Category: Weather
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São Roque do Pico
Pico, The Azores (Açores), Portugal (March 2001) São Roque do Pico (map) appeared in the distance from the cross-island road. This photograph gives a good perspective of the steep descent from the interior. Then, down below, towns could be observed on the relatively flat coastal plain. Of course, this placement also offered excellent oceanfront access.…
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Belgium (September 1998)
Grand’ Place, Brussels The Grand’ Place serves as the center of Brussels (map). Museums, Guild Houses and restaurants line the sides of the city square. These beautiful old buildings, decorated with elaborate stonework and gold leaf provide a spectacular visual setting. Guild Houses served as the headquarters and meeting places for various groups of craftsmen…
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Exploring the Mitten, Part 4 (On the Road)
We took only one substantial day-trip during the week. It followed a loop focused on Sleeping Bear Dunes designed to captured as many counties along the way as possible. Obviously, I wanted to see more than big piles of sand in return for a 270 mile (435 kilometre) drive. I consulted my article map for…
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Mawikwe Sea Caves
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore; Bayfield County, Wisconsin, USA (August 2007) Sea caves adorn several points along the Apostle Islands and the nearby mainland shore of Lake Superior. Sailors, sea kayakers and other adventurers flock to northern Devils Island, Swallow Point on Sand Island, and Mawikwe Bay along the Bayfield Peninsula, to explore these natural wonders…
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Driving Up Puget Sound
Tacoma to Snoqualmie Falls to La Conner to Bellingham, Washington (May 14, 1998) We stayed off I-5 to avoid spray coming off the trucks and followed a path through the town of Snoqualmie and its eponymous falls (map). A large inn sat aside wide cliffs of water. The cold, wind, and rain made us miss…
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Finishing Pennsylvania, Part 4 (Western Loop)
Only five of Pennsylvania’s sixty seven counties remained to be visited. They all aligned neatly to the west of our base in Clearfield. I felt pretty excited that morning. I knew I’d finish the statewide quest within the next few hours. Once again my older son decided to come along on the journey while the…
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Finishing Pennsylvania, Part 3 (Northern Loop)
The initial push to capture a dozen remaining unvisited counties in Pennsylvania took a decidedly northern turn. This loop led nearly to the New York border. It also reduced my punch list by half while taking only 4 ½ driving hours. New counties encountered: Elk; Cameron; Potter; McKean; Warren; and Forest. Roadside Aliens My older…
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Big Bend National Park
Terlingua, Brewster Co., Texas, USA (May 1992) We left San Antonio, passed Uvalde, passed Del Rio, driving through ever smaller and less frequent towns, moving into one of the most remote locations imaginable. We were heading towards that place where the Rio Grande River flows southeast and then takes a sudden jog to the north.…
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Coos Bay to Eugene, Oregon
Western Oregon, USA (May 11, 1998) Florence, Oregon provided excellent access to the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Along this stretch of coast the cliffs gave way to large hills of sand (map). We spent the morning investigating various trails among the dunes and drove to our southern terminus in Coos Bay. A Hike In…
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Cayuga Lake
Tompkins County, New York (September 2006) We rented a house a few miles north of Ithaca (map) directly on the water on the western side of Cayuga Lake. This was the view one morning from our dock as the sun gently greeted the day. Our location was absolutely as peaceful as the picture implies. We…