Blog Posts

Here are all of my blog posts.

Reflections on the Cotswold Way

After any adventure, it’s fun and constructive to reflect. The plan was not to write this up three months after we finished, but life got in the way. I…
The Cotswold Way Day 5: Painswick to Cooper’s Hill

Bus times caused us to try a section “backwards” which was fun over a great stretch of the trail. Getting back to Crickley Hill, where we left the Cotswold…
The Cotswold Way Day 4: Cleeve Hill to Shurdington

Neither our starting or ending points were on the Cotswold Way today, which reflects the logistical challenge. My gratitude for the feedback I get from y’all, either in Facebook…
The Cotswold Way Day 3: Winchcombe to Cheltenham Race Course Station via Cleeve Hill, with Steam Train

Today’s excitement included meeting up with my sister Jane and her husband, and finding ice cream at just the right time. The steam train was pretty cool too. The…
The Cotswold Way Day 2: Toddington to Winchcombe via Belas Knap

Today was made more exciting with my friend James joining us. Our last hike together was last century in Ecuador, so it was good to catch up! We started…
The Cotswold Way Day 1: Chipping Campden to Toddington

Hang on. Toddington isn’t on the Cotswold Way. But it’s close and it was a fine end to our first day’s walk. Today’s challenge was logistics. The first challenge…
The Cotswold Way: Wedding and Macbeth Preludes

Our “reason for coming” became a fantastic time in Ulverston, and we squeezed in a couple of nights in Stratford-Upon-Avon en route to the Cotswolds. We had had to…
The Cotswold Way: Our Plan

It’s time for another hike! This opportunity has been triggered by a wedding invite from friends we saw on our Grasmere rest day during our Coast-to-Coast adventure last summer…
Reflections on an Adventurous Family Trip to Oahu

I hesitate to write a “reflections” post, as I hesitated to write a daily blog of our Hawaii trip. It was just a vacation, so it wasn’t that adventurous!…
Organizing A High School Theatre’s Wardrobe – Part 1

In helping our son’s high school theatre company, Janet and I identified the need and challenge of organizing the costumes. Before starting the organization project, I researched online and…
Hawaii – Day 7

Our final morning! As with most other mornings, I woke up around dawn (5:50) and caught up on processing photos and blogging on the house’s back porch. It had…
Hawaii – Day 6

First, we headed to Waialua Coffee where we drank fresh coffee, had a tour of their small coffee and chocolate making facilities, and found souvenirs with reasonable prices. Today’s…
Hawaii – Day 5

SCUBA day! Samuel and I had picked up some rental gear from a dive shop and we were ready to go. We’d brought our own basic gear including my…
Hawaii – Day 4

It was time for a hike! We headed out at 7:30 for a 30-minute drive to the Hau’ula loop around the northern tip of the island. We waited out…
Hawaii – Day 3

Today was slower than yesterday which we needed. The highlight was the evening with Toa Luau, and their ticket included entrance to visit their botanical gardens and waterfall. We…
Hawaii – Day 2

This was a varied day as we explored the area from Pearl Harbor via Honolulu and Waikiki to Diamond Head. We had a reservation on the first boat for…
Hawaii – Day 1

What is better to do on one’s first day in Hawaii other than surfing? We’d booked lessons with a shop in Haleiwa, though I was first with some others…
Hawaii – Day 0

I hadn’t planned to blog this vacation, but a few people asked for updates, so why not. The plan is certainly to have an adventure, with Kylie and Jett…
The Theatre Journey of a High School Graduate

Preparing to send one’s youngest child to college triggers an array of hopeful forward-looking expectations and pensive reflections. These converged when I wrote an introductory email about Samuel on…
The Eagle Rock Loop in November 2022

The 27-mile Eagle Rock Loop (ERL) in the Ouachita National Forest in southwest Arkansas has been on my “list” for several years. At nearly 400 miles from Houston, it…
Reflections on the Coast to Coast

After any significant adventure, I like to gather and publish my thoughts a few days after it is finished. Such a reflective post can help others plan something similar…
Highlights of our 2022 Coast to Coast Crossing

It is difficult to get one’s head around an adventure as large as hiking England’s Coast to Coast over 18 days. To help the reader appreciate the whole trip…
Coast to Coast Day 19: Robin Hood’s Bay to Heathrow

Team Sloth has made it to Heathrow, which is where the blog’s storytelling should end. Just like there was a “Day 0” before we started, I add one at…
Coast to Coast Day 18: Grosmont to Robin Hood’s Bay

This is what we set out for when we left St. Bees. With the finish this close, my family’s primary focus was finishing. With what looked like being the…
Coast to Coast Day 17: Blakey Ridge to Grosmont

The day started similarly to yesterday with some fine easy moorland walking, and we covered the first 9 miles in 3 hours. Once again, the moorland cotton was special.…
Coast to Coast Day 16+: Sunset Drone at the Lion Inn

I’d looked forward to capturing the sunset from the Lion Inn since before the trip started. I had done a recce flight with my DJI Mini 2 earlier which…
Coast to Coast Day 16: Clay Bank Top to Blakey Ridge

While this has been the easiest day of the trip at 8.7 miles at just over 3 hours, it was not short of views and the weather was perfect.…
Coast to Coast Day 15: Osmotherley to Clay Bank Top

We were back in the hills! While the hot temperatures made it uncomfortable and challenging, the clear skies opened up amazing views for all of our 11.3 miles which…
Coast to Coast Day 14: Danby Wiske to Osmotherley

I was hopeful that today would bring us out of our funk, and it did in several ways! We hiked the 13 miles in under 6 hours. It was…
Coast to Coast Day 13: Richmond to Danby Wiske

