Tag Archives: National Parks

Autumn Road Trip: Are We Home Yet?

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Yes, we are. But there’s so much more of our adventure left to share. If you want to catch up on previous posts you can start with Autumn Road Trip: Part I. Otherwise, hold on to your hat as we fly through the second half of our trip.

We stayed in Page, Arizona, for a second night after our day trip to Zion National Park. The next morning was the day of the annular eclipse. We didn’t have any special eclipse glasses, so we missed out. The only photo I got was taken by aiming my camera in the direction of the sun while the sky dimmed. Mark took his morning run on the top of the mesa next to the KOA.

The first part of our afternoon was spent at Glen Canyon dam in Page.

Then we headed south to Horseshoe Bend to be amazed by yet another natural land formation!

From Horseshoe Bend, we headed farther south to Flagstaff, AZ, where we stayed overnight at a another KOA. The next morning we found a great place to run/hike just next door. I chose to hike Fatmans loop, which sounded like it would be easy. It turned out to be a bit of a challenge. But I learned what an alligator tree is. And I saw my first acorn woodpecker.

We couldn’t resist stopping in Winslow, AZ, since we were in the area. And, of course, we had to duck into the local brewing company to have dinner with . . . the locals.

We had plans to head to Texas, but wanted to spend some time in Taos and Santa Fe first. So, we stopped back at our friends’ house in Albuquerque for the night. They were thrilled to see us again! At least that’s what they said. 🙂

The next day we drove north to Taos and checked out some of the art galleries. After all, as the signs say, Taos is art! We also toured the Taos Pueblo, continuously inhabited for over one thousand years and designated as a World Heritage Site and a National Historic Landmark.

We then stopped by San Francisco de Asis church in Taos at the end of our day.

After a night at the KOA in Santa Fe, we drove into downtown Santa Fe for some shopping and sightseeing. First stop, The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

And a short walk from there brought us to the Loretto Chapel, home of the mysterious spiral staircase. Interesting stories swirl around this gravity-defying structure of very curious origin.

The rest of the afternoon, which wasn’t nearly long enough, we browsed the shops of Santa Fe. Then we hit the road to drive straight south to San Antonio, New Mexico, to park overnight in a big dirt lot disguised as an RV park. Sparse, but adequate. (We were told to watch out for wild boars if we went outside at night to use the facilities.) It was there I saw my first Gambel’s quail. Cute and so funny to watch!

Our friends, Liz & Dan, had recommended Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in San Antonio as a great birding spot. And it was the perfect time of year to catch a glimpse of the migrating sandhill cranes. So, we got up very early the next morning and arrived before it officially opened. And we saw cranes (among other wildlife)!

The Bosque turned out to be a great adventure — even if Mark had to keep an eye out for mountain lions during his morning run!

We were ready to head to Texas to visit friends in Waxahachie. But guess what city lay in our path on the way? Roswell, New Mexico. Of course, we had to stop. We stayed at a lovely little RV Park in Roswell, took a morning walk/run at a park down the street, and then had time to stop at the National UFO Research Center & Museum.

We crossed into Texas that afternoon, but Texas is a big state! We had reservations at an RV park that didn’t look all that inviting, so we checked in to the Holiday Inn down the street instead. It was the one and only night we spent in a hotel during the entire trip. And it turned out to be a good decision, since we were able to virtually attend our good friend’s funeral the next morning in the comfort of a hotel room with reliable wifi.

That afternoon, we drove a few hours along a long, flat road lined with ranches, wind turbines, and empty landscapes to Abilene, Texas.

When we arrived at our campsite by mid-afternoon, the ninety-one degree full-sun site drove us to take refuge at a local mall for a few hours. The next day we made it to Waxahachie, just south of Dallas. Our hosts, Brett & Judy, graciously insisted that we come inside and make ourselves comfortable in their guest room.

They took us out to an Autumn festival in Ennis. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many different kinds of pumpkins in one place! And we ended the day with a visit to Buc-ee’s — a famous gas station/everything-under-the-sun market I’d never heard of and had no idea that I’d been missing!

