StanleyWheeler

  Before we get to our adventure in Sauron's old 'hood: Cursed Canyon is here - click on the picture to check it out. This is the second Wyrd Western anthology from Raconteur Press and I'm pleased to say I have stories in both - in addition to stories in the Road Trippin' and the Pin Up Noir 2 anthologies. Go here to check out these anthologies and my other books . Note that the Road Trippin' anthology features a story about my dad's motorcycle trip back in the 50s. He read it last night and called to let me know he liked it. Now I have a question about Russian motorcycles sold in the U.S. during the 50s.  If you're thinking the landscape above looks like Mordor, you're not far off. We took a little trip to Craters of the Moon because we had a hankerin' for hiking among wreck and ruin of Mordor after Sauron's fall. It was October, after all.  The Two Watchers at the gate would not take cash but insisted on seizing the credit card temporarily...

We arrived here on Monday and began the nine and one half mile hike through rugged country in the middle of the day--during the hottest week of the year.  Part of the view from the first summit. The smoke from the nearby fires wasn't too bad that first day. It was somewhere near here that we met two diminutive lads who mentioned something about being on their way to return a piece of jewelry that had been giving them problems. I haven't succeeded yet in downloading the remaining pictures. The story of the death march and the successful plotting of a new book will wait until I can get the other photos--the much better ones-- included. *** I did get back in time to attend a daughter's wedding. There are days that shine like the brightest stars in the firmament. Yesterday was one of those days. To see one's children gathered in an important place, doing the right things for the right reasons is a premium parental pay-day. I couldn't help but look upon ...

Excitement...and the desire to shower again...roused us from our bed. My wife had been worried that we would end up, in Griswald European Vacation  fashion, sharing a community bathroom with strangers. I did try to dispel that fear, but couldn't unequivocally state that it wasn't a remote possibility--part of my "keep expectations low" style of husbandship. So every private shower was a victory. This may have been the most impressive part of the trip for my wife...no shared bathrooms. Breakfast, and the purchase of groceries and supplies were next on the list for the morning. We went into the mall and found that every place was still closed. The breakfast places wouldn't be open for at least another half hour. We decided to hunt the elusive Monoprix (see link from previous post). It was the largest store in the mall, a superstore. How tough could it be to locate? Besides, I knew that it was at the same end of the mall as our hotel. Turns out, "elusive...