National Parks

Today we departed Crawford Colorado for Mesa Verde National Park. We saw the snow capped mountains. We also got to see lots of Aspen trees. After a couple of hours of mountains and Aspen trees we reached a relatively flat plain in southwest Colorado. The plain ended suddenly when we reached Mesa Verde National Park. […]

The snow from the previous day had continued through the night. As we drove up to the elevation of the South Rim, we saw some more snow falling. We were not sure what to expect for the day. We knew the locals were happy to get precipitation because of the drought they are experiencing. We

This morning we left Gunnison Colorado for Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Similar to The Grand Canyon, this park has a North Rim and a South Rim. We were lucky to approach the North Rim from Gunnison. The views on County Route 92 are spectacular. The photo below is not from the national

The first hike today was over the Mosca Pass from Great Sand Dunes to the next valley. The trail was fairly steep. The part we hiked rose 450 feet in three quarters of a mile. We hiked as far as the top of the pass. We had not planned to hike the entire trail. When

Here we are, ready for our first full day at a National Park. We have had some technical difficulties with internet, hardware and software, so our posts are being saved with a slight modification to the post date to keep things in order. We are at the beginning of the Dunes Loop Overlook trail. We

We got up this morning not knowing what to expect. What is it like in a swamp anyway? Is it muddy? Is it dark? Is it full of nasty creatures and mosquitoes? Well, yes and no. Today was a perfect day for a stroll through a swamp. The sun was high and the air was

This will be a short trip. We are in Columbia South Carolina today to see the state museum and the capitol. Tomorrow we will travel to Congaree National Park for a hike through a swamp. Then we will head home. Our first stop was the South Carolina State Museum. An old brick building with a

Today we completed our tour of Shenandoah National Park. Since it was Saturday, we tried to get an early start. We planned to start with a hike on Bearfence Mountain Trail . We were about 30 seconds late getting to the trailhead. We saw someone pull into the last parking space as we arrived. We