Petrified Forest National Park has one of the world’s largest concentrations of petrified wood, formed from beautiful rainbow colored quartz.
El Malpais National Monument – Why You Need to Visit
We spent most of the day on the road today from Santa Fe, NM to Holbrook AZ, but took a detour to visit El Malpais National Monument, in western New Mexico. Although this added over an hour to our travels, it was one of the most rewarding destinations we’ve had so far. This park covers …
Bandelier and Valles Caldera – Is One Day Enough?
Bandelier National Monument and Valles Caldera National Preserve If you find yourself in the vicinity of Santa Fe or Los Alamos, New Mexico, a trip to Bandelier National Monument and Valles Caldera National Preserve need to be on your agenda. We took a day trip out of Santa Fe, traveling to Bandelier, Valles Caldera, and …
Pecos National Historic Park and Los Alamos
We spent two days in the Santa Fe, New Mexico region and really picked up the pace of our explorations! On the way, we stopped at the Pecos National Historic Park where we learned about the history of the Pecos Indians in the region. This site was particularly attractive to Spanish explorers in the 16th …
Palo Duro Canyon, Texas
Palo Duro Canyon State Park is home to the second largest canyon system in the United States. The canyon is about 120 miles long and 20 miles wide in some places, and is up to 800 feet deep. When we arrived, we found that the hiking trails were closed due to all the rain lately. …
Amarillo, TX
Weather was a factor today. We had planned a couple of stops in Oklahoma on the way to Amarillo but had to forego them. Instead, we drove 4 hours straight to Amarillo, TX. The rain had ended by the time we arrived but it was 45 and very windy so being outside wasn’t pleasant. We …
Oklahoma City, OK
After 4 hours on the road, we arrived in Oklahoma City and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring several locations in Oklahoma City. The Will Rogers Garden is located within one of Oklahoma City’s oldest parks. The gardens and many of the other features were designed and created almost 100 years ago. This was …
Arkansas
We started the day with another four hours on the road, arriving in Little Rock, the Capitol of Arkansas. Rain was threatening most of the day but we had a four hour window to do some exploring and keep dry. Our first stop was the Old Mill, just outside Little Rock, which is a re-creation …
Nashville, TN
Steve is all about parks, even when we go to cities. Truthfully, we really don’t care for cities, but I’ve always wanted to check out Nashville. Of course, what I really wanted to see in Nashville, was Luke Bryan!! I figured that the only way that might happen was if we went to his restaurant …
The Adventure Begins
Tomorrow, we are leaving for a 40 day adventure, from our home in Southwest Virginia, to explore several National Parks in the west, plus many other destinations. Steve has planned this trip for many hours, resulting in an amazing Excel spreadsheet with each of our destinations, the date that we will arrive and leave each …