EGG NOG, BIG LEBOWSKI and EASY CHEESE

Big Lebowski.

Phase 10.

Chess Board.

 

Easy Cheese.

Salami Roll.

String Cheese.

French Bread.

Pizza Lunchables.

Bananas.

 

Mulled Wine.

Jameson.

 

Crockpot.

Eating Utensils.

 

Towels. (Not Provided.)

 

Presents!

 

Puppy Crate.

Bones.

 

Puppies.(With waggy butts!)

 

Us. (Plastered Smiles!)

 

DUTCH OVEN HERE WE COME!!

 

Technically it is called Dutch Cottage

(300 sq. ft. Cabin)

found in Hayward, Wisconsin,

at

Mallard's Landing.

 

It's our annual Christmas Celebration!

 

and

 

The Dude Abides.

KID ROCK, YOU'RE RIGHT

Kid Rock was on to something.

Rough, rowdy, tough, hardworking, and freedom-loving is the description to a breed that I wonder exists anymore.

I'm talking Cowboys, here.

I mean, they must right?

Maybe they struggle through 9-5 jobs silently pondering an existence outside the barriers of city life.

Maybe they rock climb or attempt Everest or it's sister K2.

Knit? Bake cookies or wait, Cupcake Wars competitor?!

Alaskan crab fisherman? How very cowboy-esque. 

So is PTA President minus the political BS.

A break dancer? Party Planner? Dog Walker? Zombie Killer? Doomsday Planner?

Where do you go? Where do you belong when what you are built to do or be in life, just doesn't exist anymore or worse, you watch the declination of your livelihood without a chance of revival.

At one point you realize you will be put out to pasture with your job title and find yourself donning fine wool socks, ironing your slacks, and buttoning your shirt for your job interview at Abercrombie or whatever seasonal work you can scrounge together while figuring out how to create a resume.

It's a rant.

It's a rant for no reason other than I saw a mountain backdrop in a shitty commercial and realized how deeply I wanted to climb those mountains, ride a horse, prance in the sun, kick some dirt, spit some seeds, and feel the breeze.

I want to be a cowboy. Or I want to feel what the cowboy represents to me.

Today, my pancreas hurts. I feel trapped by it. I feel out to pasture. So passe. I know it will pass. But today, bear with me, I just really want to be a fricken cowboy.

PONY EXPRESS in Flurry Conditions

With all this snow I find myself prancing. I can't help it. It's so white and beautiful, adding a reflection of light to a sky that otherwise would be overcast, allowing dreary thoughts to seep into the bones.

Instead a shovel finds my hands with glee as I skid, hop, slide and fall up and down our driveway and street giggling like a giddy fool.

My freedom to fly high with fluttering excitement is a direct correlation to the amount of giddiness within me. 

So what am I doing inside?

 Giddy-up little prancing pony, it's time to fly.

BRAIN BLIP

Redwood National Park is 8 hours and 2 minutes from Seattle, Washington.

Hmm...

FREE WINE and Sleigh Rides

I am going to the 2012 St. Paul Ice Fishing and Winter Sports Show tomorrow!!! I'm so excited.

9 dollars a ticket.
http://marinesource.com/boat_shows/St-Paul-Ice-Fishing-and-Winter-Sports-Show.html


Then we are going to Creative Cottage in Afton, Minnesota to experience their Winter Festival and, as an artist who is showcasing collage art there, showing my face in hopes of selling a few pieces of work.

Be there or miss out on awesome, one of a kind artwork, by yours truly.

PS-It's free wine and sleigh rides if you're in to that. So, you know, it has its perks.

5-8 pm in Afton, Minnesota.

CALLOUSES BY GROUPON

My left arm is sore and three fingers on my right hand are numb with large callouses forming. All thanks to Groupon.

Two hours of my day were spent holding a bow and arrow with only minimal pause to retrieve our arrows and slurp some soda. Our lesson was all of 5 minutes long. Perfect length I must say. Then we were free to shoot. Two hours of target practice and not to TOOT, TOOT, TOOT, the Nerissa horn but my aim kinda rocks! Sometimes. The other times are not recorded by photograph and will quickly fade from my happy memory.

It's a great monetary deal and a truly fun time with whomever you share it with.

High Five Archery in Stillwater, Minnesota, would love to see you there.
http://www.highfivearcheryonline.com/leaguesandlessons.html

The prices without a Groupon are $6.00 an hour not including bow and arrow rental. But with our Groupon we paid $25 for two hours of target practice, bow and arrow rentals, the 5 minute tutorial AND pizza!

It really doesn't get too much more awesome than that.

I'M LIKE SANTA WITH THIS LIFE LIST

I ate raw oysters at Craft Steak in Las Vegas (Hello Top Chef JudgeTom!)

And, CHECK! That's off my life list.

But unlike jumping out of an airplane I would for sure do it again and soon.

Airplane...mmm, maybe someday when I'm super bored and have an extra 200 lying around I'd take the leap again.

You know world, I'm blowing through this list so fast, I might have to add more life adventures to partake in and sights to see.

I'm up for suggestions.

TOP CHEF, I'm Sorry

Okay, so I watch Top Chef. I admit it. There is nothing wrong with it. I'm not defensive. You're defensive. Maybe I'm just messing with you.

There is a reason though. For the messing that is.

FOOD TRUCKS!

