Frequency Hopper

Mindo Ecuador Waterfall Tour Adventure

2012-05-22T23:24:00.002-07:00

Water rushes over our hiking path in Mindo, Ecuador. I try to cross without using my hands! All the Quiteños know Mindo. They venture to this cloud forest town for adventures in nature. The editors of Lonely Planet don’t mention Mindo in their guidebooks, yet. Iona and I stay at La Casa de Cecilia. This is our ground floor room. Once they do - once the town has a

Tennessee Valley California Hiking Adventure

2012-05-08T02:41:00.000-07:00

Tennessee Valley Cove in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. When I’m looking for a quick escape from San Francisco, Yosemite, the Russian River, and the Napa Valley are close at hand. But each of these options requires significant forethought. I wonder if will they be crowded with international tourists on a given weekend? Is there an incoming convention or a gigantic

Lima Love Park Adventure

2012-05-05T23:57:00.002-07:00

Yours Truly beside the Sun Window at the Love Park. The inscription reads, "Tu de este lado y yo del otro como dos remos," or "You are on one side and I am on the other like two oars." At this moment, my boyfriend Matt and I are on either end of the Atlantic Ocean! :< Lima’s residents have a penchant for public flora…and for public displays of affection. Gardeners have

La Ronda Condo Adventure

2012-05-02T03:04:00.000-07:00

(L to R: On the balcony of the La Ronda condo with El Panecillo in the background. A five minute walk up Morales brings you to this plaza and an even more amazing view of the monument.) I had a wonderful time staying at Liliya and Leo’s La Ronda outpost. It is magnificently situated with a vertiginous balcony overlooking cobblestone streets with the statue of El Panecillo

Cafes I Have Known: Greece Editon

2012-03-31T21:19:00.002-07:00

I made lovely new friends in Greece between fits of ruin and museum hopping. Boo’s Café – Athens, Mainland Greece When I was a child, my parents nicknamed me, “Boo,” for my numerous, good-natured attempts to startle and scare them. So when I came to Athens and saw the sign for “Boo’s Café” on the street behind my hotel, I felt it was a good omen. Sipping a Greek coffee at

The Edible Egilsay Farm Adventure in Orkney, Scotland

2012-03-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

A view from the bunkhouse of the Edible Egilsay farm. This far north, the sun doesn’t set in summer, it moves elliptically out to sea and hums under the horizon. The night I arrive, an

Mindo, Ecuador Bird Watching Adventure

2012-03-26T01:07:00.001-07:00

A kingfisher in Mindo, Ecuador The ground is colder than the air. There are long pauses between cricket hisses and frog groans. The cloud forest is waking up. The van is late leaving and our group will have to hike fast if we are going to catch a glimpse of the elusive Andean cock-of-the-rock. We find the way to the lookout shelter in the dark using phone lights and the red-eye

Peguche Falls Adventure

2012-03-18T20:44:00.002-07:00

Your's Truly at Lago San Pablo. Pijal is the mountain in the background. Otavalo has become known over the decades for its surreal open markets. Chinese knock-off products share stalls with traditional Ecuadorian crafts. A waxy, roasted pig’s head advertises every lunch counter and dogs kick leftover bones through the stands of local superfruits. The market scene in Otavalo on a

Cafes I Have Known: Tennessee Edition

2012-03-14T14:21:00.001-07:00

When I land in a new town, the first things I look for are a great cafe and a great used bookstore. Here are two of my picks to take the guesswork out of cafe hopping on your next visit to Nashville or Knoxville. Visiting the Ryman Auditorium in Tennessee was a dream come true. Frothy Monkey - Nashville A pleasant bike ride from downtown, the Frothy Monkey is the

Old Town Quito Adventure

2012-03-13T02:19:00.000-07:00

Mounted swordsman preparing for the weekly Changing of the Guard. The first thing I notice hiking around hilly Old Town Quito is that everyone has a dog. Most are big dogs. Most will not be attending obedience school. The dogs in Old Town bark all day and all night at car alarms, ambulances, and, of course, the barking of other dogs. The neighborhood of La Ronda was

Neolithic Stone Henge Adventure

2012-03-09T23:55:00.000-08:00

I caught the sun rising on the Standing Stones. Mainland Orkney is so far flung a part of Scotland that most Scots don't ever visit. My journey began with a six hour bus ride from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, a wealthy oil town with buildings made of glittering granite. The public gardens in Aberdeen include an enormous granite statue of Robert the Bruce. From there, I

Whatever Happened to Frequency Hopper?

2012-03-05T17:35:00.000-08:00

Matt's bear had his own seat on my recent flight to Denver. My readership was up to about 2.5K around the time that I returned to the United States from Scotland in 2011. A great feat for a plucky half-time traveler! Then suddenly the wire went dead. What happened? I suffered a junk tech meltdown: I compose Frequency Hopper on legacy machines. A glitzy laptop

Raleigh's Crape Myrtle Festival

2011-07-28T15:44:00.000-07:00