Cliffs of insanity: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
June 11, 2023 After kicking off our national parks tour at Great Sand Dunes in southern Colorado, we headed west to another park we’d never visited: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The thrillingly steep canyon walls, black and forbidding, so sheer the sun rarely touches both sides at ...
Kicking off our western national parks tour at Great Sand Dunes
June 08, 2023 Exploring national parks has always been one of our family’s favorite vacation activities. You get to immerse yourself in awe-inspiring landscapes, hike scenic trails, see wildlife like bears and bison, eagles and prairie dogs, and just soak up the beauty of the land. This spring my husband ...
Exploring Portal Potty and more at Creek Show 2022
November 20, 2022 A chilly drizzle on Friday couldn’t keep me from seeing Waterloo Greenway’s Creek Show, an “annual display of illuminated art” along the banks of downtown Austin’s Waller Creek. I go every year with family or friends to explore the creative light sculptures. Last year’s Creek Show abandoned ...
Autumn gardens and biking at Biltmore House
November 17, 2022 During our visit to Asheville, North Carolina, earlier this month, we spent one day at Biltmore House — but not to see the castle-like chateau erected by the New York-based Vanderbilts as their summer place. We’ve toured the house before, and it’s interesting, but I didn’t feel ...
Historic adobe church and soaring gorge bridge near Taos
October 03, 2022 Even if you haven’t visited the old adobe mission in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, you’ll likely recognize it. Ansel Adams photographed the church in 1929, and Georgia O’Keeffe painted it in 1930, making it famous to this day. Ranchos Church, New Mexico by Georgia O’Keeffe. Amon ...
Shady oasis with folk art and inviting central patio
July 20, 2022 The exuberantly planted and decorated garden of Jim Ottney and Jay Hatheway has secret hideaway vibes. Located at the end of a dead-end street in charming Stoughton, Wisconsin, 20 miles southeast of Madison, the garden hides behind a screen of trees and shrubs. A winding path leads ...
Texas Water Safari race on the San Marcos River
June 16, 2022 When it’s over 100F for days on end, the timing is excellent for a weekend getaway to a Central Texas river house. And when that house sits along the spring-fed San Marcos River, flowing at a refreshing 75 degrees, with Hometree-sized bald cypresses spreading feathery shade from ...
At the Wildflower Center with Jennifer Jewell
June 04, 2022 When Jennifer Jewell of Cultivating Place came to Austin a month ago, we visited the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center together. I enjoy showing visitors around our state botanical garden, planted exclusively with native Texas plants. In early May, the late-spring wildflowers were in party mode. Wildflowers ...
Wildflower Center abloom in early April
April 23, 2022 Claret cup cactus flowering at the top of the Wildflower Center tower I’m overdue for a visit to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center — and it’s only been two weeks since I was there! But a lot happens in April and May. What was blooming two ...
Piet Oudolf meadow in fall bloom at Delaware Botanic Gardens
March 15, 2022 The last public garden I visited on my road trip down the East Coast last October was newly opened Delaware Botanic Gardens in Dagsboro, Delaware. The big draw? A 2-acre meadow designed by revered Dutch plantsman Piet Oudolf, who also designed the plantings of the High Line ...
Creative paths and cutting garden glory at Chanticleer
March 03, 2022 Chanticleer Garden enchants through marvelous plant combos and artful garden spaces that evoke a sense of mystery, romance, and discovery. I visited Chanticleer, located in Wayne, Pennsylvania, on my East Coast road trip last fall. This is Part 6 — and the finale — of my blog ...
Garden path wonderland at Paxson Hill Farm, part 3
February 15, 2022 My detour to Paxson Hill Farm‘s beautiful and imaginative gardens in New Hope, Pennsylvania, proved to be a highlight of my big road trip last October. Here’s Part 3 of my tour. Click here for Part 1 and Part 2. Railroad tie path Leaving the hobbit house ...
New Year’s Eve hike at McKinney Falls
January 01, 2022 Upper Falls pool at McKinney Falls State Park As the second year of the pandemic sputtered to a sour end, with covid rates skyrocketing yet again, I turned to nature for a spirit-soothing New Year’s Eve hike with my family. Around noon we arrived at McKinney Falls ...
Yucca and palm fantasyland at John Fairey Garden
December 17, 2021 I’d been to The John Fairey Garden (formerly Peckerwood Garden) a half-dozen times before my late-October visit with Loree Bohl of Danger Garden, who was in town to give a Garden Spark talk. Frustratingly, I’d never toured the dry garden, though I’d glimpse its bristling yuccas and ...
Looking inward at Innisfree Garden, part 2
December 10, 2021 Today I’m continuing with part 2 of my tour of Innisfree, a public garden in New York’s Hudson Valley. Inspired by Chinese strolling gardens, the naturalistic garden rambles around a glacial lake, with small “cup gardens” to discover along the way. Click here to read part 1 ...
Autumn turns New Hampshire’s White Mountains orange, crimson, and gold
November 08, 2021 New England’s fall color — with trees flaming out orange, red, and gold — is famous worldwide. Two years ago I started planning a bucket-list trip to see it and settled on the White Mountains of New Hampshire in early October. Covid bumped the trip back a ...
