Adventures on the way to WA

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Trip start
May 23, 2025
Adventures on the way to WA Traveler
Let's go!
May 23, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 88 °F
Car is packed, Sorren has her supervisor spot of honor... Let's go home to WA for the summer!
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Adventures on the way to WA Traveler
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First stop - food for the soul
May 23, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 93 °F
First stop - Casa de Janna & Andy to fuel the soul (and the belly!) for the trip ahead. So long and thanks for all the road snacks!

The pics are from Paynes Prairie. When I was in college.. It was actually a prairie. A few hurricanes ago, it became a huge lake replete with a zillion alligators. The water has been slowly receding over the last couple of years... Pretty interesting to watch it change over time as I drive through here on my trips to the PNW.Read more
Traveler That log looking thingie is the only gator I saw this time. The last few times through here, they were everywhere. Interesting!
5/24/25Reply
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Adventures on the way to WA Traveler
FL to LA... Go go go!
May 24, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F
Day 2 was a driving day. Nature made her presence very noticeable with a killer thunderstorm with nearly zero visibility on the way though Mississippi. I would like to lodge a complaint that we did not receive a pretty rainbow as a participation trophy.

Off early in the morning to get to Fort Stockton, TX. Then the fun begins!Read more
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Adventures on the way to WA Traveler
Drive it like you stole it
May 25, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 97 °F
Today was another long day of driving.
1) I did hit the Katy, TX Buc-ees for more road snacks (don't give me that look. I NEEDED the Bohemian Garlic jerky and the chocolate covered almonds to supplement all the other road snacks. It was a necessity).
2) I found the CUTEST rest stop in Guadalupe County, TX. You heard right ...rest stop. The architecture was lovely - bright and airy with gorgeous wood and tall windows. And it had some interesting educational exhibits... And a nature trail! As I was hiking along it, 2 deer tore across a meadow at full speed. Of course, this intrigued our intrepid heroine and off I went to see if I could see what set them off. Probably for the best that I did not find a scary beastie.Read more
TravelerA hike and a Buc-ees pitstop!
5/27/25Reply
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Adventures on the way to WA Traveler
Daytime in Big Bend NP
May 26, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F
Spent the afternoon exploring Big Bend by daylight. I loved the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive... so much to see from volcanic fields to mountains to fossils and canyons. I stopped a million times to walk around a bit although the heat made that a challenge. It hit 100 and man did it feel it.

Next up ... Big Bend by Night! This is an International Dark Skies park so wish me luck in staying up to midnight for the best viewing.Read more
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Adventures on the way to WA Traveler
Big Bend After Dark
May 26, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 86 °F
You guys!!!! So I didn't realize this when I planned an overnight in Big Bend NP...but it's an International Dark Skies Park! AND...I didn't know it when I planned the trip but this was evidently the best place in the lower 48 states and the best time (new moon) to see the Milky Way. AND I was able to score a room at the lodge because it was supposed to be shut down for renovations so I stumbled on a window of availability when they opened it back up. I was meant to be there last night!

I made friends with an awesome couple from Minneapolis and Samantha was an amateur astromer/photographer... We had a lovely conversation, exchanged emails and book recommendations. Fingers crossed that she got some great shots and sends my way!

So the best viewing was at 2 am. With a long drive the next day, I decided that midnight was the better part of valor. I started off to go to a viewing spot about 30 minutes away (the super cool fossil pavilion) when I recalled that the way to the lodge was steep with many hairpin turns and no rails. This plan seemed a bit reckless so I pulled into a pull out, opened the moon roof and gazed at the stars for a while. I got to see a grey fox on the way back! And according to my new friend Samantha, the trail to the Window (awesome sunset view point) was the best spot to see the show anyway...so off I went with my trusty red light head lamp, my camera (phone) and an eager heart. No bears were seen on this expedition (there are bear crossing signs everywhere) but I did share the path with a beauty.

While I can't be completely certain, I'm fairly certain that I saw the Milky Way. Regardless... The show was spectacular! I headed to bed about 1 am with a full heart and recharged spirit.

My phone obviously couldn't capture the splendor of the universe ...But we gave it a valiant try. Such an amazing night!Read more
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Adventures on the way to WA Traveler
Will it be Truth or Consequences?
May 27, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 90 °F
Road day today but I ran across a couple of interesting and unexpected finds along the way.

As I left Big Bend, there was a sign for the Terlingua Ghost Town down a side road. So of course I had to take the sharp left and go explore. It wasn't the Western ghost town of fictional lore, but it was quite interesting. The ruins of old stone houses litter the landscape amongst run down but inhabited houses and trailers. There was even a little shopping center. Now that's integrated living!

Next up, I'm tooling down Texas 183 (I think) and pass a series of billboard style pop-up art. Luckily the highway was pretty deserted and not divided (one lane each way but still 75 mph speed limit. Vroom vroom!) so I could do a u-turn (shhh) and go back to check this out. Very well done and included music through camouflaged speakers. No signs about the why this was here... So I enjoyed the quirkiness and headed back on the road. The video captured the music... So funny! Here is a link to an article about it - super interesting! https://www.dallasnews.com/photos/2023/04/28/ph…

Next interesting sight... Is it a blimp? Some strange weather balloon? An alien craft? I am voting for option 3 as...I found it's companion at a crazy little shop in Truth or Consequences, where aliens greeted me at the door. Oh! And lots of dust devils along the way which I found pretty interesting. Yeah, I know...it doesn't take much.

