Great Basin National Park was officially established in 1986, but major portions of it have been a National Monument for the past 100 years.  It was named for its location in the Great Basin region of the US. The Basin is the largest water shed with no exit to the Ocean in North America and occupies portions of six states.  The park features Wheeler Peak (13K feet), the Lehman Caves,…

Lake Tahoe straddles the border of California and Nevada.  It is the 2nd deepest lake in the US at more than 1600 feet, second only to Crater Lake.  It is 22 miles long, 12 miles wide and is a destination for approximately 17 million visitors every year.   It is fed by 63 tributaries but only one going out of the lake, the Truckee River. We spent a gorgeous day in…

Santa Barbara was the last of our unvisited major “fine wine” regions in California.  We had planned to go for several years, but it never quite worked out for us until now. As it turns, the bulk of the wineries are actually in the Santa Ynez Valley, more than 30 miles away.  Consequently, we stayed at the county-run Cachuma Lake Campground on the man-made lake closer to the wineries.  The…

We’ve scheduled Mesa Verde a couple of times over the past few years, but had to postpone it due to winter-like weather.  This year we decided to visit in September to avoid any snow.  It was worth the wait as the place is amazing.  We hoped to see a few great cliff dwellings, but this was way beyond our expectations.  There are dozens of well preserved cliff dwelling complexes that…

Our first visit to Rocky Mountain National Park was about 30 years ago and it was all of 4 hours.  This time, we decided to stay a week this time and really see the park.  The main entrance is about 100 miles north of Denver just outside Estes Park. The park was established in1915 after rigorous debate between conservationists and logging/mining/agriculture forces, when Woodrow Wilson signed the Rocky Mountain National…

For several years we’ve read blogs where Grand Teton was the author’s favorite National Park.  Now we know why. The Park has everything. It has wildlife, mountains, lakes, rivers, prairies, glaciers, waterfalls, incredible hiking, great camping, lodges, and it’s beautifully preserved. The original National Park that protected the four major Teton peaks was established in the late 1920s.  The remainder of the park, including “the Jackson Hole” valley, was added…

Many people are not familiar with Theodore Roosevelt NP and we knew little about its attractions or how it was created.  As president (from 1901-1909), Teddy created the US Forest Service, 18 National Parks, and worked with Congress to create an additional 5 National Parks.  The park was created in 1947 in recognition of his contributions to land preservation and conservation.  Teddy Roosevelt came to love the rugged beauty of…

This was our first destination after our August departure.  On the way out of New York we had a first: our camp host in Ohio grew vegetables for his customers and gave them a way. We were the surprised beneficiary of his kindness and garden skills. On the other side of the coin, no seasonal departure is complete without a debilitating RV problem, but fortune was on our side and…

We found New Zealand (NZ) to be a magical place with lush fields, snow-capped mountains, turquoise lakes and rivers, rugged coastlines, fjords, and glaciers.  We began our three week journey in Auckland which is on the North Island and is NZ’s largest city with 1.7 million people.  A walking tour led us through interesting gardens, enormous trees, and a bustling downtown area with a little history thrown in.   The next day, we took…

Although we often group Australia and New Zealand together, they are certainly different in many ways.  While both belong to the wider British Commonwealth, and English is their primary language, the land itself is unique to each nation. Geographically, NZ is a small mountainous country of two long islands that features nearly 10,000 miles of shoreline. The climate ranges from warm subtropical in the far north to cool temperate in the…