We Brake for Brown Signs: Hitting 100 in West Virginia

Our stop in West Virginia included a fun milestone: we visited our 100th National Park Service unit! NPS units include more than just parks — they include historic sites, monuments, battlefields, and more — but in this case our 100th was also America’s newest national park: the New River Gorge. But first, let’s review how … Read more

Big Skies and Big Distances at Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park is not on the way to anywhere. Situated at the southern point of the “dip” in West Texas, it is essentially a peninsula of the US with Mexico on three sides. The park is located in the heart of the harsh Chihuahuan Desert, and the park’s southern border is also the … Read more

Enjoying Dark Skies at Black Canyon of the Gunnison

One place that we did not want to miss on our grand summer tour of Colorado is Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Although this park seems to be one of the lesser-known national parks – perhaps because it was only upgraded from a National Monument to a National Park in 1999 – we … Read more

Goose, Geese, Moose, Meese: Grand Lake, CO

After an awe-inspiring week devoted to exploring the eastern side of Rocky Mountain National Park, to stay in compliance with the 7-day stay limits in the park we left the park proper and spent six days camped on national forest land just outside the western entrance, near the small town of Grand Lake. Relocating to … Read more

Independence Day Week at Stunning Rocky Mountain NP

After Mueller State Park we headed straight to Rocky Mountain National Park, jetting through Colorado Springs and downtown Denver on a sunny Sunday. While we usually avoid towing through major metropolitan areas whenever possible, we had little choice in this case and in any event our travel was smooth. The only things that made the … Read more