Month: November 2025

11/25/25

As promised, here are the photos from the amazing excursion my Servas host Stacy and her daughter took me on the other day, to a state historic park called Charles Towne Landing. The Lowcountry botanical aesthetic was on full display, with live oaks and Spanish moss in abundance, among other wonders. I had been looking forward to experiencing these sorts of views in this area, and this park did not disappoint. What did surprise and delight me, though, was how autumnal some of the trees were. The reflections in the pond were like nothing I had seen; it felt like entering another world.

We strolled the park from mid-afternoon until the light began to fade, and the views kept pace. What a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Meanwhile, I thoroughly enjoyed my two-night stay with Stacy (pictured in the tree above.) She has been a Servas traveler and host for decades, and has traveled extensively in Europe—especially France—and other places around the globe. She is a French and Montessori teacher, but perhaps the most amazing thing about her life at the moment is that she shares her home with eleven cats(!!) This all happened in the course of the past year, when her three rescue cats were joined by two more… both of whom turned out to be pregnant with three kittens each.

We had actually discussed the possibility of my staying to sit for the cats over the holiday weekend after my Servas visit, so that Stacy could take a well-earned vacation after painstakingly nurturing these six young cats since their kittenhoods, six and eight months ago. Unfortunately, although I found myself smitten by their adorableness, after witnessing just how challenging it is to care for all these cats (including an unexpected medical issue as well as navigating a recent coyote in the neighborhood) I regretfully declined. But here are a few photos, so that you can all experience the cuteness.

I’m writing this post from the small Selma, North Carolina train station, waiting to transfer from the Amtrak Palmetto train that brought me here from Charleston this morning to the Carolinian train to Cary, outside of Raleigh, where my aunt and uncle will receive me at the station to spend the holiday weekend with them.

Thank you all, as always, for following along on my adventures. It multiplies my enjoyment of traveling when I can share it with all of you.

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11/24/25

This is the first of two posts I will make about the Charleston area. This one will cover my first week in this area, which I spent mostly in the suburb of Mount Pleasant. The second will cover my amazing trip to a beautiful place called Charles Towne Landing. (And a lot of cats!) Right now, I’m in a hotel near the train station, preparing to embark in the morning for points north, visiting my aunt and uncle near Raleigh, North Carolina.

First things first.

I arrived from Washington, DC to the Amtrak station in North Charleston in the late evening of Friday, November 14th. I had a rather harrowing bike ride to my hotel in the dark, crossing a few freeways and major roads with very minimal bicycle infrastructure.

When I arrived at the hotel, though, it was much swankier than my usual fleabag-type cheapest-place-in-town motels. This was because I had found a good deal on Google Maps for the Crowne Plaza. When I rolled into the lobby, I felt woefully underdressed in my travel-ragamuffin attire and mile-worn rig. But the woman at the front desk—with her meticulously manicured nails and hair—was very friendly and welcoming, which I appreciated. I was excited when I arrived to my “fancy” room, and decided to continue the splurge by getting a cocktail at the hotel bar downstairs. I was also hoping to find some locals there to chat with.

Over my Frangelico on the rocks, I did find one very chatty woman, and she recommended that during my cat sit in Mount Pleasant I visit a local bar called Red’s Ice House, right on the canal near Shem Creek. She told me that around Happy Hour each day, you could often see dolphins! Never having seen a dolphin in my life, I filed away this information.

The next morning, I took my time to bicycle to Mount Pleasant, which would have taken about an hour if I had done it all in one stretch. I moseyed about some of the parks in North Charleston first, knowing I probably wouldn’t have another chance to do so during my stay.

At one such pretty place, called Riverside Park, imagine my surprise when a man walked by me and my rig, seeming to take in the Brompton, and sat down on the next bench. Soon after, as I started to put on my helmet to leave, he struck up a conversation, commenting on the bike… and that is when I found out that he is also a traveling pet sitter (mostly dogs) and had also recently taken the train across the country from Oregon(!!)

