|
|
| Here you can access some of the freelance articles I have written over the years. These pieces have appeared in diverse publications, such as Bluegrass Unlimited; The Everett Herald; Raincoast Chronicles; Canada West; The Seattle Weekly; and Habits of Waste online quarterly. In some cases they have not yet been published. These are the complete articles. That is, they are unedited, differing from what may have appeared in the publications mentioned. I have also included photos I took from these adventures. I hope you enjoy them. The Real Florida is a reprise of a trip we made in January of 2005. We tried to avoid the tourist "traps," and focus on parks and natural and historic areas. Thus we visited Myakka River Park; Corkscrew Swamp; Everglades City; John Pennekamp State Park in the Florida Keys; and Everglades National Park. Grand Canyon is actually a trip Jen and I took around the "Grand Loop" in 1999, a 900-mile adventure starting in Las Vegas that included Grand Canyon, Bryce, and Zion National Parks. Big Sur In early 2007, Jen and I traveled to the California coast. We visited Carmel, Paso Robles, Pinnacles National Monument, and, of course, Big Sur. Along the way we had a great adventure with an 82-year-old Italian grape grower who invited us for a tour of his facilities-and gave us 8 bottles of wine! Cypress Island The San Juan Islands, in the very northwesterly area of the lower 48 states, are a major tourist area year-round. The tourists take Washington State ferries to get to places like Orcas Island and Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. However there are many of these islands that are not served by any kind of public transit. One of these is Cypress Island, on the ferry route but not serviced by the ferries. We took a private water taxi which dumped us on the beach and picked us up later after we hiked a wonderful trail there. The Washington Coast is a special place to visit in the Spring, when the lush rainforest comes to life. Jen and I traveled around in early 2005, visiting such wonderful (and remote) places as Shi-Shi Beach, Cape Flattery (uppermost corner of the lower 48), and Olympic National Park. We found a spot not to visit, too... Yellow Island is a virtually unknown little place in Washington's San Juan Islands. But in April and May this Nature Conservancy island comes alive with wildflower displays, as vivid as anything I've ever seen. C'mon along for the color! Via Rail is the Canadian version of Amtrak. In 1981 I took the passenger train from near Vancouver, British Columbia to Toronto, Ontario near Christmas. It was a fabulous trip and also my first attempt at free-lancing an article. It failed. The article was never published but I'm still proud of it, and published it here! Saturna Island is one of British Columbia's Gulf Islands. In 1988 I met feisty Dave Jack there, a crusty raconteur and boat builder. Dave entertained several of us with his feisty stories of his nearly 50 years on that island, his fascination with steam engines and boats. I came back several times and the article I developed was originally published in Raincoast Chronicles. For this presentation I added my own photos, which have never been published. | |
|