Happy Thanksgiving!! Sorry I have not updated my blog lately. I have been writing, but mostly articles. Here are some of my recent articles that have been published on Associated Content: A Rare and Ancient Treasure in the Oklahoma Mountains [url=http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2420646/making_the_most_of_your_european_backpacking.html]Making the Most of Your European Backpacking Trip [url=http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2389434/camper_vans_the_best_vehicle [View Full Entry]

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I am working and living in Texas right now, teaching prairie ecology at an outdoor education camp to 5th graders from the Dallas area. The prairie is beautiful, but extremely muddy with all the rain we have had over the past month and a half. The wildflowers that bloomed in the late summer and early fall are beginning to fade away, relaced by the colors of the leaves turning on the trees and grasses. The prairie land of the Great Plains used to stretch from here in North Texas, through Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, part of Colorado, Minnesota, the Dakotas, [View Full Entry]

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Wind Cave NP has a beautiful park with plenty of wild live and the 4th biggest cave in the world. Impressive. But the visit of the cave itself was nothing special. Just the "boxes" and that's it. O Parque Nacional da Cave Ventosa ;) é muito bonito e tem muitos animais selvagens. A gruta é a quarta maior do mundo, mas o que vimos nnao é muito impressionante, a não ser as formações em "caixas". [View Full Entry]

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Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota Mount Rushmore National Monument in South Dakota Devils Mountain National Monument in Wyoming [View Full Entry]

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Well summer is over and we will once again hit the road for Fla and the winter season. We have had a busy and fun summer. After leaving Fla. we landed up (finally) in Ohio at our son's cottage at Indian Lake. We spent the better part of 2 months here and then took a run to northern Michigan to see the sights of an amazing area. We started by going to the Sparton Chasis plant where we had our yearly maintenance work done. Then they let us know we had a leak or two and suggested we go to Grand [View Full Entry]

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Ok...so stopped about 1 hour before Spearfish to buy gas. I had been driving with the gas light on for a while. Then as I am coming to a stop the check engine light comes on. I fill it and check all the fluids and everything is fine. Check engine light goes off and comes on again about 5 miles later. I get into Spearfish and decide to call Penske. They are going to send over a mechanic to the hotel to look. Here come the mechanics in a worn out beat up Chevy. Blowing smoke as they come up the [View Full Entry]

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WOW someone from Penske was smart enough to let me drive the truck to Sioux Falls. The best part....the check engine light never came on. Oh well Jethro and Jimbob said there was a problem. Atleast no one had to ride with them. I could see how bad this was going to be. Out in the middle of the plains with no cell phone signal and a couple of crack heads....NOT!!! Anyway so here I am...waiting and waiting while 4 movers hired by Penske are taking everything off the old truck with the engine light that remains intermitent and placing it [View Full Entry]

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ON THE ROAD AGAIN: 2009 GREAT WESTERN ADVENTURE WEEK SEVEN: CUSTER , SD TO BARABOO , WI Tuesday, July 07 Custer is a cute Western town on the edge of Custer State Park. After checking out of President Harrison’s Cabin we drove into Custer to a little bistro for an egg burrito (I also had a great chai) before heading out to the park. We then drove along the edge of the park for some time before seeing anything. Suddenly as we rounded a bend a herd of buffalo were on the crest of a hill munching on yellow sweet clover. [View Full Entry]

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I'm sure my traveling companions have already apologized for the lack of entries, so I won't. We've just been having a bit too much fun with too few hotspots available. It falls upon me to discuss with you the Black Hills as a region, a religious idea, and a national forest, as well as its underground adornment, Wind Cave. I had previously read about the Black Hills of course; they are sacred to the Sioux tribe, the natives got screwed over, they're now vacationland for rich whities, etc. I was somewhat skeptical, as I am wont to be on occasion. However, [View Full Entry]

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WEEK SIX: CHOTEAU , MT TO CUSTER , SD Tuesday, June 30 We took our time leaving Choteau lingering over long expanses of soft green prairies and buttes and memories Jen’s hospitality,. Civilization seems an ugly interruption of this lovely land. The Ulm Pishkun State Park, ten miles out of Great Falls is the historic Buffalo Jump of the First Peoples.  For hundreds of years the Great Plains Indian Tribes hunted buffalo by driving them over these and many other cliffs. To get to the edge of these impressive cliffs you must walk through a prairie dog town on top of [View Full Entry]

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