Being around water is one of those things I do not get tired of. It doesn’t matter if it’s the ocean, a spring, or a river they all call to me. I have about as much chance of keeping my feet dry when near a puddle as a 3-year-old. Don’t judge – you know rock hopping across a stream is great fun, and as long as you don’t hurt yourself (or your camera/phone!) falling in is all part of the fun.

Living in Florida for several years gave me the opportunity to get some great ocean photos; there is really nothing quite like the Keys if you are a fan of the bluest blue waters. One thing Florida beaches don’t have is dramatic rocky beaches. Unless, of course, you can find a place like Blowing Rock Preserve. It’s amazing!

I was super excited to see and photograph the water rushing up through holes in the rocks. I didn’t give a thought about timing, when I went it was a bit overcast but I was only in the area for a few days so I was going to go see it regardless. What I also didn’t think about was if it was low or high tide. I accidentally went at low tide, and I was glad that I did. Especially since I had another day to catch it at high tide when you get to actually see the blowing rocks blowing.

Because it was low tide I was able to walk between the water and the rocks. There were parts where I had to wade through the water, but of course, that just added to the appeal. There was just one thing I didn’t love about it. After winding through several kind of tight squeezes where I was bumping against the rocks on both sides I realized that there were kind of white-translucent bug-slug-shrimp things all over said rocks in some places. I did get a lot more careful about what I touched after seeing those.

I already decided after the first day that I wanted to do a series of photos of this place, it’s just too dramatic not to. But going during high tide on the second day sealed the deal. If you happen to visit Blowing Rock try to go on a weekday and right before the highest of the high tide, that is when the splashing is at its highest. Pretty spectacular!

So far I’ve only worked on one of these photos, I’m sharing a super chopped ‘creation of’ video below. I will have to perfect the art of making a quick editing video. I certainly don’t quite have it down yet, but it gives you an idea of how I spent last the week. These pictures take quite a lot of time! I’m hoping to start completing a piece a week, but as one of the full-time employed I may have to modify that goal a bit.

Massacre Falls Trail is about 5 and a half miles out and back with a waterfall as the turnaround point. Mind you, this is an Arizona waterfall in the desert, so if you want to see water actually flowing you have to go after a good rain, or maybe after a lot of snow up north? When we hiked it there was a bit of water, but not as much as I’ve seen in some pictures. Either way, it’s well worth the hike.

The mile or two of road before the trailhead is dirt, not bad but I wouldn’t want to drive it after a good rain. Depending on what you are driving of course. We had intended to do this hike the week before, but the parking area was full and there were a couple of rangers there directing people (it was SO busy) who suggested we go a couple more miles down the road to a different trailhead. This time we got there silly early. Being in Arizona while working on Eastern time does have some advantages.

The walk up the fall is beautiful. I was lucky enough to do it in March ’23, during what read is a super bloom. The desert is much greener and full of flowers than normal!

This trail is pretty moderate most of the way, but there are a couple of parts where you have to watch your step to avoid a fall due to gravelly slopes. There were a few places where we would have lost the trail if we had not downloaded the All Trails map, or if there hadn’t been plenty of people there to tell us where the trail was.

When you get to the waterfall there is a nice secluded feeling (with a bunch of other people) area to sit and rest or have a snack before heading back. Even if the waterfall wasn’t flowing at all this trail is well worth the hike. Check out this view!

One of the major things I wanted to do while in Arizona is to hike in the Superstition Wilderness. Lost Dutchman State Park is in the Superstitions, and since we got the Arizona State Park pass as soon as we got here we’ve been able to do lots of hiking there.

The very first trail we decided to do was Siphon Draw Trail, and to go beyond that to Flatiron. Spoiler alert: we did not make it to Flatiron and I went and bought some trail runners the very next day. Take from that what you will. You’re right.

There are signs pointing you to Siphon Draw Trail from the parking lot. It’s an easy walk to the trailhead, once you get there it starts going up and just keeps going. The first third(ish) is a deceptively gradual-looking incline. I say deceptively because it doesn’t look all that steep, but my heart rate certainly went up. It’s a very rocky trail, not for the weak ankled.

The trail does get a little challenging on the way up, but nothing too bad. There were a couple of places where hands have to be used to get up/down.