What are the odds? More travel magic. (Shoutout to Aaron, if you’re reading this!)

We exchanged contact info, and the following evening, we met up at Red’s to see if we could see any dolphins. Almost as soon as we sat down, I did see one for a brief splash, although unfortunately that was to be my only sighting. But there were also many pelicans, and we watched them skim majestically across the water as the sun began to set.

I had walked along the boardwalk across the canal at Shem Creek earlier that afternoon, when I had taken a few photos of the pelicans.

Jumping backwards in time, though, after I met Aaron in the park, I did pedal south to meet my soon-to-be Servas host, Stacy, in downtown Charleston. I got to chat with her and meet some of her 11 cats(!) and then just before sunset, I headed across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, which is a very long span to bike across! The crossing took me about twenty minutes. Fortunately, it has a nice bike and pedestrian path on the south side, which reminded me of the one on the Golden Gate Bridge. And I was there just in time to get a nice shot of the sun going down.

Then I arrived at my cat sit, and met the two cuties who would keep me company for the next week, Marie and Sophie.

Despite their young ages (both roughly a year old) these two were very mature, and stayed both calm and snuggly for my whole time there. They were a delight. Sophie even slept right up near my head each night, and never awakened me before I woke up naturally.

One day during that sit, I trekked back across the bridge to check out downtown Charleston, which was very picturesque. I visited “Rainbow Row” and the French Quarter, including Waterfront Park.

There is a pineapple fountain in that park!

On my last day in Mount Pleasant, I biked down to the beach at Sullivan’s Island, passing some more classic Lowcountry scenery, including an extra beautiful dusk scene across the canal for one last time.

Next up: stunning scenery from my time with Stacy and her daughter at Charles Towne Landing.

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11/18/25

Hello from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina! I’m sitting for two cute kitties here in the Charleston area. Of course I’ll be posting about this soon, but now I need to catch up and share my time with my parents in the house where I grew up just outside of Waterford, Virginia.

I’ll mostly tell the story in pictures. I spent about a week and a half with great company, reminiscing about childhood memories, and once again marveling at how a beautiful fall season seems to have been following me across the country.

When I arrived at the homestead, most leaves had already fallen from the trees surrounding the house, but some beautiful ones remained. By the end of my stay, after several sunny but very windy days, those were gone too.

But one day, my mom and I took a walk for just about a mile, out to the edge of our field and into the neighboring lane, and we were stunned to encounter a full autumn wonderland!

We ran into some “new” neighbors, and had a nice conversation. We even found some hickory nuts(!) and snacked on them back home after finding heavy enough implements to crack the shells.

The sky clouded up on our walk back, which led to some beautiful views as a few raindrops started to fall.

It was great to see my folks—it had been two years since I had seen them in person, back on Vancouver Island. I’m hoping I can make it back again to Waterford in April, before I return to Portland for the season.

On our way out of town, I made my customary stop at the adorable post office from my childhood, right in the heart of the historic village of Waterford.

My parents dropped me off in the northern Virginia suburb of Reston, where I stayed a night with my Portland friend Michelle and her two adorable dogs, Gretta and Peanut. It was cool to catch up!

The next morning, I had a short but lovely bike ride to the Reston Metro station.

There I loaded my rig on a train to Washington, DC’s Union Station again. (Isn’t the DC subway cool-looking?)

Now I’m here in South Carolina, and it’s going to be 77 degrees today (25C)! I plan to bike across the bridge to check out Charleston proper. Pics in the next post!

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11/11/25

This will be a short post, mostly photos. I’m here in Virginia, about to wrap up a lovely week and a half with my parents. (Photos from this beautiful place in the next post!)

But for now, please enjoy these views from Chicago to Washington.

Here in the east, Amtrak switches from the beautiful double-decker Superliner trains of the west to the single-level Viewliners. This is because of old rail tunnels here in the east that cannot accommodate the height of the Superliners.