Yes. Pods of Food Trucks. Where you ask? What is she babbling on about? How is this related to Top Chef? Why do I suddenly care?

Portland, Oregon is beautiful, friendly, clean, and feels, in many ways, like the Twin Cities, BUT it has one thing the Cities does not. Yep, you guessed it. Food TRUCK PODS!

Food Truck Pods are like enjoying the State Fair every day in a parking lot in the middle of the city.

Each truck has it's own type of food fare from the Grilled Cheese Truck (very popular) to Vietnamese (always a favorite) to Greek or even Japanese if you so desire. I desired and ate a very spicy tuna roll.

It's like a half a block encircled with food! And if you don't find your hearts desire at that Pod you can walk three blocks down to another Pod which will most definitely carry a different fare of food.

I don't know why our Uptown Area in Minneapolis or even Downtown Minneapolis hasn't invested in this idea. I would eat there every day!

So many choices in cuisine for awesomely cheap prices. Service is quick but made to order and if you are with friends or family it easily becomes a smorgasbord of sharing.

Even if you are experiencing the Pod by yourself, you are not alone. The Food Truck Pods are crowded and bustling with people buzzing with food option excitement. It's definitely like the water cooler of who's who, eating what type of food.

I first learned about Food Trucks and the Pods from Top Chef. I thought they were crazy. It sounded like greasy and expensive fast food.

I was wrong. I'm wrong Top Chef. You were right when you said it was the wave of the future. You were right when you said that healthy options on a Food Truck could be possible while not skimping on the flavor.

I concede.
 

A Traditional Turkey Day Song

In the spirit of Thanksgiving Day I share this special holiday song that brings a turkey flutter to the belly; courtesy of thee Adam Sandler:


The Thanksgiving Song

Love to eat turkey
Love to eat turkey

Love to eat turkey
'Cause it's good
Love to eat turkey
Like a good boy should
'Cause it's turkey to eat
So good

Turkey for me
Turkey for you
Let's eat the turkey
In my big brown shoe
Love to eat the turkey
At the table
I once saw a movie
With Betty Grable
Eat that turkey
All night long
Fifty million Elvis fans
Can't be wrong
Turkey lurkey doo and
Turkey lurkey dap
I eat that turkey
Then I take a nap

Thanksgiving is a special night
Jimmy Walker used to say Dynomite
That's right
Turkey with gravy and cranberry
Can't believe the Mets traded Darryl Strawberry
Turkey for you and
Turkey for me
Can't believe Tyson
Gave that girl V.D.

White meat, dark meat
You just can't lose
I fell off my moped
And I got a bruise
Turkey in the oven
And the buns in the toaster
I'll never take down
My Cheryl Tiegs poster
Wrap the turkey up
In aluminum foil
My brother likes to masturbate
With baby oil
Turkey and sweet potato pie
Sammy Davis Jr.
Only had one eye

Turkey for the girls and
Turkey for the boys
My favorite kind of pants
Are corduroys
Gobble gobble goo and
Gobble gobble gickel
I wish turkey
Only cost a nickel
Oh I love turkey on Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

To give a listen:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/24/adam-sandlers-thanksgivin_n_788173.html

GOBBLE DAY FUNNIES 2012

Here are some quotable quotes

to liven your 

THANKSGIVING 

holiday!

 

“I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.” –Jon Stewart

 

“What we’re really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?” –Erma Bombeck

 

“You know that just before that first Thanksgiving dinner there was one wise, old Native American woman saying, “Don’t feed them. If you feed them, they’ll never leave.” –Dylan Brody

 

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
and your pies take the prize,
and may your Thanksgiving dinner
stay off your thighs!
–Unknown

 

“Turkey: A large bird whose flesh, when eaten on certain religious anniversaries
has the peculiar property of attesting piety and gratitude.” – Ambrose Bierce

 

“An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.” Irv Kupcine

 

“I love Thanksgiving turkey … it’s the only time in Los Angeles that you see natural breasts.” –Arnold Schwarzenegger

 

HAVE A SAFE AND

HAPPY

THANKSGIVING DAY!

 

 

 

 

 

A SEATTLE STORY

The nights are long and the days short.

That didn't stop us from traipsing around Seattle, WA yesterday. We may have started our walk to Pier 70 at 1:30 p.m. but our gallivanting led us through Pike Place Market for clams, joke boxes, and books.

We found ourselves facing a GUM WALL. That is right. There is a GUM WALL in Seattle with a city sign that has the words written on it, GUM WALL with an arrow. Yep, I am now a part of that Seattle history. It smelled of mint.

A CREPE filled with ham, Swiss, spinach and egg from a street shop kept us energized as we puffed up the hill to the Mexican restaurant BARRIO to visit with Bethany.

Tequila shooters and Jameson passed our mouths before we shot off to the SPACE NEEDLE. Built for the 1962 World's Fair, that infrastructure provided us with spectacular views of a city so large, even today I still find myself bewildered by it.

I thought it smaller than it really is but the charm of a small town resides within. They stop to let us cross as pedestrians even without a crosswalk. People smile and nod happily at each other like there is some innate need to outwardly express their happiness or at least content feeling that is directly caused by living in Seattle. I mean we had at least three different people offer to take our photograph in front of some landmark. We had to start saying no.

A vibrant city with hills to make the butt work hard, this is a destination to check out.

