Serendipity: “The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.” Serendipity — what we experienced this evening in Tangier. Last night, during dinner, we had the most delightful waiter, Reda, a high school senior. During the course of our conversation over the meal, he extended an invitation to us to join him and some of …
Normally when I get up in the morning, I do not plan my wardrobe to coordinate with the city to which I am traveling. However, this wasn’t a normal day and Chefchauoen is not a normal city. We set out with our driver from the previous day and drove two hours up to the mountains to this famous blue city. …
A few days back, a Washington Post story on my laptop told of young fans roaming the mean streets of Albany, N.Y., after the NCAA women’s basketball semifinals. The Post quoted a smug fan lamenting to her pals that “everyone’s jumping on our … bandwagon.” A thought balloon popped over my head that Alexander the Great started out in Macedonia …
I often tell people that I have adopted Rick Steves approach to travel, which focuses on being a backdoor traveler. Today I took that to a whole new level. We spent the first part of the day touring Morocco with a driver arranged through our lodging. Our driver, Mohammed, spoken no English. However, we were able to communicate through Martha’s …
What started with a loose screw ended with a magical encounter with a painting that has long been one of my favorite works of art. So goes the serendipity of travel as I embark on another segment of “Travels with Paula—Moroccan (and unexpectedly Madrid) edition.” (Time to silence my posts if you don’t like my travelogues.) After getting up at …
Most people, in my opinion, misunderstand the commandment “Don’t take God’s name in vain.” It is often associated with using course and vulgar language, which while at times can be both crude and degrading, has absolutely NOTHING to do with what I believe this commandment is about. This commandment is about using God’s name to claim power for yourself. Claiming, …
I’ve been thinking lately about the importance of interdependence and relying on others to help you. We are so often tied into the myth that we need to be self-reliant, which totally misses the greatest joy of life — giving and receiving help because we don’t need to be able to do everything for ohurselves. On Thursday, I did a …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team advanced to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff next weekend at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul with a 7-1 win over Miami University in clinching the best-of-three quarterfinal series. The Fighting Hawks (26-10-2) defeated the RedHawks ( 7-26-3) 5-1 on Friday night. UND gained the conference semifinals for fourth …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team won the opening game of their National Collegiate Hockey Conference Quarterfinal series with Miami University 5-1 on Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Freshman goalie Hobie Hedquist stepped in for starter Ludvig Persson to lead the Fighting Hawks (25-10-2) over RedHawks (7-25-3). Hedquist stopped 23 shots in covering for Persson, who was …
OK, Doug Burgum, this time you’re on thin ice with me. It’s that time of year. The ice is getting thinner and thinner. but YOUR ice is really thin right now. This past summer, you used your thick billfold to try to become president by offering to send $20 gift cards to anyone sending you a dollar, so you could …
“The crux of this case is the preservation of the untouched and dramatic beauty of the Shorts’ property in the North Dakota Bad Lands while the underlying legal issues are resolved. Theodore Roosevelt once described this area in compelling terms: ”From the edges of the valley the land rises abruptly in steep high buttes, whose crests are sharp and jagged. …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team won its sixth Penrose Cup with a 3-0 victory over the Western Michigan University in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The No. 3 Fighting Hawks (24-8-2 overall, 15-6-1 NCHC) received goals from Louis Jamernik V, Jackson Blake and Owen McLaughlin and a 35-save shutout from goalie …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team skated to a 5-3 National Collegiate Hockey Conference win over the Western Michigan University on Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena as it closed in on its sixth Penrose Cup. The No. 3 Fighting Hawks (23-8-2 overall, 14-6-1 NCHC) can clinch the title with a win tonight against the Huskies (18-12-1 overall, …
My appreciation for Leap Day changed dramatically eight years ago when my mother’s earthly journey ended on Feb 29. The last years of her life were at times a living hell for her, as she battled the most horrific form of Alzheimer’s I’ve ever seen, robbing her of the dignity that defined her life, even as she was still aware …
