A close encounter with Devils Tower in Wyoming
September 18, 2018 The ultimate destination on our mother-daughter road trip through the Great American West last month was Devils Tower National Monument in northeastern Wyoming. (Yes, the lack of apostrophe is the correct geographic spelling.) I’ve wanted to see it for years, ever since it appeared as a hub ...
Mount Rushmore musings during Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
September 14, 2018 When my daughter and I set off on a hastily planned, pre-college road trip through the Great American West, we didn’t know thousands of motorcyclists participating in the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally would be accompanying us, roaring along the scenic highways in their black tees, denim, and leather, ...
Playing in The Gardens on Spring Creek in Fort Collins
September 12, 2018 During our Great American West road trip last month, my daughter and I passed through charming Fort Collins, Colorado, and visited The Gardens on Spring Creek, the city’s community-oriented botanic garden. The entry garden was ablaze with late-summer flowers like purple coneflower, rudbeckia, and cleome. Pink cleome ...
On the trail in Eldorado Canyon near Boulder, Colorado
September 01, 2018 Two weeks ago, my youngest left for college. Three weeks ago we spontaneously took a Great American West road trip up through Colorado, South Dakota, and Wyoming, seeking out lonely but epic scenery. For me it was also, of course, about putting off the blues of her ...
Cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park
August 26, 2016 Yesterday the U.S. National Park Service celebrated its centennial. My family and I love visiting national parks, and during our recent road trip through New Mexico and up to Durango, Colorado, we couldn’t pass up the chance to see a new one (to us): Mesa Verde National ...
Visit to Denver Botanic Gardens: Water-Smart Garden, Wildflower Treasures & more
July 19, 2012 It seems kind of stay-at-home-ish to admit that my absolute favorite garden at Denver Botanic Gardens, which I visited earlier this month, is the one that looks almost like it could be in central Texas—with the addition of conifers and an intensity of color that we rarely ...
Visit to Denver Botanic Gardens: Plains Garden, Rock Alpine Garden & Dryland Mesa
July 18, 2012 The more naturalistic, dryland gardens were my favorite parts of Denver Botanic Gardens, which I visited earlier this month. By naturalistic I don’t mean, of course, that these gardens are any less designed. They are beautifully designed, and the high-country plants growing in them sparkled in the ...
Visit to Denver Botanic Gardens: Romantic Garden & more
July 17, 2012 The Romantic Garden at Denver Botanic Gardens, which I visited earlier this month, is not festooned with the traditional roses, wisteria, and clematis. In dry, high country style, feathery grasses mingle with aromatic salvias, prairie wildflowers, and felt-leaved lamb’s ears. Accenting the garden beds stand a handful ...
Visit to Denver Botanic Gardens: Grasses & cholla for Foliage Follow-Up
July 16, 2012 Yesterday’s post about my recent visit to Denver Botanic Gardens was flower-powerful in honor of Bloom Day. Today, for Foliage Follow-Up, I’m focusing on a hillside swath of two grasses and a prickly southwestern native, both of which thrilled me—meaning I took lots of pictures. Fab foliage, ...
Visit to Denver Botanic Gardens: Sun-drenched perennial borders
July 15, 2012 Before vacationing in Rocky Mountain National Park earlier this month, we stopped in Denver to visit the Denver Botanic Gardens, which I’d long wanted to see. Though the day grew hot, reaching 100 degrees F, the gardens did not disappoint, glowing with high-country color against a bright-blue ...
Rocky Mountain National Park: Bear Lake, wildlife, and tundra
July 12, 2012 My family and I recently enjoyed a nearly two-week vacation in Colorado, and I’d love to share some photos from Rocky Mountain National Park, a favorite destination for this Texan looking to escape the heat for a little while. Bear Lake Trail is an easy hike around ...
Yellowstone National Park, an American safari
October 16, 2009 Before I ever went on safari in Tanzania’s national parks, I traveled with my family to Yellowstone in mid-May of 2000 and saw so many large mammals that I felt as if I were on safari in the American West. Winter had only just released its grip ...
High in Rocky Mountain National Park
October 13, 2009 Bierstadt Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado After Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which figured prominently in my childhood travels, Rocky Mountain National Park is the one I’ve visited most often. New Yorkers head for Florida in the summer, right? Well, Texans head for Colorado. If you ...