 

OFF TO SEATTLE in an HOUR, I Should Be Packing

I'm supposed to be packing. We leave in an hour. I'm not showered. And here I am writing to all of you instead.

I have been waiting for this trip since I was a teenager. I don't know what it is about Seattle that pulls me to it but I am truly hoping that the wait is worth it.

I know it will be.

And it's totally raining there.

On Jimi Hendrix's grave site, which I read, is all decked out.

And drops are falling on the homestead of Bill Gates.

The space needle, which is open 365 days a year but reserves the right to close for parties or maintenance whenever it deems fit, I bet is beautiful with the water drops splashing against it.

It's 11:16 a.m. Airport by 1 p.m. Hop to it Nerissa!

 

LETS ROCK THIS HOUSE!!! TO SEATTLE!!!

SEATTLE! SPACE NEEDLE! Water. Ocean. Rain?

Bethany Ambuehl. At Barrio. I will find her.

I'm so excited. I have never been there before.

This. This city. This city is on my list. Like, it's important. Almost as important as the Great Wall of China. Truly.

We hit Portland soon after. Bring on the sights.

We, admittedly, are going to party.

We, I hope, are going to listen to some great music.

We, are going to play pinochle.

And I, am going to whoop Dan's buttocks.

He may cry.

I love travel.

I love my life.

I am lucky.

Just call me a duck yo.

Some day I will stop saying yo.

But today yo, I know, how awesome it all is.

And I am super glad you all, Sweden, Germany, India, United States and whatever country may find their way to my blog, get to come along for the ride.

Hope I don't twist my foot again.

Peace.

I can't believe I just wrote Peace.

But I did.

ZOMBIES, SEATTLE, AND DIRTY LIMERICKS

I'm going to Seattle in less than a week.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Time flies crazy fast and if you don't plop down on the cold November ground and take stock of what's going on, it will be gone before your first sneeze and cough.

We've been back from Missouri for just over a week. My phone arrived from the St. Louis Arch via FedEx before we even arrived home. I have been working, at the doctor, researching pancreas function and if I could just cut it out (nope), attending BONFIRE OF THE BIRTHDAYS (which I slept through half of it), creating collages for my next collection, allowing my addiction to The Walking Dead to flourish, and eating PHO at Bambu in Maplewood.

PHO is good. Very good. Try it.

My collages and decollages currently are on display and for sale at THE CREATIVE COTTAGE in Afton, Minnesota. Check it out and be collagified!

I work. Mostly a lot. Less last week. Tired. Wasn't feeling well. That specific sentiment of not feeling well gets in the way of the need to work tons to save for my next trip but I'm getting by and life is becoming easier.

BONFIRE OF THE BIRTHDAYS was, I've been told, crazy fun! I had a good time from what I attended, and dirty drunken limericks, performed with awesomely bad accents, have become the new tradition.

Watching The Walking Dead is like doing research for the zombie apocalypse.

Better safe than sorry.

CHIGGERS ATE MY BODY and now I Itch...Bad

Chiggers ate my body.

They are mites, not under the skin like scabies, but they eat your skin and then lay larvae in the holes. Disgusting I know, so I spread this knowledge that when in the Ozarks of Missouri, WEAR LONG PANTS!

I saw an eight foot long black snake. Okay it was probably only three feet long but nonetheless I yelped like an old man getting mugged by a six year-old at a 7-11 on a Sunday morning. I did have a .22 with me but it was unloaded and I was so shocked by the situation that I just stared at it. He didn't move. It was not a famous Mexican standoff but totally noteworthy in my daily, day to day, Ozark living.

I might add that my boyfriend, upon hearing my Old-Man Yelp, came a' running with a loaded gun, to protect his woman. Lucky for us all, the snake slithered on and I came back to Nerissa-like senses.

Snakes ARE very common there. Specifically poisonous snakes ARE very common in Missouri. This snake, well, was not one of them. But he could have been!

I saw turtles. I saw turtles in a pond. We were sent to that very pond, by family members, with a specific turtle population mission. It was a more a quest. A quest with loaded .22 rifles...

We played cards at night while watching funny movies from our 80's past, drank coffee out of mugs from the 1970's, swung the porch swing every morning while gazing at herds of deer, hung out at Patsy's Bar where a nine month old served me a shot of Jameson, and I met two grandparents at the Shirley Cemetery, which is NOT a town but a lovely place to bury your dead. 

The drive back today was long, twisted and devious, with a tinge of coffee overload, sugar shock, Jack in the Box, Pizza Lunchables, Alien questions with answers, Art of War remembrances, and Sunflower Seeds.

Now I sit on the floor of my home in some sort of glaze in life that only a 13 hour drive can truly provide the soul. I survived. Better yet, I am awesomely alive. Yo.

But will be in bed very soon.

I'M HOME!

AND I SAY, HEEEEEELLLLLLLO!!!!

The world is my oyster...

Booted from 3 different areas while watching a Cardinals Play-off Game!

Talked life with a sweet Grandma as we walked down photo-memory lane.

Ate at Pietro's, an Italian restaurant in old town St. Louis, which has been around for over 50 years.
www.pietrosdining.com/

Ran in the leaves with 2 crazy, awesome puppies at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial National Park...THE ARCH!

Lost my cell phone while running in the leaves with 2 crazy, awesome puppies at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial National Park...THE ARCH!

