In search of the continuous road trip
After camping two nights next to the Salton Sea and enduring the horrific smell and the 24-hour freight train traffic past the park, we were ready for a new spot. As always, there were options. Circle the Salton Sea looking for a new campground. Stop …
In New Mexico, people either lived in a ramshackle shanty or a modern(ish) trailer (located next to a bombed-out older model melting into the ground); in Bisbee, Arizona, you could stay in a vintage Airstream; in Apache Junction, entire neighborhoods were made up of trailers …
It’s always a little awe-inspiring to come across a place where the conditions align perfectly to support a specific kind of plant. It’s a great example of the sensitivity and specificity of life on earth. One of these places is the Cholla Cactus Garden in …
I love ruins. I like to imagine how people lived, once upon a time. So I was really excited to go to the Salton Sea after reading an intriguing National Geographic article a few years ago. But I found the Salton Sea utterly depressing…the ruin all …
Many of Joshua Tree National Park’s hiking trails are currently off-limits because the Cottonwood Springs area suffered significant flood damage in mid-September. The north end of the park really caters to rock climbers (grudgingly) — the southern area is much more hiker-friendly … when it’s …
Joshua Tree National Park is filled with rocks. Big ones, small ones, gigantic ones. Rocks, rocks, rocks. But it’s also the inhospitable desert where water is scarce and trees and shrubs struggle to survive. Intense winds spin and twist plants into the oddest shapes. Here …
First of all, Joshua trees are cool. A Joshua tree is not a tree, per se, it’s a yucca. Unlike the Joshua trees we’ve seen elsewhere, the Joshua trees we saw in and around Joshua Tree National Park were of tree size – they were …
There’s no food that I can think of as malleable and regional (and wonderful) as the hot dog. In Chicago it’s topped with nearly everything (except ketchup) and it’s amazing. In Arizona, the Mexican / Sonoran hot dogs are wrapped in mesquite-smoked bacon and are …
We’re about three and a half months into our twelve month trip, so we thought it was about time for a quarterly status report. Rather than create a formal report, which would need to be audited for accuracy by someone like KPMG, we thought we’d …
We’re doing a pretty good job reading on this trip. Which is easy to do without a TV. Here’s what I’ve read so far along with some notes. October through December: Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage — This book is phenomenal. Lansing’s writing is great and …
In Temecula, we learned the difference between a winery and a tasting room. Temecula is filled with tasting rooms, but we couldn’t find a single winery even though people were making wine everywhere. Let me explain. Temecula is one of California’s B-list wine regions. It’s …
When you have an out-of-town visitor, what’s the number one thing you want to show them in your city/town? When I can manage to remember, I’m planning to ask random people this question and hopefully discover the people’s guide to the best things to do …