Superior Hiking Trail 2015

We're almost through a week of exploring the Superior Hiking Trail.

We visit this trail just about every year. One year we hiked from lodging to lodging, but usually we just do day hikes.

The twist this year was to bring two cars. That way we could explore sections of the trail as a series of one-way day hikes. For the first time we got to see the remotest parts of the trail, ending just a mile short of the Canadian border.

A Gate Agent's Conundrum

I hold my phone close, but the boarding pass scanner rejects me. The agent guarding the gate gestures me to scoot sideways towards his colleague at the podium.

Podium Colleague does not make eye contact, she sighs as she pokes at her keyboard.

"Your seat has been reassigned to someone with higher status," she informs.

Sometimes You Can Go Back

I'm pausing for a few days before I complete my 500-mile Walk Around Newcastle, a walk I started in 2010.

The walk does not include Newcastle upon Tyne, the town where I grew up: after all, it's a walk "around" Newcastle. Today, though, I'm pausing the walk, and wandering in Newcastle.