Zero emissions discovery of place

I've decided to increase my zero-emission activities, which resulted in kayaking the Mississippi (courtesy of Mines of Spain Catfish Creek and Massey Station access points).  After 40 years of seeing the Mississippi from a bird's eye view, it was very interesting to see the barges at river level.

We also hiked the Horseshoe Trail at Mines of Spain.  How I lived my whole life without knowledge of the Mines of Spain in Dubuque County is a mystery.  Word to the wise: check this area out when in Dubuque.

I'm planning to ride a bike more in preparation for hopeful travel through Hawaii without a car.  I think it will be challenging, but hopefully not impossible, to make my way around the Big Island using foot, bike, and bus only.

I spent this morning wrist deep (!) in vegan cooking.  Loathe to buy another gadget designed to be obsolete in 60 seconds or less (only a slight hyperbole), I'm borrowing my mother's circa 1970 blender.  The motor sounds stronger than any I've heard and did a fabulous job blending my 'Forks Over Knives' no-cheese sauce this morning.  Melanie now has acorn squash lined with no-cheese sauce and stuffed with wheat berry veggie mix (spinach, veggie burger, sweetcorn, tomato, wheat berry, green onion, etc.) for lunch the next few days.

The mother in "The Hundred Foot Journey" says that "to cook, something must die" and hence "cooking creates ghosts."  I'm hoping to create as few ghosts as possible in the coming years (except for the requisite plant deaths) and as many no-bake peanut butter bars* as possible.

* Recipe: 4 packets flavored but vegan oatmeal (I've been using Glutenfreeda's banana) or 2 cups plain oatmeal, 1.5 cups flax seed (flavored or plain), .5 cups oat bran, .5 cups coconut, 1 cup vegan dark chocolate chips or chopped bars, .5-1 cup chopped additional nuts of your choice (Spanish peanuts or pecans are yummy), cinnamon or other spices to taste, 1 cup peanut butter, and .5 cups Agave nectar (or honey if not opposed).  Mix all ingredients together, press into container, refrigerate, and eat!