The next day, they recommended a nice park nearby for a morning walk/run.

In the afternoon, they took us down to The Stock Yards in Fort Worth to see the Longhorns.

Once we left Waxahachie, our only plan on the way home was to stop at Mammoth Caves National Park in Kentucky. So, we went to the map and outlined our route home. Both Memphis and Nashville were in our path. Since Nashville deserves a trip of its own, we aimed to spend a little time in Memphis. But our first night, we stayed at a KOA in Texarkana. And we found a nice park nearby for an afternoon walk/run, as well as for a repeat visit the next morning.

A day later, we found ourselves in Memphis debating the merits of a visit to Graceland. I wanted to go mostly because I didn’t NOT want to go. I’d always been curious about it. But not curious enough to tack on another $100 just to visit Elvis’s mansion. Yikes! So we went to Graceland. A lot of hype, history, and merchandise, but I must confess I thoroughly enjoyed the up close and personal view of all that bling!

From Memphis, we headed to Nashville and Bearded Iris Brewing for dinner — smashburgers from a food truck.

The next day, a light rain fell as we crossed into Kentucky. Perfect weather for exploring cold, dark caves. Only a few pictures of the caves follow since it was, well, dark in there.

After the caves, we set our sights and our hearts toward home, although the next morning we drove back along Mammoth Cave Road to find a walking/running trail. We actually found a race in progress, but stayed out of their way — mostly.

That night, we stayed at a KOA in Argillite, Kentucky. Being the Saturday before Halloween, we unwittingly camped right in the middle of trick-or-treating. We were unprepared, unfortunately. But it was fun to watch.

Drizzle and fog escorted us into West Virginia the next day and within a couple of days we were in Maryland. We found a great place for a walk/run along the Western Maryland Rail Trail.

We made it to Pennsylvania that afternoon and had dinner at Fegley’s Brew Works in Allentown.

The next morning, we hiked/ran at Trexler Nature Preserve and Environmental Center nearby. It was windy and freezing! So, after a short hike I took refuge in the van while Mark finished his run. (Check out the funny sign we saw when exiting the KOA.)

After lunch, we headed through New Jersey to New York. Our last planned stop was Fidens Brewing in Albany. We intended to park overnight at a nearby Cracker Barrel and drive home in the morning. But, you know how it is when you can taste home. After an early dinner at Fidens . . .

. . . we got back on the road for another three hours and pulled into our own driveway, thirty-six days and eighteen states later.

There’s nothing like living on the road. And there’s nothing like coming home. The van is resting in our driveway now while we enjoy the holidays — and plan for our next adventure!

Autumn Road Trip: A Day in Utah

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In the last installment of our Autumn Road Trip adventures, we left off at a gorgeous spot in Page, Arizona. If you need to refresh your memory, use this link: Arizona. If you need to start at the beginning of our trip, you can click here.

Our plan was pretty fluid at this point, as we were trying to decide how much farther west we wanted to travel. Our only constraint was a plan to arrive at our friends’ place in Waxahachie, Texas, on a particular date. Working backwards from that date on our calendar, we figured we had time for one more day to go west before we needed to start heading southeast. We decided to check out Zion National Park in Utah. And what a great decision that was!

The drive to and through Zion National Park was breathtaking! One awesome view after another around every bend.

The curves and the heights made it feel like a roller coaster at times. And the tunnel! A 1.1 mile narrow tunnel with height and width restrictions and a long line of traffic waiting to pass, as they only allowed one-way traffic through it. At a few intervals inside the tunnel, a large opening would give a brief glimpse of the huge rock formations outside. It was tempting, but impossible (and against the rules), to pull over to take a look. And we were going too fast in the darkness to photograph them.

We pulled over several times before and after the tunnel trying to appreciate and capture the magnitude of the sandstone formations around us. But, as I’ve said before, pictures hardly do it justice.