Everyone seemed well refreshed at breakfast, which The Fleece had graciously arranged early for us. We grabbed our lunch from Gregg’s on the way through town and were soon…
Coast to Coast Day 12: Rest day in Richmond

My Dad grew up in Richmond, but his one was on the outskirts of London, rather than this one in North Yorkshire. As my Mum was from Lancashire, the…
Coast to Coast Day 11: Reeth to Richmond

We all slept well and were ready to get to Richmond and our rest day. This day was pleasantly uneventful, with perhaps a few more hills than the team…
Coast to Coast Day 10: Keld to Reeth

Team Sloth was at full strength again today. The young ‘uns were ready for the high route, with us oldies opting for the low one, which was a bit…
Coast to Coast Day 9: Kirkby Stephen to Keld

It was great that Dean rejoined us today. Even though his toe joint was still very painful, he really wanted to see the hills, and certainly wanted to avoid…
Coast to Coast Day 8: Orton to Kirkby Stephen

The weather forecast was great for this 12-mile day, so it was really disappointing when Dean reluctantly decided he needed a rest day as he had severe toe pain.…
Coast to Coast Day 7: Shap to Orton

Today was a refreshing change and a relatively short one at 7.8 miles in just less than 4 hours. Most importantly, the whole team was hiking together again! The…
Coast to Coast Day 6: Patterdale to Shap (Low Raise alternate)

Today we completed just over 15 miles in just under 8.5 hours of walking. This was our final day in the Lake District and this blog will be a…
Coast to Coast Day 5: Grasmere to Patterdale

Today we completed 9 miles in about 6 hours, and the consensus was that it was the easiest day so far. Bailey’s Achilles was uncomfortable but she was able…
Coast to Coast Day 4: Rest day in Grasmere

Today we completed 0 miles in 12 hours😎. It was a perfect day of relaxation with no alarm, breakfast at a leisurely 9:30, and a bit of gentle strolling.…
Coast to Coast Day 3: Stonethwaite to Grasmere

The 8-mile distance of this leg disguises its challenges, illustrated by our taking 7.5 hours to complete it. It started with rain but fortunately that soon cleared up and…
Coast to Coast Day 2: Ennerdale Bridge to Stonethwaite

Most of us described this as the toughest day of our lives. The word to describe the photos was “real.” It took us 9.5 hours to hike the 15.5…
Coast to Coast Day 1: St. Bees to Ennerdale Bridge

It took us just over 7 hours to walk these 14.5 miles. The weather was kind, providing some beautiful views while also giving us a taste of how English…
Coast to Coast Day 0: Ready to Start after a fine visit to Ulverston.

We have made it to St. Bees! If you want to know why we are here, scroll down to where I explain this “Coast to Coast” adventure we are…
Barker Dam: Checking out my drone for our Coast to Coast trip

After our Grand Canyon trip of 5 days, it took me another 5 days to sort through the footage on my computer and post on Instagram, Relive, and this…
Counting Down the Days to Start the Coast to Coast

Our adventure is getting so close that I can smell the sea air and feel the wind in my face at the top of the Lake District fells. We…
Grand Canyon Day 6 – The Hoover Dam

Samuel’s interest in the Glen Canyon Dam made me think of visiting Hoover. It looked like they had a cool tour inside the dam, with tickets only available in-person,…
Grand Canyon Day 5 – The Epic Buckskin Gulch

It is wrong to group such a standalone classic with the Grand Canyon, but that was the name of our trip, so I’ll have to live with it. Buckskin…
Grand Canyon Day 4 – Rest Day at Lake Powell and Horseshoe Bend

After 3 days in the Grand Canyon, we knew a day off would be a good idea. Once we’d arrived in the area, we realized there was lots of…
Grand Canyon Day 3 – From the Esplanade to the North Rim

The overnight wind had amplified the chilliness of the ~50 degF overnight temps. We’d chosen down blankets over sleeping bags to save weight, and I’d got a bit chilled…
Grand Canyon Day 2 – Deer Creek and Night Hiking

The night had been filled with thousands of stars. The temperature had dropped from 80 degF when we felt asleep to a refreshing 60 degF when we woke, but…
Grand Canyon Day 1 – Bill Hall to the Colorado

Hiking from the North Rim to the river in a remote corner of the Grand Canyon National Park was a daunting prospect. We were packed with the lightest and…
Buffalo Bayou Paddling Trail: Terry Hershey Park to Woodway Memorial Park

After I had completed the lower “half” of the trail, I was eager to do the top half. I found few accounts of other’s adventures, but one suggested some…
Hiking Through a Forest Fire on The LSHT Grand Loop

How did we get here? I’d wanted to hike the Eagle Rock Loop in early January with buddies Vance and Max, but it didn’t happen. Vance and I managed…
Moonrise and a Bonus Storm!
Sunset and Moonrise

Tomorrow night is a full moon, so tonight was a warm up with Drone and Lightroom. We will see what tomorrow brings!
Scanning Scrapbooks (and more)

Before everything went digital, Janet used to create inspiring scrapbooks of our adventures. They sit on the shelf, occasionally brought out for some fantastic memories, but there remains the…
How I Shot the Sunrise With My Drone

This is a quick description of how I shot the sunrise photos I posted separately. Most of the work is done by a DJI Mini 2 drone and in…
Sunrise Over Downtown Houston

Waking up this morning before dawn to catch the sunrise, my first thought went to Louisiana as Hurricane Ida bears down on them. My photo feed yesterday brought back…
Samuel’s Scouting Journey

This post is about Samuel’s 3-4 years spent in scouts. Hopefully you will like the photos and stories, and get an appreciation of what scouts is about and what…
Reflections on the Collegiate Loop

My 16-year-old son Samuel and I completed this loop over 11 nights/12 days in the summer of 2021. The daily adventures are captured in other blog posts on this…

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