Author Archives: hennacornoelidays

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About hennacornoelidays

Our family loves to travel, camp, and basically go trapsing across this land. We also love to share our stories as well as our favorite picks for adventures. In 2015 Hennacornoelidays Press published the first of what will hopefully be many travel guides. Check it out!

Great Alpine Lakes of the West: Lake Tahoe

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As you can tell by our count down icon, the trip is coming soon.  Where are we headed?  West.  And in going west we hope to revisit some of our favorite spots.  Many of those spots combine two topographical features we hold dear:  altitude and water.  Some allow a little work to get there, others not so much.  A few, like our dear friend Lake Tahoe, are even overcrowded.  Its banks are lined with timeshares, casinos, parking lots, and other man-made entities (we have heard rumors though that there are quieter spots away from the crowds).  But man, those waters are beautiful to swim in.  And if you float on your back and glance sideways to the cliffs you can feel all alone out there.  Then you dry off and walk into town for a drink.

Why I Like the Cowboy Junkies

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Neither cowboy nor junkie (I hope), the Cowboy Junkies have been making and delivering music for almost three decades.  I never really knew the band until last night, but I have always loved their name.  Cowboy Junkies.  Are they junkies for cowboys?  I think instead they are junkies for being a cowboy.  Many years ago Corey and I were driving our 1998 2 door Jeep Cherokee north into Nova Scotia with the sky darkening ahead and a sunset out the driver’s side window and I thought of us as cowboys (on a steel horse we ride- apologies to Bon Jovi).   To cowboy, for us, is to put a little art in the wander. After seeing them last night (and writing it up for Splash), I now like them for their music.  They’re good.  Not great, but better than many.  And they are more than capable of haunting every inch of venue with their delightfully gloomy sound.

Before seeing them last night I stumbled unto their website.  A prominent part of their site is their “tour diary” and it felt a lot like this blog in that you could never be quiet sure who was writing what, not everything was flattery, and it talked a lot about being on the road.  They talked up watching hockey in bars and on their tour bus, complained about dressing rooms and a lack of respect given, and were appreciative of being allowed to use washing machines and dryers in Omaha.  In concert last night they sighed at the thought of doing back to back shows (I saw their first gig at 7 and they were on again at 10) and applauded not only the audience, but the good parking at the venue.  The miles beneath their feet were evident in Margo Timmins deliberate pacing on stage as well in the stories she hinted at (which I knew more about after reading their blog but still much less than the whole story).  She also apologized for playing the new stuff first before going deeper into the catalog (“well, we hope to sell more music” is what I think she said).  The band played well, but they looked less than fresh.

And isn’t that what travel is?  The best of the best in travel writing, Paul Theroux, gives us long waits in third world government offices, battles with gout, and the bumps in a long bus ride to a desolate border crossing where he will wait some more.  All of it makes the sunrise over water or the honest conversation with a rickshaw driver more special for being real.  Travel is often nothing more than tedium interrupted by moments of illumination.  I love the Cowboy Junkies (and like their music) because they are honest travelers not above a complaint or two.  Driving across a foreign country (even one as lovely as ours) is tiring.  At the end of a long tour it would suck to do back to back concerts (they played last night, by the way, for almost 2 hours without break leaving them just an hour before the next concert).  I feel the miles on our trips and we do it for fun; them they do it for….   I don’t know.  But they did it (and did it well).  God bless the Cowboy Junkies.

If you want to check out the related article click here:  http://www.chicago-splash.com/publish/Entertainment/cat_index_chicago_entertainment/the-cowboy-junkies.php  Here also is their website complete with Tour Diary:  http://latentrecordings.com/cowboyjunkies/

Along the Mississippi: Perot State Park, WI

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I have to thank my friend Louie for this one.  We were looking for a place to peep fall leaves and he suggested this State Park.  Does not matter the state, the Mississippi river side is almost always one of bluffs, hills, and tall vantage points.  In the Midwest this brings welcome change from the flat countryside although the un-glaciated or “driftless” regions of Wisconsin also have elevation respite (the glaciers moved laterally through much of the Midwest and flattened the landscape my beloved Southern Illinois and large swaths of Wisconsin escaped this treatment). 

