The tour guide – let’s call her Jezera, so she doesn’t lose her job, okay? – spotted Mike and me as she started a head count on the bus. “Where have you two been?” she asked, flipping the apology we’d been expecting into an accusation: She hadn’t ditched us; we’d wandered away. “We got held … Continue reading Plitvice Lakes: Waterfall Wanderland
Author: Camp Host Chad
Croatia: Plitvice Lakes National Park
Founded in 1949, Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia USED to be a well-kept secret, but the park has seen a boom in tourism over the past 20 years. (An increase of more than a million visitors a year over the last 16 years? Yikety-yikes!) Had you heard of Plitvice before this post? I only … Continue reading Croatia: Plitvice Lakes National Park
My Million Dollar View — The Camping Sasquatch
I wrote this while enjoying the morning on Cinder Lake… My eyes crack open in the still dark morning, my body wrapped up in my sleeping bag. I’m well rested and ready to start my day. Sleeping outside seems to give me the best nights sleep I can possibly get. I roll over and check […] … Continue reading My Million Dollar View — The Camping Sasquatch
Cinque Terre: Sunset Cruise
If you’re browsing for a quick introduction to Italy’s Cinque Terre, you might try the previous post, which also includes a link to that national park’s official site. Wondering how to travel between villages via train, ferry or hiking trails? Want more info on the villages themselves, what to do and what to see? Start … Continue reading Cinque Terre: Sunset Cruise
Italy: Cinque Terre National Park
Cinque Terre National Park, inducted by Italy in 1999, doesn't protect only the landscape (a section of the Ligurian coastline) or only the five, historical medieval cliff-side towns (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso) within its boundaries. I love this concept: establishing a park to preserve (no, more than that; to sustain, to improve) the … Continue reading Italy: Cinque Terre National Park
Where You Want to Go
If a race car driver focuses on the wall, he’s going to hit the wall. Focus on where you want to go. ~ Julianne Hough, advising a contestant on Dancing with the Stars Apparently, a rule that applies to race car drivers and ballroom dancers also applies to writing this blog. Thanks to Campfire Tales … Continue reading Where You Want to Go
Book Review: A Walk Across America
A Walk Across America, a bestselling memoir by Peter Jenkins first published in 1979, chronicles the first ½ of his journey on foot across the USA, stretching from Alfred, New York to New Orleans, Louisiana. The remainder of the journey unfolds in The Walk West (1981). “One half” is a fitting phrase to describe this … Continue reading Book Review: A Walk Across America
Good Signs / Bad Timing
All useful information (well, maybe a little TMI), right? Although it seems to me that first sign comes way too soon (unless you brought an aspirin synthesizer kit with you on your hike) and the second one comes way too late.
What Layers Mean to Me
A grownup is a child with layers on. ~ Woody Harrelson To make a full-blooded puff pastry, you need time, you need patience, and you need precision. It's all about the lamination: it's all about building up the layers of butter, dough, butter, dough; as the butter melts, it creates steam, and that brings up … Continue reading What Layers Mean to Me
3 x You = 22
Q: Campfire Tales, you talk so much about trees, I'm inspired to make a difference, but I don't know where to start. Can you please help? A. My pleasure! Below are three comprehensive links to get you started. This contest, put on by Save the Redwoods, is a genius way for parents and kids to … Continue reading 3 x You = 22
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