I have posted several “heading west” blog posts over the years. But the truth of the matter is that if you live on the east coast, you inevitably need to, well, head west. I suppose you could go north or south, but really – who does that. Crazy talk. We headed west from New Hampshire… Read More Heading West – Sept 2020
You had to know I would be the one to point out there are meteorological and astronomical ends of summer. “How do you come up with this shit” should your first thought. The mind works in curious ways. So yes, this is the end of the meteorological summer – the 3 months of June, July… Read More End of the Meteorological Summer – Aug 2020
Atlanta this year has received a boatload of rain, and yesterday was no different. In a typical week this year, it is my belief we have “enjoyed” about 5 ½ days of rain, a day of clouds, and about 2 hours of sun. I decided that today I was in charge, not the weather, and,… Read More Sope Creek – Mar 2020
This will be a short post, but it has been confirmed (photos don’t lie) – the pot of gold is located in the campground dump station! You can all breathe a sigh of relief. Or perhaps that’s not the best analogy. We camped again at Organ Pipe National Monument in southwest Arizona, literally on the… Read More Organ Pipe – Feb 2020
Spectacular. Simplest way I way can say to describe a short stay at Whitewater Draw. You likely have never heard of Whitewater Draw – I never had. But my bride had and scheduled it into our trip. Whitewater Draw is a wildlife preserve in southern Arizona, located on and around an ephemeral lake – a… Read More Whitewater Draw – Feb 2020
It’s been three years since our last visit to Big Bend National Park (TX), and we again realize why we love this place so much. It is not for the “epic” things you see (think Mount Rushmore, Half Dome, El Capitan…), but instead the myriad “little” things of beauty here. The fact is, you can… Read More Big Bend NP – Feb 2020
It doesn’t seem possible, but at the end of this month (technically a month later for Karen) we will have been retired for 5 years! What the hell have we done? Retirement, for those uninitiated, is when you shovel your driveway down to bare pavement two hours after a major storm. Being anal retentive helps. Retirement is… Read More 5 Years Post Retirement – Mar 2019
Two institutions. Niagara Falls. And Duff’’s. You weren’t expecting me to say the Buffalo Bills I hope. In further testimony to the travails of US Government, US Customs made the mistake of letting us back in the country. We departed the US earlier in the day from Port Huron, Michigan, and made the trek across Canada… Read More Western New York – Aug 2018
We have just wrapped up a few days in the Deschutes National Forest in western Oregon, perhaps an hour drive west and south of Bend. I know I sound like a broken record, but two words describe this place: pretty freaking cool. Freaking is not a word, I think we all know that. Deschutes National… Read More Deschutes National Forest – July 2018
Continuing in our all-volcano, all-the-time channel, this installment is Crater Lake National Park. What a stunning area – holy crap! Now remember, even though this is a lake, it is really a volcano, caused from the collapse of a volcano that then filled with water. The volcanoes here are over 400,000 years old. Don’t lie to me… Read More Crater Lake NP – July 2018
We visited hell, devastation, chaos, and boiling mud. No, not the nightly news – Lassen Volcanic National Park, in northern California at the southern tip of the Cascade Range. We seem to be entering our “volcanic” period. I guess like volcanoes themselves, you don’t plan for this period. They just happen. Volcanoes happen, as the saying… Read More Lassen Volcanic NP – July 2018
Yosemite is one of the most popular national parks in the system, and there are two predictable outcomes: the views are extraordinary, and there are a lot of people. We camped in Lee Vining in a pretty cool private RV campground (more on Lee Vining later), and the town is practically adjacent to Yosemite NP. … Read More Yosemite NP – June 2018
Sequoia and King’s Canyon (SEKI) NP is a paradise of contradiction. Or maybe there is no contradiction; maybe it is just balance. One thing for which there is no dispute: this place is beautiful. We spent four nights camped at the Lodgepole campground in the park. There are no hookups in the campground, although water is… Read More Sequoia & Kings Canyon NP – June 2018
We continued our trek west. How shameless is it that we are heading to the west coast for a free meal at a wedding? I’ll have the chicken, please. We left Kansas and made the transit across eastern Colorado to Denver and stayed at Cherry Creek SP (highly recommend). Here is where the story goes a… Read More Westward Ho! – June 2018
In today’s environment, it is hard not to talk about the goings on in Washington, our nation’s capitol, without some snarky comment. But the fact is this is a magnificent city! You need a month or two to do any justice to this city, touring neoclassical monuments, endless historic sites, and world-class museums. We visited… Read More Washington, DC – May 2018
What a year. It is difficult to write a “year in review” for 2017 and not bear witness to the horrible political, judicial, and societal issues that have reared their heads. Watching this past year has been like watching your annoying Uncle Leo at a holiday party dancing with his zipper down; you don’t want… Read More 2017 – In Review!