Perot State Park is a little north of La Crosse near the town of Trempealeau.  We saw little of Trempealeau and were pretty disappointed with what we saw of La Crosse.  The Great River State Trail (an old train track converted to a bike trail) passes through this area and maybe some day we will get a chance to ride on it.  Louie said he liked it.  He also said he once saw a bear on a different bike trail an hour or two north of that one  (I’m assuming not on a bike).  Perot State Park has a great campground and many trails leading to views of the Mississippi and its valley.

We have seen much of the Mississippi, but in an altogether disjointed and segmented way (kind of like the movie Pulp Fiction).  I do not want to ruin the ending for anyone but (spoiler alert) its endpoint is New Orleans and Corey I saw it spill into the Gulf prior to getting married.  A few years later we were newlyweds and saw its beginning in Lake Bemidji.  We have also crossed it many times, usually by bridge but also by ferry both large and small (the small was a little barge that could not take more than two or three cars from St. Genevieve, MO to a corn field outside of Chester, IL.)  And it was just a couple of weeks ago we caught up with our old friend at is midway point in Cape Girardeau.  The old lady was looking good, her waves gently lapping onto the bank just east of the city sea wall.  There have been other meetings of course, some of them mentioned in earlier posts.  Don’t be too surprised if you hear us mention this friend again because each time we go over the mighty waterway we feel the pull of her power and a hint of her history.

Great Midwestern River Cities: Dubuque, Iowa

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If this blog entry is ever adapted as a movie I see the town of Galena cast by somebody pretty and popular.  Maybe it would be Scarlett Johansson as the cheerleader and girlfriend to the star quarterback.  And Galena’s sister city, Dubuque, IA?  That role would have to go to the gritty and talented Lucinda Williams who would play the quarterback’s best friend with the secret crush.  The audience would cheer on Lucinda, but in real life (not reel life), the quarterback stays with the cheerleader. 

So it goes with Galena, a town of a few thousand resident and a few more thousand tourists.  And I can see why; 85% of the city is considered a National Historic Landmark.  It also was the former home of President Grant and at one time was a crucial stop on the Mississippi River between the two Midwestern saints (Louis and Paul). 

Dubuque has over 50,000 residents and a lot of seniors frequenting the casino.  They also have a world-class Mississippi River Museum that spans two buildings.  One building, our favorite, was low-key and showed off various fish and amphibians native to the river.  The other building felt a little ecologically preachy to be interesting (although for us it was preaching to the choir).  Dubuque does have National Historic Landmarks and accessible history, but unlike Galena you have to work a bit to get to it.  The downtown area was full of interesting sculptures, pristine, and completely devoid of people after 9. 

So, Spielberg, Tarantino, M Knight Shyamalan, what do you think? Give me a call and we can talk numbers.

Wishing we were back on Spring Break…

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We are just about finished with our first week back from Spring Break and we are pooped.  At least I am, Henna and Corey have as much energy as ever before.  Anyways, we are beginning to seriously plan this summer’s trip.  And by planning I mean staring at a map.  When asked where we are going, I think Corey has the best answer, “west.”  If I were to add to that, I would mention that we are hoping to avoid the expressway as much as possible.  For starters, we are going to take route 20 west to maybe Casper, WY.  Then we hope to head south and revisit RMNP, see Mesa Verde (last time for me I was about 12), and the Grand Canyon.  But until then, here are some of our favorite photos from past Spring Breaks.  Man, Henna sure does look older now (but not Corey and I).

The pictures above are from Normal, IL., Branson, MO., Petite Jean State Park, AR., and Garden of The Gods State Park, IL.  which are all one to two days from our Chicago home.

Happy Easter and Passover to everybody!

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Just wanted everyone to know about the prestigious award nominated to us here at Hennacornoelidays by our friends at http://thisamaceinglife.com/.  http://thisamaceinglife.com/ is a cool blog we follow that details life on the road for a young family who happen to be part of the Wicked  tour (right now they are in Portland, OR, tomorrow who knows).  The star of their traveling circus is Mace, an adorable child who’s not yet one.  The award given to us is the (drum roll please…..)

