Heading home on the stretch of Hwy 50 named, “The Loneliest Road in America”, we still got to visit a National Park that was new to us. It is the 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service and that is best celebrated with adding some new NP and NM sites to your life list. Because Continue Reading »

It takes six months lead time to get a campsite here…as though these “boondockers” decide where to sleep more than a few hours in advance. We decided that a great day trip exploring Arches was better than missing it completely. We arrived early, parked near the longest and steepest trail and set off with lots Continue Reading »

What a great holiday! Candy skulls, costumes, running around in the dark collecting loot, and maybe getting scared (without really being in any jeopardy), and often on a school night! The Denver Botanical Garden invited citizens to create alters in the gardens. One artist explained that she had spent every summer on the beach in Continue Reading »

  Best little town in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, Ouray welcomes with hot springs, bakeries, and the best small Western Museum. The exhibits are exceptionally diverse yet compellingly personal. Debbie Reynolds shot, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” on the Alpine Mountain Ranch, run by Marie Scott, a single, self made female cattle rancher (in Continue Reading »

After a summer as Campground Hosts on the Oregon Coast, we were hungry for MOUNTAINS! We fled 103 degree temps during a two week visit with Sally’s mom in Los Angeles for…early winter in Rocky Mountain National Park. The National Park Service struggles mightily to keep Trail Ridge Rd. open over a 12,000 foot pass Continue Reading »

We have never lived in a small town. Nor have we lived in a farming community. We found our rural environment exciting…for about 5 weeks. With 8 weeks left to be hosts in our beautiful campground in Bay City, we were quite challenged to find stimulation, especially after an injury benched Steven from daily tennis. Continue Reading »

  Living in a county with more cows (25,000) than human residents guarantees a few things: 1) Ummm! That yummy grassy cow poop smell; 2) outstanding fresh cheeses, and ice cream factory tours at Tillamook Creamery…”Chocolate Mudslide” with inch thick swirls of fudge, just can’t be beat; 3) a Dairy Days Parade with free cured Continue Reading »

Instead of driving miles to camp in Northern Alaska and Canada this summer, we are trying an experiment. As CAMPGROUND HOSTS in the small town of Bay City, Oregon (pop., 1300), we are staying put in “the pearl of Tillamook Bay”, for three months, 1000 yards from the Bay. We are camping by Patterson Creek, Continue Reading »

  To celebrate Steven’s Belated Birthday, I planned a week of surprises among the Finger Lakes as we planned to attend our son Jacob’s graduation from Rensselaer in nearby Troy NY the following weekend. Daily, near Ithaca NY, we hiked up a variety of fern filled gorges to duck under tall waterfalls… …admiring the beautiful Continue Reading »