Back soon! (Just kidding -- I'm actually snorkeling.)
Gone Skiing!
South Dakota Scenes
Week 6: #52 Ancestors – Maps By Eilene Lyon Back in the late 1870s and early 1880s, promoters encouraged people to move to Dakota Territory. Naturally, land speculators played up the rich farmland and other selling points, not necessarily squaring with reality. My father was born in South Dakota, though he grew up in Oregon.... Continue Reading →
Heidi’s Home
By Eilene Lyon While my Colorado Rocky Mountain home is fabulous, something about the Old World charm of the Swiss Alps has always called to me. We took this dream vacation in 2014. We flew into Zurich, visited Luzern, Lausanne, and Bern, but we spent the bulk of our trip in Lauterbrunnen. You will see... Continue Reading →
A German Sojourn
Week 52: #52 Ancestors – Future By Eilene Lyon My grandiose future plan regarding genealogy (we’re talking years from now) is an extended stay in Germany, perhaps six months. Many branches of my family hail from the Germanic regions of Europe. The Putterer also has a large German contingent in his tree. You can see... Continue Reading →
The Durango Depot – 479 Main
By Eilene Lyon With the encouragement of Anabel at The Glasgow Gallivanter and Brandi at Make the Journey Fun, I’ve decided to share bits of my Old West hometown. One project I’d like to undertake, perhaps as a book someday, is a study of Main Avenue buildings and the businesses they’ve housed over the past... Continue Reading →
The Aztec Arches
By Eilene Lyon It's been decades since I swore off of Arches National Park, though I drive through Moab regularly. Like Yosemite, Joshua Tree, and Yellowstone, it's become one of those places being loved to death. Like "I want to go have a special wilderness experience...with 10,000 other people." NOT. Fortunately, the West is rich... Continue Reading →
From the Vault: Capirucho (a poem)
By Eilene Lyon The “From the Vault” series features an artifact or family photo from my collection to illustrate a tale from my distant past. Here are a couple YouTube videos. The first shows visitors to Antigua demonstrating how not to play capirucho. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT--9xLvlgM I like this one, because he shows how to measure... Continue Reading →
Tracks Across Borders
By Eilene Lyon On a recent camping trip, I took the opportunity to discover portions of Colorado’s newest scenic byway (which continues into New Mexico). Called “Tracks Across Borders,” this byway follows the historic route of the narrow-gauge Denver & Rio Grande Railroad between Chama and Durango. (I’m one of those people annoyed when state... Continue Reading →
Old Lime Creek Road
By Eilene Lyon Our mountain biking trip this week took us to Old Lime Creek Road in the San Juan Mountains. It follows an ancient Ute Indian path that became a mining road, and later the route between the Animas Valley and Silverton. The Civilian Conservation Corps made improvements in the 1930s, but it was... Continue Reading →
Myricopia 