Category: State & National Parks
Montezuma Castle and Well N.M., AZ…
January 31, 2012 by Dana Ticknor · Leave a Comment
While we were in the beautiful Verde Valley a couple of weeks ago, we were sure to visit Montezuma Castle and Well National Monuments in addition to Tuzigoot N.M. We were glad that we did Tuzigoot first, because, while it is interesting and a great place to visit, it doesn’t hold a candle to Montezuma Castle! Course, the nice thing about Tuzigoot is that you can walk to and in the actual ruins, while the Castle is up out of reach. Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well are one park on the NPS webpage, and they share a Jr. Ranger program, but they are in separate locations about 6 miles apart. We went to the castle first. Montezuma Castle is an incredible cliff dwelling. We have seen quite a few cliff dwellings over the last couple of years; in fact, when I told the kids that we were going to MC, and that is was a cliff dwelling, I had a couple of kids that said, “not another cliff dwelling!” LOL! So, spirits as they were, I drug them along anyway so that we could earn... [Read more...]
Mount Mitchell Drive Receives Scenic Byway Designation
January 30, 2012 by Rex Vogel · Leave a Comment
The Mount Mitchell Scenic Drive is the latest route to receive an official “scenic byway” designation from the state of North Carolina. Recognized for its outstanding beauty and unique cultural features, this 52-mile drive begins atop 6,684-foot Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi and traverses a national forest, state park, and National Park Service land. Welcome to Mount Mitchell State Park. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved “It’s a beautiful corridor for a number of reasons,” says Jeff Lackey, manager of scenic byways for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). ”It has scenic quality, and also a tremendous amount of cultural and historical aspects, which is rare in a byway experience.” “When you go around every curve, you’ll find something new and interesting,” says Wanda Proffitt, a local DOT board member and advocate of the route. The route begins on N.C. 128 in Yancey County atop Mount... [Read more...]
Tuzigoot National Monument and Jerome, AZ…
January 28, 2012 by Dana Ticknor · 4 Comments
We recently spent a week and a half near Cottonwood, AZ (which is located between Sedona and Prescott). Because of it’s elevation of 3300 feet, the nights were chilly, some of them getting below freezing enough that we would have to unhook our water overnight. Despite it being cooler than I had anticipated, we still enjoyed our visit very much, and the days warmed enough that, during a few of them, the kids wore out the rope swing hanging temptingly out over the creek that bordered the park, and the kids spent many afternoons at the basketball court and playground. We had such a fun time meeting a few other fulltime traveling families, and we had the opportunity to spend a morning with my aunt and uncle that live in Prescott. We also took a few days to check out the surrounding area; and found that Cottonwood boasts quite a lot to do within a short distance! One of the first places in the Verde Valley that we went to was Tuzigoot National Monument. Tuzigoot is a 110 room pueblo... [Read more...]
Death Valley National Park…
January 25, 2012 by Dana Ticknor · 3 Comments
One of the National Parks that has surprised me the most was Death Valley. I expected it to be a vast valley with nothing but barren sand dunes for miles and miles. I didn’t give it much thought, but just figured that it was worthy of it’s National Park status due to the fact that it is deemed the hottest spot in the United States. And to be honest, the only reason that we gave it a day’s worth of our time was because we are on a mission to collect Jr. Ranger badges from every National Park that offers them! view from the Furnace Creek visitor's center Since the park covers 3 million acres of land, there is plenty of park to explore! We drove in through Death Valley Junction from Pahrump. We left with enough fuel to last the day, and that is one tip that I would highly recommend for anyone driving the park – it’s a big park! While there is fuel at Stovepipe Wells, it is about $1.50 more per gallon than if you just fill up before leaving... [Read more...]
Crater of Diamonds State Park Report Successful Year
January 22, 2012 by Rex Vogel · 2 Comments
Looking back over the past 12 months, the year 2011 has been a successful one for park visitors who hunted for diamonds in the 37 ½-acre search area at Arkansas’s diamond site, the Crater of Diamonds State Park. David Anderson with his recent find, a 3.83-carat diamond he named the Wolverine Diamond. (Credit: katv.com) According to Park Superintendent Justin Dorsey, over 500 diamonds were found by visitors last year. Of the year’s diamond finds, 30 weighed over a carat each. The year’s largest diamond find was an 8.66-carat white diamond found in April. And on December 12, David Anderson of Murfreesboro found the year’s 535th diamond. His 3.83-carat pear-shaped, yellow diamond marks the fourth largest find for the year. Park Interpreter Margi Jenks said, “This has been a great year for our park visitors here at the Crater of Diamonds. During every month this year, a visitor unearthed a diamond weighing over a carat. And in April, six diamonds weighed over a carat including the... [Read more...]
