Along the Gila River built into five interconnected caves high in a canyon wall, in the 2.7-million-acre Gila National Forest and Wilderness Area, is a 700-year-old Mogollon pueblo designated as the Gila Cliff Dwellings National …
September 6, 2012
United States
Gila, Geronimo and More in New Mexico
Chicago... a Midwest Mirage
The Cubs. The Bears. The Sears Tower (actually, it's now the Willis Tower), Wrigley Field, elevated trains, deep dish pizza, Italian beef sandwiches, the Midwest, the beach....wait...what? The beach? This is Chicago we're talking about, …
Deep into Denali
With six million acres of wilderness, Denali National Park in Alaska is one of the largest national parks in the country. If you enjoy seeing wildlife in their native habitat, your time here can be …
September 3, 2012
A Week on a New Hampshire Lake
Summer is a great time to visit New Hampshire. In the spring, there are a lot of biting flies and it rains all the time. But once the warm, dry months of July and August …
August 30, 2012
Spectacular Mono Lake
Highway 89 south out of Lake Tahoe to Route 395 has got to be one of THE most pleasurable rides in a stick shift. It’s definitely a road reserved for the unfettered. The steep switchbacks …
August 28, 2012
Utah's Moab Music Festival
From August 29th through September 10th, music will echo through some of Utah’s most scenic canyons. The Moab Music Festival aims to merge music with the natural landscape found along the Colorado River in the …
August 21, 2012
S.D. to S.F. – by Bike
Held every October, the Million Dollar Challenge is a fundraising bike ride for challenged athletes in which participants cycle down the California coast from San Francisco to San Diego. The reverse route, however, can be …
August 21, 2012
Niagara Falls, Like Grandpa Used to Love
My grandfather was born in what is now the Ukraine, but was then known as Czarist Russia. When he later emigrated to the U.S. and got married to my grandmother, he wanted to go on …
August 17, 2012
At the World’s End: Ghost Mountain, Anza-Borrego
The majestic Anza-Borrego Desert never ceases to surprise me. It is an alien environment of ghostly, pale rocks and unforgiving heat. Ocotillo plants sprout like underwater coral from the barren sands that hide translucent scorpions …
August 16, 2012
Close Encounters in CA's High Desert
I may have had some lunatic notions in my day, but I can assure you that none of them have been implanted or otherwise suggested by extraterrestrials. Not a one. George Van Tassel, however, can’t …
August 11, 2012
San Juan Capistrano: A SoCal Treasure
Just 61 miles north of San Diego up the 5 Freeway, San Juan Capistrano is one of the truly historic sites of Southern California. The town is probably best known for the swallows that return …
August 2, 2012
At the World’s End: Centralia, the Burning Town
In May 1962, an ill-advised trash fire set light to the veins of coal running beneath the small mining town of Centralia, PA, and sparked a dangerous inferno that has raged ever since. Despite various …
July 30, 2012
Joshua Tree: More than Just Camping
There isn’t anything spectacular about the town visually. Like many desert towns, the buildings along the main drag are old, unkempt and often vacant. There are few sidewalks, and no trees or landscaping that would …
July 27, 2012
Pittsburgh (Yes, Pittsburgh)
A few years ago, The Economist pointed out that Pittsburgh’s changing demographics would make for a “rosier future.” Sure enough, it’s a hot place for young people to visit. Aging baby boomers in the steel …
July 26, 2012
Solitude Is Bliss – Michigan's Northern Lakeshore
A recent trip home to northern lower Michigan afforded me one of the greatest summertime pleasures a Michigander knows: a sunset swim in Lake Michigan. There’s nothing better than finding a secluded stretch of golden …
July 19, 2012