Welcome to Vacant Land - my Travel Blog.
Bringing Henry Home
May 09, 2026
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Bringing Henry Home
This is a true story about Henry, a little caterpillar who was not particularly beautiful or special. When our paths just happened to cross one fine spring day, Henry opened an avenue for me to better understand how he navigates this world, his place in it, and especially where he calls home.
And there he was not – home th...
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Travel Blog: Feeling Welcome at Gateway Trails RV Park
April 08, 2026
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Feeling Welcome at Gateway Trails RV Park
Upon departing St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, I decided to spend a few days near my new hometown of Crestview, Florida. I should put hometown in quotes, as Virginia will always be my home. But stopping in Crestview would give me the opportunity to pick up hardcopies of my mail from my mail service and...
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Travel Blog: Great Horned Owlets & Resurrection Ferns
April 02, 2026
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Great Horned Owlets & Resurrection Ferns
My time at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge was almost a bust when it came to photographing birds, until I spotted nestling Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus). It is not often one finds an owl's nest. It's even more rare to find one that presents good opportunities for photography. I was thrilled to f...
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Travel Blog: St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
April 01, 2026
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St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
Despite the Earth's course around the Sun having brought the northern hemisphere into spring and the start of a new growing season, Florida was parched. April is the tail end of this subtropical climate's dry season and dry it was.
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is like others I've visited, especia...
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Travel Blog: Bald Point State Park, Florida
March 30, 2026
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Travel Blog: Bald Point State Park, Florida
Upon leaving Tate's Hell State Forest, my next destination, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, was a little more than an hour away - significantly less as the Swallow-tail Kite flies, but the Kite doesn't have to build bridges. I would admire the Kite, sigh, and resign myself to the land-bound route....
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Travel Blog: Tate's Hell State Forest & the Red-cockaded Woodpecker
March 26, 2026
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Travel Blog: Tate's Hell State Forest and the Red-cockaded Woodpecker
One might wonder why visit a place called Tate's Hell. I must admit the name made me question how bad it might be. It is near the gulf coast of Florida, so perhaps in summer it is a kind of hell, unbearably hot and buggy. Apparently, a fellow named Tate got lost in there one...
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Travel Blog: A Snowy Farewell
March 26, 2026
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A Snowy Farewell
Greetings, after a long pause in entries.
The time has come to leave beloved friends, family and my home church to begin my long and somewhat leisurely route back to Glacier National Park. The staff at the Crown of the Continent Research and Learning Center has invited me to expand my volunteer efforts through their “Citizen...
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8th Annual Prince William Native Plant Symposium - Registration is OPEN!
December 22, 2025
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2026 Prince William Native Plant Symposium
REGISTRATION IS OPEN!
I am pleased to announce that registration is open for the 8th Annual Prince William Native Plant Symposium. This year's event will occur on Valentine's Day, so we can all fall even more in love with our wonderful Virginia native plants!
Date: Saturday, February 14, 2026
Time:...
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Travel Blog: An Introduction to My Travel Blog
December 20, 2025
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For some time a part of me has been considering entering the nomadic RV life upon retirement; maybe not becoming permanently nomadic, but at least for a while. The impetus arose, in part, from my work as an urban forester in Northern Virginia.
I love being outside, have since I was a child. One winter day, as a little girl growing up in a suburb...
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Travel Blog: One Summer Evening
August 13, 2025
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I hate computers. I was going to start this by writing, “I love computers. I hate computers” but a book I read on nature writing admonished me always to be honest. Since I’ve spent way too much of the day trying to figure out where 5 days worth of images that I uploaded to Lightroom weeks ago have disappeared to, and hours later I still don’t know,...
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Travel Blog: Pollinators & Daisies
July 25, 2025
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The North Fork, Part 2: Pollinators & Daisies
Staying up the North Fork enabled easier exploration of the land surrounding the western side of Glacier National Park, particularly Glacier View Ranger District, the northernmost district of the Flathead National Forest. I boondocked in this district for a month, moving once to comply with the regul...
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Travel Blog: The North Fork, Part 1: Up the North Fork
July 17, 2025
“The North Fork” is a reference to the North Fork of the Flathead River, one of 2 major tributaries to the Flathead River that border Glacier National Park. The Middle Fork of the Flathead River runs along the southern boundary and the North Fork borders the western boundary.
Both are designated as National Wild and Scenic River Systems, and are r...
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Travel Blog: Apgar Camping & More Loon Surveys
July 07, 2025
Apgar Campground & More Loon Surveys
Between staying at Moose Creek RV Resort and heading up the North Fork Road I spent 2 weeks at the Apgar Campground in Glacier National Park. Apgar Campground is on the west side of Glacier National Park. There are no hook ups, but potable water is available at spigots scattered throughout the campground...
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Travel Blog: The Shaggy Goat
July 01, 2025
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The Shaggy Goat
When I was a student at Virginia Tech studying forestry and wildlife management, the hub of all the classes in my major was Cheatham Hall. Just outside the lab hung a poster of a Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus). That poster was my introduction to this animal. I remember looking at it each time I left the lab, thinking what a...
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Travel Blog: Going to the Sun Road, Part 3
June 30, 2025
Going to the Sun Road, Part 3
Before I move on to my time in the North Fork, I’ll present one more entry from my trips up Going to the Sun Road. Each trip brought new experiences. This one was marked by a humorous encounter with a herd of Big Horn Sheep and a Dusky Grouse making its way through a mountainside of wildflowers....
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