June 2 – June 5, 2020. John C. Fremont called it the “Great Basin” in 1844. His father-in-law, Missouri Senator Thomas Benton, had gotten him the job. In May 1843 Fremont led a party of 39 men west on the Oregon Trail. Reaching what is now Nevada, they turned south to explore and map. They …read more
May 27 – June 2, 2020. Bryce Canyon National Park is full of interesting birds, beautiful flowers, adorable critters, and oh yeah – lotsa amazing rocks! Although we have been to Utah many times we had never visited Bryce since the park is at such a high elevation it has alway been cold in the …read more
May 13 – May 24, 2020. I got lost in the woods alone. This was annoying. Not just because I was lost but because by becoming lost I ended up not avoiding the very thing I was trying to avoid when I became lost. No worries, obviously I found my way in the end. We …read more
April 27 – May 5, 2020. It was hot in Ajo. Really, really hot. Pushing 100 hot. The giant saguaro cacti were loving it. The intensity of the sun beating down on their recently sprouted green nubs growing out of their spiky extremities was causing them to burst out into amazing white blooms. We, on …read more
April 7 – 15, 2020. We spent a week at Las Cienegas and had gone down almost every road, wash, trail, and cow path within walking distance from two different camping spots. We could have found another campsite and explored even more but we were ready to move on. But besides just the normal restlessness …read more
March 26 – 29, 2020. As you probably already know, these days our main hobby has become stalking wildlife. And since wildlife tends to hide in the middle of the day we have now become morning people. Before we can even see the sun on the horizon we are up, layered in warm clothes, hiking …read more
January 25 – February 1, 2020. Here is a tale… Illegal activity was being conducted in the middle of the Rio Grande south of Langtry, TX in 1896. A sand bar had been converted into a small arena and Ruby Robert Fitzsimmons and Peter Maher were sparring for Heavy Weight Champion of the World. Prizefighting …read more
November 19 – December 8, 2019. We spent almost 3 weeks wandering around the Apalachicola National Forest area. It is a beautiful forest of tall pines, palmetto bushes, cypress swamps, rivers, wildlife, and interesting geological phenomena. There are opportunities to boat, hike, fish, swim, picnic and, of course, camp. There are tons of campsites including …read more
April 14 – 19, 2019. It rained for almost a whole day while we were in Kanab, Utah. Usually, we might head on. One of the things we love about van travel is the ability to just easily move away from bad weather. But we were in Kanab for a purpose, so we stayed put …read more
Duwan As we left White Sands we were on target to reach The Rubber Tramp Rendezvous in Quartzsite, AZ by January 10. But first we made a little stop in Tucson to visit a friend, Deanna. Deanna just moved back to Tucson from Greenville, SC a few years ago. She used to live in the …read more