Traveling from Page, Arizona, we had entered the park from the east, driving along the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway toward the Visitor Center, only experiencing a portion of the large park. We exited into Springdale, a very busy town with lots of traffic and not enough parking spots. We managed to find a small cafe, with a tight parking lot, for lunch. Then we re-traced our route back to Page. Just before exiting the park again, we found the East Rim Trailhead. A perfect spot to run/ hike at the end of the afternoon.

Then, it was back to Page, Arizona, for the night with the promise of more adventures to come.

Autumn Road Trip: Part I

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It seemed odd to be driving away from New England at the end of September when the trees were hinting of changes to come. But that’s what we did. We’re heading to Albuquerque and planning to arrive in time for the annual Balloon Fiesta.

We aimed to leave home early on that first day and drive five hours or more toward Rochester, New York. But, of course, we needed to gas up. And stop for ice. And, oh, yeah, stop at the Weather Tech dealer for a cup phone holder or two. We actually found Topgo ones we like better. Anyway, it was closer to noon when we finally hit the open road.

Our first night away from home, we stayed at Twin Brook Camillus Farm in Camillus, New York. Owned by a lovely retired couple, Craig and Elaine, the farm is home to sheep, chickens, turkeys, dogs, and a pair of Talouse geese.

It was a quiet, cool night, and we barely heard the rooster crowing through the closed windows the next morning.

We bought farm fresh (still warm) eggs and frozen chicken from their self-serve barn-stand and, on our first official morning on the road, we, of course, stopped at Walmart for a few things. Then, on to Erie Canal Park in Camillus, where we took our morning walk/run.

We arrived at Niagara Falls State Park on Goat Island about mid-afternoon. Thirty-nine years ago, we stopped at the Falls on the Canadian side as we drove home from our honeymoon. This time, we got the American view and waved to Canada across the way.

After Niagara, we drove another hour and a half to Westfield, New York, where we stayed at a KOA campground overnight. The end of our first full day on the road.

In the morning, we popped over to Luensman Overview Park in Portland, New York, for a walk/run, then back to the KOA for showers. Passed an interesting sign, enjoyed some fall leaves along the way, and were disappointed at the ‘overview’ where a haze veiled the supposed view of Lake Erie and Canada, beyond.

We then set our sights on Hoof Hearted (yep, say that fast, out loud) Brewery and Kitchen in Columbus, Ohio. But first, we stopped beside Lake Erie for a few pics. It’s hard to look at such a ‘great’ lake and not think it’s an ocean.

After dinner at Hoof Hearted, where Mark drank one of his favorite beers, Permanent Marker Face Disguises, we drove a short distance to a small, but neat, Alton RV Park in Galloway, Ohio, for the night.

In the morning, we found Mudsock Trail, next to a large, beautiful, and very active dog park, in Columbus, Ohio. Saw a couple of egrets, a huge bees nest, and a great blue heron just hanging out in a tree.

We got back on the road, crossed the Indiana state line, and pulled into my cousin’s driveway in Muncie just after 3 p.m. It was good to see them again, as we’d stopped at their house over a year ago when we first drove our new Sprinter back from Boulder, Colorado. The kids were taller. And they’d just just bought a new house around the corner from their current house, so lots of catching up to do.

We shared some of the apples we’d brought from our trees back home, did some laundry, and waited for my cousin’s husband to get home from work. We used that time to pull out our new electric Weber grill and cook the chicken we’d bought in New York, and also bake some home-grown potatoes in our electric air fryer/oven. Then we went out to dinner in downtown Muncie. We followed dinner with a visit to The Guardian Brewing Company to meet some of their friends who were celebrating one friend’s birthday. The company was enjoyable, the beer, not as much.

In the morning, we said our good-byes, visited the local Walmart, and then stopped at Town Run Trail Park in Indianapolis for a morning hike/run. We didn’t realize initially that this was primarily a bike trail. It was Saturday, so many cyclists were pulling in, strapping on their helmets, and hitting the trail. We found a few visitors who were planning to run the trail and we all decided that it would be okay as long as we gave the bikes the right-of-way. Especially on the narrow sections of the very windy trail. As I hiked, I made sure to keep my ears open for birds in the trees around me and bikes speeding up behind me.