Mushrooms and onions are a good combination when sauteed in butter or olive oil. Add some potatoes to the mix along with coconut milk and you have a pretty delicious entree. This dish would pair up nicely with just about any meat that you would like. Or if you prefer, a stand-alone meatless meal, which is the way I had …
Jackson Blake scored a goal and added four assists to lead the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team to a 6-0 National Collegiate Hockey Conference win over the University of Minnesota-Duluth on Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Cameron Berg also chipped in two goals and an assist for the Fighting Hawks (21-8-2 overall, 12-6-1 NCHC). Also scoring goals …
In the Bismarck Tribune about North Dakota Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller’s announcement that she was running for governor this past week. Tribune reporter Jacob Fulton wrote this: Miller touted her childhood “cleaning toilets and stocking shelves” at the family lumber and hardware business in Brocket; she also said she “defended the store from robbers with her shotgun.” Now I had …
I said the other day I was going to stick to writing about King Crab Legs. So here goes. OK, Facebook, OK! I like King Crab Legs! You know that, just like you know a hundred other things about me. But did you have to tell every fish house in America? OK, so now I know, for sure, where I …
The North Dakota Secretary of State’s office says it is OK for Billings County residents to vote in June on whether they want their County Commission to use its power of eminent domain to take land for a road and bridge across the Little Missouri State Scenic River. The vote would not be binding on the commissioners or the bridge’s …
This past week, I wrote a story in this space that said the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party had apparently been the victim of electronic eavesdropping after a device that might have been a “bug” was found in a door frame at the party’s former headquarters, the North Dakota Kennedy Center. Turns out that I and several members of the Kennedy …
It was pure genius when the crooner who said, “I don’t really like any kind of work” created the grandfather of all golf tournaments. Bing Crosby’s golf tournament was unlike any other. In the 1960s, A-list celebrities like Bob Hope, Danny Thomas and Glen Campbell brought in television sponsorship money, which brought the “The Crosby” and the Pacific Ocean to …
I am a sucker for seafood. No, wait, let me shorten that sentence. I am a sucker. You’d think by now, at my ripe old age, I’d know to be mindful of the old saying “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” In my case, I’d change “probably” to “definitely.” I got scammed. Really, really scammed. …
The No. 5-ranked University of North Dakota men’s hockey team handed No. 4 University of Denver a 4-2 defeat in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena and in doing so completed a weekend sweep. UND won Friday night’s contest 5-2. The win for the Fighting Hawks (18-6-2 overall, 9-4-1 NCHC) solidified their first-place standing in …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team, ranked fifth in the nation, defeated No. 4 University of Denver 5-2 in National Collegiate Hockey Conference play Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Five different players — Dylan James, Griffin Ness, Jackson Blake, Cameron Berg and Ben Strinden — scored for the Fighting Hawks (17-6-2 overall, 8-4-1 NCHC), who took sole …
The only thing we know for sure after Monday morning’s court hearing on the proposed bridge over the Little Missouri State Scenic River is that the bridge is not going to get built before March 1. U.S. District Judge Dan Traynor made sure of that because he’s not going to issue a decision on whether he’s going to grant a …
I write this final post having just awakened from a three-hour nap after completing a 28-hour journey from leaving the ship to arriving home. We needed to be out of our rooms by 8 a.m. and on the bus by 8:40 a.m. So we had a last breakfast and a chance to say goodbye to some of the friends we …
Our last full day on the ship started early. Very early. Around 4 a.m., both Janel and I woke up when a series of swells and waves covered our window on the fourth floor of the ship. Later, I heard that it did the same for people on the fifth floor. This is a huge ship. That was a huge …
Our time on the continent was over, so we set out to once again to cross the Drake Passage, which takes two days. We had been forewarned that our trip across was average, but the return trip would be the Drake shake. I spent most of the morning birdwatching. I was particularly interested in the albatross species that were flying …
Today was the day that I had been thinking about and debating over since I first decided to take this cruise to Antarctica: the day of the polar plunge. When thinking about jumping into the water, I knew I could not do it, not out of fear but out of solid sense of safety. The form of asthma I have …
