We don’t like one-night stands. They’re too much trouble for too little return. But sometimes, we just have to do it. I’m talking about our travels, of course. (You knew that, right?) Everyone who travels finds his or her unique pace. We’ve met people who stay a month or longer everywhere they go. (The longer […]
Given our love of music, Memphis has been on our short list of places to visit for several years now. In late fall, as we made our way to Florida for the winter, we stopped for three nights. From the birth of the blues in the early 1900’s to the emergence of rock ‘n’ roll […]
I always find driving through Oklahoma a bit worrisome. I check the weather forecasts and read up on what to do should we encounter ominous conditions. In short, I obsess about tornadoes. The logical part of my mind recognizes that we are highly unlikely to encounter a tornado. But knowing that central Oklahoma suffers more […]
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 hiking and rock formations. When we’re visiting Santa Fe, our focus is more on art and culture than hiking. But this time, we decided to make the […]
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 from kiva fireplaces; the exuberance of colorful art and sculpture adorning every corner of the city; the quiet calm […]
We’re in north Florida, celebrating New Year’s on a cool, gray, and rainy day. Spent the morning at St. Mark’s wildlife refuge, where the ducks and wading birds are going about business as usual. They probably aren’t bothering themselves with New Year’s resolutions (such as, “Must get blog up-to-date“). Despite the fact that our blog […]
If you’re interested in visiting an ancient Native American ruin that doesn’t require trekking into remote canyons or hiking arduous trails, you’ll enjoy Aztec Ruins National Monument. Here, you can drive right up to the monument entrance, walk through the visitor center, and step back 900 years into an Ancestral Puebloan community. For the ultimate […]
I don’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 our way. My sense of direction is admittedly abysmal. Eric, however, […]
On a sunny and cool late October morning, volunteer ranger Jimmy Black gathers our group of five on the beautiful brick patio behind the Visitor Center at Navajo National Monument. Our destination: Betatakin, one of the best-preserved ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings, and one of the least-visited. I’ve wanted to visit Betatakin for years, and we […]
John Steinbeck christened it the Mother Road, and everyone from Nat King Cole to Van Morrison has crooned the catchy tune celebrating the 2400 mile cross-country journey on this most famous of highways. Route 66 is tenacious. Almost 90 years after its creation and three decades after it was declared obsolete, the old road lives […]
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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!