WE WILL FIGURE IT OUT:
Having radical faith in yourself and the Universe
Guadalupe Peak Trail (Top of Texas) ~ November 13 – 14, 2014
The choice to pushback returning to Texas by a day had been made in Ruidoso, but there was still one more decision, one last detail to figure out. Guadalupe Peak Trail We entered Texas about 100 miles east of El Paso, in the far west region of the state known as the Trans Pecos… this…
Mescalero Apache Reservation, New Mexico ~ November 9-12, 2014
Although now in southcentral New Mexico, we were still in Apache territory, the Mescalero Apache. (see Gila National Monument for info on the Chiricahua Apache.) The Mescalero Apache thrive in their native “heartland” on a 463,000 acre reservation that includes their four sacred mountains… Sierra Blanca, Guadalupe, Three Sisters, and Oscura Peak. The reservation, which…
White Sands National Monument & Alamogordo, New Mexico ~ November 6 – 9, 2014
White Sands National Monument We fell in love with White Sands National Monument (now a national park). Best we could tell, we had the dunes to ourselves. Hiking the 2-mile Backcountry Camping Trail was great for gaining a sense of the parks’ magnitude and beauty. It also provided us with the surreal experience of exploring…
Tombstone, AZ & Gila National Monument, NM ~ November 4 – 5, 2014
Tombstone, Arizona Between I-10 and the Mexican border lies the infamous town of Tombstone, Arizona. It’s an easy drive from Tucson —about 75 miles—and the cutoff (Hwy 80) was on the way to New Mexico. Like Virginia City, Nevada, Tombstone’s classic western scape is preserved and attracts tourists now rather than cowboys, miners, and outlaws.…
Saguaro National Park & Kitt Peak National Observatory ~ November 2 & 3, 2014
We were back among the stately saguaro cacti of the Sonoran Desert. Tucson, Arizona has a bit of a funky college town feel. That vibe and its 530k population reminded us of our home, Austin, from when we’d first moved there in the 1980’s. Austin’s population has since exploded and it’s small-town funkiness has faded…
Coachella Valley & Joshua Tree National Park, California ~ October 29 – November 1, 2014
Always looking to take advantage of good deals on accommodations, we were lured into Coachella Valley by an email received a month prior. The promotional offer was from a lavish golf resort in the town of Rancho Mirage: four nights in a luxury villa at an on-budget rate if we listened to their one-hour sales…
San Diego, California ~ October 26 – 28, 2014
Excited to be in San Diego, a new city for us, we strategically plotted how best to spend our limited time. With actual set reservations beginning on the 28th, we would only get to dip our metaphorical toes into all that San Diego has to offer. Plus, we desperately needed to do laundry so cracked…
Montezuma Castle National Monument & Sonoran Desert, Arizona ~ October 24 – 25, 2014
Leaving Tusayan before breakfast, we headed southeast toward Flagstaff. The Escape Mobile had traveled 5,037 miles since leaving Seattle, so it was time for her fourth servicing. Flagstaff was on the way to Phoenix, where we’d planned to spend the night, and it had a dealership that honored our maintenance purchase agreement. While waiting on…
Grand Canyon’s South Rim ~ October 22-24, 2014
We’d first visited the Grand Canyon in 1992, when our daughters were six and nine. With only a half-day, we spent most that time on the Bright Angel Trail for a three-mile roundtrip hike. Quite a feat for kiddos! Tusayan, Arizona With this trip, our second, we’d hoped to hike into the canyon once again,…
Utah / Arizona Border – October 20-21, 2014
Missteps: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument & The Wave I don’t remember what prevented us from researching our next steps, which were to explore Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and hopefully hike Coyote Buttes in the Vermillion Cliffs, also known as “The Wave.” It was either our full schedule and lack of regular cell service or laziness…
Bryce Canyon National Park ~ October 19, 2014
The sun was setting when Highway 9 dead-ended into Highway 89. The intersection was labeled on the map as “Mount Carmel Junction.” We found the junction to be a quaint town with an awesome motel. The Thunderbird Lodge was a welcoming site after the previous night’s cheap Bates-like motel in Springdale. Even though the Thunderbird…
Zion National Park, Utah ~ October 17-18, 2014
Leaving Las Vegas we were once again traveling in “we will figure it out” mode. Oh, we knew where we were heading, Zion National Park, but had no idea whether we’d spend the night there, nearby, or move onto Bryce Canyon. Sluggishness had delayed our departure so we didn’t arrive in Zion until 4pm… much…
Mojave Desert: Hoover Dam, Valley of Fire State Park & Death Valley National Park ~ October 12 – 17, 2014
Upon exiting Sequoia National Park we’d entered the Mojave Desert and the portion of this “great looping quest” in which I was most apprehensive… the desert. I had preconceived notions about desert existence, mostly negative because my perceptions weren’t based on actual experience. So, I’d anticipated a colorless, desolate environment… unfriendly and uninhabitable. After all, the…
Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Parks ~ October 11, 2014
