress and for Walmart.  There were a few things she was doing like eating take-out often (because she didn't have a fridge) that I thought someone truly struggling wouldn't do, but the major insight in her book was how difficult the housing market was and how even working two jobs and seven days a week she still couldn't make ends meet.  And of course the results highlight why many women stay with men they shouldn't because financially they have little other options.  Overall an interesting read, flaws in her experimental approach aside.

Taking part in Monday Mural, wish me luck in Sheboygan with all the snow!

Solidarity - Facing the Forecast Together

As I was moaning about the weather forecast to my daughter, not just for Wisconsin but the cold and suffering of almost the entire nation, she said "Hey, Mom, it's all about solidarity".

roomy sites at Hardy Lake

With that in mind, I scoured my drafts to find something that wasn't a mural and  that somehow got overlooked and found a post about the last stop Wayne and I made on our way back from the Smokies in October.  Better than posting pictures of snow and freezing cold, right?  We've made it our habit to stop at Hardy Lake, though on this stop we had a close call when we made a wrong turn on to a dead end road and had to back up in the dark and try to make a three point turn where there really wasn't any room to do it.

We arrived a little past peak for fall color, but there was a lot of fungi to look at instead when I got up in the morning and went for a wet walk before we hit the road again.  Recent rain made the trail soggy and messy, but all that damp contributed to some great fungi finds.

Right now these pictures seem a little surreal to me.  The forecast for the next ten days STILL doesn't show a relief from sub zero temperatures for the Midwest.  Look at that green!  My eyes don't remember what trees look like with leaves on them, I feel a little dazed.

Most likely I am going to rent a two bedroom house in Sheboygan for 4 or 5 nights next week.  My mother is planning to stop in for a few days.  Maybe Katrina will come up for a few days.  I'll explore and post some pictures from a place that I normally only go in the summer.  Maybe I'll find some new murals that they added in 2014, who knows?  I still have a handful of murals from 2013 to post from the Sheboygan Project, a few more to add to the collection could be cool.

I have quite a few books that I've bought over the last 6 months that I'll finally get to read.  With no wi-fi I'll only use the internet when I leave to go to a coffee house for an hour or two.  It'll be good to exercise my brain and I plan to try to go for some walks at Kohler-Andrae in the snow too.

I did do some reading on our recent trip south.  In addition to a couple of issues of "Smokies Life" magazine I read "Bear in the Back Seat: Adventures of A Wildlife Ranger in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park" and it was so good I'm going to get the sequel for my stay in Sheboygan.  It'll be good to cozy up on the couch and read about the Smokies while looking out at the wintry wildness of Lake Michigan.  We'll all get through this winter together with a little help from some books I guess.

I also read "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker and "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer.  Of course it wasn't my first time reading "The Color Purple" but it was my first time reading "Into the Wild" and it did not disappoint.  Be prepared to be saddened but awed but the story of Christopher McCandless and his accidental death in the wilderness in 1992.  It inspired a lot of thinking on my part since quite a few of my followers are "adventurers", myself included.  Not that I go to the extremes that McCandless did, but as Sharon pointed out I don't bring enough water along with me on what I assume will be a short adventure.  Since I am so often alone what is to say that I won't end up in a situation I didn't plan for?  I'm going to be more mindful of this in the future.  And hey, I carry a couple of band-aids and some ibuprofen with me and I'm getting better about taking a cell phone too!

More Stories and Sea Cave Pictures Too

I told you I had a few more stories to tell and pictures to show, and I do.  The first story is about me and how I get so caught up in what I'm doing that sometimes I forget to double check all my gear that I drop on the ground before I pick it up and move on.

We're going through that hole, right?

I've gotten a lot of sand in my bag and lost a few lens caps, but when we took our hike along the sea caves I lost not only the cap for my new 10-22mm lens, but also the polarizer that's only been used a few times.  The good news is that it wasn't an expensive loss, the bad news that we had that kayak trip coming up where I really needed it.  So I strapped on my hiking boots and hit the trail...running.  Well, running where it was mostly flat, anyway.  Surprisingly the bottom of my feet didn't hurt the next morning.  Not surprisingly the missing items remained missing. 

