Freedom in a Can: Adventures with Hamlet

On a Mission to 57! America's 63 national parks are just a small part of the 433 sites managed by the U.S. National Park Service.  It's just a number, right?  Why should we spend so much of our time, energy, and resources getting to explore as many as we can?  Our previous total was 55, but in that number lies all the experien ces that we've had while exploring each park, which shape our lives and enrich our story. This winter, Dry Tortugas ( #56) and U.S. Virgin Islands National Parks ( #57) are new threads in that story.   Now, even the short-term reader of this newsletter couldn't fail to miss how we embrace the great joys of un-planned and slow wanderings.  But, these past couple of weeks have been more akin to a well-organized siege.   We started this mission during the summer, while boondocking at the northern end of the road along the North American east coast in the tiny Canadian village of Cartwright, Labrador . On e morning in late Ju...

Back in the Familiar & Strange... There's this hike near the town of St Anthony on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, and we can't get it out of our minds.  It strikes exactly  the  right balance between  input   effort and visual payoff as it winds through green rolling hills, and towering cliffs above the sea.  Like many hikes in the province, the views remain unobstructed by the quirky happenstance of soil biology, growing season, and ocean climate.  The few trees that do grow along this boggy shore are stunted and stubborn.  We summertime visitors only know the fleeting sunshine season while they scratch out a determined existence making the most of what they can.  In the distance, islands and capes peek through ocean mist, and at the right time of year, icebergs float by on the Labrador current  like moving skyscrapers .   Every corner and hilltop offers another chance to prove the inadequacy of our cameras....