Western Cloud Mountains

Glenmalure, County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland

Even the green hills of Ireland get a little brown during the winter, and December 1996 was downright frigid. There was plenty of good company to warm our spirits though. The island's population swells between Christmas and New Years Day when Irish emigres from around the world return for the holidays.

Pumpkin Paradise

Picking a pumpkin on a beautiful Autumn day in Connecticut.

Tinfou: End of the Line

We'd left Marrakesh before dawn, crossed the Tizi-n-Tichka Pass and the entire High Atlas range by late morning, and then refueled in Ourzazate by noon. The Anti Atlas and the Draa Valley were behind us by mid afternoon and soon afterwards we successfully found Garren and drove on past Zagora out to the desert, by late afternoon where we stopped, rode some camels on the dunes at sunset and slept in the courtyard of the Auberge at Tinfou. That night the milky-way flowed brightly across the sky and I felt very, very far away from my normal life and my normal world. More from a previous post here.

Over the High Atlas

Somewhere beyond the Tizi-n-Tichka Pass on the way from Marrakesh to Ourzazate. 1997

Making Muffins

Olivia on the dunes

Cousin Becky's House of Stuff

The Purple Van

Where have all the Vikings gone?

The Viking ship sculpture in Reykjavik is a reminder of Icelanders' early days. It sits overlooking the water and is now watched over by unfinished "viking condominiums" stalled by Iceland's economic disaster and facing an uncertain future.

Sunday driving in Iceland

The road from Thingvellir to Laugarvatn is a great place to get away from the maddening crowds of Reykjavik. Well actually there didn't seem to be any maddening crowds in Reykjavik but out in the countryside it's almost uninhabited so in comparison Reykjavik seems downright frantic, teeming with hustling and bustling masses of Nordic humanity.

Me and the girls at Gulfoss

Joana snaps one of me and the girls during the last gasp of magic hour (which can last a really long time in Iceland.)

Illinois Back Road

Tooling around the back roads of western Illinois, we dodged high water from the floods as we headed from Galena to Nauvoo.