When we planned our trip to hike the Big Five national parks in Utah last May, we picked St. George as our last stop because it was a short drive to Zion National Park. This small city in the southwest corner of the state was also within just a couple hours drive of Las Vegas, where we would catch a flight back home. We were so surprised by how beautiful the area around St. George was that we put our hiking boots back on....
“Utah has the best rocks.” That’s what my friend Shellie told me when she learned about my plans to visit the Mighty 5 National Parks in Utah on a road trip last May. I laughed and nodded. But I didn’t really understand what she meant until we turned south on Utah 128, not long after crossing into the state on I-70 from Colorado. We’d just driven through the magnificent Rocky Mountains from Denver. We’d gaped at several 14-teeners, wound around numerous lofty cliffs, and...
I love mysteries, whether they unfold on the page or echo from a craggy rock formation in the high desert of southwestern Colorado. Crisp, fall air drew me to the twin peaks of Chimney Rock National Monument last fall, during a road trip through New Mexico and Colorado. After clambering up the steep trail to the top for a 360-degree view of the San Juan Mountains, I was captivated by the legends linking this isolated outpost to the ancient Chaco culture. Ancestral Puebloans, as they...
During the peak of the coronavirus pandemic last summer, a road trip to the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, Texas, provided welcomed relief — even in the middle of a Texas heat wave. You can read about my road trip in the December 2020 issue of Food, Wine, Travel Magazine, starting on page 70.
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Elephants in Texas? No way. That’s what I thought until I spent a September afternoon with five gregarious pachyderms at the Hill Country Elephant Preserve outside of Stonewall, Texas—about 65 miles west of Austin. I learned about the preserve while perusing a list of typical businesses on the website of the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce. Immediately curious because I’m fascinated by elephants, I emailed the preserve for more information. An invitation to join an “elephant experience” arrived a few days later. I followed Google maps...
The glowing orange sphere slowly peaked above the dark walls of the “Grand Canyon of Texas,” illuminating subterranean spires, buttes, and mesas bathed in soft terra cotta colors. Watching the stunning sunrise over Palo Duro Canyon was well worth skipping soggy scrambled eggs and dry bacon from the hotel breakfast buffet. But I was sorry I waited so long. Palo Duro Canyon State Park has been on my travel list almost since I moved to Texas two decades ago. But every time I was near...
Trout are plentiful but elusive in the fast-flowing Green River in western Wyoming. Anglers from big cities on the West and East Coasts arrive every summer by private jet to stay at rustic ranches in the shadow of the snow-capped Wind River Mountains. They rise early to cast fanciful, hand-tied flies into the clear emerald water in hopes of hooking an inquisitive cutthroat. Fishing was not what drew mountain men, Native American Indians and traders to the lush Green River Valley nearly 200 years ago....
When I bought a ticket to ride the narrow-gauge train from Durango to Silverton last summer, my only concern was nabbing a window seat for views of the San Juan Mountains. Unfortunately, riders on the historic train face more challenges this year. The “Baby Train,” as it is sometimes called, is running again — sort of. Shut down by the coronavirus pandemic in March, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNGRR) was ready to roll again in June when businesses in southwestern Colorado began...
As a journalist, I’ve written about crime for newspapers, business deals for magazines, cruise ship ports for online travel publications and industry trends for websites. My focus now is exclusively on travel.