Ship ahoy!

Of course as I was almost done with my return leg of the "run" I realized I had the polarizer on the lens when I took that long beach shot.  Wayne had parked on the dirt road that bisected the trail, so when I got back to the truck I had to tell him I had to check by the Pearly Everlasting too.  Still no luck, and since I checked the beach that means I ended up doing the whole 4 miles.  The exercise was nice, but I've been better about where I stow my lens caps and polarizers since then, trust me.

Splish splash

Of course this necessitated a trip to Duluth to get a new 77mm polarizer.  All they had was the Promaster brand which I paid (gulp!) $70 to get.  I did some lens tests comparing the polarization effect to that of my polarizer for my 58mm lens which was half the cost and did not see any difference.  I did my testing out on the shore of Lake Superior, but maybe there is some nuance I'm missing.  We'll talk more about that topic perhaps when I do my post about what little we saw in Duluth on our daytrip.

I know I've already mentioned the logging efforts in the area, but after the Great Chicago Fire quarrying for sandstone was a big deal in this area also.  From 1871 to 1893 the stone was in great demand in the major Midwest cities, until the World's Columbian Exposition when the "White City" set the new trend for lighter stone.  Slabs of stone that were already cut sit in piles on some of the islands, growing lichens and bearing witness to all that has transpired in the area since the quarries were abandoned before the turn of the century.

Many of the towns in northern Wisconsin used this stone for the city halls and prominent downtown businesses, once you look for it you'll see it everywhere.

Elegant Sunburst Lichen with graffiti at bottom center

I found a GREAT write-up on the topic of the abandoned quarries with some excellent research and photos to back it up here.  Hop on over if the topic interests you.  It interests me so much I'm sure I'll be back to search out one of those quarries myself.  If architecture in general, turn-of-the-century Chicago history or the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition interest you make sure to read "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson.  As a "novel" it's a bit on the slower side, but the research he put into it is truly top notch and I really enjoyed all the architectural behind-the-scenes involved in getting the "World Fair" built in record time on a piece of swamp land.

In 1854, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs arranged a treaty council in an attempt to get the Chippewa (Ojibwe) Indians to give up their titles to certain pieces of land on Lake Superior. Several Ojibwe chiefs responded to the call, and they convened in the town of La Pointe on Madeline Island, one of the 22 Apostle Islands.  Information regarding the Red Cliff Band's history was difficult for me to find online, which of course only sharpened my curiosity.  I did learn that they signed more treaties with the United States than any other tribe and never fought with Americans after 1815, but have a long history of fighting other tribes such as the Iroquois and Sioux (Lakota).

Due to their location in the far northern part of the Midwest the Ojibwe lived mostly apart from settlers, besides the white men coming to harvest the land's natural resources, and they were able to maintain much of their culture.  They were hunter-gatherers who harvested wild rice and maple syrup and were skilled trappers and fishermen.  Want to know more?  I found a pretty good link here, but I'm keeping my eyes out for a really good book that includes some personal histories to bring their story alive.

One more personal story of our own, we were in such a hurry to pack up and leave yesterday that we left behind our wooden "Nomadic Newfies" sign at the campground.  I don't know what we'll do about this since when I called the campground owner he had no suggestions.  Another camper already warned us he doesn't take credit cards so getting him to ship it for us might be a special kind of nightmare.  For the moment I'm leaving the decision on the back burner...maybe I'll take a quick solo trip up there before we go on our October trip.  I don't tend to like trips that far by myself, but who knows?  I know I wouldn't complain about a few more days on Lake Superior in some early fall weather!  Any RV'ers planning to head up there in September let me know and that would give me an additional reason to make an effort for a trip back.

Well, that's it for our sea cave tour, thanks again to Tim and Elena from Living Adventure, they did a fabulous job!  All that's left is the movie, so get your snack out and enjoy!  (Click on the YouTube symbol at bottom of movie insert to view in full screen at best quality)

You Can Take the Boy Out of the Bay but You Can't Take the Bay Out of the Boy

Okay, are you ready for a crash course in Newfie slang?  I can't replicate the accent of course, but let's see if I can tell a story...and let's see if you know what I'm on about because Lard tunderin' der's more slang in Newfoundland den der is icecaps on da water!