Understandable, but sad for me, because Viewliners lack the wonderful sightseer lounge car. They do have a lounge car, but seating is much more limited, making it much more difficult to strike up a conversation. The Viewliners also don’t have luggage racks in the sleeper accommodations, so for the first time ever (not sure how I avoided this in my year of travels, since I did take several Viewliners) I ended up having to scrunch my bike into my little roomette with me! Fortunately there was a strap to attach luggage to the wall, so I didn’t have to worry (too much) about it crashing over and falling onto me during the night. (I did check the trailer into the baggage car–no way that would have fit into the roomette!)

Lastly, some Viewliner cars—including this one—have a toilet and sink right in the roomette. This can be more convenient than traipsing down the hall for these amenities, but I don’t really like having that plumbing right next to my seat or bed.

One bright spot: I found the dining car on this train to be more “fancy” and cool than the more modern and streamlined ones on the Superliners. I enjoyed my evening meal and conversation in this dining car.

And I still got lots of lovely views from my seat in the roomette. We boarded in the evening in Chicago, and arrived in DC in the early afternoon.

I love the architecture both inside and out of the DC Union Station. I think it may be the most beautiful Amtrak station in the country.

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11/6/25

Hello from Waterford, Virginia! I am here for about a week with my parents, looking forward to (very low-key) celebrating my birthday the day after tomorrow, on the 8th.

I’ll be sharing photos soon from the scenic train ride here from Chicago, and of course some photos of the homestead here, as well.

But I’m behind on documenting my travels, so today, I’m sharing the splendor of Warrenville, Illinois, about 30 miles (50 km) west of Chicago.

I had visited Warrenville once before, in 2022 during my year of travels. My Warrenville friend Gill had introduced me to her friend Terri, and Terri’s husband Jim, who graciously hosted me for nearly a week back then. This time I was on a bit of a deadline to head east, then south, trying to outrun the chilly fall weather in various regions. So I just stayed for three nights and two full days.

When I was here that first time—in summertime—I found myself enchanted by all the nature preserves surrounding this small city of 15,000. There are beautifully graded and maintained bike baths running through them all. I was doubly impressed when Terri told me that many of these nature preserves had previously been garbage dumps, in decades past. One would never guess it now.

This year, I arrived into town—and later, exited—by way of these paths. I landed in Naperville on the Amtrak Southwest Chief train from Galesburg in the afternoon, which was perfect timing to catch the sunlight through the trees as I pedaled about seven miles (11 km) north to their home. Seeing the paths in the fall season added a new layer of magic to them, and the air temperature was quite pleasant.

The next day, I climbed into the van of my friend Gill and her husband Jeremy, who live nearby, to once again visit the Morton Arboretum, outside of town. The arboretum had some cool displays, including beautiful autumn veggies and an artist’s installation of large sculptures of native animals.

I got a kick out of noticing how color-coordinated I was with the squirrel!

The snail stole the show with its vibrant rainbow coloration. (Both Gill and I identify strongly with rainbows and their colors, so it seemed extra poignant to pose in front of it.)

Terri has volunteered in cat rescue and fostering for many years. I was happy to see that she was fostering two cats during my stay—Angelo and Sasha. Both of them greeted me enthusiastically shortly after I entered their bedroom.

On my third and final morning, I embarked on my bicycle journey to Chicago’s Union Station. The route was to take me 34 miles (55 km) and I hadn’t biked more than about half of that in one day for many months, possibly even years. The route was almost entirely flat, but I secretly worried I might be pretty out of shape, and hoped I would be able to make the journey OK without struggling. Terri generously offered to come and rescue me if I were to get stuck in any way, but fortunately, I biked it all easily, and was thoroughly glad to have undertaken such a scenic ride, along the Illinois Prairie Path. I had made the ride in reverse when I visited them in 2022, but in the fall everything looked totally different.

At one point, I realized I would need a restroom stop. I found a trail map at a resting point with a bench, and it showed that there was a public restroom just about three blocks later.

