Your friendly guide to national parks, road trips, and all things outdoors
Ok, so I didn't go back to the Badlands. It was my first time there. I just liked the sound of it. I was so excited to see the Badlands. It's probably what I was looking forward to the most for the drive out to Bullfrog. It all started last summer when I found a…
It was a busy day. We left Brookings bright and early with the Badlands on our minds. We figured since we were close, we would go to Mount Rushmore too. I had heard some not so exciting things about it, that it's not all that impressive, but I mean, we had to go. It's Mount…
Continue reading ➞ Visit Mount Rushmore On Your South Dakota Road Trip
372 miles to Wall Drug! 243 miles to Wall Drug! 117 miles to Wall Drug! 9 miles to Wall Drug! We couldn't not go to Wall Drug when we were this close to it. I saw the signs the first time I was in South Dakota, but it was all the way on the other…
There are affiliate links in here. I get a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you. For some reason, I insisted on doing the Delicate Arch hike. "It's only, like, three miles I said." "It won't be that bad." HA! Good one, me. Good one. Spoiler alert: It's worse…
Continue reading ➞ Delicate Arch Hike: A Must-Do On Any Visit To Arches National Park
The other day, I realized in my posts about the road trip, in order, I forgot about Zion. Oops! I'm not even sure how I forgot about it. It was the third National Park we visited out of five. It wasn't my favorite. You already know Arches was probably my favorite with Bryce Canyon at…
There are affiliate links in here. I get a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you. New Mexico is hot. Like, way hotter than I expected. Most of the road trip was around the 80's temperature wise, but not New Mexico. It was all right around 100. After the…
Ever since I learned about Cadillac Ranch, sometimes called the Cadillac Graveyard, in my sculpture class, like Seven Magic Mountains, I've wanted to go. The road trip was the perfect opportunity and when I found out it was, sort of, on the route home, I got pretty excited. I was finally going to see the…
Continue reading ➞ Cadillac Ranch: A Cadillac Graveyard on Route 66 In Amarillo, Texas
I imagined Roswell to be a tiny alien-themed everything town in the middle of nowhere New Mexico. The middle of nowhere part was right. The tiny town part wasn't. It's not huge, like Albuquerque, but it's not tiny either. The alien-themed everything was a little off too, but it was still pretty close. I had…
Continue reading ➞ Alien Everything: Welcome to Roswell, New Mexico
My fingers were probably crossed for good weather from the moment we booked our hot air balloon flight. I'm talking a week of crossed fingers. This is serious business. For as long as I can remember, I've loved hot air balloons and wanted to ride in one. When we started planning the southwest road trip,…
Continue reading ➞ Albuquerque From Above: A Hot Air Balloon Adventure On A New Mexico Road Trip
"You have to go to Sedona!" We heard this a lot on the trip. Nobody ever really said why or what there is to do there, just " It's so Cool! You have to go!" So we did. We did get one recommendation though, go to the Buddha Stupa. And we did. I had no…
Continue reading ➞ Amitabha Stupa: Sedona, Arizona’s Peace Park
**Now Closed** Unfortunately, Bedrock City is closed now. After pulling into what looked like a deserted parking lot, my suspicion levels rose quickly, but I pushed those thoughts aside as we entered a building that looked a little sketchier than I would have liked. Some of the souvenirs looked like they were there about 15…
"You're going to the Grand Canyon!?" "I've always wanted to see the Grand Canyon!" "I would love to go there someday!" I heard all of these a few times when I told people where I was going. I suppose my expectations were highish because, well, its the GRAND Canyon. It's grand. It's one of the…
Ok, so I didn't see any ghost elk. Or ghosts. But I did see some elk! That should count for something, right? Good. After an almost nausea inducing drive through the mountains (thank goodness for Dramamine!) we made it to Estes Park. I had only heard good things about it before I went there. This…
There are affiliate links in here. I get a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you. With a two hour drive ahead of us to Colorado Springs, we didn't even get up surprisingly early. After a coffee stop, we were on our way to the Garden of the Gods…
Continue reading ➞ Garden Of The Gods: A Colorado Springs Must-See