Attribution: Photo by Ava Tyler on Unsplash By Geoff Carter We recently took a week-long trip to Puerto Vallarta, one of our all-time favorite vacation destinations. We booked an early, a very early, an ungodly early, flight. Our Uber driver got us to the airport about 3:30 am—partly because we always try to follow airport guidelines—but partly because …
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Category:Travel
Yesterday is Here: Celebrating Dia de Los Muertos
Photo by Geoff Carter By Geoff Carter We visited the beautiful resort town of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, not so long ago. Our trip happened to coincide with Dia de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. This holiday, celebrated on the evening of November 1st and the day of the 2nd,, is an offshoot of (but …
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Kickass and Adventure Failure
Photos by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, listens as the keeper recounts his general failure as a great adventurer: There are more as the keeper did his best to find ways to stay out of various newspaper city rooms, and now he does not often bring up his adventure failures to …
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Fear of Flying
Attribution: Suikotei, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter The Christmas holidays are here. Millions of people will be taking to the air, the roads, and even the rail to get home for Christmas, and they will be dealing with all the frustrations, vagaries, and disappointments of travel. Things are changing at the airport—and …
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A Day with the Whales
Photo by Geoff Carter By Geoff Carter Last week, we had the opportunity to go on a whale watching expedition and photo shoot in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Banderas Bay, on which Vallarta is located, is a favored breeding ground for the great humpbacked whales. These magnificent creatures come from as far away as the waters …
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Kickass and Madison Square Garden
Attribution: Andrew nyr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper is reminded by Madison Square Garden recently being in the news, that he was, is and will forever be a hopeless country bumpkin. The keeper was in New York as part of the Milwaukee Journal reporting …
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Kickass Remembers Siesta Key
Attribution: National Weather Service/NOAA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, gives the keeper space to remember his long-ago snowbird days when Sarasota and Siesta key were exciting winter destinations. The keeper’s lifelong pal Al and wife Pat lived there as anchor hosts. Other friends assembled for beach fun while the …
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Kickass and New Glarus
Attriution: jgagnon, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that 9/14/24 was one of those beautiful sunny September Saturdays when everyone had a mission, for the keeper and Phyllis it was to head for New Glarus for a late afternoon lunch at “Glarner Stube” which translates to “Living room” …
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Kickass Visits Old Places
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the following on behalf of the keeper and Phyllis on this Sunday morning of Aug. 18, 2024. Revisiting “We have walked thousands of parks and places, “In the beauty and peace of nature’s magnificent chaos. “We think of the hidden valleys and …
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Kickass Tours Westfield
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that as Phyllis was lunching with granddaughter Alexis in Westfield, the keeper did a patrol of nostalgia around the area that for 40 plus years starting in 1961 was where he most wanted to be. The A-frame cabin he and friends built along …
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Kickass and Chinook Camping
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in lamenting the undeniable verity that their camping days are in the past, but the memories prevail including those that involved the keeper’s wonderful little Chinook RV with its unique military-type appearance, diesel engine and “Lets go” character. One …
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Kickass and Travel Notes
Attribution: Yinan Chen, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop joins the keeper in offering a few random travel notes on a trip he and Phyllis made to Luca’s Wisconsin Rapids birthday party: *Wisconsin Rapids does have rapids, visible now–with the high water, from the Highway 54 bridge. *Remnants of Wisconsin’s …
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