Streets of Laredo is the sequel to Lonesome Dove, set 20 years later. The characters who have survived are older and the borderlands are less wild, that is until a nineteen year old bandit (Joey Garza) holds up trains and kills many people. Woodrow Call is now older, but he still takes on bounty hunter work, and at this time … Continue reading →
On a mild December morning I hiked from Valleyview Arena to the silt cliffs benchlands across Highland Drive. The triangular-shaped area is accessed by a steep single track trail. There are double tracks and single tracks on the relatively flat benchland, but deep gullies cut the area into three areas. I hiked all the established tracks, then crossed Highland Drive … Continue reading →
On a grey but mild December day we hiked from the Mountview Drive trailhead in Dallas up the Pussywillow Trail. There was snow on the trail but we were able to do the hike without traction devices. On the benchland, we continued east into the Blackwell trails. Fog shrouded Harper Valley to the north. We hiked up through open forest … Continue reading →
Tree of Hands is a psychological thriller about three people, each with his/her own story, but there is a small connection between them that results in an unpredictable ending. The main story is about a child kidnapping, an act by an unstable grandmother to help her own daughter who lost a child to illness. In Ruth Rendell’s books there are … Continue reading →
On a grey December day I started a 2 hour hike from Valleyview Arena, following the main trailhead up into the hills of Valleyview Nature Park. There was a bit of snow on the ground, but it was fine for hiking boots and a pole for stability. The route was a series of loops, across benchlands, gullies, and ridges. The … Continue reading →
On a greyish late November day we hiked a double loop route from Rose Hill Park. We started by hiking down a single track trail toward West Juniper. We traversed north onto Rose Hill Ridge to enjoy the views. We crossed Rose Hill Road and followed double tracks up Joyce Gulch, passing an old homestead. Our route followed … Continue reading →
Blackout is a book which won the Hugo Award, the Locus Award, and the Nebula Award in 2010 – 2011 for the best science fiction novel. It is part one of a two-part series, followed by All Clear. Although it is fundamentally a science fiction story, there is a considerable level of historical accuracy, and the characters of the time … Continue reading →
On a grey late November day we hiked into Peterson Creek Park from the Mariposa Trailhead. We continued up the canyon, then descended down to cross the creek. We followed trails that stayed close to the canyon rim on the east side. There are a number of trails on the east side, but we prefer the ones that stay close … Continue reading →
Just above the Lac le Jeune Road south of the industrial park is the old site of the Ironmask Mine. Back in 1888 coal was found on what is now Coal Hill, on the slopes of the family-run Guerin Ranch. In 1892 iron was found by a prospector working for a syndicate in the hills to the west … Continue reading →
One Step Behind is the 8th book of the Wallander series, police procedural crime books, set in Ystad, Sweden and written in Swedish, translated to English. Henning Mankell has written a number of books and plays, but the most famous were the Wallander stories. There have been 3 popular TV crime series based on his books and he has won … Continue reading →
At the Winter Solstice the weather remained mild and there was no snow in the valley bottom so we hiked the Rivers Trail from Aviation Way. contThe dike trail was relatively quiet. We hiked along the trail for about 1 km before turning down int We hiked along the trail for about 1 km before turning down into the marshlands … Continue reading →
The Hobbit is a fantasy novel written in 1937. It was originally written for a juvenile audience, but it has become one of the best selling books of all time, selling over 100 million copies, and read by all ages of readers. The story is told by Bilbo Baggins, an account of an adventure he took from Hobbiton in the … Continue reading →
On a mid-November day we hiked from the main parking lot and continued west, out to the end of the Sunset Trail. We hiked the Big Pine Trail which winds across the hills to the west end of the ridge. The work on the pipeline appears to be done now. The fences are gone and the area has been … Continue reading →
Children of Time is the first book in the award-winning science fiction series written by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It is the story of a future where Earth and its colonies are at the end, and so advanced spacecraft are sent out to terraform distant planets where humans can settle. Ark ships follow with people kept in a cryogenic state and AI … Continue reading →
We hiked the Ironmask Trails from the upper trailhead in late November. Since this is a well-used mountain biking area, we return to hike the trails in shoulder season and when the snow falls since many of the trails are single tracks and they can be busy with riders. On this day, we met a couple of other hikers, but … Continue reading →
All the Pretty Horses is a novel set in southern Texas and Mexico in the 1950s. It is the story of John Grady, a 16 year old who has become disconnected from his ranch home and family. He was raised by a Mexican familyso he is fluent in Spanish. He and his friend Lacey Rawlings decide to look for work … Continue reading →
