Read more about the article Arches National Park
Tunnel Arch on the Landscape Arch Trail

Arches National Park

Arches National Park is exactly as its name implies – a park full of natural, rock arches. In my non-science brain, I understand the formation of arches as this. There was a layer of sandstone that formed porous rock. Below that was a layer of clay and sand that formed a less porous rock. Somehow salt from underneath both layers came up forming domes. With more shifts of the earth, a rock formed over the salt layer. Over time, rain eroded openings. Arches aren’t permanent and in 2008, Wall Arch eroded away. For it to be considered an arch, the opening must be at least 3 feet wide. Today Arches NP boasts over 2,000 of these formations. (more…)

Read more about the article Colorado & Utah (Including Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Rocky Mountain National Parks) Itinerary

Colorado & Utah (Including Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Rocky Mountain National Parks) Itinerary

I wanted to go somewhere that didn’t look just like home. For several years I had been researching the Grand Canyon, but flights were expensive. After talking to a friend who did a 2-week tour of the national parks, we came up with this 5-day itinerary. The focus was on the three Utah parks – Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef and we made Moab our base. The nearest airports are Salt Lake City and Denver. Since Denver was significantly less expensive and we’d get to explore some of Colorado, we chose that route. It sounds like a lot, but it worked and was the perfect amount of time. One more day and everyone would be getting cranky. Here’s our Utah and Colorado itinerary. Be sure to click on the hyper-links for detailed posts on each place. (more…)

Read more about the article Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island – NYC
Lady Liberty

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island – NYC

Both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are free. But there’s a catch — you have to buy a ferry ticket to get there.

Because of large crowds, purchasing advance tickets online is recommended. The first stop is Liberty Island and you don’t even have to get off. Some find that the best views of the statue are from the boat. However, it you want to tour the pedestal or the crown, you do need to get off the ferry. (more…)

Vancouver/ Seattle/ Olympic National Park Itinerary

Sea-to-Sky Highway between Vancouver and Whistler, BC

Our trip to Seattle and British Columbia was the 2nd of our big trips with our children who were in elementary school. Since flights were significantly less expensive for  Seattle, so we decided to incorporate that into our trip to British Columbia. (more…)