Ate PROVEL, the classic St. Louis cheese blend, brought to the world by IMO'S Pizza. Thank you IMO'S. www.imospizza.com/

Took a run and thus further pulled the muscle in my foot.

A hillbilly called me a hippie and told to get a job, while I was running. I'm surprised he didn't throw a beer can at me.

Screamed at a rigor mortis raccoon hidden by the night, while I was running.

Ate a Hebrew National Hot dog and a half hour later proceeded to watch it bounce off the back of a porcelain toilet (pancreatic backlash).

HELLO WORLD!

I'm awake today.

Union Troops Burnt it Down

Packing bags.

Boiling eggs.

(totally funny aftertaste)

Food in refrigerator ready to fly.

Taking Mom's Apple Pie...

 

Cardinals will be playing.

Standing room only,

But we have tickets

To a playoff game!

 

Grandma we are visiting

Pinochle rules I'll be learning

Aunt Linda to say hi to

The farm in acreage of 40  

and me a prancing pony.

 

Ozarks will be rolling

With the Hills of

Civil War Glory

Burnt down city

by Union Troops

Doniphan was Rebuilt

 

Am I ready for you?

Are you ready for me?

 

Tomorrow...

 

we will find out,

what's meant to be.

GOODBYE BUENOS AIRES; Chile Journals

JANUARY 18^TH BUENOS AIRES AIRPORT 4 AM

So I’m leaving to go back to Chile’. I’m not excited. In fact, I’m rather ****ing sad. Buenos Aires was great. No guy jacking off on my leg. The men here were more than respectful and I made a new friend, PLYMOUTH.

I could read this in 2 months and go who? PLYMOUTH who? But for the two days spent, well, he was my buddy. We agreed to keep in touch… which if life has taught me anything, only means what you make it.

I left K in Buenos Aires. She flies out tomorrow—well technically today. Her flight was full for this afternoon so I had to take the freaking 5 am flight back. Yuck—AND ALONE! With no translator… D and K have been lifesavers for that.

She’s lucky though, she gets to sleep and see more of Buenos Aires. I haven’t slept yet. Yes I am tired. It’s 4 a.m.

I leave for the states in less than a week! I am excited and nervous. What if I just fall back into my old bullshit? Not studying for the GRE—not applying myself—OMG  NOT TRAVELING! What?!

I would love to go back to Buenos Aires! Never forget that!

Now that I’ve lived in Chile I fear I don’t really like it or at least not Valparaiso. The place I desperately wanted to live is a place I am desperate to get away from now. That’s how it goes…

But what am I doing? What did I learn? Why did I do this? I moved to Chile because it was “home” and I loved it so much when I came in September… it’s not what I thought. It’s so much harder than I expected… and I’ve been told it’s because I live in Valparaiso and it would be different in Vina—because it’s a city with money and more access to things… They say Vina is more like the US.

I am just a weenie. A tired weenie.

Oh, I would like to continue my travels before I leave South America! Like Mendoza and Northern Chile’ but I am dangerously close to outta moola which means outta luck my friend.

Otherwise, in Buenos Aires I saw the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Malba! Such a fantastic place! It puts our Walker Modern Art Museum to shame! I saw the Campbell Cans and Edie Sedgwick and Marilyn! It was amazing and I felt like I was really experiencing something.

I ended up in a jazzercise class too! In the middle of a freaking street! Kicked my ass it did! I was so into it though that I accidentally smacked a lady right in the face. She sat down right after. PLYMOUTH said I crushed her spirit but I think she was just tired. Besides, she wasn’t getting it—and that’s why I accidentally smacked her—she wasn’t keeping up. The music was so 1970’s disco! It pumped me up to hear English music!

I ran around the botanicals and the zoo—meditated by a pond—watched a dog jump into the pond chasing a stick over and over again.

My hostel was fantastic! Dormitory style called the Palermo House! I met so many people—so many Dutch people now that I think about it.

I forgot to tell you about BOLOGNA! He’s my travel buddy—though some would say he’s just a plastic toy from a chocolate candy—but I say, “phish” to that. Now Chongo doesn’t have to be alone—he’s got Bologna (and cheese.)

12 DAY TIL I BECOME MISSOURIFIED!

Missouri! Yes we are off to St. Louis, Missouri on the 19th of October for one week.

The Cardinals, if they get their act together, might be in the playoffs, and wouldn't that be a bit of crack to catch a game of the home team.

There is a wonderful Slovak Grandma in St. Louis excited to talk Haluski.

An arch is ready for me to ascend and so many eat streets! Pretzel buns and BBQ's and in certain circles they are known for their pizza. IMO'S PIZZA in St. Louis has a special cheese blend combining Swiss, Cheddar and Provolone; the pharmaceutical combination is called Provel.  

From there we hit Doniphan, Missouri to hang on a family farm of 40 acres of beautiful pine wooded land.

Doniphan is surrounded by hilly roads, houses made of tarps with dudes drinking beer inside, and warning, wasps! Across the road from Doniphan is Arkansas, where the folk would seek a glass of the goodies during prohibition.

I believe it will also be in the 70's-80's which will be a wonderful change from our current 48 degrees. I can't complain. I'm from Wisconsin and cold is built into the bones but, cheese on crackers, I wouldn't mind a few more runs outside before I turn in my Vibram running shoes for boots and a mismatched hat.

