mpalkoblog

[mpalkoblog]

Touring the American West

This post outlines our recent visit (May 2023) to the American West. There are dozens of ways to enjoy your time there. This is what we did, and it worked out GREAT. We started planning almost a year in advance. Vacancies at places to stay and tour slots fill up quickly, so consider that when planning.

TIME OF YEAR We visited May 6-13. There are pros and cons to going in early Spring.

Cons

Not all of the roads in both Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park will be open. One main road in Yellowstone is maintained year-round. The others eventually become snow-covered and impassable. During our visit the Upper Loop and Lower Loop in that park weren't fully open, but we were able to see all of the main attractions. The National Park Service website has the schedule for road openings (and closures). Some of the roads were closed as snow removal was being finalized, others closed because of an increase in bear activity. As bears come out of hibernation and find the carcasses of bison and elk that didn't survive the winter, they become more aggressive and a bigger threat to visitors.

It's still somewhat cold and in some places the ground was still snow-covered. Lows were 30-35 degrees, highs 50-60. Dressing in layers is the way to go.

In some places, particularly in ID, many restaurants were seasonal and grocery stores closed at 5PM.

Pros

No crowds! At the height of Summer, it can take up to 90 minutes to get through Yellowstone's west entrance. Roads can become clogged, particularly when wildlife are on the roadway. We visited Yellowstone on three different days, and each day we rolled right up to the gate and moved about freely on all open roads. We were also able to easily pull into any of the cutouts, if we saw wildlife in the distance. I sincerely think the time in the park would have been less enjoyable if we had to deal with crowds.

Babies! Early Spring means new births. We saw young bison, elk and sheep.

TRAVEL & ACCOMODATIONS

We planned to visit the Grand Tetons National Park (Jackson, WY), Yellow Stone National Park (WY, MT & ID) and Bozeman, MT. There are two major airports that serve those areas: Bozeman Yellowstone International (Belgrade, MT) and Jackson Hole (Jackson, WY). There were more choices for flights into Bozeman, and the cost was less than Jackson Hole.

We flew into Bozeman and drove to Teton Village (~4.5 hours) on the date of our arrival. This was so we didn't have to drive 4.5 hours to the airport on the day of our departure. The first day was tiring, but that was a good decision.

We stayed at 3 different AirBnBs. One in Teton Village, WY (2 nights), one in Island Park, ID (3 nights), ~30 minutes from the West Entrance of Yellowstone and one in Belgrade, MT (2 nights). Since you'll need to book months in advance, pay attention to cancellation rules and related fees.

We rented a car and travelled almost 1,000 miles over the course of the week. If going with a group, pay attention to not only how many the vehicle seats, but also how the luggage room is reduced when seating the maximum. We, fortunately, were able to upgrade on the spot for $10/day. Upgrade fees are MUCH higher during the peak season and larger vehicles may not be available.

TOURS

While we explored much of the area on our own, we did take two formal tours. Like with the AirBnBs, pay attention to cancellation rules and fees.

While in Teton Village, we used Brush Buck Tours. We took a public tour and were fortunate enough to be the only ones in the van. They picked us up at our residence, and the guides were exceptional.

Also while there we took our own (free) tour of the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, WY, and got to see long horn sheep.

There was still a significant amount of snow on the ground in Island Park, ID, but roads were clear.

While there, we used Yellowstone Vacation Tours. This full-day tour was at capacity, so there were ~25 people on the bus. That number didn't decrease our enjoyment and, again, the guide was outstanding. For this tour, we had to meet them at their office.

We also visited the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone. You can get an up-close, but not too personal, experience with those creatures.

On the way out of Island Park, ID, we drove through Yellowstone National Park again and exited through the north entrance. While in Bozeman, MT, we did some hiking near Montana State University and visited the Museum of the Rockies.

MISCELLANEOUS

If you're going to visit either of the National Parks on your own (i.e. without a tour guide), it's most cost-effective to buy an annual pass. Here's why: If you enter a park in a non-commercial vehicle, that pass covers the driver and all passengers in your vehicle. If you enter in a commercial vehicle (i.e. part of a guided tour) that annual pass covers 4 members of your party. Additional members of your party would then have to purchase an individual pass, good for 1 week. The annual pass covers EVERY National park, but the individual pass covers only the park for which it was purchased.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. The altitude and dryness of the air can take a toll on your body and skin. Be sure to bring moisturizers and lip balm. Stock up on hydration powders (e.g. Propel, Liquid IV, etc.) to add to your water.

