What a treat it was to visit with adventurer and author, Darlene Foster! Wynne and had the most delightful chat with the prolific Darlene – the author of ten wonderful young adult books featuring my new favorite character – Amanda Ross. In our chat with Darlene we learned about the inspiration behind the “Amanda” series … More Episode 107: Writing and Adventure with Darlene Foster
More than 20 years ago, I signed up for an expedition to climb Mt. Elbrus in Russia. At 18,510 feet, it stands as the tallest peak in Europe. I convinced a couple of friends to join me and we were part of a group of nine clients and two guides attempting to summit. We flew … More When to Stop
—RAGBRAI— What’s that? Well…if you’re like me, one of the uninitiated, Cheryl’s at your service, ready to explain. RAGBRAI, friends, stands for: Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa and Cheryl, along with her dear husband, Larry made the trek back in July. Yep. Riding a tandem bike across Iowa from the Missouri River to … More Episode 86: Tandem Riding with Cheryl Oreglia
I am not a camper. Never have been and I think I can blame my stint in 4-H and Girl Scouts. I loved ‘sleep away’ camp so long as the accommodations came in the form of cabins instead of tents (even musty, dusty creaky cabins were better). Before you ask, yes, I managed to tolerate … More Episode 80: Mastering Manifestation with Mark Petruska
This past weekend we were packing up to leave the vacation place we stayed at for two weeks. My nine-year-old daughter, Miss O, was helping my friend, Eric, put the rubber raft away. He’d purchased the raft for this trip so he had the original box. After deflating it, they rolled it up and then … More Doing the Impossible
My friend, Phil, who was a mountain guide for more than 40 years and a climber longer than that, has a motto, “Climbing is a round trip sport.” One of the cardinal sins in climbing is not being in-tune with how much gas you have left in the tank. If you use up all your … More Each Day Is A Round Trip Sport
Some people embrace change. Others fear it. Me? I chase after it like a kid in hot pursuit of an ice cream truck on a scorching summer afternoon. (On a side note: RIP, Choco Taco. You are missed.) The last time I had a Choco Taco was my first day as a Wisconsin resident: Aug. … More The world is my Moo Goo Gai Pan.
On this past Saturday morning, I was sitting on my meditation cushion on a dark, blustery morning in a room lit only by candles, listening to a storm lash the branches against the side of the house and the rain hit the windows of the French doors in front of me. There’s nothing like a … More Port In a Storm
I’ve written a few climbing posts recently – it’s like I pulled a thread and they started tumbling out. But really, I think it’s because there’s one story that has been niggling at me to come to the surface. So here it is. When I went to Everest Base camp in 2001, it was because … More Yay, Yeah, Whatever
Let me just say up front there is absolutely no point to this story. Writing the Chili Dog Guy story last week reminded me of one of my favorite side jaunts. On my five-day guided expedition climb on Mt. Rainier in 1999, the first day out we climbed from Paradise Inn at 5,400 feet up … More On the Way to the Top
The Heart of the Matter 