We’ve been home about two weeks. We got back in the late afternoon so we unpacked the car right away. There was a lot to unpack, we’d been living out of that car for six weeks. Continue reading Back Home Again →

Contrary to Bugs Bunny, we did turn left in Albuquerque and began heading homeward. We had over 3,000 km (1,800 miles) ahead of us. What new discoveries awaited? Continue reading Make a left turn at Albuquerque … →

Amid all the natural beauty of the Southwest sits the town that saw the birth of the atomic age, Los Alamos, New Mexico. It was here that a group of brilliant scientists were secretly brought together during the Second World War to develop an atomic bomb. Continue reading Los Alamos – Cradle of the atomic age →

To attend one of the premier events of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, the largest balloon festival in the world, you have to get up well before dawn, around 4:30 a.m. By 5 a.m., traffic is backed up onto I-25 and police and volunteers are directing cars to parking areas. Continue reading The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta →

After eight days exploring spectacular national parks and seven nights in a tent, some of them with temperatures barely above freezing, I was ready for the comforts of a hotel room. I love the wilderness, but a real bed is pretty cool too.

Santa Fe, New Mexico, calls itself the city different. It’s over 400 years old, Continue reading Santa Fe – the city different →

I have been fascinated by the Ancestral Puebloans since my university days. Why did this ancient civilization of the Southwest build entire communities in alcoves on the face of sheer canyon walls 800 years ago and then abandon them?

Mesa Verde National Park was established in 1906 to “preserve the works of man;” the first national park to incorporate this mission. It has nearly 5,000 Ancestral Puebloans sites, many of them cliff dwellings. Continue reading Mesa Verde – Palaces of the ancients →

If you’ve ever seen Westerns where the cowboys and Indians ride across vast plains dotted with flat-topped mountains that seem to have erupted randomly out of the ground, you’ve seen Monument Valley.

Monument Valley is entirely in Navajo tribal land and, except for a 17-mile loop, you can’t access it without being accompanied by a Navajo guide. Continue reading Monument Valley →

One of the places I heard about the most before leaving on this great Southwestern tour was Antelope Canyon and what everyone said was “You’ve got to go.” Continue reading Antelope Canyon done differently →

I had formed an impression of Sedona before I got there. A beautiful natural setting, a stodgy retirement community that exudes money, a place that’s touristy and over-hyped. My impression was only partly right. Continue reading Surprising Sedona →

Quite simply, it’s grand. The scale of the canyon is hard to grasp. When early explorers first saw the canyon, they thought it was about a mile across. In fact, it’s ten miles across.

There’s nothing quite like the first sight of it. Continue reading Grand Canyon →