There’s nothing quite like the bayou country of southern Louisiana. From the haunting beauty of the swamps and the quaint towns of Cajun Country to the vibrant ethnic melting pot of New Orleans, the unique culture and landscape draw us back time and again. This time, we visited the home of Tabasco on Avery Island, […]
We’ve been planning to visit Galveston Island for years. In 2008, we made reservations for two weeks at the state park, but Hurricane Ike flattened the park just weeks before our arrival. “Sorry to inform you…”read the email telling us that the park would be closed indefinitely. So we rerouted ourselves south to Goose Island […]
Mention San Antonio, and you’ll hear, “Don’t miss the River Walk!” It’s true. You really don’t want to miss the River Walk. It’s the centerpiece of the city and a lovely place for a stroll. But there’s so much more to San Antonio. We were last in town 10 years ago, and only for two […]
At the edge of the Texas Hill Country lies a place so unique “its beauty cannot be exaggerated, even by Texans.” That’s what Bill Stephenson, founder of the National Speleological Society said about the Caverns of Sonora. Well, that piqued my interest. And when I read that the caverns are filled with a vast array […]
We like off-the-beaten-path towns. The smaller and quirkier, the better. At either end of Big Bend National Park lie two such gems: Terlingua and Marathon. Both are in remote West Texas. Both have breathtaking night skies filled with shimmering stars that stretch to infinity. Both attract people who are happiest coloring outside the lines of conventional […]
Thank you, dear friends, for your compassionate, generous, and supportive comments in response to my last blog post. While this blog is primarily about our travels, everything that happens along the way is part of the journey. I don’t write about every flat tire or mosquito bite, but I do write about the big challenges. […]
I’ve had a post on Big Bend National Park almost finished for about two weeks. Meanwhile, I’m more than two months behind on our blog. I don’t like being so far behind. But the past couple of months, life has taken precedence over blogging. We’ve been in Florida since the first of February and just […]
There was a time when we dreaded the 800-mile slog across Texas, especially the desolate 550-mile stretch between El Paso and someplace we considered worth visiting—say, Austin or San Antonio. But that was before we unearthed the gems of West Texas. There is beauty and peace in these wide open spaces, quirky towns scattered about, and […]
In late December, we made our third trip in five years to Hueco Tanks State Park. This time, I was not leaving until we got to see the Starry-Eyed Man. Located in a remote canyon 30 miles northeast of El Paso, the park contains a unique assortment of pictographs left behind by the ancient peoples who […]
We’ve been wanting to hike the trails in the Chiricahua National Monument for years. Known for its splendid assortment of hoodoos, balanced rocks, and spires, the monument is part of a sky island, an isolated mountain range that rises above the desert in the far southeastern corner of Arizona. We planned three nights in Bonita […]
Welcome to our blog!
If you enjoy hiking, biking, kayaking, birding, art, music, quirky towns, good food, and good friends—you'll enjoy traveling with us. Join us as we explore the backroads of North America—we love company and comments!