Every December, I shake the dirty socks out of my suitcase, crumple up the last airline ticket, and think back on the places I visited over the previous 12 months.

This year, I traveled above the Arctic Circle and sank beneath the waves in the Indian Ocean. In all, I booked 15 round-trip flights. I stepped foot in six different states besides Texas and seven foreign countries. I zoomed around Texas in my camper van, too, exploring more of this beautiful state I call home.

I did things I’ve never done before, like drive a sled pulled by dogs across the frozen tundra, and a few I’d rather not repeat, like get intravenous fluids at a small clinic on a remote island.

It sure beats sitting at a desk in an office building. I’m flat-out, can’t-believe-this-is-my-life grateful for what I get to do for a living. And next year’s shaping up to be a doozy, too.

Without further ado, here are my top 10 travel experiences of 2024…

1. Snowshoeing to Skokie Lodge in Banff National Park. Because I was recovering from ACL surgery, I couldn’t snow ski last season. But I could strap on snowshoes for an all-day snowshoe trip across two mountain passes and a frozen lake to historic Skokie Lodge during a cold snap. Skokie Lodge doesn’t have running water or electricity, but it has a gourmet chef on site, a pot-bellied stove, and cozy rooms. (That midnight dash to the outhouse in minus 25-degree temperatures was memorable…)
2. Highlights of a village-to-village hiking trip through the Val d’Anniviers region of Switzerland? Incredible mountain scenery, wild blueberries, an elf-like chamois that popped out of the woods to watch us hike past, and a backyard party where everyone wore cowboy hats and we became celebrities since we were from Texas. And did I mention the cheese?

Sun rises at Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. Pam LeBlanc photo

3. I’ve wanted to visit Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior, home to a long-running wildlife study about the resident population of wolves and moose, for decades. I finally climbed aboard a float plane and made the trip to the islands, where I stayed in a cabin, canoed, hiked, and jumped off a dock into ice-cold water.

4. An hour after my plane landed above the Arctic Circle in Sweden, I was driving a sled pulled by dogs through the snow and ice. It didn’t feel real. I camped in the snow, took a cold plunge in a hole cut into the ice, and ate a reindeer sandwich, too.

Pam LeBlanc recommends the Maldives for scuba diving. Chris LeBlanc photo

5. If you travel all the way to the Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean, spend as much time as possible under water. I loved the beachside bungalows at the Sun Siyam Resorts we visited but was even more interested in the marine life – and the Maldives have sharks, spotted eagle rays and eels galore.

6. Big ship cruises aren’t my thing – but put me on a smaller vessel and send it along the coast of Italy, Spain and France, and I’m all in. My favorite stop on a week-long Windstar cruise through the Mediterranean was Nice, where we roamed narrow streets, visited museums, and went for a dip in the ocean.

The Devils River is one of the most pristine rivers in Texas. Pam LeBlanc photo

7. As much as I love traveling around the globe, some of my favorite places are right here in Texas. That’s why I spent my 60^th birthday canoe camping along the Devils River in West Texas. The water is clear, the rapids are just challenging enough, and the landscape reminds me that wild places do still exist.

8. As a kid, I always associated Idaho with potatoes. I’ve since learned it’s much more than that – and this year’s rafting trip down through Hells Canyon on the Snake River combined outdoor adventure and pampering (a black bear chased our raft down the river, but someone cooked and set up my tent every night.)

9. I’ve made more than 30 trips to Big Bend in my life, and every time I go, I discover something new to love. This year’s trip included stops to swim in Balmorhea, camp in the Davis Mountains, and hikes a few new-to-me trails at the national park – Pine Canyon and Blue Creek.

10. A few years have passed since I took horseback riding lessons, but instinct took over during the Great American Horse Drive, when I helped drive a herd of 300 horses 60 miles across Colorado. I even earned a buckle for my efforts. Yeehaw!

The cabins, pavilion and campground on the south side of Garner State Park will close for repairs starting Dec. 1, 2024. Pam LeBlanc photo

Heads up, campers. The old side of Garner State Park – including the pavilion, the Pecan Grove and Oakmont camping loops and cabins, park store, day-use picnic area and main swimming area near the dam – will close starting Dec. 1 for road construction and facility repairs.

All trails, except the Nature Trail and Frio Canyon Trail, will close too, so you’ll have to skip your climb up Mount Baldy.

Construction is expected to last until summer 2025, with a limited reopening in March.

The main swimming area near the dam will close as part of the repairs. Pam LeBlanc photo

The north side of the park, including more than 200 campsites at the River Crossing, Shady Meadows, Rio Frio, Live Oak and Persimmon Hill campgrounds, will remain open during construction.

