At the grocery store in McHenry, we divided and conquered, spreading to all ends of the store to grab provisions for the weekend. It was then about a half hour drive to Big Bear Lake, where we stopped at the guard shack to grab our key. The other ladies hung out while I dealt with the …
Last year, my friends Tammy, Allison, Carissa, and I started a tradition of a yearly long-weekend mountain bike trip, ladies only. All of us ride with the guys all the time, which is awesome (I'm usually not really one for girls-only stuff anyway), but we thought it would be fun to do our own trip …
Last weekend, I was in Georgia, where I spent 4 days riding mountain bikes and hanging out with a lot of cool people who also work in the industry. The significance of this trip was not only that it was a lot of fun. It was also one of my first expenses-paid "work" trips as a writer. This …
Continue reading "Georgia has hills, and other things I learned at the #MaxxisSummit"
Back in August, I went on a road trip to Colorado. On my way home, I stopped to see the largest sand dunes in North America, at Great Sand Dunes National Park. Ok, so it wasn't exactly 100% completely on my way, but it wasn't far enough out of my way to resist a stop to …
At the beginning of this month, I returned from Colorado. I was gone for 10 days---not so long, but longer than I've been gone since Japan 2 years ago. This trip was spurred by an invitation to the annual Singletracks Editorial Staff Meet-Up (I write for Singletracks.com) in Salida, Colorado. The idea was basically to …
In the summer of 2012, I took a trip that changed my life. The year leading up to it had been rough to say the least, riddled with sorrow and depression and the grief of losing someone I thought I'd get to spend a whole lot more time with. I was lost, feeling purposeless and …
Nearly three months ago, shortly after arriving in Japan, I watched spring arrive on Norikura, the snow melting, the plants emerging from the thawing ground, the flowers beginning to bloom. Nearly three weeks ago, on Mt. Chogatake, I watched fall begin to envelope the higher elevations of the Japanese Alps. Perhaps it arrived in the …
It's hot as hell again. Not even a slight breeze to offer some relief from the sweltering, humidity-laced heat that hangs in the air. I don't think I have stopped sweating since I left the air-conditioned hotel room in Kyoto yesterday morning. I sit here at my computer, my damp fingers on the keys, trying …
Continue reading "The woods and the waters and the people that make a home."
Alright, so it was Nara, not Narnia, but our new buddy, Mike, with whom we exchanged silliness over beers one night, kept calling it Narnia. And maybe it's an appropriate name for the town that houses the oldest surviving wooden structures in the world, a giant Buddha statue who's hand alone dwarfs a human, and …
It didn't take me long to fall in love with this place. Despite being dropped off on the side of a highway and the resulting 6km walk in 100-degree heat to our hotel, Kyoto quickly charmed me with its beautiful mix of the traditional and the modern, the old and the new, and its graceful …
helena kotala 