When we left Moab to drive to Tropic, UT, where we were staying to visit Bryce Canyon National Park, we could’ve taken I70 for 90 miles and then a few state highways. But exiting I70 earlier and taking a different route went right through Capitol Reef and then along Scenic Hwy 12. This sounded like […]
Our original idea was to visit Mesa Verde National Park in the southwestern corner of Colorado after our time in Monument Valley. But with the colder temperatures, and the fact that Mesa Verde is in bear country, we decided to skip it. This meant we had one night to play with, and it made sense […]
The smallest countries in the world have always intrigued me. How did they manage to remain independent and not get swallowed up by their much larger neighbors? What would it feel to live in a country smaller than many cities? How similar is the culture to that of the nearby countries? I have now been […]
You might not know of Monument Valley by name, but I bet you’d recognize it in photos. It’s one of the iconic landscapes used in general when mentioning the southwestern US, and more specifically, Monument Valley is the backdrop to many famous western movies. Andy and I knew this had to be a stop on […]
After a very rainy drive from the south rim of the Grand Canyon, we arrived in Page, AZ ready to see some gorgeous sights and get back to camping. Luckily the rain eased up in the afternoon, though we were still worried about potential flooding that could cancel our Antelope Canyon tour. Here’s how we […]
The Grand Canyon is one of the most popular national parks in the US, and for good reason. It’s mind-boggling how big it is, and it’s incredibly gorgeous. I visited with a couple of friends in 2003 but Andy had never been there, so I insisted we add it to our US road trip itinerary. […]
Death Valley National Park is the hottest, dries, and lowest US national park, and the idea of it has always fascinated me. It was high on my list, and luckily it’s not too far from Las Vegas, where my best friend lives, so it was an easy park to add onto our western US road […]
Sequoia National Park is administered along with Kings Canyon National Park, which means they’re located close together. This was my main decision in only spending one night in Sequoia, because the drive wouldn’t eat up too much of our time. So on our last morning in Kings Canyon, we slowly made our way back through […]
Kings Canyon isn’t a national park I had really ever heard of. But it’s managed together with Sequoia National Park, so when I started planning our campervan road trip, it seemed like a reasonable idea to go to both sections. I think I assumed it would be similar to Sequoia, with the really giant trees. […]
Other than a marching band trip to Los Angeles when I was 14 and a long weekend in San Francisco in 2010, I hadn’t spent much time in California, so I was looking forward to seeing a few of its most famous national parks. Andy and I had rented a Jucy Van, so we were […]