Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
We’ve wanted to visit Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument for years. Located 138 miles west of Tucson on the U.S.-Mexico border, we were entranced by the beautiful images we had seen of the lush...
View ArticleWild Sheep & Wildflowers: Anza Borrego
Despite our “rocky” beginning, we enjoyed a magnificent week in beautiful Anza Borrego State Park. Although still dazed by the events of our first night in the park, being surrounded by friends old and...
View ArticleThe Spell Of Ghost Mountain
“Crackle of burning wood in the grey light of dawn — the aromatic tang of smoke lifting like incense in the chill morning air…” With images like these, writer Marshal South enchanted the readers of...
View ArticleThe Long, Long Stay In San Diego
You’ve probably heard the quote from Robert Frost, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in.” We put this to a good test when we arrived in San Diego the first of...
View ArticleLiving Out Of A Suitcase
Being without our trailer for seven weeks was unsettling in many regards, not the least of which was realizing just how difficult it is to live out of a suitcase. We actually had to buy tote bags and...
View ArticleTen Days In Palm Desert
If you like it hot, the Coachella Valley (including ritzy Palm Desert and hip Palm Springs) is your place. With sunshine more than 350 days a year and rarely a hint of rain, it’s the perfect year-round...
View ArticleOn The Road Again: Ojai, CA
You thought we were never going to leave San Diego, didn’t you? We actually harbored that thought a few times ourselves. But finally, two months after our run-in with the big, bad boulder in Anza...
View ArticleHiking In Pinnacles National Park
It’s in the middle of nowhere, at the end of a winding 30-mile, two-lane county road with no gas stations, no grocery stores, and no cell reception for miles. It’s bone dry and brutally hot in the...
View ArticleSerene And Wild Point Reyes
An island of serenity just 35 miles north of San Francisco, Point Reyes Peninsula extends 10 miles out to sea, far removed from the hustle and bustle of the big city. It is a pastoral landscape of...
View ArticlePicturesque Port Townsend
Port Townsend is without a doubt one of the most photogenic towns in the Pacific Northwest. Located on the northeast tip of the Olympic Peninsula, the small town boasts a lovely waterfront with views...
View ArticleThe Natural Beauty Of Lopez Island
I can’t tear myself away from Lopez without one more post celebrating the incredible natural beauty of the island. Although small, Lopez is blessed with an abundance of opportunities for outdoor...
View ArticleThe Golden Hills Of Eastern Washington
Most people, when they think of Washington, envision lush green forests, laden with ferns and dripping with moss. That’s a pretty accurate image—if you’re talking about anything west of the Cascades....
View ArticleHiking Adventures In The Sierras
A picture-postcard landscape of jagged granite mountain peaks, rushing streams and waterfalls, glacial lakes, and groves of golden aspen splashed amongst stately Ponderosa pines and junipers, the...
View ArticleThe Quintessential Sierra Nevada Hike
If there’s only one hike that you do in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in eastern California, make it this one. You’ll walk through forests of sweetly scented Ponderosa pines, boulder hop over rushing...
View ArticleTips For High Altitude Hiking
Twelve years ago, we embarked on our first hike in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The trailhead was at 9,300 feet, and we immediately launched into a series of steep switchbacks—our goal a beautiful...
View ArticlePlay Date In Lone Pine
We never intended to spend quite so much time traveling along 395—not that we didn’t want to, but we needed to get to Florida by Thanksgiving, and with only six weeks to make the cross-country trip...
View ArticleHiking To Betatakin: Navajo National Monument
On a sunny and cool late October morning, volunteer ranger Jimmy Black gathers our group of five on the Navajo-rug patterned brick patio behind the Visitor Center at Navajo National Monument. Our...
View ArticleLost On Cedar Mesa: Bluff, Utah
Idon’t know what it is about Cedar Mesa, but almost every time we set out on a hike there, we get lost. Not so lost that we can’t find our way back. But lost enough that we end up hiking miles out of...
View ArticleArt, Adobe & Chiles: Santa Fe, NM
Let’s see…where were we? Oh yes, Santa Fe! Allow me to rhapsodize for a moment here as I relive our mid-November visit… The curve of adobe against cobalt skies; the spicy scent of pinyon smoke curling...
View ArticleKasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks Nat’l Monument
I must admit that our expectations for Kasha-Ketuwe Tent Rocks National Monument weren’t high. We’ve hiked in Arches, Bryce, Canyonlands, Cedar Mesa, Zion—all locations renowned for spectacular canyon...
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