It’s Monday 8/11! What Are You Reading?

We are just a few days from home now, heading today to the Cleveland area to stay with old friends for a couple of nights. We’ve been on the road with our camper for 5 weeks now! We went as far as Glacier National Park and the Canadian Rockies and have seen so many amazing places along the way. The best way to see highlights of our trip is through the videos on my YouTube channel, both Shorts (1-3 minutes) and longer vlogs. It’s impossible to capture the stunning beauty and grandeur of these unique places in photos, but videos do a better job.

Last Monday, I shared a few photos of the trip through North Dakota and Theodore Roosevelt National Park, but after I posted that, we drove to one more place, Painted Canyon, to catch the sunset. It was well worth it!

After a harrowing drive through heavy rain in North Dakota and a wet night in Minnesota, we arrived at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin. Our campsite was across the street from Lake Superior in Little Sand Bay, so we had easy access to the beach and great sunsets! We explored the islands with a kayak tour (we even went through some caves!) and a boat tour at sunset. It’s a beautiful area!

We hated to leave that beautiful place (we said that every time we moved!). We spent the next two days driving through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, with a lakeside campsite (not on Lake Superior but a smaller lake).

Finally, yesterday afternoon, we had to reluctantly leave the beautiful, cool north country to return to “civilization.” So far, it’s too hot, too humid, has too much traffic, and is much too people-y!

What We’re Reading

I’m still reading Thunderhead by Neal Schusterman, for both Big Book Summer and YA’ugust. It’s book 2 in his fabulous dystopian YA series, Arc of a Scythe, and he’s one of my favorite authors. It’s outstanding so far, with eerie parallels to our own world! My brief description of the series.

My husband is now reading The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis, a book I loved a few months ago by one of our favorite authors. Here’s my 3- minute review.

Yesterday, we finished listening to Blood Lure by Nevada Barr, set in Glacier National Park (another author we both enjoy). Today, we started listening to 61 Hours by Lee Child, a Jack Reacher novel set in South Dakota. This is my husband’s all-time favorite series.

What are you and your family reading this week?

It’s Monday 8/4! What Are You Reading?

Wow, it’s been 3 weeks since I posted here, and we’ve done SO much! We didn’t have reliable cell service for much of that time (or any at all!). The best way to see the incredible places we’ve visited on this trip so far is to check out my travel vlogs and video shorts on my YouTube channel because it’s hard to capture the beauty and majesty of these places in a few still shots.

But here’s a very brief recap of some highlights of the past three weeks:

We spent a week in South Dakota, one of our favorite places. Our first stop was a new one for us, Snake Creek Recreation Area on the Missouri River. We had a gorgeous waterfront campsite, enjoyed a quiet weekday by the water, and had dinner with friends:

Our next stop was Badlands National Park, an old favorite, where we enjoyed the magnificent views and the Notch Trail:

We spent several nights in the Black Hills, one of our family’s favorite vacation spots. We spotted wildlife, climbed in the Needles, enjoyed a beautiful evening at Sylvan Lake, and had dinner with family we hadn’t seen in 9 years!

We traveled across southern Montana, stayed at the Missouri Headwaters (where Lewis and Clark camped), and had dinner with my cousin whom I hadn’t seen in decades.

Then onto Glacier National Park! The grandeur and variety of this amazing place can’t be summed up in a few photos. Stunning mountain views in every direction, roaring rivers and waterfalls, peaceful lakes, and so much wildlife! I spotted a grizzly bear about 15 minutes after entering the park (check out the video!). We spent three days on the east side of the park (where I celebrated my 60th birthday), and three days on the west side.

Then we headed further north to the Canadian Rockies where we visited 4 national parks. Beautiful weather, more stunning mountain vistas, huge waterfalls, vibrant lakes, massive glaciers and ice fields, and 3 black bears!

We hated to leave that beautiful place, but on Friday, we headed back to the US and made our way to North Dakota, where we are now. It’s our first time in this state, our 48th! We have a beautiful campsite in a national grasslands and have spent 2 days exploring the spectacular Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Whew! It’s been an amazing trip so far, and we’re hoping the weather cooperates for our last week+ (it’s looking iffy).

What We’re Reading

I finished reading The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy and loved it! This novel has everything: family drama, a propulsive plot, gorgeous nature writing, a sense of humor, and deep emotional resonance. Conroy’s writing is beautiful and wow, can he tell a story! Here’s my 3-minute review.

Now I am reading Thunderhead by Neal Schusterman, for both Big Book Summer and YA’ugust. It’s book 2 in his fabulous dystopian YA series, Arc of a Scythe, and he’s one of my favorite authors. My brief description of the series.

Here’s what my husband is reading (he’s such a good sport with all my blogging and YouTube activities!).

Together, we are listening to Blood Lure by Nevada Barr. We love her novels about national park ranger Anna Pigeon, and this one is set in Glacier National Park!

What are you and your family reading?

It’s Monday 7/14! What Are You Reading?

Life

We’ve already been on the road for a week, and we are having a wonderful vacation so far! I have been posting videos on my YouTube channel @SueJacksonDE.

Our first stop was Cooper’s Rock State Forest in West Virginia, a beautiful park we’d stopped at before but never stayed in. We had a beautiful, quiet campsite, and we enjoyed the fabulous views from Cooper’s Rock Overlook.

After the overlook, we took a fun hike on part of the Rattlesnake Trail. It was surrounded by huge boulders in all shapes and sizes.

Next, we had a few long, hot days of driving across the Midwest (OH, IN, IL, and IA) and staying in state park campgrounds at night. We found some really great lunch stops, including this waterfront restaurant just outside Indianapolis.

We spent the weekend at McIntosh Woods State Park in northern Iowa. The weather was perfect (cool and comfortable!), and the small park on Clear Lake was beautiful.

After driving all day today, we are in South Dakota and almost to our waterfront campsite on the Missouri River for the next two nights.

What We’re Reading

I’m still loving The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy for Big Book Summer. It’s just as good as everyone told me: in-depth characters, completely engrossing, and incredible writing. Family drama? Whew, this is one seriously dysfunctional family! It digs deep into some difficult, dark topics but with a thread of humor and gorgeous writing. I laughed so hard one night (the funeral home chapter) that I was shaking the whole camper!

Yes, I’m STILL listening to The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky! I was hoping to finish it before the trip, but I’m up to about 84% now. The second half has been more engaging and suspenseful, with one of the brothers falsely accused of murder (and all the evidence against him), and I’m now into the courtroom drama (though I don’t have much time alone to listen).

For our first road trip audiobook, we started with Walk the Wire by David Baldacci, a Big Book. Neither of us has historically been a big fan of Baldacci, but I was looking for thrillers set in Montana, and it popped up. It’s also set in North Dakota, another place we’re visiting on this trip. It’s good so far, about two FBI agents sent to North Dakota to investigate the murder of a young woman. As with most thrillers, it’s complex with a lot of moving parts and is more complicated than it first appears.

My husband is also reading a Big Book. He just started Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry, which I recently finished.

What are you and your family reading?