mid-February, 2024, Aston PA For more years than I can count (more than 17!), the number 17 has been my favorite numeral, my go-to answer...

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new...

Go for a walk outdoors. Reconnect with the feeling of the wind blowing through your hair. Listen to the birds that live in a tree in your...

20 November 2023 With my 60-Ways Challenge behind me, people delight in asking, "What's next?" Such a good question, one for which I do...

Saturday, 14 October 2023 Given the twice-a-week schedules for the only flights into American Samoa from the states, I faced three more...

Thursday, 11:00 p.m. 12 October 2023, American Samoa Okay, I'm here. Luggage has arrived and cleared customs. Now how do I get to my...

early November 2023, home Trying to get used to a new 'normal', without the weight of 'the next parks' hanging over me. I still have to...

Thursday, 12 October 2023 - traveling After twenty months of flying coast-to-coast-to-coast, chasing special lands across the country, I...

Wednesday, 11 October 2023, Florissant Fossil Beds NM Fall foliage has passed peak in these arid hills. Trees have a few spindly,...

You don’t have to be good at everything in your life, but it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy new experiences even if you are not good at...

early October 2023 While we ate dinner with Scott and his wife in Hotchkiss, Scott asked the question I have received so many times: "So...

Location, Location, Location Saturday, 7 October 2023, Mesa Verde NP We pulled into Mesa Verde, the country's 8th oldest national park...

You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide [or canyon?], overthinking it. You have to go down the chute. - Tina Fey...

Held in a late season At a shifting of worlds, In the golden balance of autumn, Out of love and reason We made our peace. - Richard O....

Thursday, 5 October 2023, Rocky Mountain NP Far more people visit the east (Estes Park) side of RMNP than do the western side. Often...

PREFACE: How could this happen? I'd taken 15 trips over the past year and a half, visiting 58 of 63 parks, seeing spectacular and...

Saturday, 16 September 2023, Voyageurs NP I remember the ranger in Florida who told me, "The grand parks out west - think Glacier,...

Friday, 15 September 2023, Voyageurs NP Such a struggle. Do I push to fit in as much touristing as possible during my fleeting visits to...

Wednesday, 13 September 2023, Bayfield WI I scored the co-pilot seat on the seaplane back to Houghton - the final planned small plane...

Tuesday, 12 September 2023, Isle Royale NP So nice to wake up to the sound of waves breaking on the rocks below my balcony. A sound that...