12 more days until I become Missourified.

Gnome saying?

 

BETHANY AMBUEHL ARE YOU READING?!!!

Just in...Seattle, Washington. That's right! I'm so excited!!!! 

And, Bethany Ambuehl, if you are reading this, be prepared. We will be stopping by your Wine Bar. You better be there. If not...fate is a funny, funny, jerk potato butt face with a crappy sense of humor and rancid cologne made from vinegar and monkey urine.

I could just call you...but it's best to put it in the air and hope it finds you.

November 13th-15th look for me because I will be looking for you.

PS-Hope you are well and that you still work at that Wine Bar...

To all others who read the blog for the sake of reading, which is always good for ones intellect I've been told, I will be traveling to Portland, Oregon the 15th-17th of November. This shall be beautiful, fun, and just plain excellent times for all!

So lets play pinochle with panache and plain vigor.

 

PUKE BAG and "Uh Oh..."

I took a hiatus from you.

I mean not to disappoint my readers for my disappearance. As of late, I've been facing down a few medical issues that has left me with little focus for anything else.

Not kidding, you should have seen my laundry load.

But today is good day.

A plane just took off into the blue sky of life. I didn't feel the desperate need to be on that plane but there will always be apart of me that wonders where it is going, will I be going there myself soon, will it land safe, and what culture will it be immersed in?

Being sick is hard. Being sick while traveling is frustrating.

I'm not changing the subject just simply follow the flow of my brain and you will quickly understand what I am saying.

The United Kingdom was fantastic. I was exhausted. I cried 3 times because I couldn't move my body anymore.

I saw so much. I remember half of it. I got extremely ill with what plagues me. On my birthday. Terrible timing but I've gotten use to it.

Scotland's mountains in Spring are a beautiful, vibrant yellow. I was on a bus through the Highlands. I passed out for the first hour because I get motion sickness especially accentuated by illness. But I saw most of it.

My brain is flooded with memories of travel and sickness. Not just Ireland. But since I was at least 17. We flew to Chicago for my Julliard tryouts. I don't think I was nervous. By that point I didn't even want to go to college there.

I tried. I struck out. That night I floated in the pool like a lost soul of bullshit. Floated like a turd you could say.

The flight home was terrible. I needed the puke bag of "Uh oh."

After that I never recovered from the "Uh oh," or feeling like a floating turd in a pool of bleach. Gross. But honest. Not derogatory. If you knew what was plagueing my body, you would realize that the turd is closest to the truth.

Washington D.C. came after that. I spent the first 3 days puking. The last 2 almost getting thrown in jail for harassing President Clinton and inciting riots. I still don't know how that happened exactly...but it was fun. I rarely remember the sickness of my 1999 DC Adventure because the crazy life that happened around it is a way better memory.

Years after have been spent in similar fashion. I would be knocked down at some point, my body unable to handle the stress and food of travel. In fact, I believe the reason that I fared so well in the UK for 2 1/2 weeks out of the 3 is because I ate bread and butter everyday with only small doses of specialty food. I did pig out on haggis. IT'S SO GOOD! Trust me.

So why travel? Why put myself through a stress when I barely handle the day to day functions of living? Why look at a plane and think all those where's, will's and what's instead of thinking, "Uh oh," or a floating turd in a pool of bleach.*

Because...I ATE HAGGIS IN SCOTLAND! And I don't remember a rough and bloated feeling afterwards though I'm almost positive it was there.

I took a Midnight Express Bus to London on little sleep, with McDonald's food (always a mistake), a rundown system while low on medication. But all I remember is watching drunks in Penrith, England order McDonald's food while slurring with their British accent, cops busting up some pot smokers, a very large, robust man wearing designer stonewashed jeans, a boy named Morgan who helped me big-time and the toilet out of order. IT WAS HILARIOUS!

I ran on a sparkling, soft beach in Pembry/Burry Port, Wales barefooted.

I rock climbed Kidwelly Castle and then saw the sign that said, "No Rock Climbing."

I rang a bell for the Tampa Bay Rays!

I played Blackjack and slots in Las Vegas.

I climbed a mountain in Colorado.

Yes, that is what I remember. That will be my truth.

I am a TRAVELER. I am an ADVENTURER.

And no illness will define me.

 

I CLUNG TO THE ROCKS

Five days later and the Deer Fly bites itch like crazy!

The bruises are green and scabs are formed beginning the healing process.

No stitches needed. This time.

You just gotta love camping!

-C. T.

P.S. Don't rock climb on crumbly limestone without ropes.

P.P.S. Duh.

P.P.P.S. Sigh.

P.P.P.P.S. Parents don't let your children touch strange puppies who bark at them.

SITE CART-IN 20 Split Rock State Park!

I took a health break from the blog. But now, today, I am back. Blame my pancreas. I do. Through the health haughtiness I call body, I found a chance to go CAMPING!

Site Cart-in 20 at Split Rock State Park beckoned us for a birthday celebration.

