Flippering Out. Photo by Jenna Schnuer.
1. Watching dolphins leap behind a boat in the back bays of Gulf Shores, Alabama.
2. Flying over a moose on an ultralight flight outside of (and high above) Fairbanks, Alaska.
3. Making my first purchase during the Highway 127 Sale (a groovy 1960s belt buckle featuring a scene from Alice in Wonderland).
4. Hanging out with Cool Dog, a white-as-snow sled dog, in Door County, Wisconsin.
5. Diving under a bigger-than-expected wave on the waters off of Long Branch, New Jersey.
6. Surfing a wave, albeit briefly, on the last run of my first surfing lesson.
7. Getting a sneak peek at some of Nashville-based crayon-crazy artist Herb William‘s newest work.
8. Hiking in Acadia National Park–and hearing foghorns from far off in the distance.
9. Beating back my skiing-related post-knee surgery fear of downhill sports during a snowboard lesson in Utah.
Yours?
Playing high-stakes poker at Bellagio in Las Vegas with lots of chips and even more free time.
That moment I wrote about in the national parks post is one. With the hawk in Big Bend.
Standing in the snow among a herd of surprisingly mellow buffalo in in Yellowstone. It was weird.
Stumbling upon a yard full of outsider art in an itty-bitty town in Oklahoma. (Hmm, that may be my next post. Just so y’all can see how cool it is.)
Calming a particularly skittish horse on an English-saddle trail ride (again in West Texas) and getting a compliment from the wrangler. (If that’s what you would call someone leading an English trail ride.)
Mornings on the deck overlooking Long Lake in Maine, at the cabin I rented twice–once alone on a writing retreat and again with my husband on our honeymoon. Such a spot…
(a) In Yellowstone National Park, looking out the car window and realizing that the thing lumbering towards us was, indeed, a grizzly bear.
(b) Taking the ferry across Lake Champlain, in either direction.
I love reading everybody’s moments. More more more! Writing the list–and I do, indeed, plan to continue it out here and in a little notebook–put me on such a creative and happy track for the day.
Taking the ferry across Puget Sound (thanks Jodi for reminding me).
Asking the park ranger at Golden Spike National Monument why the flag they were flying had the wrong number of stars, and getting a great story.
Seeing the distant glow of the next town while driving across Kansas at night.
Taking an “easy to moderate” hike in New Hampshire.
Getting grilled about whether we had any potatoes at the Maine/New Brunswick border crossing.
Chris — OK, breaking the rules. I can’t let you get away with a one-liner about the stars on the flag. What’s the story?
During the summer they do a re-enactment of the two trains coming together several times a day, complete with a replica of the flag from the ceremony. The flag they were flying only had 20 stars on it, which of course is way too few for the 1860s. It turns out that at the original ceremony, nobody had remembered to bring a flag. The only one they could find in time was from an old fort, and it was a flag from about 1812. So at the original golden spike ceremony they used a flag that was more than 50 years out of date (it should have had 37 stars at the time of the ceremony), and today for the re-enactment they use that flag. The park ranger was really excited that somebody had noticed and he got to tell the story. I was really impressed that he knew that level of detail on demand.
Excellent story. Park rangers are such a fantastic source of information — I’ve never met one who wasn’t passionate about their job, the place they worked, and the stories of that place. Hmmm, it may time for a post or two celebrating park rangers….m’thinking cap is on.
Sitting with local farmers eating a terrible breakfast at a dive dinner somewhere between the California coast and Yosemite.
Checking the RV tires of the wrong RV as my friend watched from the doorway of the right RV somewhere in Alaska. (Leaving out certain details of that one, friend!)
Eating the best BBQ pork sandwich I’ve ever had with the house special blue cheese bowl and vegatables somewhere near Jonesbourough, Tennessee. Sitting there past closing time eating and talking, not realizing everyone else had left.
Nice ones K. And my lips are zipped on the RV story (but I’m still laughing about it). And that reminds me of another one for my list….
Driving an RV in Alaska and my friend K said “oh no!” and I said “what?” and she said, “oh, it’s ok, I thought I left my shampoo behind but then remembered that we brought the bathroom with us.”