The Inexplicable Stairway to Heaven

As the legend goes, when the chapel was built without stairs up to the choir loft. Monks used ladders, but since this chapel was for nuns, a staircase was needed. Conventional stairs would take up nearly half the space in the little chapel, so the nuns decided to pray a novena for some divine assistance. On the ninth (and final) day of the devotion, a mysterious man with a few simple tools appeared and informed the sisters that he could fashion a suitable staircase, but he must be left completely alone. Locked in the chapel for three days, he finished the stairs and disappeared without asking for pay. Nobody knew who he was or where he went, so naturally …CONTINUE READING >>
As the legend goes, when the chapel was built without stairs up to the choir loft. Monks used ladders, but since this chapel was for nuns, a staircase was needed. Conventional stairs would take up nearly half the space in the little chapel, so the nuns decided to pray a novena for some divine assistance. On the ninth (and final) day of the devotion, a mysterious man with a few simple tools appeared and informed the sisters that he could fashion a suitable staircase, but he must be left completely alone. Locked in the chapel for three days, he finished the stairs and disappeared without asking for pay. Nobody knew who he was or where he went, so naturally …CONTINUE READING >>

Inexplicable Stairs of Santa Fe


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On the ninth (and final) day of the devotion, a mysterious man with a few simple tools appeared and informed the sisters that… CONTINUE READING >>


enlarge video
On the ninth (and final) day of the devotion, a mysterious man with a few simple tools appeared and informed the sisters that… CONTINUE READING >>

Going Coastal

While traveling, periodically preconceived notions are blown totally out of the water once a place is visited in person.

Our most recent notion deconstruction locomotion occurred along a rocky stretch of the California coast just south of San Francisco.

Carmel-by-the-Sea, as anticipated, is a … CONTINUE READING >>

While traveling, periodically preconceived notions are blown totally out of the water once a place is visited in person.

Our most recent notion deconstruction locomotion occurred along a rocky stretch of the California coast just south of San Francisco.

Carmel-by-the-Sea, as anticipated, is a … CONTINUE READING >>

Keep Portland Weird

P-Town, Bridgetown, Little Beirut, Stumptown, Rip City, The City of Roses, Beervana or Beertown, what is this all about? Let’s see… it starts with the letter P, has a lot of bridges, protested the visits of the first President Bush so much that his staff compared it to Beirut, grew so fast that the cleared trees left stumps everywhere, had a play-by-play announcer named Bill Schonely who used odd phrases, has a lot of roses and a ton of micro breweries… must be Portland, Oregon.

So with all of these informal handles, how did the official name come about? How about a flip of a… CONTINUE READING >>

P-Town, Bridgetown, Little Beirut, Stumptown, Rip City, The City of Roses, Beervana or Beertown, what is this all about? Let’s see… it starts with the letter P, has a lot of bridges, protested the visits of the first President Bush so much that his staff compared it to Beirut, grew so fast that the cleared trees left stumps everywhere, had a play-by-play announcer named Bill Schonely who used odd phrases, has a lot of roses and a ton of micro breweries… must be Portland, Oregon.

So with all of these informal handles, how did the official name come about? How about a flip of a… CONTINUE READING >>

Major in Mustard at Poupon U

 Having just seen the movie “Sling Blade” on video with its classic line “Mustard’s good on ’em to me” we simply could not resist a trip to Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin and its world famous Mustard Museum.

Much to our delight, what we discovered was a confluence of cheesy tourist diversions. A veritable treasure trove of camp with metal monsters, trolls, the great outdoors and of course, mustard.

Before we even made it into town we… CONTINUE READING >>

 Having just seen the movie “Sling Blade” on video with its classic line “Mustard’s good on ’em to me” we simply could not resist a trip to Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin and its world famous Mustard Museum.

Much to our delight, what we discovered was a confluence of cheesy tourist diversions. A veritable treasure trove of camp with metal monsters, trolls, the great outdoors and of course, mustard.

Before we even made it into town we… CONTINUE READING >>

Home, Home on the Strange

Of the 5000 souls that reside in Mulvane, Kansas, only one vies for the title of America’s strangest folk artist. On the main road cutting through this little burg, sits a house whose owner is a painter with, well…divine inspiration. The structure itself serves as his palate, his preferred medium — spray paint…. CONTINUE READING >>

Of the 5000 souls that reside in Mulvane, Kansas, only one vies for the title of America’s strangest folk artist. On the main road cutting through this little burg, sits a house whose owner is a painter with, well…divine inspiration. The structure itself serves as his palate, his preferred medium — spray paint…. CONTINUE READING >>

Mr. Nemechek’s Opus

Mr. Nemechek has used his freedom of speech in a most unusual way. He has erected dozens of eye-catching signs protesting what he sees as a racial attack against his family of Czech descent “like done to the Jews – Czechs in WWII.” These signs accuse Noble County, the entire county mind you, of “ethnical cleansing,” “law discrimination” and the killing… CONTINUE READING >>

Mr. Nemechek has used his freedom of speech in a most unusual way. He has erected dozens of eye-catching signs protesting what he sees as a racial attack against his family of Czech descent “like done to the Jews – Czechs in WWII.” These signs accuse Noble County, the entire county mind you, of “ethnical cleansing,” “law discrimination” and the killing… CONTINUE READING >>