A TASTE OF OUR ADVENTURE:

bruises from falling rocks

Jameson to cleanse the wounds 

pesky kids with bad timing

crazy thunderstorm with shivering pups 

card games with equality

fly swatters with a zap

biting flies unbearable

hike Superior skipping rocks

lost a ring or Indy ate it

Presidential trivia and rum

starry nights of Orion's Belt 

fireside birthday with love

an astounding view from a cliff

that's our campsite!

air conditioned break time (BEEP)

spaghetti mouth with laughing souls

a jump in the lake of awesomeness

cliff peeing

raspberry picking

hot dog falling

squirrel chasing

breeze feeling

rock climbing (big mistake!)

barefoot walking

caterpillar crawling

no trespassing

Judy isn't open.

phone is dead, Don't wanna go

feet in water cools the heat, 

and life feels for that day

like I suspect it should.

And I'm okay. 

I DIED ON THE OREGON TRAIL

St. Louis, Missouri

Portland, Oregon

Okinawa, Japan

What is this I write? Why, it's what is next on the travel docket.

All these thoughts toss themselves in and out of my tiny ears. They mesh, mash, and then multiply in my frontal lobe!

All for you to enjoy of course.

1. Climb Mt. Fuji, Japan.

2. Thanksgiving in Portland.

3. Shoot guns on a 40 acre farm.

4. Cardinals.

5. Drive, fly or boat?

6. Take a tour of wine country or climb Mt. Hood?

7. Money.

8. Money grows on trees?

9. Money will come.

10. It comes when you work.

11. Sushi in Japan!

12. Is it safe to eat sushi in Japan after the reactor?

13. White, sandy beaches of Okinawa await my running, prancing legs.

14. Healthy by then, yes I will be.

15. Meet Grandma Sol.

16. A father's birthday on the 19th of November.

17. Walk Great Wall of China.

18. Expensive to fly to Australia or New Zealand.

19. Where is Fiji?

20. 16 hour flight.

21. Can I get to Tibet?

22. Tea Horse Trail in Tibet.

23. OMG EVEREST?!

24. Maybe just Base Camp One?

25. How close do I think Tibet is to Okinawa?

26. I'm a nerd.

27. My pancreas will not stop me.

28. I will obey Chinese Laws.

29. I will obey Japanese Laws they I find them less foreboding.

30. I wonder if they have YURTS for rent?

31. They originated in Mongolia.

I'M SO EXCITED!

Wait, 32. OREGON TRAIL?!

Great game but I always fell off the raft and died.

FOR THE SWEDES!

I would like to give a quick shout out to Sweden!

Thank you for following the Compulsive Traveler Blog.

You guys rock!

CHARMED BY WOODEN HISTORY

If ever in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the night, stay at the Plaza Hotel and Cafe. Do not be mistaken, it is not connected to The Plaza though its style is reminiscent with an old world vibe.

No, the Plaza Hotel and Cafe is of it's entity and that is why I give it one of my highest recommendations.

It is located on Yankee Hill just a few blocks from Lake Michigan.

The rooms are large and reasonably priced containing an efficiency kitchen, dining room table, and a large flat screen television placed directly in front of a queen bed. It truly is a home away from home.

There is something wonderfully wooden and sound about this edifice. It smells of history and the passing of time. The spiral staircases, creaky doors, and the odd single bathrooms in the lobby make one feel it's allure in every sense.

Attached to the hotel is the Cafe at the Plaza. I have been there twice and have found myself devouring Sherried Black Truffle Eggs and relishing the Smoked Trout Nicoise Salad.

Entrees are moderately priced under $10.

They serve coffee and soda as well full bar including tasty Bloody Marys, Screwdrivers and Mimosas.

If you were concerned about parking for the Hotel or Cafe, let that thought disappear from your brain. Parking is next door in an open lot, free of charge.

So hop a ride to a little place called charm and relaxation. It is found off I-794, exit 1E in Milwaukee.

http://www.plazahotelmilwaukee.com/dining-2/

DRIFTWOOD with THROBBING FRONTAL LOBE

It is possible to think so much that your brain hurts. That would be today. My frontal lobe is throbbing.

So much so that even this Compulsive Traveler has absolutely no desire to travel anywhere...not even a quick vacation of the brain or jaunt to a river or prance down the street.

I prefer a couch with a cat named Samoa and a wall to stare at.

Or maybe it is time to just close my eyes...and become driftwood.

TAKE A RIDE ON SPIRIT!

While in Pembrey, Wales I took a ride on SPIRIT.

It was awkward and uncomfortable with my feet falling out of the stirrups and my body painfully cracking and smacking against the saddle. 

This was the first time I was riding English style and I did not rock it. I did rock the hat though! 

When we hit the beach we began to gallop. There was no saddle horn to hang on to (English)!

I tugged on SPIRIT'S reins to slow the him down. He went faster!

My hands flailed about trying to regain some semblence of authority by yanking harder but SPIRIT was undaunted.

Realizing this could end poorly, I embraced my chosen lot in life. I relaxed my body falling into the momemtum of forward motion while my brain acquiesced to the ocean waves presented before me.

I felt alive. The air was crisp. The sky brilliant in its melding of blue hues. And the fear disappeared with acceptance to the moment in play.

Minutes later SPIRIT was turning right and slowing down to a canter. My fear suddenly returned, my heart, found hours later still hanging in my shaking boots, was racing and I wanted nothing more than to get myself safely to the stables and GET OFF SPIRIT!

Though terrified and awed by my experience, I would not change it... BUT there is no repeat button. Luck was on my side once, no need to push the issue and receive a different ending.

NO WORKING TOILET on the MIDNIGHT EXPRESS

I took the MIDNIGHT EXPRESS BUS (Red-eye) from Penrith, England (Northern Lakes District) to London, England.