That’s where I stayed during a recent overnight at the park. Even from those sites, you can access the river upstream of the main swimming area.

In all, Garner has 2.9 miles of Frio riverfront. The park consistently ranks as one of the most popular in Texas. In 2023, it saw 475,898 visitors.

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The high visitation makes it difficult to do large-scale maintenance projects in the park’s most popular areas, according to Jaime Creacy, regional director for Texas State Parks.

“It is our hope that by completing these necessary construction projects during the slower winter months, we will be able to better serve our visitors in time for their upcoming spring and summer vacations,” Creacy said in a press release.

Among the planned repairs is the scenic overlook on Park Road 29 along the Madone Trail. The overlook has been closed for three years.

Interpretive programming and activities will continue during the closure. For more information, go  the Garner State Park webpage.

The crawfish etouffee from Bowl & Kettle is easy to make – just add hot water. Pam LeBlanc photo

Add this one to the “Things I Never Expected to Say” file: I just discovered a fantastic dehydrated version of crawfish etouffee that’s perfect for backpacking.

Even better? It’s made in Austin.

I tested the meal, made by Austin-based Bowl & Kettle, on a recent car camping trip. My husband Chris, who is Cajun, and I shared the meal. It looked different from the moment I tore the pouch open: visible-to-the-eye curls of green onion, real crawfish (sourced from Louisiana!), and seasonings the color of fall leaves.

We love to backpack and have long been fans of another Austin-based company that makes camp meals, PackIt Gourmet. I’ve repeatedly ranked their State Fair Chili as the best just-add-hot-water meal I’ve ever eaten.

But they’ve got competition. I’m now putting Bowl & Kettle’s crawfish etouffee in a tie with PackIt Gourmet’s chili as the two best options available. They’re both better than the salted cardboard that used to be the only choice out there.

Brett and Sarah Bowlin founded Bowl & Kettle, which makes dehydrated meals for backpackers. Pam LeBlanc photo

Sarah and Brett Bowlin, founders of Bowl & Kettle, started selling their meals in 2024. Before backpacking 2,300 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail two years ago, they bought a freeze-dryer and made 200 meals to test in the field. They mailed the food to points along the way, and when they got a shipment, they always reached for the etouffee first.

But why etouffee?

Sarah’s father grew up in Baton Rouge, and when she was a girl, her mother made an easy version of crawfish etouffee as a one-pot meal. Brett admired the simplicity of the recipe and how good it tasted. He loves to experiment in the kitchen, and he adapted it for backpacking.

“The key difference is we use a roux that gives more of a thickness,” he says.

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I’m here to tell you it’s good. My husband also gave it the thumbs up – although he suggests skipping the packet of Louisiana hot sauce that comes with the meal. “It’s an insult to the chef,” he says.

The crawfish etouffee has visible curls of green onion and crawfish from Louisiana. Pam LeBlanc photo

It’s flavorful and colorful and doesn’t taste too salty (my number one complaint with backpacking meals.) It tastes like actual food – from Louisiana. Plus, I like the John Muir quote on the bottom of the package: “Sheep, like people, are ungovernable when hungry.”

Bowl & Kettle’s crawfish etouffee gets a thumbs up from Pam LeBlanc. Pam LeBlanc photo

Sarah and Brett both have other full-time jobs but are hoping to make Bowl & Kettle their full-time business. They recently rented a larger space in a commercial kitchen and bought a larger freeze dryer, which will allow them to increase production from 350 to about 1,000 meals a month.

A John Muir quote is printed on the bottom of the package. Pam LeBlanc photo

The company also makes and sells a dehydrated version of chicken tikka masala (I haven’t tried it yet) and street corn grits (tried, also good.) The etouffee sells for $15.95, the tikka masala sells for $16.95, and the grits are $13.95.

Bowl & Kettle products are available directly from the website. They’re also sold Mountain Chalet in Colorado Springs; Mellow Moon Lodge in Del Norte, Colorado; the French Grocer in Marathon, Texas; Sad Monkey Mercantile in Canyon, Texas; The Grove in Franklin, North Carolina; and

Garage Grown Gear, online.

A section of the Butler Trail will close starting Nov. 26 as crews stabilize the bank. Photo courtesy The Trail Foundation

Heads up, trail users.

A section of the Ann and Roy Butler Trail along Barton Creek across from Lou Neff Point will be closed starting Nov. 26, as crews work to stabilize a 230-foot slope that partially collapsed in May 2018.

