a former gymnast with a neverending case of wanderlust
The final destination for our three-day weekend in Cheyenne, Wyoming was nearby Curt Gowdy State Park. Curt Gowdy State Park is located in the foothills of the Laramie Mountains, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Cheyenne. This is the native land of the Comanche, Pawnee, Crow, and Shoshone, but they were displaced in the… Continue reading A hidden waterfall and obnoxious geese – Curt Gowdy State Park, Wyoming
There are numerous canyons extending into the Front Range of the Rockies. Some are the routes for major highways from the plains into the mountains, but others have been set aside for recreation. One of the latter is Eldorado Canyon, located just a few miles south of Boulder, Colorado. It’s a narrow canyon with tall… Continue reading Colorado State Parks: Eldorado Canyon
We pulled into the mostly empty parking lot around 8:30am and stepped out into the chilly November air to take in the view. On the way to the overlook, we stopped to read a sign. “Like nowhere else,” it read. I looked up at the bizarre landscape in front of me. Back down at the… Continue reading Goblins and goblettes – Goblin Valley State Park, Utah
After two wonderful days of hoodoos, we departed Bryce Canyon and began the 90 minute drive to our hotel in the small town of Escalante. I’d planned some extra time for the drive knowing that we’d be following Highway 12, which is a scenic byway. We would also be driving past three state parks, though… Continue reading Land of the sleeping rainbow – Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, Utah
A vast majority of Colorado’s state parks are in the plains or foothills in the general vicinity of Denver. Many of them – especially the ones on the plains – are centered around bodies of water and geared toward water sports. They’re also crowded since they’re so close to a high population area. Because of… Continue reading Colorado State Parks: State Forest
Our very first campsite in Colorado was at Cherry Creek State Park. In fact, it was the first place we ever spent the night anywhere in Colorado – and that includes our apartment. We’d left Pat’s old car behind in Connecticut (it wouldn’t have made it to Colorado) and his residency start date was just… Continue reading Colorado State Parks: Cherry Creek
It’s taken me a long time to get around to writing about Colorado’s State Parks. This is partially because we’ve yet to purchase a State Parks pass so they aren’t common destinations for us. The second reason is because I’ve been holding off on these posts until I’ve done a decent amount of exploring at… Continue reading Colorado State Parks: Roxborough
During the course of our two days in the Smoky Mountains – in addition to all the hikes I talked about in last week’s post – I managed to check two more state high points off my list. Admittedly, not in the “proper” way. After all, to be a high pointer don’t you have to… Continue reading On Top of: Tennessee & North Carolina
You’d think after so many years together, Pat would know better than to leave me unsupervised with vacation planning. Apparently, he still hasn’t learned that lesson. Or maybe he secretly enjoys when I book things at 10:30pm and then he finds out about it the next morning. This was one of those things. One night… Continue reading Ten Hours in Miami, Florida
Ask anyone in New England what the most iconic image of New Hampshire is, and they’ll probably say the Old Man of the Mountain. I imagine most of my US readers know what I’m talking about: the giant cliff face that looks like the profile of an old man. This was actually somewhat of an… Continue reading Flume Gorge & the Old Man of the Mountain… sort of – Franconia Notch State Park, New Hampshire
Handstands Around the World 