Finally made it to my home for the night...A YURT in Truth or Consequences, NM. I've always wanted to stay in one. Check!Read more
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Adventures on the way to WA Traveler
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We're off to see the Petrified Forest!
May 28, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 82 °F
"The drive through the park takes about an hour," says the Park Ranger. 3 hours later, I'm staggering out of the Petrified Forest National Park replete with wonder and a zillion photos. Culling the batch down to 20 is gonna be tough!

Between the Painted Desert, the crystal forests, the amazing vistas...I fell in love with this park. Taking some extra time here made for a very long day, but it was worth it.Read more
Traveler How is she so clean?? You must be doing something wrong..not enough dirt roads yet
5/30/25Reply
Traveler She recently got a bath on the way. 🤣
5/30/25Reply
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Adventures on the way to WA Traveler
Standing near the corner of Winslow, AZ
May 28, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F
Meteor Crater, baby! As if my SciFi nerd heart could pass up the chance to see a huge meteor crater...which happens to be sort of on the corner of Winslow, AZ so it checked 2 boxes. This was a pretty cool stop!Read more
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Adventures on the way to WA Traveler
On the road again
May 28, 2025 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 72 °F
The drive from the Meteor Crater to Kanab, UT was pretty interesting! I drove from the desert, across forested mountains and back to the desert. While today's adventure made for a long road day, it was totally worth it! Oh and I got to skirt the Grand Canyon on the way through. I thought hard about popping into the park as I was right there... But the day was already long enough and it's one I've seen. When I go back, I'll spend more time.Read more
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Adventures on the way to WA Traveler
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Hoodoo you love in Bryce Canyon NP?
May 29, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F
So I learned today that the amazing rock formations in Bryce Canyon (which isn't really a canyon as it's not formed by water) NP are called hoodoos. And that Bryce Canyon has the biggest collection of these whimsical pieces of natural art!

I spent a lovely few hours exploring the park via shuttle... Which I highly recommend for anyone visiting it in the summer. They run every 15 minutes, run to the core vistas and are air conditioned. Hop on, hop off as much as you like!

The hoodoos are amazing... Sorry for all the pictures. Winnowing them down was hard! I did a short rim hike from Inspiration Point to Sunset Point - so very cool!

Other fun fact - the teepee-like piles of wood everywhere served 2 purposes. 1) They gathered up dead fall to help control fires and 2) turns out that the tree-killing beetles like the dead fall...so they can burn the pile and beetles at the same time.Read more
TravelerYou're so punny...lol
5/30/25Reply
Traveler I want one! Guess we will have to hit a NP this summer and collect some stickas!
5/30/25Reply
Traveler It's from nps.alt - they are doing some great work keeping people informed of what's happening that we don't see.
5/30/25Reply
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Adventures on the way to WA Traveler
The lonely road to Baker
May 29, 2025 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 82 °F
Baker is the jumping off point for Great Basin National Park so we zoomed that way after our Bryce Canyon adventures. This was my first RoadTrippers fail but wasn't a big deal. The RoadTrippers app thought it was a 7 hour drive from Bryce Canton to Baker so I hoofed it through the main sights there as quickly as I could so I didn't get in too late. Turns out that Google disagreed and it was only a 3.5 hour drive. Having an early day after yesterday's very long one sounded pretty good though! Plus I'm staying at a casino/motel so that sounded fun (this was also the first hotel fail but it'll be fine... it's only 1 night).

The drive here was pretty awesome...through mountain passes and deserts...and through a big hole in the rock at one point! I had the road to myself for almost all of the journey aside from a road visit from some bovine friends.Read more
TravelerCan't wait to hear about the Hotel fail lol
5/30/25Reply
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Adventures on the way to WA Traveler
Great peek into Great Basin NP
May 30, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
After surviving my motel/casino fail, I headed out to Great Basin NP what I thought was a little early. Turns out that there is no entrance gate so I was able to get a jump on the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. And what a scenic drive it was! I had the hair pin turns and wildlife on the road all to myself on the way up. I'd show you pictures, but this was a both hands on the wheel trek. The summit is 10,000 feet...super pretty! I did a short hike and had breakfast by a lovely little stream.

After the drive, I headed for the Visitors Center because you can never have too many NP shirts. I was lucky enough to score a last minute ticket for the next Lehman Cave tour and off I went into the deep (well...not really so deep but just go with it, k?). Very cool cave decorations and a small group of bats - what's not to love?!Read more
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Adventures on the way to WA Traveler
Home for the summer!
May 31, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F
Today was a long drive day but made it to my summer HQ at Casa de Cheryl and Gianna in beautiful Anacortes, WA. I'm sad the road trip bubble has burst but happy to be here. Tomorrow is settle in day then back to reality on Monday.

Hope y'all enjoyed sharing the trip with me!Read more
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Trip end
May 31, 2025