Point Roberts, Washington: America’s Appendix

Point Roberts, Washington: America's Appendix

In 1846, the United States and Canada signed a treaty to finalize their border. It set the 49th north line of latitude as the border from the Lake of the Woods in Minnesota/Manitoba to Puget Sound in Washington/British Columbia. As part of the deal, the British were able to keep Vancouver Island south of the …

Read more

Great Basin National Park, Nevada

Great Basin National Park, Nevada

Great Basin National Park is one of 60 sites in the United States with a national park designation, and one of 4 National Park Service Sites in Nevada. Its name is derived from its location in the Great Basin which consists of most of the state of Nevada, western Utah, and parts of southern Oregon. …

Read more

Why I Love Vegas

I don’t gamble and seldom drink, yet I love Las Vegas. I know a lot of seasoned travelers who loathe visiting Vegas. I understand their apprehension, but despite all the places I’ve been I still get a rush when I drive down the strip at night. It has been two and a half years since …

Read more

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, also known as the Black Canyon National Park, is a national park outside Montrose, Colorado. It is managed by the US National Park Service since it was established as a national monument in 1933. It was later upgraded to national park status in 1999. The entire park spans …

Read more

Fort Worth’s Miniature Train in Trinity Park – The Forest Park Railroad

Truly a Fort Worth tradition since it was opened in 1959, generations of families have ridden the rails along the Trinity River and through Forest and Trinity Parks on the Forest Park Miniature Railroad. I love when we head down to ride the train. One of my favorite places in Fort Worth is Trinity Park. …

Read more

Byron Glacier, Alaska – A Family Friendly Hike Between Anchorage and Seward

I’ve now made three trips to Alaska – two with the kids and one alone.  I’ve seen several glaciers from afar.  They are beautiful, blue and mysterious. Until the most recent trip, I had never been very close to a glacier.  I’d never touched a glacier and had not even seen from closer than about …

Read more

Spring in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

While on our way to the Trinity Site in New Mexico, I poured over our route.  Texas… well. Texas is big. And while I’ve been to a lot of it, I had never traveled to the West Texas area near El Paso. It is sometimes called “Big Bend Country” after our flashiest national park. But Big …

Read more

How to Get to Alaska’s National Parks

Alaska has a lot of great National Parks – but they are ridiculously hard to get to. Most of them are accessible by bush plane and the cost can be high. Some of the parks get less a minuscule amount of visitors as a result. Not all of the parks are hard to reach. Kenai …

Read more