With our bicycles snug on their sparkling new rack, we motored south, then east, to Kings Canyon National Park. Our ultimate destination was Las Vegas, and the plan was to wend through Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks on the way… a tree-tour-detour. I’ve written previously, ad nauseam really, about the awe we’ve experienced walking…
Yosemite National Park, California ~ October 8 – 11, 2014
We’d left Carmel-by-the-Sea for Yosemite National Park without plans for where we’d sleep for the next three nights. Securing a campground reservation had proven impossible, so our shaky plan B was to show up, stand in line, and hope there’d been a last minute cancellation. As we detoured across California to avoid wildfires, the hours…
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California ~ October 5 – 8, 2014
After four days of non-stop escapades in San Francisco, Carmel-by-the-Sea was the perfect travel oasis! Carmel, which it is commonly referred as, was ideal for rejuvenating while basking aside the Pacific… resting through peaceful strolls (and daily naps)… and reconnecting to ourselves and the Universe through the surrounding beauty and serenity. After a murky, foggy,…
San Francisco, California ~ October 1 – 5, 2014
Like in Chicago and Portland, staying in or near San Francisco’s city center was cost prohibitive, so we again used points and stayed at an airport hotel. The commute into San Francisco was about 25 minutes but ran aside the beautiful San Francisco Bay. Finding parking was never a problem as there are plenty of…
Sonoma & Napa Counties, California ~ September 28 – October 1, 2014
Two years prior to this trip, Trey hated wine. So he said. Whenever our daughters and I coaxed him to try a sip he’d wrinkle up his nose and grimace well before the sampling touched his lips. Already deciding it would be awful, his auto-responses would include squirming coughs, a flailing tongue, gagging, and sometimes…
Lake Tahoe & Reno ~ September 24 – 28, 2014
Beginning in Red Lodge MT, and continuing for the preceding 45 days, we’d followed the first appearances of fall colors across the west and down the Washington and Oregon coastlines. Random wisps of cool air and pronounced temperature differentials had been nipping at our backsides, nudging us forward just ahead of autumn’s arrival. With the…
Redwood National & State Parks ~ September 22 – 24, 2014
The “Redwood Forest” is a patchwork of federal and state parks along California’s northern coastline. Together, they’re a UNESCO World Heritage site with joint missions to manage and preserve the remaining old growth forests. Before effective efforts to protect the giant redwoods were established, logging had wiped out 70% of them. Yes, 70%! Arriving at…
US Hwy 101 Coastline Drive, Part 3 ~ September 21 – 22, 2014
Errands and fatigue had us leaving Portland around 5pm. With a 4 ½ hour drive to Coos Bay ahead, we should have reconsidered our plan to cut back to U.S. Highway 101 at Newport. Nope, we raced to the coast, arrived at the Pacific Ocean and turned left onto Highway 101 after sunset on a…
Portland, Oregon ~ September 18-21, 2014
Having heard of Portland’s similarities to Austin (music scene, laid back feel, open-minded residents, etc.), we were ready to experience a taste of home. Staying in downtown Portland wasn’t feasible, in either dollars or hotel points. Instead, we used points to stay near the Portland International Airport and used Portland’s MAX Light Rail system to…
Astoria, Oregon & US Hwy 101 Coastline Drive, Part 2 ~ September 15-17, 2014
Quaint Astoria sits on a peninsula barely east of where the Columbia River clashes with the Pacific Ocean. Outlined by Young’s Bay and River on its southern shoreline, with the mighty Columbia River comprising its north border. Yes, water is the heart, soul, and breath of the community. Its sustenance, and existence. Accessing Astoria from…
Olympic National Park ~ August 13-15, 2014
The last morning of our Alaskan cruise, breakfast table-mates recommended hiking Hurricane Ridge, along the northern border of Olympic National Park. With our late departure from Seattle, we decided to spend the night in Port Angeles, a 160 mile drive from Bainbridge Island, and hike the nearby ridge the following morning. Located on the U.S.…
Alaska Inside Passage ~ September 6 – 13, 2014
Although Trey and I wanted to see Alaska, it was not on our original wish list of sites and landmarks to visit during our six-month journey. Neither recall why we had not considered Alaska, nor do we remember how we came to realize it was doable. Since we’d booked the cruise only a month prior,…
Seattle, Washington ~ September 2 – 6, 2014
Seattle was our Pacific Northwest outpost, a temporary base to recalibrate, rest, replenish, and repair before making the official third left turn of our trek around the U.S. Between arranging for storage of our gear, bike tune-ups and repairs, and servicing the Escape Mobile, we worked in some sightseeing, local bites, and what I looked…
Oklahoma Detour – Tahlequah & Tulsa: August 30-September 2, 2014
Reconnecting with family and friends was just one of the many purposes of our trek around the U.S. So when the Martin side of my family scheduled a reunion, we parked the Escape Mobile in Seattle and hopped on a plane bound for Oklahoma. Martin isn’t originally my family’s name, but rather the result…
