Some of you have wondered where we have gone. Some have complained about ‘CRICKETS’, others that we are ghosting them.

In truth, we’ve been equal parts lazy and busy, but also mostly offline. So, with apologies, here is a rundown of days 6-7 on the road.

When we last posted, we had just visited our dear friends, Arne and Athena Kildegaard, on their lovely farm in western Minnesota. 

We first met A&A in Austin, Texas in 1987. Arne was a graduate school colleague of mine. The four of us quickly became dear friends. We each had our first child (Anika Kildegaard and Damon Hatheway, respectively) in Austin. After graduation, we embarked in different directions, across the US and the world. Then, about a decade ago Arne and Athena visited us in London, which rejuvenated our friendship.

Our two days in Minnesota were filled with conversation and laughter, pleasant walks and discussions of books, music, and writing (Athena is a published poet), as well as equally meaningful considerations of retirement and the wisdom of embarking on huge projects involving lots of land and buildings at these stages of our lives.

After 2 splendid days, we embarked early the third day, and drove across South Dakota and on to Devil’s Tower, Wyoming. Here’s a photo of that spectacular geological formation:

We walked/hiked around Devil’s Tower, marveling at Peregrine falcons (several nest on the side of the Tower), does and their fawns, iron-red soil, and beautiful meadows.

That said, our most unusual sighting at Devil’s Tower was an odd-looking camper vehicle with Swiss (Kanton Bern) license plates. Joanie prodded me to say hello, which I did in German. The couple noted that they had shipped their van to Veracruz, Mexico and were driving around North America for 6 months. A sight even more unusual than Peregrines!

A few more posts follow. Thanks for taking the interest. Drop us a line!