Camping with Elon?
This interesting rig was in our campground last night. The trailer appears to be a prototype from a California start-up company.
Brewed Journey
Travel, Hiking, Beer and Coffee
Latest posts
Devil’s Lake
We spent today climbing the East and West Bluff at Devil’s Lake State Park. Merrimac Free Ferry East Bluff
Mid-July Update
We have been bouncing back and forth at Madison urban campgrounds, taking advantage of all the great restaurants and music venues. But it's been hot! With the heat index, the combined humidity and temps into the mid 90's have made it hotter than Tucson. Additionally, in the last week, the wildfire smoke from Minnesota and Canada has completely socked us in. Basically, it's like sitting at the…
Summertime, and the Living is Easy (Sometimes)
We are settled into our routine in the Madison, Wisconsin area for the summer. We lived thirty minutes north of Madison for thirty years, and it was a frequent destination for breweries, restaurants and music. Summer is the best time of year to be here with many festivals and outdoor beer gardens to sample. Two nights ago, we went to Octopi Brewing's patio and heard a band called "Don't Spook the…
We won the Lottery!
Not the kind of lottery that makes a fellow rich in Trump meme bitcoin. On our second try, we won the lottery for a Grand Canyon National Park Backcountry Permit. Looks like we may be hiking down to Bright Angel Campground sometime in November. Time to get our backpacks out this fall and do some training. Julia has never backpacked before.
Iowa River Towns
I’ve blogged about this area of the Mississippi River between Dubuque and Bellevue, Iowa on several previous occasions. We’ve always liked the summer vibe here: breweries, music, farmer’s markets, the slow pace, and the lower cost of living.
Cedar Rapids
We are winding down our multi-day stay in Cedar Rapids. I don’t have any particular fond memories of this city, which is also known as the City of Five Smells: Captain Crunch cereal, cooking oats, ADM/Cargill food processing, the Cedar River, and wastewater treatment. However, it was a lifelong home for my grandparents and great grandparents. It’s where my dad lived his final days and where my mom…
Acorn Valley COE
There is a lake here, but it isn’t viewable from our campsite. However, the price is right with the 50% Senior Pass discount. We are close to Drs Moines and in a holding pattern to get to Cedar Rapids for an available campsite. On our first day here, we ventured to a nearby brewery not worth mentioning. It’s never a good sign when the oatmeal stout is translucent. Cedar Rapids is where my mom…
Another Day, Another Lake
The drive from Oklahoma into Kansas was mostly on two lane highways and without any breakdowns or unpleasant surprises. We pulled into Hillsdale State Park in the early afternoon and took Callie on a walk around this huge park with multiple campgrounds. Then we headed into town for some Kansas bbq at Poppa C’s. On the next morning, there was a beautiful quiet sunrise. We spent that day relaxing.…
Canton Lake
Canton Lake is a Corps of Engineers dam project about ten minutes from the sad little town of Canton, Oklahoma. There’s a Main Street, but most of the businesses are closed, and many of the buildings are falling apart. We read online that the town has lost about 30 percent of its population in recent years due in part to dwindling economic opportunities. Someone did paint a nice mural. The lake is…
Santa Rosa Lake State Park
We had a rough travel day to this campground east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Somehow, our steps wriggled off the retaining pin and dropped down during travel. It could have been worse. We noticed it at a gas station and spent about an hour bending the steps back into place, sufficient to get them folded in and stored again Then we devised a temporary solution to tie them off with trimmer string…
Elephant Butte Lake
Our first night of the trip was spent at Elephant Butte Lake State Park in New Mexico. We arrived on Sunday afternoon, and there were a lot of hung over, badly sunburned campers preparing to head back to work after the weekend. We had a delightful meal at Bigfoot restaurant. Green Chili Cheeseburger with a fresh salad and a 1614 dark ale on tap from New Belgium. Then we made the short drive to…
Propane on Fridge Fixed?