Whistler, British Columbia ~ August 25-29, 2014
Ferry Crossing to Vancouver While there was no gorgeous sunset to mesmerize us during this ferry crossing, we stayed entertained. The drive took us into the center of Vancouver and across its harbor via the Lions Gate Bridge. Sea-to-Sky Highway The Beartooth Highway, which crosses mountainous passes between Montana and Wyoming, was…
Victoria, British Columbia – August 22-25, 2014
After a restful night in a Seattle hotel, and a fun breakfast at the Totem Diner in Everett, we entered British Columbia, Canada — a detour from our original plan to cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca via Port Angeles, Washington. Our mistake was assuming our second ferry crossing experience would be as our…
Mount Rainier National Park ~ August 19-21, 2014
The immensity of Mt Rainier dominates the landscape from every approachable vantage point. After connecting up with US-12 in Yakima, we entered the park’s east border via state highway 410. The 14k+ mountain also dominates its national park. Within the park, it is not possible to traverse around the mountain by car. Getting from one…
Drive Between Yellowstone & Mount Rainier National Parks ~ August 17-19, 2014
After grabbing dinner at the Old Town Café in West Yellowstone, we gassed up the “Escape Mobile” and headed north to connect with U.S. 287 — a highway we had traveled countless times across north Texas, but never across Montana. Hands down, the Montana portion is more interesting and beautifulwhile traversing the east bank of…
Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks, Wyoming ~ August 13-17, 2014
Upon entering Yellowstone National Park’s northeast entrance (located on the Montana-Wyoming border) we were greeted by Buffalo, and more buffalo escorted us throughout the 85 mile drive to the Grant Village Campground. First stop along the trek was an overlook view of Tower Fall, the famous 132 foot waterfall of the Yellowstone River. The overlook…
Red Lodge, Montana – August 9~13, 2014
We experienced two firsts during our stay in Red Lodge – we saw our first bald eagle in the wild, and we saw our first sign of the coming autumn. Both of these firsts took place while rafting (without a camera) on the Stillwater and Yellowstone Rivers. We had been hoping to spot a bald…
Devil’s Tower and Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monuments ~ August 9, 2014
We departed Black Hills National Forest with the sunrise and via the infamous community of Deadwood, South Dakota. Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming After breakfast wraps and coffee at Wild West Espresso in the also infamous ranching community of Sundance, Wyoming, we detoured 27 miles from Interstate 90 to Devil’s Tower, our nation’s first national…
Across the Mid-West and The Black Hills ~ August 4 – 9, 2014
ACROSS THE MID-WEST We actually took three days to drive the 1,000 miles across the remaining mid-west to its western edge in the Black Hills National Forest. Neither Trey nor I recall the exact reason, but agree that the difficulty booking accommodations in the Black Hills may have influenced that decision. As it was, we…
Chicago, Illinois ~ July 30 – August 4, 2014
I’ve written elsewhere about our arrival in Chicago. We had been traveling ten weeks and I was tired. Chicago is where I had first begun to wonder whether it was traveling that I was actually doing, but there was still much to do and see in Chicago and beyond. Our budget, combined with the fact…
South Bend, Indiana – July 28 – 30, 2014
We broke up the 400 mile drive from Cleveland to Chicago with a stop in South Bend, Indiana to see Notre Dame University… and take a tour of their sports facilities which was a bucket list item of Trey’s. Not because Trey is a Notre Dame fan – because he is a sports fan and…
Ohio’s Halls of Fame – Canton & Cleveland: July 26-28, 2014
The second of four official direction changes we made on our circle around the U.S. technically took place on July 8th when we departed Maine. However, the left turn we made onto Interstate 76 just north of Pittsburgh felt more like a true shift in direction as we felt the vastness of the west laying…
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ~ July 22 – 26, 2014
The older of our two daughters, Lindsey, lived in Pittsburgh for six years – four while attending college and two after graduating. Despite our many visits during this period, we never had the opportunity to explore Pittsburgh properly because our visits were either planned around helping her move or coordinated with also visiting family in…
Toronto & Niagara Falls, Ontario ~ July 19 – 22, 2014
Toronto was the largest of the three eastern Canadian metropolises that we visited. It sits on the northwest shore of Lake Ontario above and across the lake from Buffalo, New York. It was also the most mainstream, or American-like, city and was obviously in the middle of an economic and building boom – only our…
Ottawa, Ontario ~ July 16 – 19, 2014
Unlike Montreal’s busy city pace where we were compelled to keep up with the energy the city was exuding – the opposite was true for Ottawa. Ottawa’s easy pace and laid-back feel seemed to give us permission to slow down and rest. I very much welcomed this and think it is probably why Ottawa was…
