• nature,  traditions,  USA

    Halloween in the Midwest – part 3

    This is the third and the last post about my road trip and just like in the previous ones (part 1 and part 2), there are plenty of pictures you can click on in order to enlarge them. entering South Dakota We were heading towards Rapid City, that’s where we were planning to stay for the next couple of nights. The drive was not too long, only around 4 hours, but it was not an interstate highway which means we had to cross some towns instead of bypassing them. I just had to be more cautious behind the wheel. But it was good and interesting ride, definitely not as monotonous…

  • nature,  USA

    Halloween in the Midwest – part 2

    This is the second post about my Midwestern road trip; the first one is here. There are plenty of pictures and all are clickable if you want to see the bigger version. the road trip As I mentioned in the previous post, travelling to Chicago seemed to be the best option. We got the first flight of the day westwards from London Heathrow operated by the American Airlines which was probably not even 1/3 full. And flying aboard the Dreamliner makes a difference. During long-haul flights, even the mid-day ones, the cabin crew forces people to shut the blinds and increases the temperature so passengers would sleep instead of bothering…

  • nature,  USA

    Halloween in the Midwest – part 1

    When we were driving across New England in May and June this year, little did we know that it’s not our only time in the US in 2022. In August, I have decided to participate in the SIETAR USA conference which was held in Omaha, Nebraska. There were some deliberations about fitting it in our schedules; we normally have some holidays planned in November when London is grey and gloomy; this would make it either/or situation. At the end we made up our minds, we’re having beach holidays in January instead. Nebraska is part of the Midwest, the area of the United States which is kind of in the middle…

  • nature,  USA

    The US National Park Service – part 1

    We are all familiar with the idea of “a national park”; we take it for granted that all over the globe there are protected areas which we can visit and enjoy for their natural beauty and importance. But it wasn’t always like that. Of course hundreds of years ago, there were game reserves restricted to use by all but royalty and nobility, unfortunately it was for their particular interests only. There was no protection in mind; one of the best evidence for this is the story of an auroch – the animal only kings could hunt for meat and recreation. It still didn’t save it from extinction. This post is…