I searched for it—heading left off the trail onto a neighborhood street—but couldn’t see any sign of it. A suburban father was removing the cobweb decorations from his house since Halloween was over, and I asked him if he knew where the restroom was. He did not, but he very graciously offered that I could use his.

He held back the large dog, and pointed me to the bathroom while his young children looked on.

Upon opening the bathroom door, I was startled and delighted to see a framed image of King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King album cover on the wall.

What are the odds? You never know when and where you might encounter a fellow prog fan. All part of the magic of the journey…

Thus refreshed, I continued my trek toward Chicago.

It remained a beautiful ride until I got into the city, at which point there was a several-mile stretch that felt dicey, along a busy road whose drivers seemed quite unconcerned with the safety of a bicyclist, perhaps especially a slow cyclist towing a wide trailer. Fortunately, the last segment of the ride was calmer, on downtown city streets but somehow with calmer traffic.

The total ride—including a few short breaks—took me almost exactly five hours. Out of an abundance of caution, I had allotted myself seven and a half hours. Therefore, I had about three rather unremarkable hours to sit and chill in the first-class lounge at Union Station. I was surprised and pleased to notice that my legs and body didn’t particularly feel tired, though I also noticed that my mind did feel a bit overextended and sleepy. I dozed off and on until it was time to board just after 6:00 pm.

Photos from that overnight journey from Chicago to Washington, DC in the next post!

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After that lovely experience in Galesburg’s Stoney Lake Park, I prepared myself for a potentially ho-hum day in Quincy, to the southwest of Galesburg, about an hour and a half on the train. This was the first segment of track on this trip that was new to me, and part of my effort to complete the entire Amtrak map. (I expect the whole endeavor will take me several years.) But I didn’t know whether I would actually enjoy each leg of the journey.

I was so pleasantly surprised!

Leaving my trailer and its contents at the hotel, I headed back to the train station in the morning, enjoying the sunshine, crisp autumn leaves, and several blocks of red-brick street paving.

The train ride was beautiful! Much more scenic than I had feared. I took many more photos than this, but you can get the gist from these.

As soon as I got to the station in Quincy, I looked on the map and spied what looked like an extensive bike trail less than a mile from the station. I pedaled toward it, and sure enough, a beautiful wonderland awaited me! The trail stretches for nearly three miles (nearly five kilometers) most of it paved. I marveled at the skies, leaves, and creek, and learned some things about “hobos” as well.

When I emerged from the forest onto the road south to town, I found my way to the one place in town that was listed on HappyCow as vegan-friendly enough to have vegan waffle fries. I enjoyed a double order of said fries, along with a seasonal drink special called the Drunk Ghost martini ($6!) It was a glassful of effervescent coconutty goodness.

After this repast, I crossed the street to the park on the river and enjoyed the view of the suspension bridge.

Then it was time to head back to the train station, along the same trail in a later light.

When I got back to the station, I found both it and the parking lot next door bathed in magical light.

Back aboard the train, the sky and clouds and light continued to impress me.

Sadly, I discovered too late that a high school friend lives right between Galesburg and Quincy, in Macomb—the one other stop on this Amtrak Carl Sandburg train segment. A visit will have to wait for another time, but this tidbit was a reminder of how small a world we all inhabit.

The train returned to Galesburg after dark, and my bike ride back to the hotel began with a festive nighttime downtown street scene.

I am thoroughly enjoying my travels.

Next up: Warrenville, Illinois!

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Do you have your own dream or project, and would like some support or collaborative brainstorming about it? Use the green “contact” button above to schedule a free, no-strings one-hour phone or video call with me!

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Want to support my vision financially? I am in a continual process of manifesting $50,000 per year in lieu of a “salary” for the unconventional work I do in the world. You can make a one-time or monthly contribution, or even become a Fairy Godfunder! (Heartfelt thanks to all my patrons, contributors, and godfunders!)