I’m not going to lie, I really had no idea what Flatiron or Siphon Draw was when we decided to give it a go. I didn’t even really know that Siphon Draw was a thing. Turns out it’s a really, really cool thing. Towards the end, the trail gets a bit harder to follow, but we had the map downloaded from All Trails and there were plenty of other people around to follow. Then the trail opens up and you are basically in a huge bowl made of stone. When I went there was a trail of water going down the rocks and a narrow but tall and rough-looking waterfall. Truly worth the hike.

The trail to this point was pretty tiring but really fun, so I expected to keep going to Flatiron. I got a little nervous as I got closer and saw that after this point it looks to be extremely steep, all rock, and hands needed but I still intended to go.

Then I started walking on the rock and found that my couple of years old, waterproof, super amazing hiking boots seemed to have little traction left and my feet were slipping on the rocks even when dry. I sat near the bottom of the waterfall, pouted, and tried to decide whether or not I should keep going. I do NOT like to start up a trail and turn around.

While sitting there I was (of course) also people watching. There were a couple of guys that had camped up on Flatiron and were resting before heading the rest of the way down the trail. Obviously, they knew what they were doing if they hiked to the top and camped out there. They started to head back and one of them slipped right near where I was sitting and fell so hard that his walking stick, which was as thick as my forearm and looked to be pretty solid wood, snapped in half.

That was the end of my decision making process, I decided instantly to get back down the mountain while the getting was good. I was disappointed in myself but knew trying to go further would be a wee bit more of a challenge than I was up for at the moment.

I was convinced on this trip to finally break down and get a pair of Altra trail runners. The grippier shoes would have made the smooth rocks a lot less slippery. I’ve since tried them on a number of very wet rocks (and walking up a rocky stream or two) I’d say they would have made a difference. Unfortunately, I’m not going to get back to this trail during this stay in Arizona, but it’s going on my list of have to get back to conquers. It’s actually the only one on that list at the moment.

We waited a little too long to start planning where we would stay at the beginning of our 2023 trip. Yes, it was my fault; I didn’t think it was a big deal.

We knew we were heading to Arizona and that this year, instead of moving to a different state every three weeks we’d stay in one and see more of it. Three weeks in one place is not a bad amount of time to explore the area, but it certainly isn’t enough time to explore a state. By the time we started looking for a place to book, and there weren’t any. Not in Arizona, and not in Florida (where we were while planning). Well, except for in Yuma. There were a couple of RV places we could get in Yuma.

I was raised in Arizona, and I do not ever remember anyone saying they were going to visit Yuma. I couldn’t even think of anything to do there. We looked it up on YouTube and the only thing that came up was a park and an old jail. But, not like we had a choice so it was off to Yuma for three weeks.

We didn’t make it to Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park, though we intended to go. We did make it to the East and West Wetlands. Honestly, I don’t know where one ended and the other began (or for sure if they are even next to each other), but they have a great trail. It winds along the Colorado River, switching from dirt hiking trails to sidewalks through parks full of people. Keep walking long enough and you’ll pass the jail, Colorado River State Historic Park, and wander downtown.

As far as I could tell downtown was one strip of shopping, restaurants, and bars. I’m not a big shopper, but the stores here are really interesting and fun to wander through. We did just that, then had an Italian dinner and walked back to the van in the wetland park. It turned out to be a really fun night and there was a lot more to do than we had the time for. Walking back in the dark between where the shops and people were and the desolate road back to the park felt a little shady though.

While in Yuma we went across the state border to California and boondocked in the Imperial Sand Dunes. I really wanted to get some good pictures of the dunes and I figured if we stayed the night we could get some pictures at dawn with great light.

I did a great deal of preparing, and even cut up peppers and onions for chili so we could just throw dinner together quickly and easily. Too bad I forgot a pan, bowls, and all utensils. Fortunately, there is a store right before the park that has just about anything you might need. We were also able to pick up a park pass while there.

We picked a spot in the wilderness area, took a walk around, and spent the evening in camping mode. The moon was full and there was no need to use a light when walking around at night. We only saw one car out there well before we decided on a place to stop for the night; we had the world to ourselves. And the animals. There were SO many different animal tracks.

The next day we went off on the hunt for the perfect dune pictures. Easy, right? Well. It turns out that the night before they had a Star Wars viewing. Parts of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi were filmed here after all. Between that and the typical weekend ATV activity, we couldn’t find an unmarked dune anywhere. It was still an amazing place to be though!

