We stood in front of the bubbling and gurgling geyser, Strokkur, watching it churn in a hole just 30 feet in front of us. It belched and tossed up a five-foot gush of water, then detonated a projectile of water that flared upward more than 100 feet. The geyser, Strokkur, erupts and is about to toss a water plume over 100 feet into the air. Some of the fun of a visit to Iceland is watching these guys leap out of the ... Read More
Cuba Reemerging
Note: I traveled to Cuba in 2013 and wrote an article shortly after that talked about efforts in Cuba to rejuvenate Havana and its old buildings, its culture, its economy, and its place in the world. But it is a different story now because much has happened since I first wrote it. People from around the world are rushing to Cuba before the Americans are turned loose on the island. So, rather than let the ... Read More
2008 Travel: Looking Forward
2008 brings with it commitment to two trips--one to Ft. Myers, Florida, in March, and another to Vancouver, British Columbia, in October, which is a new destination for me. The new year also brings a commitment to travel writing: I've enrolled in a travel writing class called Alternative Travel Writing with the intention of not only refreshing my reporting and feature-writing skills, but also producing at least one ... Read More
More On Ft. William–Worth Seeing
The difference between a wigwam and a tepee is that a wigwam is a permanent structure and a tepee is portable. A wigwam, which is usually round-roofed or dome shaped, is covered with birch bark and sometimes packed with moss to provide added insulation from the winter cold. A tepee, which takes the conventional pyramid shape, is covered with animal skins which can easily be removed and packed.What you are looking at here ... Read More
Kakabeka Falls
Kakabeka Falls (in Kakabeka Provincial Park) are really spectacular, and are said to be the highest falls in North America after Niagra Falls. We took a short mid-day drive with Nate on Saturday prior to the game to take a look. It was worth the visit, and the photo ops are great. I've only included one photo of "the kid" with his fraternity T-shirt (Kappa Tappa Kegga). It is very difficult to capture the depth and ... Read More
The Sleeping Giant
The Sleeping Giant is a land formation in Lake Superior that was formed upon the betrayal of Nanna Bijou, the Spirit of the Deep Sea Water. Nanna Bijou had told the Ojibway people of a tunnel that led to the center of a rich silver mine. However, he warned that if the Ojibway tribe were ever to reveal its whereabouts to the white man, he, Nanna Bijou, would be turned to stone. Through trickery by the Sioux, and then by ... Read More
Visiting Ft. William
Ft. William is really cool and definitely worth your time if you ever get to Thunder Bay. Ft. Williams was not a military fort, but a fur trading post of the Northwest Fur Trading Company, a direct competitor to the Hudson Bay company. The fur trading business was at its zenith around 1815. Basically, the fur trade supported the fashion industry of Europe. Voyaguers were the (more or less) indentured servants of the ... Read More
Traveling Along the North Shore
When we left St. Paul, the temperature was 68 degrees. We got to Tobie's just fine. Had breakfast. But as we drove north from there, the temperature dropped about 8 degrees, the sky clouded over, the wind came up, and it started to rain. It was as if someone had summoned the demon Bartimeus, and he was upset about it. We drove thru a stiff wind for quite a few miles. One piece of bad luck was that a car threw a ... Read More