This topic covers the adventures that we take. This section is less about writing guides to various places as it is exploring the trip and how it benefitted our lives.
One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about my national park quest is that it pushes me to visit places I wouldn’t otherwise visit. It encourages me to step outside of what I know and am interested in to at least dabble in something new. I may not come away with a deep appreciation of … Read more
It feels like we’re being unfaithful. In less than 72 hours, Kim and I will be departing on another of our national park roadtrips. It’ll be the first time we’ll be roadtripping sans Forester since we got her. It feels a little weird. It’s the right decision to leave her at home – she’s in … Read more
It’s nearly the holidays, and that means that Kim and I are planning another roadtrip. Usually, this trip is half-planned for us: it’s often centered around which bowl game ASU will be playing in. Sadly, that hasn’t been the case the last couple of years. Last year, we took advantage of the planning freedom afforded … Read more
It’s been far too long since I’ve been to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, a unit of BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System just west of Las Vegas, Nevada. It holds a special place in my heart as it was one of the first out-of-state destinations that Kim and I went to together. Back in … Read more
We’re back from our Texas Roadtrip. While it wasn’t quite what we had originally planned – we ditched the camping entirely, for instance – we still had a good time and managed to see quite a bit. A few observations gleaned from our trip: It’s great to get back a day early, so you have … Read more
As many of you know, Kim and I are on a quest to visit all of the 391 units of the National Park Service. Well, we’ve established several routines when it comes to marking off each of these units, including taking a picture of us there, snapping a shot of our Forester in front of … Read more
I finally got around to posting some pictures from the quick Sand Canyon hike I took in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument with co-workers in late September. It was a nice little trail that often followed an interesting little bluff strewn with little reconstructed ruins. Since I love wandering around curiously-shaped rock formations and … Read more
This Mother’s Day, Kim and I decided to take my Mom out for a nice streamside hike. Parsons Trail, in the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Area within Coconino National Forest, has been on my “to-hike” list for about 12 years, and is flagged in several guides books I own. It was time. While we didn’t get … Read more
Despite our plans to backpack to Lousy Canyon in Agua Fria National Monument (scrapped late Friday night), then hike to Pueblo Pato via Badger Springs (scrapped Saturday morning, and again Sunday morning after we got up too late both days), we managed only a short hike in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve (pictures here). We wandered … Read more
It’s been a tough week, and I decided that I should skip out on two service projects and take the weekend off. Unfortunately, Kim’s pretty sick, so we weren’t able to go camping as I had originally intended. Instead, I left Kim at home on Saturday and met my mom for a short hike in … Read more