We left amazed at the beauty of the place but kind of disappointed we weren’t able to get the pictures we were looking for. But. Before leaving we talked to someone who said to come back on a Wednesday when there would be a lot fewer people, and the constant breeze would have had a chance to clean up a bit. Always talk to the locals!

It turns out that across the road from the ranger station (I don’t know if it was technically a ranger station, but close enough) you can walk on the dunes and take pictures to your heart’s content. Walking on the dunes is a bit of a workout, every step up involves slipping back down at least half as far as you just stepped up. I wore beach shoes and they filled with sand so fast that I finally got tired of stopping to dump them out and just took them off and walked barefoot. It’s really fun and the dunes are so different from anywhere else that you kind of feel like you are hiking on another planet (hence the Star Wars filming).

I did get some great pictures that I think I can use for some artwork, now I just have to put aside some time for editing and painting. Soon!

I was one of those kids that was absolutely obsessed with horses. More than the average childhood obsession. I had horse wallpaper, an entire wall full of Breyer horses and horse books, posters, anything you could think of, except for an actual horse. Of course, I had the Misty of Chincoteague books.

We’re currently staying in Virginia Landing RV Campground, which is about an hour from the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. First, guess how many times we’ve been there. Nope, more than that. In the two weeks we’ve been here we’ve probably gone 6 or 7 times. Plus, one drive to the Maryland side of the park just to be complete.

To be fair, this campground is literally in the middle of nowhere, it’s a 20-minute drive each way to the nearest anything, which is a gas station. They have wine and snacks, which is good because the nearest grocer is another 10 minutes. Honestly, the place is so nice I don’t care; if I need a tomato for my salad I’m just going to go without.

Anyways, the point was that an hour’s drive isn’t a big deal around here. Unless you factor in gas prices, but I’m trying my very best to ignore that factor.

We’ve walked various trails several times, and at different parts of the day. From my experience, the best way to see the horses is from the water, regardless of the time. We took a kayak tour in the morning and were able to get as close as I’d want to get to wild horses. That afternoon we took a pontoon boat tour and saw a different herd of horses from a bit further away. We signed up for both tours as a package deal. Both were fun, my favorite was the kayak tour but I’m partial to kayaking.

Of course, horses aren’t the only wildlife in the park, they’re just the best and hardest to find. We also saw a few deer, a ton of rabbits that have really cool coats, and grey fox squirrels which I’d never heard of but are really cool looking.

In addition to taking a few hundred pictures of the same 20 or 30 horses, I was able to get some great salt marsh pictures that I’m going to play with and see if I can abstract a bit. It’s one of those situations where I know I want to do something with the photographs, but I don’t know what that may be yet. Works for me, the process of figuring it out is the fun part.

It’s been a minute, and a lot has changed but a lot has stayed the same.

A couple of months ago I was visiting someone in Virginia, near Harper’s Ferry. We decided to hike on the Appalachian Trail a few times while there, and on one of those trips, we hiked into Harper’s Ferry. A cute little town that caters to through-hikers and tourists alike. Not really related to my story, but it is a great place to visit.

Here’s a look into my typical thought process that no one asked for, and no one wants, but here we are. Kind of like constant squirrel moments that I sometimes act on.

While hiking I started talking about how I had spent a lot of time in the past trying to figure out a way to take time enough time off work to through-hike the trail. It wasn’t intended to happen for a while as I have kids and pets and responsibilities, but it was a fun thought exercise. I started trying to think how to do it again, (I can’t afford to), then thought about working while hiking (not even a possibility, it would take years and the internet isn’t even available on a lot of the trail).

Then I thought it would be fun to stay in different towns along the trail, hiking on weekends, and working during the week. Sounds super appealing and there are sites that cater to people who stay in a place a month or two and then move on, they supply apartments with everything included and short terms. I looked into it, holy crap it’s expensive. Like a pretty big mortgage expensive.

By now my mind was no longer on through-hiking the Appalachian Trail, it was on to traveling the country and staying in each place long enough to explore the area. I have a blog devoted to touristing in Florida (thetouristlifestyle.com) and I had talked about staying in popular towns in Florida long enough to see more sites in the past. So no huge jump. But although I am lucky enough to have a remote job that would allow me the flexibility of working from anywhere with good internet I still kept hitting walls as to how to do it.