Bring snacks. While one of the tours provided drinks and snacks, the other didn't. If exploring on your own, consider buying a cheap Styrofoam cooler to keep in your vehicle and fill it with water, granola bars, protein bars, etc. Not all of the park amenities were open and food options were limited. One tour offered the option to purchase a box lunch, but we opted to get one at Ernie's Bakery & Deli in West Yellowstone ahead of the tour. Order early enough the day before, and they'll have them ready when they open at 7AM.

Bear spray. Since we did not do any hiking on trails because most were not yet open, if we had I would have carried bear spray. (It's basically pepper spray shot through a small fire extinguisher). You can purchase it there, but TSA prohibits it in both carry on and checked bags. You can rent bear spray by the day, too.

Invest in a quality set of binoculars. One of the tours provided each participant with a set to use during the tour, the other didn't. Having our own set was beneficial both on the tour and when we were exploring the area without a guide.

If a visit to that area is on your bucket list, go. If it's not, go. It was the most beautiful, breath-taking, awe-inspiring place I've ever been. It's also the most wild, harsh and unforgiving place, too. It's Nature doing its thing. When the mountain men who first went to that area returned to cities and towns with stories of the landscape and "upside down waterfalls" (geysers), locals did not believe them and thought they'd gone mad. It's a place you have to see for yourself.

[mpalkoblog]

My father, a patient Champion

When I originally wrote this, I didn’t know that Super Bowl LII (in 2018) would be my father’s last.  That game was also the last time he watched the Eagle play.

I credit my father for my love of sports.  Baseball and football broadcasts filled my childhood homes and most car rides.  One of my earliest childhood memories is listening to the 1969 World Series on a transistor radio as my mom and I waited for my sister to be dismissed from school.  My father took the time to play sports with me and watch me play. He threw me countless pitches, and we tossed a football for hours; a large one for outside, a smaller one for indoors while watching games on TV.  I was pretty good at grabbing his passes from the couch before they hit the carpet.  He taught me everything he knew about the games, too.  And he knew a lot.  A big grin always came across his face when he talked about his playing days, and I’m pretty sure he carried in his wallet the dog-eared newspaper clipping about the day he pitched a no-hitter.  He faced the minimum that Sunday afternoon, picking off the one batter he walked.

Living in Pottsville, a small town in Pennsylvania’s Coal Region, about 100 miles north of Philadelphia, he and I were, of course, fans of the Eagles and Phillies.  My team loyalties occasionally wavered.  I spent a few of my childhood years rooting for other clubs. During the mid ‘70s I traded my Eagle green for the purple and gold of the Minnesota Vikings and my Phillies’ red for the black and gold of the cross-state Pirates. In retrospect, I can see why: those teams had more success than my hometown teams. The Vikings went to 4 Super Bowls between 1969 and 1976 (they still haven’t won one), and I watched the Pirates win 2 titles before my 14th birthday.

At no time did my father’s devotion to the hometown teams waver, but I do remember him lamenting, “I guess we’re just not meant to win.” and “That stuff just doesn’t happen to us.”

You can imagine then, how we rejoiced when the Phillies won their first World Series in 1980.  I was lucky enough to be at the ballpark the night they clinched that title, and he and I talked about it for hours on end that winter.  But a Super Bowl championship always seemed to elude the Eagles and my father.  I can remember him cheering (and cursing) some really good (and some less than good) teams lead by the likes of Roman Gabriel, Bill Bergey, Tom Dempsey, Ron Jaworski, Willbert Montgomery, Harold Carmichael, Reggie White and Buddy Ryan’s Gang Green defenses.  The Eagles made it to Super Bowl XV only to be crushed (much like hearts and spirits of their fans) by the Oakland Raiders.

By the time the Eagles made it back to the Super Bowl in 2004 (XXIX), I had long left his house and PA. I was in North Carolina, freshly removed from almost 15 years living in and around Boston cheering for the New England Patriots. (Yes, I cheered for them when they wore the ugly red uniforms, lost more than they won and when many games were “blacked out” on local Boston TV stations because fans wouldn’t fill the stadium.)  The Patriots got their first Super Bowl title, and thus I got mine, in 2001, a feeling of elation that I will never forget.  And 3 years later, my adopted team was going head-to-head with my father’s team.  His Eagles fell short, again.

Fast forward to February 2018.  I’ve passed on my love of sports to my own son, and our Patriots are headed to their tenth Super Bowl. My son and I shared the joy of being associated with champions MANY times and now our football team seemed poised to win (and were favored to win) their sixth title.  The opponent this time? Again, the Philadelphia Eagles.  The week before the game I asked my father if he was betting on the game with his head or his heart.  Without hesitating he said “I’m betting with my head.  I’m taking the Eagles.”  Needless to say, I had a foot in both camps for Super Bowl LII.  I loved that feeling of victory, of punching the air and high-fiving my son.  Fifty-one Super Bowls had come and gone, one for each year of my life, and a part of me wanted my father, 82, to experience, for the first time, that mid-winter joy.

