Tag Archives: camping
Marble Creek, Missouri: Free Camping in the Mark Twain National Forest

Marble Creek, Missouri: Free Camping in the Mark Twain National Forest

SAD NEWS: This campground is no longer free. But it’s still lovely, and I still recommend you visit.

So I met up with Quiet Earp in Columbia, Missouri. I’d been staying in Louisville, and he was driving from Nevada to New York. Going to Missouri was a bit of a backtrack, but it turned out to [...]

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Hot Springs, Arkansas – In Which I Get Into Trouble

Hot Springs, Arkansas – In Which I Get Into Trouble

(1) …Our narrator arrives.
I’ve always wanted to visit Arkansas. Maybe it’s just the name. Maybe it’s the backcountry, down-home Americana imagery associated with that part of the world. Probably it has a lot to do with the Ozarks, that oddly-named bed of mountains promising lush greenery, clapboard shacks, crawdads and moonshine. Whatever the reason, once [...]

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Krause Springs – Austin's best swimming hole

It was a hot day, and the Housewives of Travis County were on a mission. Swimming was the goal, and on a day like this Krause Springs was the perfect destination.
They call themselves housewives, this set, but it’s really a posse of unemployed professionals, welders, artists and cooks (okay, and one real housewife) who were [...]

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Adventures in Packing (how to load a backpack)

When you’re going on the road for an extended period, you can’t afford to mis-pack. I didn’t quite get it right this time, but I had fun doing it. Here’s how (and what) I packed.

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Colorado Springtime: ICE RAIN

Let’s get one thing straight: I’m spoiled, having grown up in California. There, springtime means flowers, sunshine, cute little rainclouds, maybe some fog. Here, it’s… well it’s exciting.
My first night at Zephyros Farm, I set up my tent as usual, and went to bed early like a good farmworker. It was quiet and breezy as [...]

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