During the closure trail traffic will detour around the baseball fields and onto separated paths on Toomey Road. A crew member with a flag will periodically stop cyclists and pedestrians to allow construction traffic to cross.

The closure will last until sometime next summer.

The city of Austin’s Watershed Protection Department, the Austin Parks and Recreation Departments and the
Trail Conservancy are working together on the project, which is funded and managed by the Watershed Protection Department.

Pam LeBlanc’s mother and sister pose at the entrance of the Maurice Sendak exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. Pam LeBlanc photo

I busted my mom out of her assisted living facility and took her on a bit of a wild rumpus this week – an outing to see the new exhibit about illustrator Maurice Sendak at the Denver Art Museum.

You probably know Sendak’s most famous work, the leering, dancing monsters of “Where the Wild Things Are.” The children’s book tells the story of a boy named Max, who sails away to find the “wild things” after he’s sent to bed without dinner.

I knew all the pictures in that book by heart, but my subconscious was also familiar with other Sendak characters. There’s Rosie, who dresses up like a glamorous singer, and Pierre, who doesn’t care about anything until he meets a lion.

Sendak was born in Brooklyn in 1928 and spent much of his childhood watching the world go by outside the window of the room where he was bedridden. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland, and Sendak lost several members of his extended family to the Holocaust.

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The Disney film Fantasia sparked his interest in illustration when he was 12. His professional career started when he was 20, and he created window displays for FAO Schwarz. He illustrated more than a hundred books during the next 60 years.

While my sister and I pushed my mom through a maze of more than 400 of Sendak’s original artworks at the exhibit, the biggest collection ever on public display, I got lost in a jungle of memories. It’s funny how those illustrations were so familiar to me, even though I hadn’t seen them for years.

The exhibit also includes video interviews with Sendak, information about his work as a theater set designer, and a piece of a Thanksgiving parade balloon shaped like one of the Wild Thing monsters.

Another highlight? An entire section devoted to his love for his dog Jennie, a scrappy white terrier named Jennie, who appears in most of the books he illustrated between 1954 and 1967. The dog takes a starring role in “Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or There Must Be More to Life,” a tribute to her just before her passing.

Sendak died in 2012. He was preceded in death by his long-time partner, Dr. Eugene Glynn, a psychiatrist and art critic.

The exhibit continues through Feb. 17. Tickets start at $27. Member tickets are $5. For more information go to https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/exhibitions/wild-things-art-of-maurice-sendak.

A hike along the Shoal Creek Trail, which leads through Pease Park in downtown Austin, is part of this year’s Oboz Trail Experience. Photo by Pam LeBlanc

Lace up your hiking boots, folks, and come join me for a walk. The Oboz Trail Experience is under way in Austin, and I’m leading a qualifying hike on Oct. 26.

This year marks the fourth year of the event in Austin, which rewards participants for completing a series of hikes around the city. The more you hike, the more chances you earn for winning cool prizes.

I’m in the thick of writing an urban hiking guide to Austin and have spent a lot of time this year exploring city trails. One of the oldest is the Shoal Creek Trail, which includes lots of hidden highlights, from a huge troll created by Danish artist Thomas Dambo to the site of an old Comanche camp and the location of a long-gone bath house.

At 11:30 a.m. Oct. 26, I’ll lead a short hike from Duncan Park, 900 West Ninth Street, to Whole Earth Provision Co., 1014 North Lamar Boulevard. It’s part of the Shoal Creek Social, which also includes a native plant tour at 9:30 a.m., a history tour at 10:30 a.m., and an infrastructure hike at 12:30 p.m.

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Danish artist Thomas Dambo made this troll statue in Pease Park using mostly recycled wood. Pam LeBlanc photo

Even better, it counts as one of the official Oboz Trail Experience hikes. It’s the fourth year of the program in Austin, which encourages people to explore more than 100 miles of area hiking routes during October.

To participate, sign up (it’s free!) online at https://austin.oboztrailexperience.com/Welcome.

Once you’ve registered, you can see a list of mapped trails, form hiking groups, and chat with other participants. Trails can be completed in any order, and some are broken into segments. Participants must log all their hikes on either a GPS device or smartphone activity tracking app. Your progress will be posted on a leaderboard.

All hikes must be completed by Oct. 31.

A wrap party is planned for 5-7 p.m. Nov. 2 at Whole Earth Provisions, complete with drawings for Oboz boots, Whole Earth gift cards, and other more. The event is sponsored by Oboz Footwear, Whole Earth Provision Co. and the Hill Country Conservancy.

For more information go to https://austin.oboztrailexperience.com/FAQs.