All in Travel
We got off of I-70 onto Utah Highway 24. This was as desolate a piece of road as we had seen. I was glad I had filled up at the last gas station! We got to Hanksville, and were surprised by not one but two gas stations. We continued west, headed to Capitol Reef.
Alaska and animals are nearly synonymous. Visitors and tourists enjoy seeing a moose or a black bear as much as a glacier or majestic mountain. Luckily, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) provides the opportunity to see many of Alaska’s iconic animals in a single location.
A terrifying road, or exhilarating, depending on your point of view, leads up, up, up, to the top of Mesa Verde. Now a national park, 1200 years ago there were thriving communities living up here. Although modern Pueblo Indians dislike the term, anthropologists call these people Anasazi.
Southeast Utah contains the most exotic real estate on the continent. In some places you'll find natural stone bridges, carved over thousands of years by the action of running water, enormous structures whose very size boggles the mind.
The economics of our trip hasn't allowed for lengthy stays in towns. But some towns are worth a little expense. Friends told us Santa Fe was the coolest town in New Mexico: art, restaurants, night life, general "vibe". We made the trip into town, found a parking spot near Canyon Road, and went for a walk.
The Last Frontier is still the land of grand adventure, spectacular landscape majestic animals and fishing beyond belief. Alaska changed my life. Without doubt 1963 was a boy-to-man summer thanks to the experiences encountered on a four-month 8,000-mile journey from the Mid-Atlantic States to the wilds of Alaska.
This piece gives some travel tips we've picked up in our so-far month on the road. Don't be in a hurry! You can spend your time driving, or you can get out of the car from time to time and walk. By stopping often, you can see more in better detail, and meet more interesting people. People you meet are either fellow travelers or locals. Either way, they have interesting stories and information that can enhance your trip.
Since reading about it as a child, Carlsbad Caverns has been on my list of must-see travel destinations. The chambers, the stalactites and stalagmites, and especially the bats, they were compelling! It took sixty years, but I finally made it there last week.
Getting out of Austin was crazy. Morning traffic, a near-wreck (we got a bird flipped our way), a stop at Starbucks, and stop-and-go for most of an hour- the joy of back roads was not with us early on. But we then cleared the Austin city limits, and we started to roll.
"Keep Austin Weird." Susan and I saw the sign in several places in the city. Austin wears its quirkiness well, and did not close to experiencing all of it. Any city that celebrates a nightly flight of bats, well, you have admire its eccentricity.