It was a 6 1/2 hour bus trip with no working toilet which I was lucky enough to get a seat next to and even more lucky to be the jerk who had to say, "Aye, toilets broke Mate. Sorry," to anyone who yanked on the door. 

Apparently I also took up a British accent while out there or maybe that is just how my memories replay in my brain.

The man behind me, wearing a matching stonewashed denim jacket and pants, had only one booming volume when he called his mate EVERY HALF HOUR to give an update. As we got closer to London, his friend called him every 10 minutes! His ring tone was, "My Milkshake Brings All the Boys..."   

Across the way, a young couple was all arms and limbs while engaged in a serious lip lock session.

My seatmate didn't say a peep to me or anyone. I liked her.

It's not the luxury of the EXPRESS that sells it. It's the few stops (faster), overnight run (don't lose a day in travel), and price (CHEAP!)

The tickets do sell like hot cakes! I was the last one to buy a ticket and it was 2 nights before departure.

Take it for the experience or it's fast service, IF YOU DARE!

SHOWCASE SINGERS, ROADTRIPS, and a LOST KITTEN!

When I was a teenager I belonged to a Statewide Show Choir named the Showcase Singers. Every summer I would travel to Madison, Wisconsin for a week to practice and then to West Allis, Wisconsin for a week+ to perform on a stage at the Wisconsin State Fair.

Yes, I sang. Yes, I danced. Yes, I ate pork chops on a stick and drank freshly squeezed lemonade with extra lemon and less sugar--always with my modifications--every summer for 4 years.

I would road trip down, picking up other Showcasers along the way. We would make gas station pit stops, fast food drivebys, and on one or more occasions, Lake Michigan and Geneva pauses, all depending on where my wandering heart wanted to go prior to arrival at camp, and post my departure to home.

It was a freedom I was allotted mainly because I would give the date I was leaving and the date I was coming home without receiving many questions. I was a good kid who had and has an affinity for the open road.   

Of course I think back to when I believed it safe to sleep at a rest stop or get lost in Milwaukee. Or considered it funny to drive circles in a cul-de-sac in Pewaukee or go for a run at dusk in a housing development where all houses looked the same and GET LOST! They found me by driving around screaming, "NERMAL!" like I was their lost kitten. I guess I was.

I never left the state though. I knew my boundaries, the Wisconsin state line and no further.

I bet you are wondering how these excursions were funded. I worked. I worked a lot, and used all my money for gas, tune-ups and food for trips. I know I should have been saving it for college or whatever kids save their money for in high school but I wouldn't flip one mile on my travel life odometer for the dollar spent or at the current gas price of $3.79 a gallon.

On August 11th-12th I will be making this same trip down to the Wisconsin State Fair to reunite with my former Showcasers and support, with applause, the current Showcase Singers performance (on the main stage!)

Along the way, I'm stopping for cheese and a bloody mary.

Gnome saying? Gnome saying.

A LIFE REMEMBERED IN FONDNESS

When I look back at this last year...it is not a blur or whirlwind of constant motion. It is a settling feeling of experiencing all that I can and all that is available to me.

I love to travel. Since I was 8 years old I have wanted nothing more than to see the world.

That feeling is reinforced by my current not travel situation. By not, well, it is the tried and true process of loss that creates a stronger appreciation for all that I have seen, felt, done, and worked my butt off to afford.

My unsolicited advice...

Go to Wales if you get the chance. It is beautiful.

Canoe a lake at dusk and get stuck in a bog with bullfrogs.

Take a Highlands Tour of Scotland and hike next to Nessie.

Travel by bus around South America and eat at El Toro Pizza in Cordoba, Argentina, at Midnight.

Eat at the McDonald's in Penrith, England; it is next door to a haunted castle which is considered their city park (Haunted McCastle'd).

Sing "Islands in the Stream" in 2 part harmony with a new friend, in a Czech restaurant, drunk off their beer.

Drive on the wrong side of the road in Ireland! Of course it's the right side of the road for them. Beware of tractors and roundabouts.

These are just snippets of my time; memories that float around my brain when slinging drinks. I smile when I think back in time and it is my life I remember with fondness...

MY PURSE FLOATS!

We tipped the canoe.

My purse floats. It's leather!

The to-go sandwich is fine.

iPhone survives--durability is surprising.

Only half my body is wet. Still.

But we continued our trek into lily pad land at sunset anyway.

Light waves against a quiet boat with 2 giggling folks.

Stuck in the bog, said "Allo" to Jimmy Hoffa.

Thats the trip up-to-date and what I have to say, mates.

That's Right

"Not all who wander are lost."

-Bumper Sticker

CAIRNRYAN, SCOTLAND

Scotland floats in and out of my thoughts today.
Definitely not the first time of its arrival to the forefront of my brain but today I can't stop thinking about how EFFING BEAUTIFUL it is!

Pardon my ill-word choice but imagine vast solitude with an untouched view of sprawling farmland, grazing sheep, craggy hills, and ocean waves; all mingling with each other on their normal day to day.



"Cairnryan is a small Scottish village in Dumfries and Galloway on the eastern shore of Loch Ryan. The village is important in maritime history."

Courtesy of Wikipedia.com

WHERE DID MY GERMAN GO? OH NEIN!

