I am in love with the deserts of Southern California. There is no greater joy than leaving the ’burbs on a sunny Saturday, stocked up with water and sunscreen, and driving off into the beyond. …
April 10, 2012
United States
Last Stop: Pioneertown, CA
Bauer, Iowa: Sunset on Rural America
In order to describe Iowa, you have to start with the land. Its freshly overturned sod is as black as a starless night, and a handful of dirt is richer than any potting soil you …
April 7, 2012
Birmingham, Alabama: Birthplace of a Movement
Birmingham, Alabama, was founded in 1871 – after the Civil War – but quickly caught up with other Southern cities’ cruel segregation and Jim Crow practices. Some say it bested them. Dr. Martin Luther King, …
March 27, 2012
Ambling in the Everglades
At 1.5 million acres, Everglades National Park is the third-largest national park in the U.S. It is, nevertheless, half the size it was a century ago. Once you’re away from the visitors and crowds, the …
March 20, 2012
New Vrindaban Community, West Virginia
You might not expect a Hare Krishna temple in the hills of West Virginia, but the New Vrindaban community has been an active spiritual retreat since 1968. I recently took a road trip with my …
March 8, 2012
Washington Grove, Maryland – Town within a Forest
Northeast of Washington, D.C., lays a “town within a forest.” Washington Grove is a shady hamlet tucked beneath an age-old stand of forest. It’s a town built purposefully around trees, one of the early intentionally …
Two Days in Austin, TX
Austin, Texas: Most of us know it as the self-proclaimed “Live Music Capital of the World,” home to SXSW, and a place that gets really, really hot in the summer. But for an active, social …
March 1, 2012
A Day in Provincetown, Cape Cod
Cape Cod’s most popular destination, Provincetown, is on the furthest tip of the peninsula and offers New Englanders and travelers alike a relaxing spot to refresh and recharge. A 90-minute ferry ride out to Provincetown …
February 23, 2012
Trona Pinnacles, Mojave Desert, California
The Trona Pinnacles (not to be confused with Pinnacles National Monument near Steinbeck’s Soledad) is one of those natural geological wonders that awes. Set back five miles off SR 178, twenty miles east of Ridgecrest, …
February 21, 2012
A Stroll on Balboa Island
For starters, the name is misleading. “Balboa Island” is not an island – well, not a real one, anyway. Back in the early 1900s its harbor, Newport Harbor, needed channels dredged of sand and silt …
February 16, 2012
Shooting Star Saloon - Huntsville, Utah
Utah might be the last place on earth you would expect to find the longest-running open bar west of the Mississippi. And when traveling towards Huntsville, UT, it’s not hard to imagine that you are …
February 16, 2012
Getaway to Key West
The Conchs (those born in Key West) are friendly sorts, and so are the chickens: you’ll see them anywhere and everywhere. Large iguanas can also be found basking in the historic city cemetery, where some …
February 10, 2012
Old-school in Wheeling, West Virginia
There was a time when Wheeling, West Virginia, had more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in the U.S. Once the capital of “newly restored” Virginia and the new state of West Virginia, it was …
February 8, 2012
New York, NY: The High Line and Other Adventures
When I was in New York City, there were two things everyone wanted me to see: Occupy Wall Street and the High Line. In my very limited time, I opted for the High Line. Anyway, …
Hiking Humphrey's Peak, Arizona
Standing still is impossible. 70 mile-an-hour gales force me to stumble forward at a precarious 75° angle. The frigid gusts are uneven, causing my feet to boogie an awkward three-step on the summit’s razor-sharp rock …