Tucson's summer is well under way with highs hitting the low 100's on a regular basis. It's easy to settle back into our summer rhythm of getting up early for walks and pickleball, while enjoying the evenings as things cool down. Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens are about 15 minutes from our house. We are members, and have been enjoying local music on the weekends . We are making final preparations…
Sam Baker
About 15 years ago, I stumbled upon a songwriter named Sam Baker who had released an album called "Cotton." I liked almost every song, not because he was a great singer or a great musician but because he was a great songwriter/wordsmith. One of the good things about A.I. is that I can use it as a starting point to find out about subjects that I've lost track of over the years. As I dug in deeper,…
Jack's Peak
This was the last of our longer hikes in the Silver City, New Mexico area. Jack's Peak is a 9 mile out and back trail to the top of a mountain distinguished by a large set of antennas. The trailhead is about 20 miles southwest of Silver City along Hwy 90. There is a large parking lot for Continental Divide hikers, and there is also dispersed camping here. Compared to earlier hikes at higher…
Twin Sisters Creek and Dragonfly Loop
This trail was very close to our RV park in Silver City, so we hiked it several times. It's a 5.8 loop trail east of town. Very little elevation gain, but a great spot for Callie to burn off some energy. There were also petroglyphs to find. The signature petroglyph is the dragonfly but we didn’t find it on the first go-around. We did find others. We weren't sure if more recent humans may have…
Little Cherry Creek
A few miles north of Pinos Altos, New Mexico, the Little Cherry Creek trail begins. Distance is 8.4 miles (in/out), and elevation gain is 1450 feet. Parking at the trailhead is limited. There are a few pull off spots where a car or two will fit, but the road grows worse as one heads uphill. Initially, for the first two miles, the trail follows an old two track forest road. After that the trail…
Afternoon Entertainment
After our hike at Catwalk Recreational Area, we were both hungry, so we drove up to the Alma Grill for lunch. It was a bustling place with lots of characters, staff and customers. I had the best chile rellenos ever, and Julia loved her huevos rancheros. There was delicious melted Mexican cheese on everything. As we finished up, an old rancher asked if their coffee was fresh. The waitress said with…
Catwalk Trail
A few miles northeast of Glenwood, NM is the Catwalk Recreational Area. There is a $5/day day use fee, although the old geezer pass avoids it. The trail is only 2.4 miles, and the first part is mainly flat, following a mining pipeline through Whitewater Canyon. Callie wasn’t too excited in the beginning to walk on the catwalk but quickly learned that she wouldn’t fall through The end of the…
Signal Peak
Sunrise, Pinos Altos We were up at dawn to tackle our steepest trail of the trip: Signal Peak, a 4.7 mile trail with elevation change of 1700 feet. At the top is a manned lookout tower during fire season. The first mile followed a rutted forest road before turning off on to a dirt path which quickly became a series of switchbacks. Signal Peak is just shy of 9000 feet in elevation. We were…
Gomez Peak
Gomez Peak is a four mile hike just outside of Silver City, NM with 780 feet of elevation gain. It was a wet, cloudy day after a night of wind and rain. We did not see another soul on this hike. At the bottom Fog starting to roll in The summit After coming down the mountain, we had an important task. We were headed to Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery. Monastery from Gomez Peak Not for confession…
Hiking, Beer and Music
We got up early and drove to the Dragonfly Trailhead. Julia picked out the hike for this day, which combined the Twin Sisters Creek Trail with the Dragonfly Trail to create a loop. 5.8 miles with a modest 341’ elevation gain. The cool temperatures made Callie an enthusiastic dog, and she took the opportunity to drink and lay in the creek. We dropped Callie back at the camper and headed to Open…
Gila Cliff Dwellings
This is the first time we have spent any length of time in the Gila National Forest, and we’re loving it. On our first full day in the Silver City, New Mexico area, we drove north of Pinos Altos and entered the Gila. Man, there were a lot of deer early in the morning. Fortunately, they stayed just off the road. Once we made it to the Cliff Dwellings, we were pleased to see that we basically had…
City of Rocks State Park
The wind howled every afternoon at City of Rocks State Park in New Mexico during our three day stay. Mornings and evenings, however, were quite pleasant with high temperatures in the 70’s and low temperatures in the high 40’s. We were in an electric campsite with water. Definitely living the high life. We had Reserve America reservations, but I’m writing a note to my future self that Sites 1-5…
Eastern New Mexico
We are on the road again for a longer trip to test out Lance trailer systems on our new-to-us travel trailer. Very windy here. 50 mph gusts on our first day. Only one bar of service so more later.