Visible from the Trail Park driveway was this impressive sculpture honoring the classic Studebaker automobile of Indiana.

We left Indianapolis and headed for St. Louis and its famous Gateway Arch. Mark had been up to the top of the arch before and I was hoping to make the ascent this time. The section of St. Louis near the Arch was confusing to navigate. On top of that, we passed crowds heading to a Cardinals game at every intersection. As we finally pulled up along the street beside the National Park, we realized that the parking area was closed and that a brick area, slanting away from the road toward the Mississippi River, was being used instead. We drove to an unoccupied section, away from the tight rows of cars, to make our own parking spot.

The Arch was visible from the highway as we approached the city and was huge up close! But, unfortunately, tickets for the ascent were sold out and we had to be content with the indoor museum and outdoor picture-taking in the ninety-degree heat.

At the end of the day, we drove to Point Labaddie Brewery in Labadie, Missouri, to spend the night in their parking lot, courtesy of the Harvest Hosts network. The owner was welcoming and the beer was good. We met a fellow traveler named Christian who was also staying the night in his rig on his way to Albuquerque.

All real living is meeting, said Martin Buber in I and Thou. I love this quote. When I heard it recently, I immediately attached it as an epigraph to a poem I was writing, as if to say: This. This is what I mean! And I’ve found myself meditating on it a lot during this trip. We’ve met people from New England and they’ve felt like home. We’ve met people from the towns we pass through and they’ve sometimes felt a bit foreign. And we learned of the death of a dear friend back home a few days ago. In this life, we meet so many different people (and animals, birds, insects, flowers, trees, mountains, prairies, rivers, and lakes). Each one expands our universe a little. I’ve come to understand on this trip, that we also meet ourselves along the way.

There’s a lot more I could say about that, but I won’t right now. I’ll leave you to meditate on it yourself. 🙂

Stay tuned for Part II of our adventures, yet to come…

Timing Is Everything

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I’ve said it before (ask my kids) and I’ll say it again (and again): timing is everything!

My husband is retiring — gradually. He plans to work one less day per week in each quarter of 2022. By the end of this year, he should only be working one day a week. But you know how plans go. Work has been crazy and his stress level is rising.

Our retirement plan is to travel around the country in a converted van, visiting National Parks, breweries, wild life sanctuaries, and (if my husband has his way) a few Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives. We bit the bullet at the end of last year and bought a Mercedes Sprinter. Titan Vans in Colorado has been hard at work fitting it with a bed and other amenities. It was supposed to be finished at the end of April. But, since nothing is safe from supply chain woes these days, they’ve been waiting for a single part of a suspension upgrade kit to come in.

Meanwhile, my chorus spent the last few months preparing for our annual regional competition. I say “annual”, but the event was unfortunately cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID concerns. It’s back on this year. But many choruses, including the one I belong to, voted to compete virtually. We planned to record and submit a video package. We set the recording date for May 5. Because of the supply chain issue with the van part, I was able to participate in the video. Timing.

On top of this, one of our adult children is experiencing one of those major life-events that makes you feel like the world is tipping sideways and out of control. This is the second such event in their life in the past six months. I’m glad my husband and I aren’t on the road just yet. Timing.

On another front, my mother has been settling — very slowly — into her new assisted living situation since February. I check on her several times a week to make sure the staff is really doing all that we agreed they’d do. Let’s just say it’s been a learning experience for all involved. My father should be returning from his Florida living at the end of May to join her and also to keep an eye on all the assistance she’s supposed to be getting. That’ll make it easier for me to step back a bit as my husband and I set out on our adventures. Timing.

Spring is in the air and that means gardening and yard work. The strawberries, peas, potatoes, beets, spinach, kale, and lettuce are all coming up already. I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to plant them before we head out to pick up our van. Now to get some netting around the blueberry bushes.Timing.

And we just got word from Titan Vans. The part came in. Timing!