The Liebster Award is part trophy, part chain letter and is given to blogs with less than two hundred followers with the stipulation that they in turn list their five favorite blogs.  Liebster, by the way, is German for “dearest.”  After almost one full year of blogging, our efforts have finally paid off.  Thank you very much thisaMACEing life for your kind words.

Here are our nominees for the Liebster award:  

http://walkingpapers.wordpress.com/ I (Corey) am always SO excited when I see a new post from walking papers! This blog eloquently chronicles a family living in the L.A. area with stories that touch the heart and always make me feel something with each post. 

http://keitherphoto.wordpress.com/   Where’s Keith?  is a cool blog about Keith’s many interests including photography and rock and roll.  We love the photos and are interested in anyone living on our favorite island (Vancouver Island). 

http://www.munchinwithmunchkin.com/ This blog is both humorous and yummy.  Very doable recipes and photos to boot, make this blog a must follow. 

http://nicfreeman.com/  NicFreeman is whom we want to be; a freelance writer who  travels to exotic places, probably on someone elses dime.  She is also a great photographer and offers great insight into the places she visits.

I (Noel) also wanted to give a shout out to some of my favorite travel books/ writers.  They are: 

Blue Highways and River-Horse by William Least-Heat Moon.  PrairyErth is good, but a little dense for my tastes.  And while I think that Quoz is better than most travel books out there, it was Blue Highways and River-Horse that most inspire me.  For both books, Moon does an incredible job of matching landscape with people.  He also has an amazing ear and talent for bringing stories out of strangers.  Much of his writing is over the same terrain that we travel which makes it fun to compare notes.

The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux.  Really, I recommend any book or collection of essays written by Mr. Theroux.  Although at times he goes a little to heavy with the literary allusions, his frankness and willingness to travel to places others are not makes him the rock star of travel writing. 

Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods.  This Bill, unlike William Least-Heat Moon, is a little hit and miss for me.  I find him to be sometimes too dismissive of regions based on one bad, limited experience (for example, he does not have kind words for Southern Illinois but I am not sure he ever even got out of the car).  But in A Walk in the Woods he is at his most funny, most charming, and most endearing self.  I also recommend his book about traveling around Australia.

River Towns of the Midwest: Cape Girardeau, MO

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Crossing over the Mississippi into Cape Girardeau we smiled at the big sign greeting us; “Cape Girardeau, hometown of the big mouth idiot Rush Limbaugh.”  Actually I just made that up.  There was no sign that I could see, but the visitor’s guide did indicate that one could take a self-guided trip past the hospital he was born in as well as other markers to that dopey bigot.

For the same reason why I wanted to fall in love with Mark Twain’s hometown of Hannibal, MO, I wanted to find serious fault with Cape Girardeau.  Ironically, it was Hannibal that felt worn out and offered to us only the most narrow of glimpses into its past.  Cape Girardeau, in contrast, had a friendly and comfortable feel.  Like many river towns, it was built on steep bluffs and seemed to rise up over itself with an elevated courthouse standing guard over the city.  The historic waterfront possessed a good number of 19th century buildings and just enough bars to remind everyone that Cape Girardeau is the home of Southeastern Missouri State University.  And lest you forget that Cape Girardeau is a river town, the waterfront is protected by a sturdy floodwall that tells, through colorful murals, of the interplay between river and town over the last three hundred years.

 

Then and Now: Rustic Hideaway, Southern Illinois

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We just completed maybe our 9th visit to the Southern Illinois area and we think 7 of those visits have been at the cabin Rustic Hideaway.  We at Hennacornoelidays travel often, but return seldom.  The places we do return to have special places in our hearts and serve as reference points along the way.  The Burnham Hotel in Chicago is our model of luxury.  Waterton Lake National Park is the standard to judge all National Parks and Rustic Hideaway is our relaxation point.  Below are some pictures taken there both yesterday and over the past week:

I also wrote a review of the cabin and the area for Splash Magazine.  http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Domestic_150/rustic-hideaway-review.php

 

Greetings from Union County

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Greetings from Union County.  Where exactly is Union County?  If I told you it is south of most of Virgina and possessed several mighty good wineries, would you guess Illinois?  Probably not, but Union County is one of the southern Illinois counties in a region often referred to as Little Egypt.  Why the shout out to Egypt?  Maybe the early settlers thought the Mississippi resembled the Nile River which would explain a couple of town names (Thebes and Cairo).   Corey and I first discovered this special delta ten years ago when an internet search brought us to Rustic Hideaway for our honeymoon.  Two years later we brought baby Henna (she was about 7 months old) and it was as good a spot as we remembered.  The three of us have been back most Spring Breaks since then.

