Driving from Bryce Canyon National Park to Capitol Reef National Park

Driving from Bryce Canyon National Park to Capitol Reef National Park

We did the drive from the Bryce area to the Capitol Reef area in a day after striking out trying to camp at Kodachrome Basin State Park then striking out again at the campgrounds in the Dixie National Forest where temps were barely in the 

Driving Colorado’s San Juan Skyway and the “Million Dollar Highway” or Durango to Cortez the Long Way

Driving Colorado’s San Juan Skyway and the “Million Dollar Highway” or Durango to Cortez the Long Way

If you drive into Durango from the south, you’ll miss a good chuck of its awesomeness. We did just this in 2009, but we still fell in love with the city. This time, we went north along the San Juan Skyway and the “Million Dollar 

The Road Crazies

The Road Crazies

We’ve been putting a lot of miles down lately. After a few days of driving, we catch the road crazies — an inability to stop laughing at idiotic fart jokes, a tendency to break into song spontaneously, etc. All of it makes me think of Tommy Boy. For 

Driving Into Spring

Driving Into Spring

In the desert, spring is hard to notice. In years when there is no outbreak of colorful flowers, the signs of the shifting seasons are even more subtle. You might notice that some of the leaves seem slightly greener, a few cacti might blossom, and 

Driving From Flagstaff to Sedona

Driving From Flagstaff to Sedona

The first thing you need to realize is that Flagstaff is high. It’s higher than Denver, the “mile-high” city. Flagstaff’s elevation is 6,910 feet. To get to Sedona, you need to go down. Down a lot. Down to 4,300 feet. And the ~2,600 vertical drop 

Eureka! I have found a gold mine ghost town!

Eureka! I have found a gold mine ghost town!

Eureka Mine is a tiny dot on the grand Death Valley map. It’s located off Emigrant Canyon Road, a small, in-and-out road whose primary purpose is to take hikers to the trail to the highest point in the park, Telescope Peak, and to take tourists to 

Finding Denmark in Solvang, California

Finding Denmark in Solvang, California

First, we didn’t like Dodge City. It just wasn’t touristy enough. There was no old-timey bar, no real downtown, just a comical re-creation of fakeness off the main drag, a drag still used for moving cattle, from, unfortunately, just outside of town where we found 

Great Drives: Route 1 Through Big Sur

Great Drives: Route 1 Through Big Sur

I shouldn’t have looked over the edge. A few miles back, we had passed a sign recommending that trailers and RVs were not advised on the next sixty miles of Route 1 past San Simeon. Seemed like an overreaction at the time. Then we were 

Malibu is Paradise

Malibu is Paradise

Malibu is incredible. I’m not talking about the movie star homes of Malibu. I’m talking about the wild Malibu, the areas you’ll find just a few miles from the beach, nestled back in the hills, far from the petty concerns of beach condo-mansion living. Most of 

Death to Parking Lots! Rocky Speaks.

Death to Parking Lots! Rocky Speaks.

A request from David W: “… we want to hear from Rocky (uncensored).” Well, here you go: You don’t know what it’s like out here. You just go into the store, shop around, and find us right where you left us when you return. You don’t 

The Best of Death Valley: The South Entrance

The Best of Death Valley: The South Entrance

As tempting as the town of Death Valley Junction, CA, sounded, we decided to enter Death Valley National Park from the southeast, via Shoshone, CA. Just make sure you have a full tank of gas – unless you want to pay $5.10/gallon. We found some 

Driving in the Elements: The Apache Trail

Driving in the Elements: The Apache Trail

There’s no question about the type of vehicle you should take on the Apache Trail. It should be a 4-wheel drive, high clearance, manly type of machine. But in a pinch, a Toyota Sienna will do. The road starts out tame and paved, but then