From National Parks

January 30, 2018

Oregon Trail, a National Historic Trail

The Trail we hear about most often, and the one we ran across most in our time out west, is the Oregon Trail. People used the Oregon Trail to get to California (California Trail) and to Utah (Mormon Pioneer Trail). But we seem to use the Oregon Trail is our generic name for all the …

January 29, 2018

Scotts Bluff National Monument Nebraska

Scotts Bluff National Monument was our final National Park site in Nebraska. After the wind at Fort Laramie and the snow at Agate Fossil Beds, we were hoping for a warmer welcome at Scotts Bluff. Scotts Bluff towers 800 feet above the North Platte River Valley and can be seen for miles as you approach. …

January 25, 2018

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in Nebraska

About 20 million years ago drought struck the western Nebraska plains. Deprived of food, hundreds of animals died around a few shallow water holes. Time buried their skeletons beneath layers of silt and sand. Today Agate Fossil Beds National Monument preserves one of these ancient waterholes with its hundreds of fossilized skeletons. The Agate Fossil …

January 24, 2018

Fort Laramie National Historic Site Wyoming

After leaving Idaho, Tom and I drove through the northeast corner of Utah and all the way across Wyoming. We parked the RV just across the Wyoming line in Nebraska and then spent several days exploring the National Park Sites in the area. We started with Fort Laramie National Historic Site in Wyoming. Fort Laramie began …

January 22, 2018

Government Shutdown Week One

Because we work in National Parks, Tom and I are affected by the government shutdown which started Saturday. I am hoping by the time this post comes up, we will be back at work. But I have been known to be unrealistically optimistic. I always think those who are running the government should be able …

January 17, 2018

City of Rocks National Reserve, Idaho

We managed to hit all the National Park sites in Idaho during our short visit there. Nez Perce, Craters of the Moon, Minidoka, Hagerman Fossil Beds, and the four National Trails. Our last National Park site to visit was City of Rocks National Reserve. City of Rocks is another kind of partnership in the National …

January 16, 2018

Minidoka National Historic Site

During World War II, 110,000 American citizens of Japanese descent were incarcerated. Their crime? Looking like the enemy. With little notice, they were forced to abandon their homes and businesses and move to internment camps. Of course, like the Indian reservations, these internment camps were built where no white people wanted to live. Instead of …

January 15, 2018

California National Historic Trail

When last we left our heroes, they were pulling their covered wagon east as they headed for Ohio and a return to their old life . . . . The opposite direction the pioneers went as they rode in covered wagons west searching for a new life. As Tom and I explored Idaho, Wyoming, and …

December 30, 2017

Six Favorite Places of 2017

At the end of every year, since I retired, I write about the favorite places we visited in the previous year. You can read the previous years’ posts here for 2015 and 2016. You can also see where we have been in a year by clicking on the maps at the top of this page. I …

December 27, 2017

James Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor, Ohio

Last Friday we picked up Mom and Dad and two of their friends, Bev and Bruce, and headed up north to visit the James Garfield National Historic Site. The Garfield site is located in Mentor, Ohio, which is the heart of the snow belt. Tom checked the forecast and said it wouldn’t snow until after …