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Corey and I once camped at Giant City State Park (en route to New Orleans) and the three of us also once rented a house close to the same state park.  But our first choice is always Rustic Hideaway.  To Hennacornoelidays, Rustic Hideaway represents the type of travel we seek out.  Although more now than ever before, there are not too many restaurants nearby which encourages us to stay in and make use of the small electric stove and the propane gas grill (lucky for us the grill has been recently upgraded and I can now use it without the usual accompanying cusses used to get it started).  The cabins are private and off a gravel driveway which is itself off a small road that gets little traffic.  There are two cabins on what I am guessing is an acre of land.  Behind the cabins is National Forest and a trail leads up and then on seemingly to nowhere.  This time we took it further than ever before and came to a better maintained trail that we followed before getting tired and turning back.  Without a destination the hike is both maddening and liberating to us as we feel no pressure to go on and thus have never hiked more than a mile in.  At night we have easter egg hunts (something I never did as a child) and play lots of board games (something I gratefully did have  as a child).  We also take frequent dips in the hot tub and enjoy bird watching from the deck.  The small inconveniences of the cabin are hardly worth mentioning but I will mention them anyways: well water and not as comfortable of beds as one would hope.  The first is easily enough remedied and the beds are only slightly worse than what we have at home.  Everything else in the cabin is simple charm and useful extras like coffee filters and spices.

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This is going to be the first of a couple of blog entries about Union County and the surrounding area.  I am also going to write-up a review (my first ever travel review) of Rustic Hideaway for Splash and when I do will post the link here.  Right now the coffee is starting to wake me up a bit and I am going to warm up in the tub before the ladies wake up.

Some Great Playgrounds Out There

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Sure, nature makes a great playground, but so does man (and woman).  Here are some of our favorite mechanical attractions.

The Missoula County Fair

Corey and I have been there twice, but only once with Henna (the first was as newlyweds on our return trip from Alaska).  In the ten or so years between visits we changed much, the fair not so much (although we did miss the horse racing present on our first trip).  That is a good thing.  Both times there we wandered through prize cows and llamas as well as other questionable western livestock and dined on funnel cakes and other tasty fried treats.  Corey does not like things that spin her, but Henna does and the two of us enjoyed watching rainbows from the Ferris wheel.

St. Jospeph, Michigan

Where there was once a religious retreat there is now an awesome beach, playground, and carousel.  All of it sits below the down town area where ornamental cannons stand guard.  Upstairs (at grade level) is an OK children’s museum as well as several ice cream shops.  Parking is cheap or free, no beach fees at all, and the carousel will not cost you more than a few dollars.  What is there not to like?

The Carousels of Oregon

Salem and Albany Oregon both have sister cities near the east coast and love things that go round and round.  In Albany volunteer workers have been spending the last several years carving and painting works to complement a restored 1909 Dentzel machine that will ultimately power their creation.  Donations and visitors are always welcomed and our short time there felt like being in a dream factory.

Salem residents and tourists have been enjoying their carousel for some time.  The carousel is housed in a small building within a larger green park a short distance (but a busy street crossing) from the downtown area.  Incidentally, the Salem visitor center is the only center I know that sells bottles of wine from a nearby winery. 

Millennium Park, Chicago

We have not made the final selections yet, but I think we are going to omit this park from our Great City Park list (the Lakefront though is still in the running).  As consolation prize, we will mention our hometown park on our great man made attraction list.  The reason for this lofty honor, the cool off factor.  Not much in Chicago is free, but standing under a giant waterfall and dodging underground sprinklers is.  And we love it.

Do you have a favorite playground?  Please, Hennacornoeli minds want to know.