Myrtle Point (Sept 14, 2025)

Today I'm recapping a short (2 mile) perimeter walk at Myrtle Point Park, in southern Maryland, highlighting some later summer/fall flora and calm river views. Late summer has been great for getting outdoors in the mid-Atlantic. Even before Labor Day, the temps were cool and the air was dry. We've seen a few days back…Read more Myrtle Point (Sept 14, 2025)

Lakes and Caverns (Hershey, PA)

Earlier in the week I wrote about one aspect of a Labor Day weekend camping trip near Hershey, PA, focusing on the butterflies at Hershey Gardens. Today I wanted to touch on the rest of the trip. We were camped at Gifford Pinchot State Park, a lovely park with lots of amenities situated around Pinchot…Read more Lakes and Caverns (Hershey, PA)

Butterflies!

While we were technically camping last weekend in southern Pennsylvania, we treated our little travel trailer as a home base for day tripping in and around the Hershey, PA area. One of our stops was Hershey Gardens, perched up on a hilltop across the main road from Hersheypark, where we could see (and hear the…Read more Butterflies!

Calvert Cliffs, MD (Sept 1, 2025)

This past week has been absolutely gorgeous through the Mid-Atlantic. An early glimpse of fall, the temps have been low, the humidity non-existent. There's a hint of a chill in the air, and certain trees seem to suddenly have gotten the cue to start changing color (though, this is almost certainly more due to water…Read more Calvert Cliffs, MD (Sept 1, 2025)

Paw Paw Season!

I just want to point out that paw paws are starting to become edible here in Maryland! These trees have a habit of having their fruit get ripe at wildly differing times, so you can find rotten paw paws and hard-as-a-rock unripe ones hanging right next to each other... but today I started finding some…Read more Paw Paw Season!

Sounding Rocket Launch, TOMEX+ Experiment from NASA’s Wallops Island, VA Facility

Last Wednesday night, on Aug 27, NASA successfully launched The TOMEX+ (Turbulent Oxygen Mixing Experiment Plus) mission from the Wallops Island launch complex on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and I got to watch it from home! Building on the success of the original TOMEX mission launched in 2000, TOMEX+ used a trio of sounding…Read more Sounding Rocket Launch, TOMEX+ Experiment from NASA’s Wallops Island, VA Facility

Spider Season

Spiders are out building webs and getting in hikers' faces pretty much all summer. But this time of year, moving from late summer into early autumn, it seems the big spiders are all building (typically) beautiful webs and making the most of the insect buffet. I saw this pair of Yellow Garden Spiders (aka Writing…Read more Spider Season

Small Wild Spaces: Greenwell State Park, MD

I've been limited in my ability to do "big" trips lately (probably since backpacking in the Smokies), but have been doing a lot of exploration that's fairly local. Greenwell is an interesting little State Park in Southern Maryland, an old farm that has been (largely) allowed to return to a natural state, but also serves…Read more Small Wild Spaces: Greenwell State Park, MD

Medieval Camp Cooking (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of a post I began earlier in the week. That one focused on a dinner featuring items from England and the Netherlands in the 14th and 15th centuries. This one follows up with a lunch item and a dessert option. If you haven't read that one to understand why I was…Read more Medieval Camp Cooking (Part 2)

Medieval Camp Cooking (Part 1)

Let me be clear up front - this is not a post about how people might have cooked while "camping" during the Middle Ages. It is, instead, a discussion of repurposing historical, Medieval recipes for modern campsite meals. The setup was a Scout Camporee a few years back, where the event was built around a…Read more Medieval Camp Cooking (Part 1)

Better Camping Through Hyper-Organization

I'm kind of a slob. I don't have a complete disregard for order and cleanliness, but my life - both at home and work - does tend to accumulate a bit of clutter. It's a symptom of trying to have too many hobbies or too many things going on at the same time. Ideas and…Read more Better Camping Through Hyper-Organization

Micro-Adventure and Seizing Opportunity

I got the chance this weekend to take a short, random night out, and took advantage. I live in an area that is far away from any commercial air service, and yet I had an obligation to take a very early flight Saturday morning - 5:30 am from an airport 2 hours from home. Rather…Read more Micro-Adventure and Seizing Opportunity

Perseid Meteor Shower – Difficult 2025

The Perseid meteor shower is typically a really good one, with up to 100 meteors per hour at its peak. But this year, we'll likely not see many of them. The apparent origin of the Perseids is the constellation Perseus (hence the name), which rises in the northeast around 10pm in early August. And while…Read more Perseid Meteor Shower – Difficult 2025

Venus-Jupiter Conjunction, 2025

Despite the shorter nights in the summertime, August has some perennial skygazing favorites going for it. The Perseid meteor shower (more on that later, but spoiler - bad Moon timing this year) is typically great, and August is typically the best time to see the Milky Way, arcing up from the center of the galaxy…Read more Venus-Jupiter Conjunction, 2025

Dutch Oven Cooking – Pot Roast and Summer Vegetables

Hey there, folks! It's been hot. Like, really, non-stop heat index well north of 100 deg F hot. Too hot to do much other than hang out in air conditioning as much as possible. So as a result, I've been indoors too much! Now that it is August (classically cool, August...), temperatures have dropped significantly,…Read more Dutch Oven Cooking – Pot Roast and Summer Vegetables

Flying Squirrel Outdoors