The game quickly becoming an instant classic.  At halftime, I called my father, joking that he should make sure that he’d turned off the notifications sent from his pacemaker to his doctor’s office.   I spent the last few minutes of the game on the phone with him, watching, talking, just he and I, like we had so many times before, critiquing, correcting, wishing.  Despite his age, he was still sharp.  He knew the players, statistics, formations and just what he was seeing.  When the final pass of the game fell to the ground in the end zone, the game clock showed all zeros.  His Eagles were ahead on the scoreboard, and I heard him leave out a sigh, as if he’d been holding his breath since the very first Super Bowl.  “You did it!” I said.  He was home alone, and I was happy to be the first to congratulate him.  All of those years watching “The Birds” with me, with his uncle, his father and mother, his brothers and sisters, his nieces and nephews, and, of course my mom, sister and I. Hundreds of games watched from the same chair he was sitting in that night.  Still others watched with his friends from his usual stool at the Eagles Nest, the seasonal name for the local American Legion Hall.  All of them leading him to that very moment.

I wished him good night because by then my phone was buzzing with post-game messages from New England fans, my PA family and Patriot haters.  One of the messages was from a former Boston coworker, fellow Patriot fan and someone who already knew most of this story.  Larry wrote “Game over. Give your dad a high five for me. Congrats daddy Palko.”

What happened the next day was something I could have never expected.  Larry told me that he’d told his son, Ryan, about my father’s wait for a Super Bowl victory and now Ryan wanted to give my father his Nick Foles jersey. Foles, the Eagles quarterback was voted the Super Bowl’s Most Valuable Player.  Having started the season as the team’s backup quarterback, Foles was thrust into the leading role when the starter suffered a season-ending injury prior to the playoffs.  When the Patriots won their first Super Bowl, I slept in my team jersey.  I was 36. But now this 17 year old wanted to give his team jersey to my father in celebration.  Ryan told his dad, “You’re not selling it are you?  You have to give it to him.”

Now I’ll be first to admit that professional sports are what they are:  kids’ games played by adults.  And I realize that unless you put on the pads and strap on the helmet, you have no influence over the outcome, but this one was more than a game to me.  It was a culmination of almost a lifetime of patience, preparation, perseverance and waiting.  I am so grateful that I got to be on that journey with my father and to know that he now knows joy associated with it.

To Larry and Ryan, a sincere thank you for helping to crown my father as a champion.  I’m humbled by your awareness and generosity.

To my father I say, “Pop, you ARE meant to win and that stuff DOES happen to us!”

[mpalkoblog]

Desire Paths

After listening to a story about “desire paths,” I’ve become fascinated (and somewhat obsessed) with them.

99% Invisible notes that

“Informal ‘desire paths’ can form with as few as fifteen traversals of an unpaved route, creating spontaneous new trails shaped by pedestrians effectively voting with their feet. These paths frequently become self-reinforcing: others intuit the potential advantages of a newly-forming route and follow it, thus eroding it further and enhancing its visibility.”

An extensive amount of work goes into urban planning and no doubt the emergence of desire paths frustrates architects and designers.  I know I’d be aggravated and discouraged if one of them appeared in an area I’d planned.   I know this because I’ve had a similar experience in my job, designing eLearning courses. I often spend hundreds of hours planning and creating a course, and, inevitably, a learner finds a shortcut or path around the content, a route I hadn’t considered. Then my phone rings and someone tells me “This course isn’t working.”

The more I think about desire paths, the more I see that this phenomenon isn’t just related to sidewalks or the learning paths I see in my 9-5.  Many aren’t even physical paths.  Paths are planned for us and we plan paths for others, in a myriad of situations.  Our parents planned them for us, and we plan them for our kids.  Society, tradition, marketers, social media and even our friends plan and try to define and influence our path to success, riches, security, beauty, fitness and happiness.  We’re continually bombarded, consciously and unconsciously, with road signs that shout “THIS WAY!”

What paths (at work, in relationships, in life) are you on?  Who’s designed them for you? Who’s influencing and guiding you?  Are you trudging along the crowded cement walks forged by others? Do you even notice that there might be another way?

Are you on your desire path?   What’s keeping you from it?  When I was photographing these paths (incidentally, all of them are on the campus of Duke University), I wondered how many people didn’t take the desire path, as they might have typically, and instead stayed on the walkway because I was there and they didn’t want to be seen or documented stepping outside of “normal.”  If you have the courage to take your desire path, be ready to be conspicuous.

