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In 1945 at the end of World War II a soldier named Bob Rodgers found himself stationed in the German province of Bavaria. While there, he fell in love with the people, the food, and the charming Bavarian architecture. After returning home to Seattle, he took a job as an…
Read moreIn a recent New York Times article entitled “Travel and the Art of Anticipation”, psychology professor Elizabeth Dunn said, “When we begin traveling again after months of being holed up at home, we will likely experience a ‘happiness reset’— the result of which may be that even modest, less costly…
Read moreSometime during the night of November 7th, 2018 the winds shifted over the Sierra Nevada. Winds blowing east from the Pacific were supplanted by winds blowing west out of the Great Basin of Nevada. They gathered strength as they swept down the slopes of the mountains and entered the canyons….
Read moreGetting lost isn’t bad. I’ve had some of my best adventures when I’ve gotten lost. Case in point, recently I was on my way from North San Juan, CA where my daughter resides to Paradise, CA, where I was going to do research on the wildfire that destroyed the town…
Read moreTell someone you’re going to Fresno and you’ll get a strange look. It’ll be the same look whether you’re in California or out, sort of a why-would-you-want-to-do-that look. That’s because Fresno is the red-headed step-child of California cities. The fifth largest metropolitan area in the state, Fresno has no iconic…
Read moreThis self-guided tour of the Charles Manson murder sites in and around Los Angeles is designed to take three hours. By following the map below, you can see the principal sites described in the following narrative and form a deeper appreciation of the events that took place between July and…
Read moreSouthwest Texas is vast, and mostly empty. From San Antonio to El Paso, a distance of 550 miles, no town larger than 9,000 people exists. In the entire region, an area about the size of California, the population does not exceed that of Rhode Island. In the 1880s the region…
Read more“What a piece of human trash.” “Should have put him in front of a wall and shot him.” “This dude is a fucking monster — the kind of person that nightmares are made of.” “He’s a cruel, twisted, sadistic scumbag.” “I wanna reach through the screen and strangle him.” “Lying…
Read moreIn the months following the murder there was scarcely an hour when the earth did not shake. The sound of it was like distant thunder, which gave way to cracks and explosions like muskets being fired. The smell of sulfur and brimstone hung over everything. They said it was retribution…
Read moreWhen the squadron leader gave the signal, we hurried forward, crouching and firing, trying to get to an overturned cable spool where we could find cover. Or I should say they were firing, the other guys on my team. They were plugging away, spraying the field with ordinance, taking no…
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