We’ll get to Glacier in a moment; and you can see our previous visit in May on our way to Alaska. One of the nice things about being on the road is you meet cool people. The other day we were driving up the Going-To-The-Sun Road (hard not to in this park) and we saw… Read More Glacier NP – Aug 2017
We crossed the border back into the United States at Sumas in Washington State, a bit east of Bellingham. The customs/border patrol inspected our truck and trailer, and lightened our load by a few tomatoes, some melon and some other dangerous vegetable. Thankfully they did not find the ivory tusks, the rare exotic birds, or… Read More Washington – Aug 2017
Last stop: Hyder. Located on the southernmost tip of Alaska, it is situated south of Juneau on the Canadian border, at the northern end of the Portland Canal, nestled between mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, abutting the Tongass National Forest, amidst gorgeous surroundings. Because of its remote location, it took us six days travel (not in a… Read More Alaska (16) Hyder – Aug 2017
Wrangell – St. Elias National Park. Yes, I know I have gushed about this park previously (Chapter 2 and Chapter 3), but we returned having left the Kenai Peninsula and a brief pause in Anchorage, and caught a break with some fabulous weather! We headed east from Anchorage on the Glenn Highway towards the park.… Read More Alaska (15) Nabesna Road – Aug 2017
Homer. If Cape Cod and Switzerland had a child, it would be Homer, AK. What a fabulous few days we have spent in Homer, and talk about drop dead gorgeous, sitting at the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula. Even the ride down to Homer from Soldotna was unbelievable. As you make your way down… Read More Alaska (11) Homer – July 2017
Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. No, we did not take our Airstream here – that would be hard without swimmies or wings. But I did fly over in a small plane from Soldotna for the purpose of shooting wildlife photos! We camped at Klondike RV in Soldotna, which was a very nice campground, and… Read More Alaska (10) Lake Clark NP – July 2017
Seward. I know you are thinking – OK, another post showing beautiful views and talking about great human-interest stories. Not so fast! Besides, I think that is racial profiling, or blogger profiling, or something. And I am not so shameless as to start off by pandering some random wildlife photos. You know I am above… Read More Alaska (9) Seward – July 2017
Kenai Peninsula (part 1). We departed Valdez on our continuing mystery tour – since it is generally a mystery where we will end up next. We ended up on the Glenn Highway and headed towards the Kenai Peninsula, which if you are not familiar is home to places like Hope, Seward, Homer, Soldatna and more.… Read More Alaska (8) Kenai Peninsula – July 2017
Strap in. Denali. It has taken us 45 days and over 7,300 miles to get from TCPC in Crossville, TN to Denali. How can anyone come away from visiting Denali National Park and not feel… changed? Denali is just one of those special places that you could never appreciate without visiting. This post is intended… Read More Alaska (5) Denali NP – July 2017
Chitina-to-Valdez-to-Anchorage-and beyond. This post is going to be all over the map. Emotionally, metaphorically, geographically… you pick. If your choice was emotionally or metaphorically, you probably found my blog in error. Spellcheck incorrectly sent you to this blog when what you tried to type in was travelwithinterestingpeople.com. Spellcheck: preferred by 9 out of 10 sociopaths.… Read More Alaska (4) Iditarod etc. – June 2017
McCarthy Road. I have a close friend Jerry (I don’t really have a close friend Jerry, but it sounds cool) who says my entire blog is subject to low moral standards. He also says my blog has no redeeming value. I love that guy. Finally, someone with integrity! We continue our journey in the Wrangell-St.… Read More Alaska (3) McCarthy Road – June 2017
Nabesna Road. I am beginning to think we may suffer from visual overload on this trip. Driving south from Tok, AK, we arrived at the northern portion of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. I will be honest – I had never heard of this national park before arriving. This is the largest national… Read More Alaska (2) Nabesna Road – June 2017
Yukon. Does a bear shit in the woods? That, and other timeless questions answered in this post. Or not. You’ve heard of Ice Road Truckers? We’re calling this edition of the blog Ice Road Trailers. Yes, we took Wanda up the Dempster Highway and into the Artic Circle, but we’ll get to all of that.… Read More Yukon: Ice Road Trailers – June 2017
Yukon. We have barely touched the Yukon Territory so far, but it has touched us. This place is great; the views have been spectacular and interesting, and the people have been SOOO friendly and welcoming! We entered the Yukon at Watson Lake, coming out of British Columbia. You might be familiar with Watson Lake as… Read More Yukon – June 2017