We ventured into our 42nd national park with no previous knowledge about what makes it special… and left with a great appreciation of the beauty and heritage of Congaree National Park, located about 20 miles southeast of Columbia, South Carolina. We wondered how many people were aware of this 26,276-acre
Tag: hiking
Stop 111: Dropping into the Hudson Valley and Delaware Water Gap
As we closed in on our week-long visit to New Jersey and New York City, we decided to veer west from our last location in Connecticut and spend a week in nature in the Hudson Valley region of New York and the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania. Ironically, our first
Stop 109: Mesmerized by Maine
We made three stops in Maine, but our focus was on Acadia National Park — mainly because neither of us had ever visited the park. Maine, the 34th state we have visited on this road-trip, is an interesting state…. known as the The Pine Tree State, it is known for
Stop 98: Indiana Dunes National Park (#39)
After a bit of a national park hiatus, we were extremely happy to arrive in northern Indiana so that we could visit our 39th national park on this great adventure: Indiana Dunes National Park, located along the shore of Lake Michigan, and the first and only national park in Indiana.
Stop 94: Voyageurs, Headwaters, and Gitche Gumee!
The second half of our adventures in Minnesota (state #23) took us to Bemidji, International Falls, and Duluth… to amazing natural areas with lots of history (some good, some bad)… and smack into the heart of mosquito and tick country! We also discovered northern Minnesota seems to be the land
Stop 92: Surprising Finds in the Hawkeye State
We hit Iowa (state #22 on our travel across the U.S.) almost immediately after leaving Nebraska City, Nebraska, as we crossed the Missouri River into a sea of flooded fields and farmland. In fact, the roads had just been partially reopened (after repairs from flooding); even the interstate was affected.
Stop 88: Wildlife and Rescued Donkeys
This stop was mainly about being close to the Denver airport so that we could take a weekend trip back to San Diego to celebrate the life of Jen’s mom… which was a beautiful and moving time with family and friends… and all of mom’s flowers and shrubs were in
Stop 24: Nature Over Wine in the Willamette Valley Area
This stop took us back inland from the Oregon Coast… camping just outside Salem, Oregon, located in the soil-rich Willamette Valley — located between the Coast Mountain range and the Cascades. While we had originally planned to dive deeply into this region known for Pinot Noirs, we found ourselves drawn
Stop 11: Giant Sequoias and National Parks 5 & 6
We were a little concerned while hunkered down in a storm in Mojave, CA, that our planned visit to Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park would have to be postponed because of snow at the higher elevations, but we were delighted to find the roads open for those
Stop 6: A Grand (Canyon) Adventure!
We spent two weeks based at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in beautiful Cottonwood, AZ, and visited so many amazing things that this post may be the longest we ever create. By the way, Old Town Cottonwood and Dead Horse Ranch are worth visits for the wines and hiking, respectively.