National Novel Writing Month starts soon!

The month-long challenge for would-be novelists begins again! November 1 marks the start of the 2008 National Novel Writing Month. The goal? To write 50,000 words in a month. Amateurs and authors are encouraged to, "write like the wind and edit later" with the main idea being to output the word count and hope that an idea emerges. So get your typing fingers ready and sign-up! Sounds like a fun experiment!

October blizzard in Great Basin!

We may live in the Sun Belt, but we are still tough enough to winter camp. Check out the 10 inches of snow over night in October in Great Basin National Park!!! Fun!

Yellowstone Trip 2008 Part III

So I have done a pretty horrible job of recording the Yellowstone trip, I didn't keep any notes because I was navigating and driving a lot, but I did want to finish the summary and I happen to have some time on my hands while I am in an airport waiting to fly back to Vegas.

So, a couple things I wanted to record, some notes on the fishing and some notes on the drive home. I personally fished on two rivers while we were up there, the Madison and the Lamar. If I were to recommend one, I would go with the Lamar, because the drive out to the valley is amazing (which is important if the fish are laughing at your casting and don't bite -- this happened a lot to me!!) Our fishing friend who accompanied us also had lots of luck on the Yellowstone River when he backpacked in for an overnight. I think if I went back I would try to plan a lesson at the beginning of the trip. I am a true believer in getting some decent technique at the beginning and since it has been a while since I had been fly-fishing, I think it would have helped. Even our experienced friend, struggled somewhat until he got into it and had some time to practice.

On the last day at Yellowstone, we headed out towards Ennis to drive through some more pretty country and to make a stop at the Jackson Hot Springs Lodge where we stopped last summer. We had one wrong turn and ended up driving extra miles (like a couple 100 extra miles really matter??) We turned on the road out of Dillon and a huge thunderstorm hit. It was amazing with the clouds looming and lightning and thunder. There were weird pockets of sunshine in between and then spots of hail. A typically dramatic summer storm out west. We arrived at the Jackson Hot Springs Lodge and got a cabin for the night. A few things had changed since we had stayed there last year during the Backpacker project. The former owner sold the lodge and it was not longer being run by Inga and her staff. There was a new bartender/manager and a new chef (not that I got to EAT last time--grumble, grumble!). We spent some time at the fabulous bar, found out about a fishing hole that we had permission to access off one of the ranches, and found out the cowboy poet we met last year had passed away. It was great to spend some time there and check out some of the places we hiked. The weirdest thing was that the whole time we were there last year we NEVER saw the mountains because of the fires and smoke haze. I was SHOCKED at the view and would have never known just how pretty the valley truly was. We took a soak, met some nice folks, listened to the locals talk about the "wolf problem" and observed the Lodge's signature "Shot-ski" where they served shots on a ski outfitted with glued on shot glasses. Three people drink on cue and it is very amusing!

The next morning we stopped at Big Hole National Monument and headed back to Idaho Falls to our favorite Motel 6. That night, in search of food, we stumbled upon a Russian restaurant in the phone book. When we saw the name, we knew we had to check it out...and that is how we ended up at Ida-Russkie!! The woman who waited on us was so incredibly nice - even though we made her cook us every single Russian dish on the menu (actually they weren't on the menu, as this was a fast food place in a strip mall, but we has called ahead and knew she offered Russian food.) We ate and she cooked and we laughed and really enjoyed ourselves at this little gem of a place. Thanks for the hospitality, it wasa a great way to end the trip!

The next day was sad, we dropped our friend at the aiport in SLC, drove the long drive back to Vegas and unpacked the millions of boxes of gear. It was a fun trip and I'm so happy we got to do it with our grood friend from the trail.

The Magazine of Alt-Country (Whatever That Is)...Reborn

After the sad demise of No Depression, an independent publication that I love and respect, due to rising costs of publishing a paper-based, subscription-only periodical; I thought I might have to start listening to Top 40 or start researching what Celine Dion replacement was on their way to a three-year contract on the tawdry Vegas Strip...but no! Not only did No Depression transfer existing subscriptions to a surprisingly interesting mag called Paste, but they also vowed not to let down their loyal followers and to launch a new, sleek, yet satisfying online publication.

And they have delivered on the promise with the new, beautifully designed No Depression web site. Looks great and will save me from major withdrawal from good writing and new music. Check it out!