Scott and I headed to San Francisco for a long weekend to visit our friend and his aunt and uncle. Having been to the city many times before, we didn’t have a plan and just wandered the city for a …

Our last major stop of the trip was at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We didn't have the longest visit here, but we walked a portion of the Towpath Trail, which also is part of the Buckeye Trail. It …

After several trips to Ohio in the past, I finally made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Although my team, the Detroit Lions, (until late) has been historically bad, I know there …

On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guard members fired into a crowd of Kent State University student demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine. Protesting the expansion of the Vietnam War into …

Since we were still ahead of schedule, we could fit in another NPS site for me, finishing off the Ohio parks. Scott had already been to Perry's Victory and Int'l Peace Mem'l. Since we had other …

River Raisin NBP

Leaving Pittsburg, we only had James Garfield NHS and several counties on our list to accomplish today. Honestly, I thought it would be kind of a boring day, but getting some quest items …

Baseball?!?! Yes, we had an interesting day - and this cover photo wasn't even from the town in which we saw the baseball game :) We started the day out at Johnstown Flood National Memorial, the …

This was definitely a NPS-focused trip so I can mark off a bunch of NPS units, and this day was a three-fer. Friendship Hill NHS and Fort Necessity Nat'l Battlefield were the first two parks up for …

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I don't really care for the mounds. My husband, however, was convinced he could find a mound in Moundsville, West Virginia, and he was not disappointed. He found the Grave …

I'm really not the biggest fan of ancient native mounds. So, I was less than thrilled about having to visit Hopewell Culture NHP. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the place, with …

Part of our Manhattan Project Quest is to see the actual Enola Gay and Bockscar, the two bombers that dropped the atom bombs on Japan to end WWII. We've already seen the Enola Gay, and now we are …

After Wilbur and Orville Wright proved to the world that flight was possible in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, they returned to Dayton to improve their airplane and figure out how to fly for more than a …

When we were looking at things to do in Cincinnati, we discovered the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. So, after the baseball game, we still some time and were able to fit it into our …

Since we were in Cincinnati, and the Reds were playing at home, Scott worked going to a baseball game into our schedule. It was a beautiful day for a game.

We had to cancel/postpone our planned Canadian Rockies trip due to some unexpected medical issues for Scott that precluded him from going to elevation for awhile. Instead, we changed our plans and …

Our last day in NE started with driving under the Archway that spans the old Oregon Trail. Then we found an interesting monument to the Oregon Trail travelers.

Our second full day in Nebraska found us driving back from the western part of the state to the eastern part - getting a bunch of new counties along the way. In usual fashion, we did find some …

Carhenge, modeled after Stonehenge in England, is a well-known roadside oddity in western Nebraska. I visited back in 2009, but Scott hadn’t gone yet. It’s at the end of the Sandhill Scenic Byway, so …

This part of Nebraska is full of gorgeous sunflower. Both wild and planted.

Within the Sandhills area is the Nebraska National Forest, specifically the Bessey/Halsey area, which is best known for its hand-planted forest and the Bessey Nursery. According to the Forest …

The Nebraska Sandhills were our main focus on exploring this weekend (in addition to getting many new counties!) They “are a vast, grass-stabilized sand dune region in north-central Nebraska, …

You settle for the first bathroom you can find!!!

Well, due to some unexpected heart issues for Scott earlier this month that precludes him from going to elevation for a short bit (he’s fine), Scott and I had to cancel our trip to the Canadian …

As part of my MLB stadiums quest, we spent the weekend in LA with our friends, the Hubbard’s, who were kind enough to bring us to a Dodgers game. Our friend Krista also joined in on the fun and we …

For Scott’s quest to go to one site per President, we visited the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California. I thought it was a pretty well-done library with a lot of interpretation on the various …

Although we got a California brewery for my Brewery-In-Every-State quest a long time ago, Southern California has so many good breweries that we always have to stop somewhere. And LA traffic really …

After spending a Morning in Yellowstone National Park, we drove the outer look through Grand Tetons National Park in the afternoon.

Since we revamped our trip to spend an unexpected night with our friends in West Yellowstone, we further revamped our trip to spend the next night in Driggs, Idaho, with some ASU tailgating friends. …

When Scott and I finished Craters of the Moon National Monument, we realized we were "ahead of schedule." We have some friends in West Yellowstone, Montana, who happened to be home for the evening. …

While I have previously been to the portion of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve managed by the National Park Service, I had not gone to the portion of the Monument managed by the …

This Juneteenth Trip also allowed me to mark off another National Park Unit - Number 382 / 433! First we stopped at the two primary overlooks - the Snake River Overlook and the Oregon Trail Overlook.

If you know Scott and I, you know that we love finding and photographing waterfalls on our trips. Our Utah/Idaho trip was no exception. We spent a good share of a day exploring some of the nice …

Since we were in the area, Scott wanted to go to the Even Knievel Jump Site where Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel attempted to jump over the Snake River Canyon - what he thought would be his most …

Koto Brewing in Twin Falls, Idaho, was the Idaho brewery that I checked off on my Brewery-In-Every-State Quest. There were two really interesting parts to this brewery. First, they used the flooring …

On our way from Wendover, Utah, to Twin Falls, Idaho, we stopped at Salmon Dam, just outside Twin Falls. The dam provided interesting views, but we loved the little waterfall next to the dam. It …

We visited the Historic Wendover Airfield in Wendover, Utah, as part of our Manhattan Project Quest. The Army Air Base was used as a major training facility during WWII for the Army's heavy bombers …

The first stop on our June 2025 trip to Utah and Idaho were the Bonneville Salt Flats, a densely packed salt pan west of Salt Lake City. These Salt Flats are where they run the land speed races and …

Our last stop of the trip before I had to fly home was Frances Perkins NM. Frances was the Secretary of Labor under FDR and was the first woman in a presidential cabinet. She was integral in passing …

After spending the night with our friend in NY, we headed on to Connecticut. Not only did we mark off our last remaining county in CT, but we also did a short walk on the New England NST (my 380th …

Supplementing Steamtown is this huge stone bridge, built to handle the huge steam engines going to and from Steamtown.

On our way to see a friend in NY, we stopped by Steamtown NHS-my 379th NPS unit. Man, if you’re a train lover, this place is for you. Lots of steam trains and everything else you can imagine about …

After spending my actual birthday with friends in Philly, we headed north, stopping at Jim Thorpe’s Memorial and Grave. Such a tremendous athlete-football, baseball, and Olympic events.

This was our first stop on my birthday to mark off my 378th NPS unit. Hopewell Furnace is a well-preserved charcoal-fired iron furnace so important to the US in the late 1700s and throughout the …

Visited the Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School today. Thousands of Native American children were forced to go to school in these Boarding Schools, where they were stripped of everything of their …

Three Mile Island was the site of a partial nuclear meltdown in 1979.