Sometimes the best laid plans don’t pan out and even better plans take their place. That is what transpired today. The intent had been to land at a site and do quite a steep walk to the top of a vista where there would’ve been many many Chinstrap penguins and had yet another chance to get a good workout in …
The combination of cabbage and sauerkraut might seem like a cruciferous overkill to some, but to those who are aficionados of superfoods, that would be right up their alley. The following soup recipe has both cabbage and sauerkraut, as well as several other vegetables including carrots, potatoes and tomatoes, some of my favorites. So when I spotted it on the …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team once again came up short in overtime, dropping a 5-4 National Collegiate Hockey Conference decision to the University of Nebraska-Omaha on Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The Fighting Hawks (14-6-1 overall, 5-4-0 NCHC) blew three leads in the game to the Mavericks (11-6-2 overall, 4-4-1 NCHC) before dropping their fourth straight …
When I first begin to explore going on a cruise to Antarctica, I read about the opportunity to go camping on the continent. Of course, every fiber of my outdoor being hoped and prayed that I would be able to take advantage of such a unique and incredible opportunity. However I was fully aware that because of conditions and limited …
This morning, they had no plans for a zodiac cruise and instead told us to go outside and watch for whales. These people know what they’re talking about. From the moment we sat at breakfast, we saw whales all around us, mainly humpback. The pictures aren’t fantastic but it was incredible to watch them breach and put their tails up …
After a superb sleep, which I can’t help but think was the result of a nice hot tub and sauna before bed in Antarctic temperatures, we woke up a bit more leisurely than we had in the past few days because our cruise around Port Lockroy wasn’t until the second grouping. I’ve had a few questions about clothing and temperature, …
This space can get awfully discouraging much of the time, as I go after oil barons and county commissioners and politicians and other bad guys, and most of my friends will tell you pessimism is not generally my demeanor, so I continually go looking for things to get me back on the “sunny side of life.” From time to time, …
I woke up early in the morning and looked outside and immediately thought of the end of the movie “Fifty First Dates,” when Drew Barrymore comes out from the ship and sees herself surrounded by icebergs. Although I was more prepared for it than the character in the movie, it was nonetheless just as shockingly stunning. Completely surrounded by such …
Today we continued our journey through the Drake Passage. To be completely honest, I had one of my better sleeps in a long time, and a large part is because of the rocking of the boat. It kind of reminded me of the days when I had a waterbed. Organizers tell us that the waves are not as big as …
Today was all about the Drake Passage and acclimatizing to the ship and sea travel. The Drake Passage is the body of water between South America’s Cape Horn, Chile, Argentina and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean with the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean. According to Wikipedia, “The Drake Passage …
Riese Gaber and Owen McLaughlin each scored two goals to lead the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team to a 6-4 win over University of Alaska Fairbanks on Friday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Cameron Berg and Louis Jamernik V score the other goals for the Fighting Hawks (13-6-1), who snapped a three-game losing streak. The Nanooks (10-8-1) received …
I thought it might be nice to explain a bit of why we chose to take a cruise with Hurtigruten Expeditions. Priorities for me, and I believe I also speak for Janel, a fellow pastor and my traveling companion, were: Sustainability and eco-friendliness. Size of cruise. Ability to do landings on the continent. Cost. Reputation. Ability to learn about climate …
Our flight from Buenos Aires took us to Ushuaia, a city known as the “End of the World,” since the town is located at the southernmost tip of South America and therefore is the southernmost city in the world. The cruise arranged for a tour of Tierra del Fuego National Park (The Land of Fire), at the base of the …
Theodore Roosevelt National Park: Four Northern Shrikes, one coyote, eighteen Magpies, two winter campers at Cottonwood Campground (using a wall tent complete with a wood stove), one Golden Eagle, many bison and prairie dogs, a friendly chat with staff at the Visitors Center, the Beatles channel on my satellite radio and dozens of American Robins (which I almost always see …
That’s the title of a storied 1969 movie starring Jane Fonda. The first time I saw it was the first time I fell in love with Jane Fonda. God, she was hot. I was a lad of barely 20, and she was 10 years older than me, but I’ve been in love with her from a distance ever since. No …