Travel Archives - Page 2 of 3

Both of us• Learning• Lee Ann• Sue• Travel

Back in the flatland of Delaware: Lessons learned

November 2, 2017

November 2 – For two retired women, visiting five National Parks (plus Monument Valley) in 10 days was probably a bit ambitious. Now that the trip is over, we have some insights: Our favorite parks were Bryce Canyon, Zion and Arches – close but roughly in that order. A revised itinerary would probably omit Canyonlands and Capitol Reef and spend more time exploring the other three. We did…

Both of us• Lee Ann• Sue• Travel

On to Zion

November 1, 2017

Wednesday, October 25 – Driving through southern Utah, the landscape changes are often immediate and stunning. From a rolling sea of slickrock to high-altitude pine forests to towering red rocks, it’s hard for us East Coast flatlanders to absorb. Approaching Zion National Park, the rocks again change to red – and so does the road. Jagged, majestic peaks jarringly transform the landscape. We were on the Zion-Mt. Carmel…

Both of us• Lee Ann• Sue• Travel• Uncategorized

Hoodoo we love: Bryce Canyon

October 25, 2017

October 25 – The most wondrous 2.5-mile trail I have ever walked was breath-taking, in more ways than one. The one must-do hike for me on our Utah National Parks itinerary was a combination of the Navajo Loop and Queen’s Garden trails at Bryce Canyon. An elevation change of 320 feet did not sound like a lot, but what goes down must come up. Starting at Sunset Point,…

Both of us• Lee Ann• Sue• Travel

The many moods of Monument Valley

October 23, 2017

October 22 and 23 – You are still miles away, near the hamlet of Mexican Hat, when you first spy the iconic buttes. Cars and RVs start pulling over for pictures; some tourists wander onto the highway. It’s the famous Forest Gump view of Monument Valley. We booked a premium cabin at The View, on Navajo Tribal Lands, in Arizona. The balcony and picture window had an unobstructed…

Lee Ann• Sue• Travel• Uncategorized

Adventures in Moab

October 21, 2017

(Sue and Lee Ann spent five months planning a vacation to the five national parks in Utah, plus Monument Valley in Utah/Arizona. Everyone should visit the American West. Here is what we saw and did.) Saturday, October 21 – At 7:45 a.m. I was standing in line outside the Poison Spider bike shop across from our motel in Moab. There were skinny young guys in baggy shorts holding…

Both of us• CaravanTrip• Travel

Freedom’s just another word for . . . indecision

August 26, 2016

We are trying to figure out what to do with the rest of our lives. Frankly, we are all over the map as we discuss if and where we should move, where we should travel, what activities should we undertake, how much I should work, and other weighty questions in the year I turn 60 and Sue turns 70. There is a rather panicked sense that we need…

Both of us• CaravanTrip• Learning• Travel

Off the bus reflections

June 9, 2016

Salt Lake City – June 9, 2016 Our journey ended in Salt Lake City’s Temple Square with a Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsal, including a full orchestra. When in town, they rehearse on Thursdays. It was a thrilling experience that punctuated how varied this bus tour was – even though one of our group expressed a desire for more “show tunes.” We left Jackson at 8 a.m. and wound…

Both of us• CaravanTrip• Food• Learning• Lee Ann• Sue• Travel

Floating through Paradise

June 8, 2016

Jackson, Wyoming – June 8, 2016 Then there were the Grand Tetons. Floating down the Snake River, which was still turbid and swollen with snow melt, we called out jokingly about “rapids” ahead. It was calm enough to eat our lunches on board. I don’t think we even got wet, and I regretted leaving my Nikon on the bus. The young, jagged peaks of the Grand Tetons were…

Both of us• CaravanTrip• Food• Health and fitness• Learning• Travel

Yellowstone – a world apart

June 7, 2016

June 7, 2016 – Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park Who would think four days (so far) on a bus would be so exhausting? Here we are in Yellowstone National Park, it is 8:49 p.m. and still light outside, and we really just want to go to bed. The last two days have been spent touring Yellowstone. We entered dramatically through Roosevelt Arch at the North Entrance and…

Both of us• CaravanTrip• Learning• Lee Ann• Sue• Travel

A view from the top of that hill

June 5, 2016

Sunday, June 5, 2016 – Billings, Montana Probably no other scene of American history is more embedded in my psyche than Custer’s Last Stand. It’s a mythic story that has intrigued me since I read a children’s biography of George Armstrong Custer – no doubt a sanitized version of his life and what actually happened on June 25, 1876. Over the decades, my knowledge of the Battle of…

Both of us• CaravanTrip• Learning• Lee Ann• Shopping• Sue• Travel

Heads of state

June 4, 2016

Saturday, June 4 – Rapid City, South Dakota Today was a day trip out of Rapid City to visit the Crazy Horse Monument and Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills. It was our first trip together as a group of 48, and I detected a lot of New York accents as we passed ponderosa pines and quaking aspen trees. Was my stereotype coming true? The Crazy Horse Monument…