Category: US National Parks
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A Rainy Day In Little Sand Bay
Friday, September 19, 2025 L:58 H:63 It was a rainy, gray morning, which was nice to catch up on a few things – emails, a little news, the blog, etc. Since the Apostle Islands Cruise was cancelled yesterday due to high winds, we had scheduled for today. However, it wasn’t looking so good for today…
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Hike Falls Trail Bandelier NM/Valles De Caldera National Preserve
Thursday, August 25, 2022 50 degrees at 6:00, high 75? We hiked 1.5 miles to Frijoles Creek Falls. It’s a pretty cool area where the creek flows down a steep canyon and into the Rio Grande River. Since we are in monsoon season, the water was flowing nicely over the fall. We talked with a…
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Toozigoot National Monument, Jerome, Cottonwood, Arizona and The Church of the Holy Cross
August 17, 2022 There are three national monuments around Sedona; Toozigoot, Montezuma Castle and Walnut Castle. We opted for Toozigoot, a pretty impressive site that sits on a hill above the Verde River. It is one of many in the Verde Valley, but it seems to be a place of leadership, a place where people…
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Move to Sedona, Arizona
August 14, 2022 at 3:20 AM 59 degrees at 6:00, high 91 Three hours south on 160, then “Everything’s Fine on 89” is Sedona, Arizona. Martha had requested Sedona, after Mark’s recommendation. Along Rt 89, we saw a sign for Wapatki National Monument. Since this trip is all about the national parks and monuments of…
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Navajo National Monument, Arizona
Saturday, August 13, 2022 59 degrees at 6:00 “The Hopi, San Juan Southern Paiute, Zuni, and Navajo are tribes that have inhabited the canyons for centuries. Springs fed into farming land on the canyon floor and homes were built in the natural sandstone alcoves. The cliff dwellings of Betatakin, Keet Seel, and Inscription House were…
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Drive to Navajo National Monument
Friday, August 12, 2022 67 degrees at 6:00, going to 91 deg. At 8:00 we set out for Navajo National Monument, turning south on 191. I desperately needed to get the Virginia Airstream newsletter out. With no cell phone service recently, it has been difficult. We could have turned left to the nice Visitor’s Center…
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Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah
Wednesday, August 10, 2022 57 degrees at 6:00 A short rain early, but then cleared. The stars were amazing after the moon went down, and I saw several shooting stars. I am frustrated not having cell phone coverage, although a message or email will occasionally sneak through. I am way behind on the blog and…
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Canyon of The Ancients National Monument
August 9, 2022 53 degrees at 6:30 With 270,000 acres and hundreds of sites, there is a lot to explore and discover in Canyons of the Ancients. We opted to hike Sand Canyon Trail to Saddlehorn Pueblo and Double Cliff House for a 4-mile out-and-back hike. We were a little late getting started at 9:00,…
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Hovenweep National Monument
Hovenweep National Monument has its own Visitor’s Center and a nice campground. This is a unique area, because the ancient ruins are concentrated in a small canyon that you can walk around on a 2-mile path. It has some unique structures, a castle-like building right on the edge of the cliff, a square tower built…
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Lowrey Pueblo, Canyon of The Ancients National Monument
Monday, August 8, 2022 Canyon of The Ancients is a massive 270,000 acres on the Sagebrush Plains in the southwest corner of Colorado with 30,000 Ancestral Puebloan ruins, and more being found. Humans have been here for 12,000 years. Starting around 750 AD they started farming and building homes, starting with clustered pit houses –…