After the dust settles and life finds its normal rhythm again or what becomes a new normal rhythm, one can be faced certain challenges post travel.
1. Diet. Diet? Exercise...

There was no diet in play where our traveling was concerned for the most part. Not because healthy isn't in or a big part of our daily lives, but because we were traveling so fast and walking so much we needed to eat whatever was convenient for the most part.

Also, when in Rome, eat, drink and be merry like the Romans or well, the Irish. We drank our share of Jameson, ate the lamb stew, french bread and soup, and the Guinness somehow found it's way down our throats warming the tummies.

Work outs, a normal part of our daily home routine, not so ingrained in the travel schedule. There was 1 ten-mile hike, 1 mountain climbed, 1 two-mile run and tons of walking and dragging luggage everywhere.

Did we gain weight on the 3 week trip to Ireland?

Not really.

Two months later...

I'd say all 3 of us are struggling with one form or another of dietary/exercise program.

When on vaca, it's hard to well, leave the mentality, even when you've left the country of travel and are back home.

2. Work. Eek. Work?

Hmm...has traveling made me lazy towards work?

Had living in Chile without a job for 2 months, just enjoying a day to day activity of eating, laughing, traveling and breathing, made it difficult for me to work 2-3 jobs again?

Very possible. It was the first time EVER since I was 9 that I wasn't working.

The days just melted into each other. Some of my journal entries have question marks on the date.

I felt recouped when I came back but I also found it hard to multitask or do more than 3 things in a day. I WAS ONLY THERE FOR 2 MONTHS! 

Yet breaking that mentality took 6 months.

And now I still find it hard to jump back into work. It use to be something that was considered a given but by not doing it for 2 months it became more of a, "eh, I guess I should."

Wow, I was so German before Chile, with my work being number 1 in my life...

3. Staying Put for a Bit.

Easier than expected for this Compulsive Traveler. I'm assuming it's because I'm:

A. Broke.
B. Tired.
C. Laundry!
D. Need to recoup brain cells.
E. There are other activities that I find enjoyment in besides travel (GASP!) like ROCK CLIMBING, CAMPING, SQUARE DANCING, GOING TO MOVIES, COOKING, RUNNING, BLOODY MARY'S IN THE AFTERNOON, CANOEING, GARDENING, HIKING, READING, WRITING, no arithmetic, that I would like to put some time into.

There will be more travel soon, do not fret. In fact, we leave for Trego, WI in less than 2 weeks. There is a cabin-esque waiting for us.

But otherwise, it's back to getting re situated into daily to-dos and what-nots.

Speaking of what-nots, TIME FOR WORK!

Strangest Deaths...

The things I read:

"Death by Bottle Cap

American playwright Tennessee Williams [wiki] died in 1983 after he choked on a bottle cap in his hotel room. Yes, he had been drinking.

Death from Stubbing One’s Toe

Famous Tennessee whiskey distiller Jack Daniel [wiki] decided to come in to work early one morning in 1911. He wanted to open his safe but couldn’t remember the combination. In anger, Daniel kicked the safe and injured his toe, which later developed an infection that killed him!

Moral of the story? Don’t go to work early.

Death by Belly Slam.
British pro wrestler Mal “King Kong” Kirk died underneath the big belly of Shirley “Big Daddy” Crabtree.

Death by Sheep
In 1999, Betty Stobbs, 67, of Durham, England, took a bale of hay to feed her flock of sheep on the back of her motorcycle.

Apparently, the sheep were very hungry. About forty of them rushed the hay and knocked her off a cliff into a 100-feet deep quarry. Stobbs survived the fall only to be killed when the motorcycle, which was also knocked off the cliff, tumbled down after her."

Courtesy of Neotorama
http://www.neatorama.com/2007/03/12/30-strangest-deaths-in-history/

EXTRANO CHILE

Chile has been on the mind lately...

Is it time to begin planning a trip to South America?

My brain wanders to Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and of course...

ANTARCTICA AND EASTER ISLAND!!!

PATAGONIA!

So I guess what I'm saying is:

"Hola Chile! Como Estas?"

It has been too long my friend.

I SPENT THE WEEK AT MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE!

Our last family trip to Tampa, Florida was spent at MacDill Air Force Base right on Tampa Bay. Two years in a row now we have hung our family vacation hats there. It is beautiful and sad to leave knowing that we may never be able to step foot on that base again, depending on where the Harley Family (Our Naval Roots) move to in the future.

Just imagine a running path made of chipped tires situated next to the Bay with a gentle breeze floating through your hair, as the sweat beads drip into your underwear and the sand sticks to your tennis shoes, flicking itself up with a splattering wetness on to your exposed calves.

Tampa's skyline situates itself directly across from where it is I run. The clouds are a lilting baby blue, the sky a steely color of awesomeness all directly residing over the light waves of the sandy bottomed Bay.

Their house had a screened in porch that let you gaze day and night at the leaping Sturgeon and flocks of Egrets as they did what they do daily, live contently in the Bay, and apparently piss off boaters according to this Tampa Bay Times Article.
http://www.tampabay.com/sports/outdoors/leaping-sturgeon-a-growing-threat-to-boaters-on-suwannee/1229086

If ever you get the chance to spend the day at MacDill Air Force Base, TAKE IT! And be grateful because many never get the chance to see the world from behind those military gates.

I know how lucky I am.