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With a free Saturday suddenly popping up in mid-July, I began scouting out a simple overnight backpack adventure, with the only requirement being that I didn’t have to drive more than a couple hours outside of Madison. Searching for state park campsite availability, pickings were decidedly slim, but after almost giving up, a previously booked walk-in campsite at Kettle Moraine State Park – Pike Lake Unit freed up. I reserved it immediately; digging deeper, I found that part of Wisconsin’s own Ice Age Trail ran to and through the Pike Lake Unit. What better trail to tramp along on a hot summer day in Wisconsin?Read More →

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Is there a better setting for a classic summer family vacation in the midwest than a lakeside cabin up north? A wonderful Christmas gift from Ramona’s brother and his family brought the two of us and her clan up to English Lake, a small body of water outside of Morse, WI, nestled at the edge of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Arriving during the middle of the week was a stroke of brilliance, providing relaxing days of kayaking and pontooning on the small lake, with virtually only bald eagles, fish, and frogs for company. Eventually as the weekend began, vacationers filled in a few of theRead More →

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Heading Out For the next leg of our (almost) annual backpacking trip in the Pacific Northwest, my friend Eric and I navigated out of Madison separately and met my brother Andrew at his home base in Seattle, Washington. Previous hikes for our trio in Washington state included North Cascades National Park as well as Goat Rocks Wilderness, both scenic, majestic paths at elevation surrounded by hills and mountains. This adventure planned on being a bit different, as we headed toward the coast to get our feet wet (hopefully not soaked) with some hiking along the Pacific Ocean on the South Coast Wilderness trail. Hopping aRead More →

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Another Return to Manuel Antonio After an interesting and at times challenging month in Nicaragua, Ramona and I were anxious to return to our Central American home base in Costa Rica; in particular, nuestra lugar favorita (our favorite place), Manuel Antonio. In theory, we might have stayed here for the remainder of our planned time abroad, perfectly satisfied and content, before heading back to the midwest in late July/early August. However, after discussions and research, one more interesting destination in this part of the world kept surfacing to the forefront of our minds, somewhere we should visit since we were down here. Tune in forRead More →

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On the Way This post will begin and end with a personal declaration of appreciation for my wife and her driving aptitude. From the winding roads in the Nicoya Peninsula, through the narrow lanes around La Fortuna, Ramona was on her way to covering a thousand or so kilometers in the drivers seat through uncharted territory, in a foreign country, where streets and motorists are not considered to be especially manageable. Through it all, she kept positive and on her game, allowing our traveling companions to stay relaxed and be engaged in the Central American scenery, and providing me an opportunity to complete some programming workRead More →

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Making our way from the Nicoya Peninsula, Ramona and I arrived in La Fortuna with her parents, rounding out the end of their trip with a few more happenings in the area, before welcoming numerous other guests to Costa Rica, all in La Fortuna. Yup, this was a busy time. El Castillo On one of their last days in the country before returning to the states, Ramona’s parents Donna and Troy drove with us to El Castillo (The Castle). The tiny volcano village consists of no more than a few shops or attractions, a few restaurants, and some exceptional views of Arenal. The location isRead More →

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Getting Started As February neared an end, and my ski trip back home in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan concluded, I returned to Costa Rica, flying back into San Jose. On the long drive from the airport, I conversed with my cab driver entirely in Spanish, which felt great after not having touched the language in about a week. Goodbye white snow, ski slopes, and IPAs. Hello heavy traffic, palm trees, and Imperial. At around the same time on this day, Ramona’s parents Donna and Troy, flew into the same San Jose airport, ready to begin an incredible three week vacation, immaculately planned for them by theirRead More →

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While spending the majority of the year in the warm Central American climate, I was afforded the opportunity to jet back home to Madison for a brief spell in February of 2018, after settling in San Jose, Costa Rica for a few weeks. The goal of this quick trip was to continue a tradition that has been like clockwork for eight years running: skiing at Mt. Bohemia in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I’d like to provide only a rapid synopsis of this year’s trip, as well as the experience as a whole, which has maintained a remarkable consistency each year starting in theRead More →

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As the sun set on our time in Panama, Ramona and I boated back to the mainland from Isla Colón, saying goodbye to the islands of Bocas del Toro. From the port town of Alimante, the two of us boarded a shuttle alongside a number of other tourists, heading toward the Panamanian/Costa Rican border. Our destination: Puerto Viejo, to meet up with Ramona’s friends Shannon and Krystal, the four of us hoping to enjoy the better part of a week on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. The group had to wait for a while before embarking for the border; the initial shuttle broke down,Read More →

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Hitching a Ride to Bocas del Toro Hours before embarking on a packed Panama City bus for a 12 hour long overnight bus ride toward Bocas del Toro, a feeling overcame me, like a literal punch in the gut. A day or so earlier, Ramona had become violently ill, forcing us to cancel a “goodbye” evening with some friends from our apartment off of Balboa Avenue. As I finished work and loaded up my bags, I started to feel uneasy, with my stomach growling and turning itself inside out. It appeared I had been stricken with some “light” food poisoning, or in the best caseRead More →