Yuma Named Sunniest Place in America
January 14, 2012 by Rex Vogel · Leave a Comment
The sun is out and the weather is great, just like any other day in Yuma, Arizona. The Territorial Prison, also known as "Hell Hole" and "Devil's Island" opened in the Arizona desert on July 1, 1876 when the first 7 inmates entered the prison and they were locked into the new cells they built themselves. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved It should not surprise anyone that US News and World Report again named Yuma as the number one “sunniest place” in America to spend their golden years. Yuma’s wonderfully temperate winter climate also makes this southeastern Arizona city a popular destination for snowbirds escaping their cold winter homes. Arizona’s warmest winter city and the sunniest year-round spot in the U.S., Yuma has an annual average of 4,133 hours of sunshine. Yuma has a classic low desert climate with extremely low relative humidity and very high summer temperatures. Located at the confluence of the Gila and Colorado rivers, Yuma began as a... [Read more...]
Stunning Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada
January 11, 2012 by Dana Ticknor · Leave a Comment
During our recent stay in Las Vegas, we were looking for some family friendly places to visit. While we had noticed Valley of Fire NV State Park in our atlases, we really didn’t have a great desire to visit it. The surrounding landscape didn’t seem overly scenic when we had driven by the exit to the park off the Interstate, and we had not seen any overly inviting advertising of the park. Our oldest son had flown out to spend his 2 week Christmas break from Basic Training with us, and the day that he had to fly back, we really needed something to keep our minds off of missing him. Valley of Fire was about all we had left on our list of places that we would like to visit near Las Vegas. We had already been to Lake Mead, Red Rock Canyon, and Hoover Dam (which is NOT ideal to visit during Christmas vacation!). Needing to get out of the ‘house’, we packed a lunch and drove northeast of town, over an up and down, windy little road until we entered a shallow... [Read more...]
The Gorgeous Red Rock Canyon, NV…
December 30, 2011 by Dana Ticknor · 4 Comments
While we were staying in Las Vegas, Nevada, this past week, we took a little drive out of town to visit the beautiful Red Rock Canyon. RRC is a National Conservation Area (the land is managed by BLM) so we were able to get in for free with our National Parks Access Pass; otherwise, admittance for your vehicle is $7. We first made a stop at the modern visitor’s center, where the younger kids did a scavenger hunt – RRC is working on a Jr. Ranger program but is is not completed yet. At the visitor’s center there were a few fun, interactive activities like making rubbings off of (reproduction) petroglyphs, and looking at pollen and insect wings through microscopes. Outside of the visitor’s center is an easy, handicap accessible walk through a very nice courtyard full of displays and statues (in the courtyard were all the animals that the kids had to find for their scavenger hunt). While we were at the visitor’s center, we also picked up a NV state... [Read more...]
A News Flash on Alaska’s National Parks
December 29, 2011 by Melissa A. Trainer · Leave a Comment
Exit Glacier, Alaska When I checked my electronic inbox yesterday, I found an informative news release from John Quinley, who is the Assistant Regional Director, Communications and Partnerships, of the Alaska Regional National Park Service. In his release, Mr. Quinley reported that the Alaska region of the National Park Service saw about 2.32 million recreational visits in 2011. This was an increase of about 2% from 2010. The two parks with the largest increases for 2011 were Kenai Fjords National Park, which is headquartered in Seward, and Denali National Park. Both of these parks are on the road system in Alaska so they are fairly easy to access with a car, trailer, or RV. I have had the good fortune of visiting both of these parks with my children at my side. I first visited them during the summer of 2006. Our family camping trip to Denali was a highlight that summer and indeed my children still talk about it. Last July, we returned to Alaska and while we were staying in Anchorage,... [Read more...]
A Really Nasty Bug
December 28, 2011 by Professor95 · 6 Comments
A winter-night’s dream finds me walking through the middle of a tall grassy field ablaze with warm sunshine, songbirds singing, and butterflies darting about. Nearby is a brook overflowing with large rainbow trout hungry for the fly on the end of my line. As the sun sets, we will dine on trout cooked over glowing campfire embers. . My dream excludes the reality of chiggers, ticks, mosquitoes, gnats, wasps, spiders, and biting flies also enjoying the habitat and dining on me as I reach out for my dream. Like it or not, we share the world with bugs and their presence can make our real life experiences a lot less pleasant if control measures are not taken. Adult EAB with wings open One insect, or bug, that has recently changed the landscape of at least fifteen eastern states and parts of Canada is the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire – an exotic beetle that was first discovered in southeastern Michigan near Detroit in the summer of 2002. By exotic, I mean... [Read more...]
