Aside from a couple multi-day backpacking trips, almost all the hikes I’ve done have been with my bride of almost 41 years. We’ve been on day-hike trails in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Arizona, Utah, California, Alaska, Costa Rica, and Malaysia. Surely, I’m…
For the most part, traveling east from Hoover Dam at the Arizona/Nevada border to Phoenix along US 93 doesn’t really rank as particularly “pretty.” To be sure, some scenic views catch your attention. There’s an overlook or two worth stopping to take in the vista. But brown gets a bit…
If the name Forrest Fenn rings a bell, it’s likely not because of his service to the United States, even though he received a silver star for his role as a combat pilot in the Vietnam War. Flying 328 missions in 365 days is quite impressive. But few know him…
A couple of weeks after returning from our trip to the Southwest, visiting Zion National Park and more, I came across a YouTube video of a guy hiking a remote trail in Zion. It intrigued me because I hadn’t seen that particular trail before, so I settled in for a…
If you missed the first two installments, it might be worthwhile to go back and read them to catch the drift of this little series: Part One Part Two. We hadn’t planned a visit to the Valley of Fire. Fact is, I’d never heard of it until a friend recommended…
If you missed part 1, I’d encourage you to read it first. On a recent trip to the Southwest, my wife and I were repeatedly overwhelmed by a beauty wholly foreign to our corner of the world. Part One shares some of our beauty encounters in Zion National Park in…
This post may seem like a mere travelogue. Sorry about that, but it’s going somewhere (no pun intended), though it will take a couple of posts to get there. Hope you’ll go along for the journey. Our first visit to the American southwest—about seven years ago—left us unimpressed overall. We…
As a boy growing up in the 60s, like a whole bunch of us in that era, I was fascinated with the space program. Anything NASA was doing captured my attention and imagination. Of course, I wanted to be an astronaut, or an FBI agent. But mostly an astronaut. So…
I have always lived “in town.” Never in a big city, but in towns with population ranging from 1,700 to 20,000. Because of that, my exposure to the farm and farm animals has been quite limited. In-town parents need to be intentional about getting their children exposed to the farm,…
At long last, Spring has sprung, not only on the calendar, but in our western Illinois weather as well. What better way to celebrate the vernal equinox than get outside on a bright sunny day with temps in the mid-50s? Since Saturday afternoon was free and the rest of the…
