In search of the continuous road trip
In 2009, we spent my birthday at the Rough Rider Saloon on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I was looking forward to going back – we had a fun night back in the day – but when we rolled into the supposedly quiet …
I wanted to go to Lee’s Ferry, because I wanted to see the place where Grand Canyon rafting voyages begin. I’ve been working up my courage for a Grand Canyon rafting trip for years (I’m still a few years away). In my mind, Lee’s Ferry …
Edward Abbey wrote movingly about the beauties of Glen Canyon. In many stories, including those in the compilation Down the River, he lovingly relates his adventures in the massive canyon formed by the Colorado and San Juan Rivers as they converge and pass through southern …
Driving out of Durango and into Navajo land, we passed what looked like the last liquor store we’d see for a while. It was a shithole by the side of the road, possibly a former gas station. It didn’t have a direct entry from the …
If we hadn’t been screwed in Monument Valley, we would have never stumbled upon Goosenecks State Park. There’s not much to the park, really, just a pit toilet and a parking lot you can camp in (for free). No water, no real trails, just the …
One of the toughest things to deal with on the trip is outdated information. We have this camping guidebook from 2007, and its prices are sometimes off by a factor of 3x (ahem, California), sometimes still spot-on. It’s still useful when we don’t have internet …
I’m unsure now of the chronology of it, but somewhere between Wall Drug, the Corn Palace, and the Four Corners, we visited Mesa Verde on one of the road trips of my childhood. I also remember stopping to visit a friend of my parents in Newport Beach, California. …
I first visited Mesa Verde as a kid and I loved it. I wasn’t sure it would be worthwhile to return, but we’ve got the time and the campground has free showers, so we decided to go for it. Visiting a place as an adult …
Well, summer has begun. Hope you’re able to travel a bit today and enjoy the day. From Thomas Bailey Aldrich: Decoration Day is the most beautiful of our national holidays…. The grim cannon have turned into palm branches, and the shell and shrapnel into peach blossoms. …
These are three of my favorite black and white pictures from the ones I snapped while driving from Durango to Silverton. Evidently I stopped taking pics in Silverton. Good thing Lisa was on the case.
I first fell in love with Durango when we visited two and a half years ago on our honeymoon trip. It was my birthday, and we had that kind of epic, wonderful day that can set a place up for disappointment on return visits. This …
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 …