Those desire paths pictured didn’t always exist.  Someone, ONE person, took the first step to leave the pavement, but when they did, others followed.  Look for people who are walking life’s course in a non-traditional way, unaffected by how the world defines success, riches, beauty, and happiness, then free yourself from the constraints, self- imposed and otherwise, enhance that path’s visibility and live fully.



[mpalkoblog]

[mpalkoblog]

[mpalkoblog]

“I’m here.” The Power of Perspective

Storytelling is one of mankind’s oldest art forms. From painting on cave walls to performing plays to writing novels and even singing songs, humans have been telling stories for as long as we have been able to communicate with each other.  Humans are storytellers.

Earlier this month I lead a class of 8th & 9th graders into an exploration of digital storytelling as part of Duke TIP’s Scholar Weekend Program on the East Campus of Duke University.  I had the good fortune of having my friend, Heather Leahwood, Editor-in-Chief of Candid Slice, as my assistant.

During the two days, we discussed how the power of words, images and the author’s perspective affect a story, and how the consumption of those things has changed, now that 2 out of every 3 adults in the US carry a smartphone.

The goal of the course was to make the students better storytellers and, equally important, better story evaluators.

To demonstrate just how easy it is to create a story that influences an audience, I instructed the students on which perspective to take, the kinds of things to look for and how to tailor their questions to the people we’d meet. We then set out together on a 2-hour photowalk to document Durham, NC.

We all walked the same route on the same day at the same time, armed only with our smartphones.  I provided the introduction and conclusion of the movies linked below, along with a few photos.  Each student then crafted their own story based on their personal experience:  

This Is Durham - Cecelia

This Is Durham - Kiyan

This Is Durham - Robert

This Is Durham - Jane

The most fascinating part of the walk for me, aside from the students’ enthusiasm, was a conversation with a man who’d lived in Durham all of his 53 years.  When asked “What do you hate most about Durham?” He replied, “The drug-infested neighborhoods.”  But when asked, “What do you love most about Durham?”  He replied, “I’m here.”

In addition to becoming better storytellers and better story evaluators, I urged the students to become more aware of the stories they tell themselves.

A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Counting Blessings Versus Burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being in Daily Life, concluded that “A grateful response to life circumstances may be an adaptive psychological strategy and an important process by which people positively interpret everyday experiences. The ability to notice, appreciate, and savor the elements of one’s life has been viewed as a crucial determinant of well-being.”

Just like in those films, the stories we tell and seek out and what we focus on day-to-day is a conscious choice. Those choices influence how we perceive the world around us and impact our health.  Am I encouraging you to ignore the presence of wrong, injustice, the ugly and evil?  Absolutely not.  But a focus on what’s right, just, beautiful and good puts us into the frame of mind needed to change what isn’t.

I am grateful to Duke TIP for giving me the forum to present the information, to Heather for sharing her writing expertise with the class, to the parents of Cecelia, Kiyan, Robert and Jane for entrusting them to me for the weekend, and of course, to the students themselves, each of whom exceeded my expectations.  Their work was nothing short of remarkable.

[mpalkoblog]

"When you’re good at something, you’ll tell everyone. When you’re great at something, they’ll tell you.”

Walter Payton

[mpalkoblog]

"Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation... tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego. His anxiety subsides. His inhuman void spreads monstrously like a gray vegetation." ~Jean Arp

[mpalkoblog]

I made this short movie. Let's just call it "food for thought" http://youtu.be/A_E_f4raqd4

#inspiration #thoughts #iphoneography

[mpalkoblog]

What I Learned on My Summer Vacation

I wrote this in August 2011.  It still applies.

Every once in awhile, we need to take a break from the day-to-day.  We have to turn off, put our feet up and find a way to refuel.  I did that recently.  Over the course of a week, I drove my family almost 1900 miles up and down the east coast, visiting relatives and friends, many of whom we hadn’t seen since our move to North Carolina in 2004.  We made stops in small towns in Pennsylvania’s Coal Region and on the South Shore of Massachusetts and spent time in more well-known places like Gettysburg and Boston.  It was a great trip.  The hours in the car gave me some quality time with my family.  It also provided an opportunity to reflect on what I saw and experienced and how it applies to travel and to the journey of life.

Here is what I learned while on my summer vacation:

You don’t need as much as you think – I was sure that I needed     everything I’d stuffed into my bag.  When I got back, I realized I used only about half of the items I’d dragged with me.  Things that I was convinced I needed as I was preparing for the trip, lay untouched and     still folded when I returned.  What things in your life are you lugging along with you day after day?  We all carry “baggage.” Are there some things that you can leave behind or get rid of all together that would make your day-to-day movement through life easier?