Wayne and his brother Jim

Even though the sun was splittin' rocks while we were home Wayne spent most of his waking hours on the beer and it didn't take long before he looked like he'd been hauled through a knot hole.  And all dat drinkin' wit da b'ys works up quite an appetite.

When we're home someone is usually cookin' up a scoff, but this time the lobster boil was pretty much it.  Someone promised me a rabbit stew...lucky for them I wasn't there long enough to get crooked about it.  I was on the go the whole time, havin' a fine time of me own.  

Didja hear the Ambrose Shea lift bridge gots ta go?  Sin!  Shockin'!  Don't worry, the B'ys are workin' harder than a one-legged man in an ass kickin' contest tryin' to get 'er done.

New construction alongside the old bridge

Ambrose Shea lift bridge 2010

A long look in case it's gone when we return in 2015

What can I say about Wayne's family? Saucy?  Don't be talkin'!  Oh, me nerves!

Wayne's the baby, but not the silliest of the bunch

Wayne's mother is sweeter than molasses.  A Mother's love is a blessing, and she is certainly an angel to put up with all the nonsense and foolishness that her crowd gets up to.   Lucky when we took the picture below I hadn't been out beatin' the streets in the wind or I woulda looked right streelish.

There's nothing more colorful than Newfie put-downs in my opinion.  Here's a few that are dandy, but if ya wants a real good laugh pick up a copy of "Dictionary of Newfoundland and Labrador".  

Whoever knit you wasted their yarn.

There's nobody home but your mother, and she's gone.

She's on the road more than on the pavement. (loose morals)

She's not lazy, she was born tired.

If I had a face like yours I'd walk backwards.

We're not the only Newfies on the road, Sassy's on 'Da Road too, though we haven't had the pleasure of meeting her yet I know a few others have.  Any of you blogging rv'ers who've been lucky enough to run across a Newfie in your travels will know what a warm and welcoming people they are...when you can understand what the heck they're talking about, that is!

When I was a girl I loved the Newfie Joke books by Bob Tulk. When I found copies of the first 3 volumes at Biblo.com today I ordered them right away, laughter is the best medicine for whatever ails you after all. 

This week I finished reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King which deals with the subject of time travel and one of the book group questions in the back was along the lines of where would you go if you could travel in time?  That's a tough one.  I have a lot of happy memories from visiting Newfoundland when I was about 7 years old one Christmas...or do you try to do something important like the character in King's book whose mission was to stop Kennedy's assassination?  What do you think?

P.S.

The King book was well written throughout, including the ending which is an area he usually struggles with so give it a read!  Whenever he doesn't focus too heavy on the things that go bump in the night he seems to be more cohesive.  After all, it doesn't take slimy monsters to frighten, does it?

Pattison State Park

Time to talk about something outsdoorsy.

Pattison State Park has the highest waterfall in the state of Wisconsin at 165 feet along with 59 campsites, 18 of them electric.  The electric sites are in the inner loop and more closely spaced together than the non-electric ones. The area originally was home to the Ojibwa, also called Chippewa, native american tribe, and in the tumbling waters of the Big Manitou Falls they believed they could hear the voice of the Great Spirit, Gitchi Monido.

Near the base of the falls they quarried sedimentary rock called conglomerate.  They removed fist sized balls of quartz and flaked them into knives, spear points and other tools.

The area reminded me of places we've been in Michigan, with more mosquitoes.  Michigan is the best place in the midwest to escape the plague, in our experience.  Pattison was so bad that even during the day with natural bug repellant on I was swatting like a lunatic and got driven off the trails a few times.  The campground itself is strangely bug free and I'm not sure if that's because it's a little farther from the water or if they have been spraying.

I spent more time than usual hanging out at my site reading "The Dome" by Stephen King.  He has a new book coming out in September that is a follow-up to The Shining. Can't wait to find out what Danny Torrance has been up to!  Sites are mostly a curved pull-through style, showers were clean and hot.

More on the other set of falls in Pattison and my adventures in Duluth and Superior in the next few posts!