Articles with travel

Driving Along Black Canyon of the Gunnison’s Stunning Cliffs

To be perfectly honest I was not aware of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park until recently. However, it was a good one to add to our list of national park visits in Colorado. Someone told me it was like Grand Canyon National Park. To some extent that’s true, but the Black Canyon seems deeper and more narrow with its own beauty so it is worth visiting. We didn’t make an effort to leave Ourey very early. The…

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Are We Staying in Telluride or Ouray, Colorado?

When I was planning for this trip, I was focused on the three national parks we would be visiting. However, I couldn’t help notice on the map that we would be traveling near Telluride. If you don’t know, Telluride is a ski resort often visited by the rich and famous. I thought why not spend a night there if it’s not too expensive? So I searched on my travel sites, found a room I thought was quite reasonable, and booked…

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Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park Yields Amazing Vistas

They say timing is everything. We discovered that to be true in a number of ways as we visited Mesa Verde National Park in the southwest of Colorado. This was our second of three national parks on our agenda for this trip. It was quite a different experience from our visit to Great Sand Dunes National Park. The main focus of Mesa Verde National Park is preserving the Native American structures and sharing about their culture. Established in 1906, the…

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The Four Corners and Canyon of the Ancients

When I think of the southwest Native Americans, I generally think of Arizona or New Mexico. However, it turns out that in southwest Colorado a large population of Native Americans lived and thrived. In many ways they had connections to those native groups in New Mexico and Arizona. Because of that The Four Corners has become a place where various native groups can come together. The Four Corners is located where four state lines all meet in the same spot.…

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Beautiful Scenery and Unique Towns on Colorado’s Hwy. 160

After spending a day at Great Sand Dunes National Park, it was time to head to our next destination, Mesa Verde National Park. From our stay in Alamosa we would travel across the southwestern part of Colorado along Hwy. 160. It would take most of the day as we stopped from time to time to see the sights. We spent two nights in Alamosa. The town itself is really the nearest town for those planning to visit the Great Sand…

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From Colorado’s Pikes Peak to the Snowcapped Sawatch Range

On Sunday we spent a lot of time walking, especially through the Garden of the Gods. By contrast Monday we spent a lot of time driving. It started with a drive up Pikes Peak and ended nearly 200 hundred miles south in Alamosa, Colorado We started with Pikes Peak. Colorado refers to it as America’s mountain. Ever since I was a kid, I have heard of Pikes Peak. Therefore when we planned this trip, and I realized we would be…

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A Visit to the Infamous Alcatraz in San Francisco

In the middle of San Francisco Bay lies one of the most infamous locations in America, Alcatraz. I remember as a kid hearing about Alcatraz and that the really bad criminals went there. In 1963 the government closed the prison, but even after that the stories continued to circulate. Today Alcatraz is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area managed by the National Parks and is open to the public. To visit Alcatraz visitors must get a ticket from…

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From Muir Woods to San Francisco Bay’s Edge

One of the reasons I wanted to go to the San Francisco area was to visit Muir Woods. Muir Woods is a US National Monument. I wrote about national monuments in a previous post. Muir Woods is one I had read about and wanted to explore. It took us about two hours to drive north from where Andrea lives to reach Muir Woods. The drive took us over the Golden Gate Bridge, and shortly after crossing we turned west. We…

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Wildlife Encounters in Rancho San Antonio near Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley conjures up images of high tech companies in shiny buildings with busy employees working far too much. We sometimes forget that word valley. A valley is an area between hills or mountains, and Silicon Valley sits near some hills which have been preserved for the valley citizens to enjoy and experience nature. One such location is Rancho San Antonio which is an open space preserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains west of the valley. Here visitors will find…

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The Colors of Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

Two years ago my daughter Andrea and I visited the Keukenhof Tulip Gardens in the Netherlands. They had an amazing variety of tulips, and the beauty of their gardens is unrivaled. It’s a very worthwhile experience. However, not everyone can cross the ocean to see tulips. Fortunately, there are places here in the United States that celebrate tulips, and one of them is just north of Seattle in the Skagit Valley. Skagit Valley is one of the last major agricultural…

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