Stories, Travel, Pictures, Podcasts
For those looking for things to do and events in Palisade, Colorado, I publish a weekly event listing for everything (that I can find) that’s happening in town each week, town news, business updates, and more. You can find that over on WordPress!
The Postcards From Palisade podcast is all about the people and places that make my slice of western Colorado wonderful. Postcards From Palisade is available on all major podcasting apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
The Postcards From Palisade website also hosts the podcast episodes and extra content like transcripts and links to things I mention in the episodes.
Here are some of my favorite episodes:
E53: Town Grouch Part 2: The History of Palisade’s Town Grouch: hear all about the history of Palisade’s town grouch contest and its tragic, funny, and silly stories, get the dirt from previous grouches, and find out who our sister-city grouches are!
E50: Saving The Palisade Tribunes: Priscilla Walker, current Vice Chairman and Founding Chairman of the Palisade Historical Society, tells the fascinating story of how she and a dedicated team of volunteers pulled off an enormous effort to quite literally save history in 2014 when they kept 111 years of issues of the Palisade Tribune from destruction.
E49: Biocontrol at the Palisade Insectary (There Will Be Bugs): Dan Bean and Nina Louden from the Palisade Insectary join me to talk about insects, weeds, what makes their jobs in biological control so fun and interesting, and why everyone in Palisade should care that the Insectary makes its home here.
E30: Palisade Stories with JoAnn Rasmussen of the Palisade Historical Society: JoAnn Rasmussen, Chair of the Palisade Historical Society, and I go on a fun journey through Palisade’s past, present, and future.
E25: Something Fishy is Happening in Palisade!: learn all about Palisade High School’s unique fish hatchery program, the fish they raise, and how they are released from the hatchery team. It’s a fishy good time!
Travel to Death Valley in the early 1920s and discover what has changed (and what hasn’t) in the last hundred years in this gorgeous travel narrative with a modern twist. Written in 1922 by Edna Brush Perkins, The White Heart of Mojave tells the story of two friends who decide to go on an adventure in the Mojave desert before southern California’s empty spaces turned into tourist hot spots. A hundred years later, Lisa McNamara updates the original story with what the characters went on to do, what the places later became, and how she has experienced Mojave herself. Any lover of the desert will get lost in this poetic adventure story.
The White Heart of Mojave (Annotated) is available in two formats:
Road Tripping in America is a podcast about life on the road, written, recorded, and produced by me, with additional editing and recording by Paul Olson. The podcast followed us as we explored the United States in a pickup truck with a camper named The Bobs.
If you daydream about long-term travel or overlanding or #vanlife – or maybe you’re already on your own adventure – join us for some entertainment from the road.
The Road Tripping in America podcast is available on all major podcasting apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. The Road Tripping in America website also hosts the podcasts and extra content like transcripts and links to things I mention in the episodes.
Here are some of my favorite episodes:
S4:E7 – Montana’s Most Wanted: What happens when you get pulled over in the middle of the night by what feels like the entire police force of Missoula, MT? It’s a Driver’s Ed segment featuring three dads from upstate New York who, for a few hours in 1993, found themselves in the kind of situation they never expected to be in when they had left home for a northern Rockies backpacking trip 40ish hours earlier.
S2:E8 – Third Time’s a Charm in Death Valley: After previous attempts were thwarted by Maruchan lunches, underpowered rental cars, unusual rainstorms, distracting flowers, flying tents, and snow, we finally managed to climb a big mountain. And why we’ll never stop returning to Death Valley, no matter what it throws at us.
S2:E3 – Ruins, Rats, and Realizations: What are ruins, really? A trip to Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico digs up memories of Lisa’s favorite childhood playground. And, Hartman Rocks is an amazing place to mountain bike in Gunnison, Colorado but…be prepared with rodent repellent if you’re there in pack rat nesting season! It was a battle of Paul vs. the pack rats – and the pack rats won.
Check out roadtrippinginamerica.com for more.
Driving Inertia is a travel blog written by Paul Olson and me.
Here are some of my favorite stories that I’ve written from the road:
The Idaho Drive: Ketchum to Boise via Stanley, Boise to McCall and Back Again: hot springs, campgrounds, real towns, ghost towns, and more.
Writing Haiku in Glacier National Park: enjoying the moments of boredom that lead to inspiration. Whatever that inspiration may be…
Hiking and Camping in Canyonlands National Park’s Needles District: one of my favorite places to get lost.
A Night at the Bug Bar in Tate’s Hell: I wrote a short story to cope with one of the creepiest campground bathrooms I’ve every experienced.
“How would you like to help out with bottling next week?” the tasting room manager asked.
“That sounds great! I’d love to learn how the bottling process works!” I was practically jumping up and down with excitement.
She just smiled. Now I know what she was thinking: sucker.
Continue reading “Writing Sample: Working on the Bottling Line”