Wilderness Wandering

Monday, January 27,2025 We flew from San Francisco direct to Maui, Hawaii. The flight was about 5.5 hours and we gained 2 hours in time zones, so we arrived early afternoon. We picked up our rental car and decided to start our visit by driving to the top of the Haleakala volcano.   Haleakala National…

Thursday, January 23,2025 We departed from Milwaukee. It was sunny and cold in WI.  We flew to San Francisco via Seattle. Our flights went smoothly and we arrived and picked up our rental car and drove to our hotel close to the airport for the night. We rented from Alamo Rental Car and they let…

Trains, ferries and taxis Friday, January 3, 2025 Happy New Year! We started off 2025 with a visit to Virgin Islands National Park. This was our 50th park! We flew out of Milwaukee very early in the morning. We changed planes at O’Hare and then flew direct to St. Thomas. It was an almost 5…

October 26, 2024 We spent two fantastic days with our friends Pam and Jon near Chattanooga, TN. Tim displayed admirable discipline and refrained from purchasing any new bicycles. He did however meet some very interesting guys who have spent their lives in the cycling industry.   Three hours later we arrived at Mammoth Cave National…

October 20,2024  This park is big and it is beautiful, and CROWDED! We started the day with a 90 minute drive to the south entrance of Great Smoky Mountains NP.  We drove straight to the Visitor Center and stamped the passport. A wonderful Ranger showed us which sections of the park were still closed after…

We began the day at the annual Bridge Day Festival at New River Gorge. We were back to the van at 11:45 AM. I put the address for Congaree National Park into the navigation and it was a 5 hour and 3 minute drive, which would put us arriving a few minutes before their 5 PM closing time. …

October 17, 2024 NRG is the newest national park. And despite the name, the New River is the oldest river in the western hemisphere. Interestingly, the New River, like the oldest river in the world, the Nile River, runs south to north.  New River Gorge was named a national park in 2020 to preserve the…

October 14, 2024 As Yosemite and Yellowstone captured the imaginations of Americans and showcased the wonders of the American West, there were no parks in the east where the vast majority of the population lived. Shenandoah was created to bring the national park experience to people living in the east.  We arrived about sunset on…

October 13,2024 We left Cleveland in the dark as a thunderstorm was letting up.  We drove through OH, PA, MD, VA and over the border of WV. We decided to stop at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park en route to Shenandoah. We drove through the entrance gate about 1:30 PM. The parking was a zoo! We…

October 11, 2024 Cuyahoga Valley is an urban park. It covers 33,000 acres.  It is the 12th most visited park in the system, with more than 2 million visitors per year.  It was established to preserve the heritage of The Cuyahoga River and the Ohio and Erie Canal. The region’s industrial development harmed the river.…