But wait. How about I buy a travel trailer and live in it for a year? My adult sons could watch the house and dogs and cats and bunnies (the dogs love the kids more anyways) and I recently sold my car, so a trailer would just replace that payment. My other half has a van that we’ve been working on building in for the past year, he could use it as an office during the day and I could work in the trailer so we could each work in peace.

Sound good? I thought so too so I went and bought a trailer when I got back from Virginia. We got a Thousand Trail subscription, started booking places, and added the final touches to the van (air conditioning). My oldest son’s lease ended in December, so he moved in and we moved out of the house and into the RV on January first. I’m writing this at a picnic table in an RV resort in Crystal River, Florida. We decided to stay in Florida for a couple of months before slowly heading up to Maine. There are a bunch of places around here I’ve been wanting to explore, so here we go.

I never write about politics here, on LinkedIn, or any other social media platforms.  The reason is that while I love to debate I hate to argue, and both politics and religion are two areas you can typically  count on people getting mean and unreasonably argumentative if you let the conversation go on long enough.

But after last night’s election I, like a lot of other people, really feel a need to express my opinion. I went to sleep last night secure in my belief that although I know some Americans can be self centered and unkind the vast majority of us are good people who would not step on others to get what they want.  Although I was a little worried, I didn’t really think Trump had a chance of being our next president. Sure, a lot of reasonable people I know supported him, but come on.  I was wrong.

I was honestly shocked and depressed all day.  I don’t agree with a majority of Trump’s political views, but that’s just part of living in a democracy.  The problem I have is with what he stands for.  The problem I have is personal.

I have a son who has always loved to shock people.  He’s said the most outrageous things he could think of since he was old enough to talk.  He’s a teenager now and in spite of  frequent discussions about it simply not being nice he still loves anything with shock value.  Mind you, he’s a great kid who really does emphathise with others and is a truly good person.  He just loves to say things that get a big reaction.

He’s said he was a Trump supporter since day one (since I said how opposed I am to him) and joked about how when Trump won I’d have to carry a ‘woman card’ and wear an apron.  He laughs when he sees Trump say crazy mean and outrageous things, and I think because Trump is not just getting away with being a racist, sexist person in public but is being cheered on for it. I am maybe one of the least emotional people you could meet, but the fact that Trump was elected makes me want to cry. How do I explain to my kids that people like that are not OK and acting like that will get you nowhere when it just got Trump elected?

How do you fight that kind of negative example when it just got someone elected to the highest position in one of the most successful countries in the free world?  After fretting about this all day I still don’t have the words to fix this.  Because there are none.

Maybe that’s OK. I can’t change the world, but then I wasn’t able to change it yesterday either.  Just like yesterday I can only change the little bit of the world directly around me.  I can do more of the things I already do to try and reflect my morals, and look for new ways as well.

I can volunteer my time to do things for causes important to me.  I can reflect my values in my daily life, like I do by being vegetarian. I can stop and talk to the homeless people I pass instead of acting like an entire piece of the human race is invisible. I can attend marches and demonstrations that highlight equality and the importance of each being. I can do things as simple as share information that I find important here, on Facebook, and anywhere else I deem appropriate. And I can hope that doing all of these things as often as possible will help to counteract the hate that my kids see in the world.

I am hopeful that a lot of people do not find Trump’s attitude towards what amounts to anyone not like him or agreeing with him OK. I am also hopeful that those of us who agree on this will stand tall and stand for what is right.  Voting every 4 years is important but it is not enough. We need  to live our values on an every day basis and make sure that our kids see that you don’t have to be in everyone’s face and blatantly offensive to be right.

I do have a huge ray of sunshine in all this.  I fully expected my son to gloat and make jokes all day but the only thing he said all day was “Did you see who won?”.   Not another word was said and he’s actually been really subdued all day.  I’m hoping that as a teenage he kind of considered the whole thing a joke until today. Kind of like a lot of Americans.

Time to move on and move up. Time to be the good.  I’m going to try and make a point of sharing lots of the good here that can find, I think we may need it for a while.  Good like what? Good like the usual. Paddleboarding . Cycling. Being outside. Theater and restaurants and things to do around Tampa. Wine. Yoga. Pizza.  Good things like volunteering, wonderful people, and causes important to me.

