Search results for: “confluence”
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Confluence of Confluences
I began to consider confluences while pondering the Confluence Brewing Company during my recent Geo-BREWities exercise. Maybe I should credit Google Map’s auto-completion function for the suggestion after I typed the brewery name into an address bar. It noted that at least one town of Confluence existed. A quick check of the Geographic Names Information…
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The Degree Confluence Project
I’d like to share a favorite website today. It’s one of the most interesting Internet-based geography challenges ever undertaken, the Degree Confluence Project. Its mission statement provides the most succinct description: “The goal of the project is to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures…
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Inland Northwest, Day 4 (Lewis & Clark Country)
We were now officially between races. A day earlier I ran a half-marathon in Pendleton, Oregon and I had to do it again in Clarkston, Washington the following day. So this was the rest day, or at least it was for me. Most participants in the Mainly Marathons Northwest series repeated the Pendleton race a…
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Inland Northwest, Day 3 (Let the Races Begin)
The main reason we went to the Inland Northwest was to run some races. It also became an excuse to experience a part of the country I hadn’t explored much. Either way, the first of the races was finally about to begin. The Oregon Race We walked through the dark to a park along the…
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Cicada Chase, Day 2
The first day of cicada chasing exceeded expectations and we hoped for similar results on the second. However the weather began to change overnight with downpours possible during daylight hours. Local meteorologists predicted a line of thunderstorms rolling through the Midwest, approaching from the west. It would hit Peoria, Illinois mid-morning and St. Louis, Missouri…
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Cicada Chase, Day 1
What would be a good present for someone who just graduated from college with a degree in entomology? Well, how about a quick trip to the Midwest to hunt for bugs? May 2024 marked a special occasion that was well-reported (maybe over-reported) by the mainstream media: the emergence of two distinct periodical cicada broods at…
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Ohio River, Part 11 (Marietta)
We spent our final overnight in Marietta, Ohio, arriving late in the afternoon after a grueling drive. So we didn’t have a ton of time to explore its historical significance. In retrospect, I might want to return someday and delve into it further. Marietta served as the initial capital of the Northwest Territory from 1788…
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Ohio River, Part 2 (Portsmouth)
We began our journey with an easy drive along Interstate highways. I worried a bit about I-81 and its abundant truck traffic on the Friday before a 3-day weekend. Nonetheless we made it through and shot across West Virginia on I-64 unscathed. From there we only had to cut away at Huntington and follow the…
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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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Green Mountain Railroad – White River Flyer
White River Junction to Thetford, Vermont (October 2010) A beautiful early fall day is a perfect time for a ride on the Green Mountain Railroad. They offer three routes for tourist excursions: Burlington to Charlotte (“Champlain Valley Flyer”); Bellows Falls to Chester Depot (“Green Mountain Flyer”) and White River Junction to Thetford (“White River Flyer”).…