Montreal, Quebec ~ July 13 – 16, 2014
Neither Trey nor I had stepped foot outside of the United States until Sunday, July 13, 2014. We acknowledge that Canada can barely be classified as international travel, but that is how it worked out for us – plus, we accept the fact that Canada is a good baby step to acquainting ourselves with foreign…
Adirondacks and Lake Placid, New York ~ July 10 – July 13, 2014
Adirondacks Park, Northeastern New York State Adirondacks Park is large — 6 million acres, in fact, and although it is a designated protected area by the State of New York, it is not a state administered park. Instead, the hundreds of campgrounds scattered across the park are individually run either privately or by various public…
New England ~ July 8 – 10
Jackson, New Hampshire Our first evening in New England was spent in the village of Jackson, New Hampshire. We chose Jackson solely for its close proximity to Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the White Mountains and all of New England. However, Jackson also provided us with an idyllic small town New England experience. We…
Acadia National Park, Maine ~ July 4-8
Trey and I had heard from multiple sources that Acadia National Park was one of the most beautiful national parks in the country, so it was one of the first destinations that came up in discussions as the possibility of our travels began to evolve. We arrived from Boston at the park’s Seawall Campground in…
Boston, Massachusetts ~ July 1-4
We had tuned into the USA’s World Cup second round game against Belgium on the drive to Boston and arrived at our quaint little Airbnb cottage in Cambridge just as the first half ended tied 0-0. We quickly unloaded the “Escape Mobile” and headed two blocks to Massachusetts Avenue to find a bar and watch…
New York, New York ~ June 26-July 1
We headed into New York City about 8pm following a quick drive through Asbury Park, New Jersey, the small boardwalk city where Bruce Springsteen got his start. Asbury Park is also the subject of Springsteen’s City in Ruins written in 2000, but included on The Rising album, which primarily consists of songs inspired by and…
Atlantic City ~ June 23-26
I had been to Atlantic City once before, but have no recollection of the city from that time. I was 12 and traveling with family friends and we headed straight to the beach. I didn’t really have a strong desire to visit Atlantic City again; however, Trey saw our visit to the Jersey Shore as…
Washington, D.C. & Chesapeake Bay ~ June 17-23
We traveled from Asheville, North Carolina to Washington D.C. via Charlottesville, Virginia, specifically to stop in on friend of my parents from when I was a child and she a young woman going to college in Wichita Falls. We had a wonderful evening catching up and she was kind enough to indulge me with stories…
Asheville, North Carolina ~ June 9-16
With Austin’s zealous housing market, surging population and current questionable water supply, we realize that it may not be feasible for us to be able to return to the city we love and have called home for the last 26 years. We’d heard good things of Asheville for some time, so scheduled an entire week…
Atlanta, Georgia ~ June 5-9
We arrived in Atlanta later than intended, but missing a large thunderstorm with winds strong enough to scatter tree branches through the streets of the mid-town neighborhood in which we stayed. The attached apartment we found through Airbnb was in a perfect location situated close to everything we intended to visit while in Atlanta, which…
New Orleans, Louisiana ~ June 2–5
When traveling to New Orleans, one should really plan to be there long enough to be able to eat all the wonderful and unique foods the city has to offer. We did our best in the three days we had, so will definitely have to schedule another visit for some of the culinary delights we…
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge – May 23-24
WICHITA MOUNTAINS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE – May 23-24, 2014 The Wichita Mountains were a favored camping destination for my family when I was a young child and are located about 80 miles north of Wichita Falls, just west of Lawton, Oklahoma. More than half of the park’s 59,000 acres is a fenced off protected area…
First Stop: Home ~ May 22-24
One of the intentions of our travels is to reconnect with family and friends. To reestablish relationships with those in which we had lost touch during the years of raising kids, building careers and caregiving for parents. This is why the first destination of choice was our hometown of Wichita Falls, a bit of a…
Nooks & Crannies – May 21
We have never been good judges of how much time and effort is needed for the tasks of packing and moving. Despite extensive planning, this again was the case on Wednesday, May 21st — the designated day of our departure. The only item listed on the schedule for the 21st was “Let the Adventures Begin!,”…
Test Camping Trip ~ May 3-4, 2014
We made the necessary investments in quality camping gear in April, and had previously practiced setting up our tent in our apartment. It took us about 20 minutes, which was pretty good considering the time we spent trying to interpret the instructions. We have lived boarding the Texas Hill Country for a little over 26…
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