This blog already has more than enough subjects, but so be it.  I do have focus though. Focus on being the good.

What can you do to fight hatred and exemplify good?

So. It’s been a while since I last posted last for various reasons.  Mostly because I’ve gone through round after round of illnesses, nothing noteworthy or hospital worthy (yay!) but enough to make me miss more work, more running, more bicycling and more paddle boarding than I even want to think about. It’s so sad really.

I feel like I’m writing a confessional but it’s been like 3 months since I ran at all and 4 months since I went paddleboarding.  And I was doing so well, going every weekend forever!  Oh well, I think it’s getting time to get back in the swing of things.  How many times have I said that or something similar?

Anyways, that has nothing o do with what I was going to write about today.  I used to have a blog called Wannabe Winos (you know that’s a great name) and though I only wrote in it for about a year I really liked it because I used it as a journal to keep track of different wines I tried and whether they were great and should go on the keeper list or not so much.

Since Kinda Zennish is nothing if not about whatever and I’ve already professed my love of wine (and other fine spirits) I decided that I would combine the two so that I can keep track of my wine preferences again.  If you are a casual drinker of wine then you know that it can be difficult to remember which bottles were the ones you wanted to try again.  Or maybe that’s just an effect of finishing that wine quick enough that it doesn’t go vinegary on you.

Whatever. Anyways…

This is the wine I was looking at when I decided to start the blog wine journal. Chocolate wine! How could it not be good?

I poured a glass (screw top bottle, gotta love easy) and sat out in the perfect Florida weather to enjoy.

It was pretty good – in small doses. It’s incredibly sweet and has a consistency more like a liqueur than wine. You can taste the red wine in the background, and very sweet chocolate in the front. I don’t think it would be good with any food except maybe not too sweet cookies like biscotti. Unfortunately I can’t stand biscotti so straight wine it is.

I think this wine would be best for special occasions when you want to pick up something different for friends to try. Anyone have a suggestion of what would be served with chocolate wine for family and friends?

I recently (and finally) began getting back into running.  I’m taking it super slow for the simple reason that barefoot running kind of requires that.

My life is full of coincidences, and so soon after I started running again Level Up Runs took me on as an ambassador.  They’re a company ran by runners who offer virtual runs with fun medals to help keep you motivated.  I do love to get some bling for my running, who doesn’t?

I skipped the first few races because I was so recently back to running, but I’m not missing the next one! They’re having an August Dog Days run, and  for every entry, Level Up will be donating a toy, blanket, or a dog bowl to the Second Chance Dog Rescue in San Diego, Ca. Running, a medal and helping a good cause all in one.  Can’t beat that! The run is $25 if you are in the US, you can get more information and sign up here.

Check out the medal design for the run, who doesn’t love Lady? And Stitch, though I don’t think he actually qualifies as a dog.

Fred Howard Park is a favorite of mine to paddleboard from.  There are a lot of different areas to explore depending on which direction you decide to go in.  Last weekend we decided to take off straight out and up towards a bunch of mangrove islands that we couldn’t see from where we were but knew where there thanks to Google maps.

We basically paddled from the dinosaur’s hand to right over his head.

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Mangrove islands are a lot of fun to paddle around because they are full of birds, schools of fish, and usually quite a few rays as well.

The one thing they don’t often have is a place to stop and walk around.  Mangroves tend to make a place a bit unfriendly to walk.  Those are basically sharp sticks growing up all over the open ground.  Even if it wasn’t horrible karma to go through there breaking everything, ouch.  Beautiful though.

As a result I was kind of excited (like a 5 year old is kind of excited to see a bunny) when I saw this:

Those are real, actual not mangrove trees towering over the mangroves.  Definitely worth investigating. We paddled almost all the way around the island before finding a small beach. And some fellow paddlers.

There was a nice sized clearing of sand and even a patio table and old grill someone had brought in.  Of course there was also the mandatory ‘people have partied here and left their shit behind’ trash but it seems that is everywhere, regardless of how remote a place may seem.  There was even a used-to-be-nice huge tent tangled in the trees.  I get the feeling that wasn’t put there on purpose.

The people we ran into were pretty cool and said there’s another island close by that someone had actually built a bar on.  Sounds like a place we’ll have to find!