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A Matter of Scale
The Earth will kill you. This green field beckons. People seem to have a hardwired affinity for green. This particular patch is deceptively huge. There are herds of elk roaming down there that look like ants from there I was standing. In fact, the meadow is fourteen miles in diameter.
Visiting Dr. Atomic
Prior to the Second World War, there was nothing much to Los Alamos except for a private boarding school for rich Eastern boys and a few homesteaders. When the government decided that Los Alamos was just the place to try to develop an atomic bomb in complete secrecy, the boys
Cool Junque
Do you have the Roadside America app for your phone? You should if you like finding quirky stuff as you travel. That’s where I found Camel Rock and that’s where I found this jewel. This collection of, well, “stuff” sits beside the highway with no explanation of who
Painted Desert - Part 1
Here’s what I don’t get: the Painted Desert covers thousands of acres, but doesn’t merit national park status on its own. Instead, it’s bundled like an afterthought into the Petrified Forest National Park. This is hard luck for the rainbow hills because there are a lot
Get Your Kicks… in the Badlands
You know why they’re called the Badlands, don’t you? It’s because the area is … bad … land. Having the afternoon temperature pushing 110 degrees – and that’s at 5000 feet – didn’t make them any better. But I don’t mean to whine about the heat. For someone
Little Sucia Island
Before we begin, let me ask you this: If most folks call Matia Island Mah-TEE-ah, why isn’t Sucia Island pronounced Sue-SEE-ah? Just goes to show that you can’t count on anything. Prior to this trip, I didn’t know that the small Island that forms part of Fox
Poe-tay-toe, Poe-tah-toe
There’s some disagreement about the pronunciation of Matia Island’s name. Most say Mah-TEE-ah but there are diehards who insist on MAY-sha. Then again, there are multiple pronunciations for a lot of things around here. Matia is very difficult to visit, particularly during the crowded high season. The coastline
