The first glimpse is surreal—a vast sapphire body of water shimmering against a backdrop of picturesque, orange-hued sandstone buttes. At 186 miles long and with more than 90 side canyons that snake into the desert landscape, Lake Powell holds the title as the second largest artificial lake in America. Honestly, we prefer our lakes created […]
I first visited Petrified Forest National Park about 20 years ago, in mid-August, at mid-day. It was scorching hot, the sky hazy, and the petrified logs were uninspiring brown lumps. As you can imagine, I was in no great hurry to return. But Eric had never been and wanted to see for himself. “There’s not […]
Every so often, even with our new and improved plan of slowing our travels way down, we still end up with an overnight stay here and there. It’s just how things work out sometimes. And honestly, we don’t need to spend multiple days every place we go. But even when we’re landing somewhere for only […]
As we started our hike up the trail overlooking Silver City, a man appeared on the path, seemingly out of nowhere. He wore a pair of slides reinforced with silver duct tape (incongruous footwear for the rocky trail), a white straw cowboy hat, and carried a guitar slung around his neck. “First time here?” he […]
The last “real” hiking we did was back in the fall as we were making our way cross-country to Florida for the winter. We spent the winter and spring doing a lot of biking, kayaking, and what passes for hiking in the flatlands of the South. But none of this keeps us in shape for […]
While perusing the website for Carlsbad Caverns National Park, we decided to make reservations for a guided tour. We knew we wanted to visit the Big Room, the main cavern that’s open for self-guided wandering. But—what the heck! Let’s do it all! I was in charge of making the reservations and considered signing up for […]
One of the best things about road trips is discovering out-of-the-way gems that we would never otherwise visit. When we’re traveling across the vast expanse of Texas, there are always plenty of opportunities for new adventures, often in the most unlikely of places. Leaving Austin, we headed to Carlsbad Caverns in southeastern New Mexico. In […]
There is no shortage of fun things to do in Austin. It’s kind of a problem, actually. There are so many enticing possibilities—hiking and biking trails; intriguing restaurants, coffee shops and breweries; music, art and museums; interesting shops and galleries and events—it’s not easy to choose. I finally had to stop reading Trip Advisor and […]
A visit to High Island is on every birder’s dream list. People flock to this tiny town from all over the world in the springtime to witness one of the great wonders of bird migration—the return of our feathered friends from their winter homes in Central and South America to their spring nesting grounds in […]
Just west of New Orleans, I-10 travels across the vast Atchafalaya Swamp and into Acadiana—also known as Cajun Country. Life is different here. The language is a lilting French/English patois. The music is a vibrant and plaintive mélange of accordion and fiddle. And the food is a delicious melding of locally available ingredients, most notably […]
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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!