Planning is good – A trip like that, as does life, takes planning.  Which neighbor is going to feed the pets and water the plants?  Has the GPS been updated? What’s the route, the destinations and estimated time of arrival?  You wouldn’t go on a 1900 mile trip without a map, why would you go through life without a guide? Whether it’s religion, a mentor, a counselor or a trusted friend, find someone or something to direct and advise you along the way.  Our time spent in Gettysburg was a highlight of the trip because of suggestions of a friend who once lived in that town.  The GPS  directed us through areas we were unfamiliar with.  Listen to, consider and evaluate the counsel of those who have the experience and knowledge.

 Action is better – During our time in Boston, we visited several     historic sites.  One winter day in 1773, over 5,000 colonists, more     than a third of the city’s population, had gathered at one of our stops,     The Old South Meeting House.  They were there to protest the tax on     tea. After many hours of debate, Samuel Adams proclaimed, “There is nothing more a meeting can do to save this country!"      This was the cue to an organized band of protestors to head to the waterfront where they dumped three shiploads of tea into Boston Harbor and changed the course of American history.  There are points in life where planning has to end and action has to begin.  During our trip, the GPS presented me with the planned route and in some cases I made decisions to change the route to avoid certain roads or rather than sit in traffic.  In our life journey, sometimes we just have to stop planning, stop dabbling and take action.

Evolve – Will Rogers said, “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”  In some of the places we visited, it was obvious that the towns had seen their Heyday.  Storefronts were empty, houses were in disrepair, cell towers were few and far between.  Some people seemed resigned to the fact that life as they once knew it had passed, and they simply sat in wait for the inevitable.  Is prosperity always guaranteed? No.  Is change always good?  No, but it does happen. Evolve. Change. Adapt.  Don’t let life and progress pass you while you sit idly by.

Know your history – In Gettysburg and Boston, we heard stories of victory, courage and heroism, but we also heard of conflict, tyranny,     and division.  Both the American Revolution and the Civil War were     defining moments in American history and in World history for that     matter.  If we don’t know what and why things happened in the past,     then we are destined to repeat the mistakes of those who came before us.  Reconnecting with relatives reminded me of my own personal     history.  It helped me to get a better appreciation for the sacrifices they’d made and for how far I’ve come, and how far I need to go, in my own journey.  What are you doing to learn and, better yet, to record your history for future generations?

Sometimes you have to pay now – There were several places we stopped that were “cash only.”  In today’s world that seems such a foreign concept.  We are so used to pulling out a credit card and enjoying goods and services now, while paying for them later.  But in those restaurants and stores, when the bill came due, it was time to pay. In the travels of life, many times we also have to pay on the spot.  Sometimes you just have to suck up a bad decision, for example, taking I-95 through New York City instead of I-84 through the Hudson Valley, and deal with the consequences.  Regrettable?  Yes.  Was there     anything I could do about it at the time? No.  I paid the price of long delays and immense frustration and moved on. 

Over the course of the week we saw vehicles with license plates from 38 different states and 3 Canadian provinces. We had no idea if the people inside were just beginning their journey, if they were at the end or how much further they had to go.  We saw some vehicles sitting on the side of the road, immobile and abandoned and other vehicles that were severely damaged by the mistakes of their own drivers or by the inadvertent actions of others.  What we were sure of was that everyone was going somewhere and that we had to share the road with them.  And isn’t that the same in life?  We spend so much time focused on the destination that we forget to look around and experience, learn from and share the journey.

Work and tools and striving to be your best is important, but I encourage you to focus on the journey, not just the destination.  Ask yourself:  Where have I been?  What do I see?  Where am I going next? Who am I taking along for the ride? And am I stopping to rest and refuel?

Safe travels!

[mpalkoblog]

Finally got to meet the good folks at Power Plant Gallery. Flattered to have some of my work on their walls for the next few months #PhoneHomeDurham. (at Power Plant Gallery)

#phonehomedurham

[mpalkoblog]

"The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers." ~Basho

[mpalkoblog]

Historic Oakwood Cemetery (Raleigh, NC) is doing its part to promote bee colonization and health. This year they’ve added a second hive so the bees can easily contribute to the beauty of that sacred space.

[mpalkoblog]

Eyesore or shining monument? My opinion changed after doing some research.

[mpalkoblog]

All men should strive to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.

James Thurber

[mpalkoblog]

What I do know is that if one wants to get a boat ride, one must be near the river.

Anchee Min, Becoming Madame Mao

[mpalkoblog]

Don't complicate life.