When you travel to the National Parks in the Southwest and start with Zion, as we did, you find yourself overwhelmed and feeling very small. The cliffs tower over you and you can get lost on the trails.
Part of the “Grand Circle” of National Parks, we really enjoyed the diversity of the trails. One moment, walking along a nice level path, you might see a deer grazing not too far away.
Red cliffs of Zion National Park
Landscape Arch
From Moab, Utah, it is a fairly easy drive to the Park’s visitor center. Allow a very full morning or afternoon or even a day to visit the evocatively named formations. See “Courthouse Towers,” “ Parade of Elephants,” “Three Gossips” and the famous “Landscape Arch.” Landscape Arch looks likes it will fall down any time now, but it might take thousands of years. As recently as 1991, a large segment fell from Landscape Arch and the section left looks very close to fragmenting entirely.
Parade of Elephants
Canyonlands, located in Utah and one of the US National Parks, cannot be judged by a photograph or other image. You really must be there to feel how open, deep and vast the earth stretches out in front of you. It seems to dwarf the Grand Canyon in immensity!
Standing on a ledge several years ago, wind blowing and rain threatening, I felt very small and insignificant looking out at the giant canyons, eroded by time and the Colorado and Green Rivers.
Canyonlands - nature at its most amazing
As promised from yesterday, we’re continuing our journey down to Edinburgh.
Distance: 126.0 miles
Time: 2 hr 48 min
We are going to make a few stops and hopefully we’ll have time for all of them.
The village of Blair Atholl is approximately a 90-minute drive north from Edinburgh or Glasgow just off of the A9, 35 miles north of Perth.
The seat of the Dukes and Earls of Atholl is touted as Scotland’s most visited historic house and is also the home of the Atholl Highlanders, Europe’s only remaining private army. (I think I’ll see if I can rent them out for a few jobs that I have pending around the house.) (more…)
Okay, we’re staying put for the day … sort of …
We’re looking at a train ride, a little clan homecoming, and lots of scenery.
As I mentioned in a previous installment, my reasoning for staying in Aviemore (yes, it’s really on a map) for several days was due to its centralized location in the highlands. It is also the middle of recreation country.
The Cairngorm mountains and Cairngorm National Park host a plethora of sporting activities: fishing, canoeing, mountain biking, rock-climbing, hiking, golf, horse riding … even skiing in the winter (if there is enough snow). (more…)
Since Williams was hosting the Disney Christmas Carol train recently, I had the pleasure of seeing this quirky and historic northern Arizona town.
Billed as the “Gateway to the Grand Canyon,” Williams is about 55 miles from the major attraction. They are small, but their marketing is powerful. (more…)
Sometimes you can travel to a place and they never prepare you for the realities of what you might experience. That was the case when we landed in Kauai. We were never alerted to the overpopulation of chickens.
Dramatic cliffs, tropical scenery, gorgeous sunsets and beaches, pop culture and great food – that’s Kaua’i. Although we don’t usually go on tours, we signed up for two in Kaua’i: (more…)
When you are visiting the Big Island of Hawaii, a must see is the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. There aren’t many places to walk on an active volcano, but, if you walk far enough, this is one of them.
Since my husband and I have both worked for the hotel industry in our careers, we have a healthy respect for those who run hotels and the employees who really make everything function. As a result, when we travel somewhere, we do not leave our room messy when we go out for the day. We gather our stuff and stow it so they can clean the room properly.
That said, our stay at a picturesque B & B on the Big Island of Hawaii, led to some confusing reactions. We performed our customary gather and stow in our room and left for the day to enjoy the scenery and tourist attractions. (more…)
