
Fred’s Mesa Verde National Park – Land of the Ancients
LAND OF THE ANCIENTS “…for a moment I was transfixed off this world of ours to another planet and stood gazing with wide open eyes and listening, expecting to see fairies or people of another world appear, before I realized that what I saw was real. You cannot wonder when

Fred’s Canyon de Chelly
In a previous post Laura wrote a wonderful piece about our recent visit to Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Funny that we had previously been in the area many times, had been told that we definitely needed to see this national monument by a number of people, had read up

Fred’s Canyonlands National Park
As I mentioned in my previous post from Moab, Utah, we’re back in the area for the second time. Since we were both feeling a bit under the weather and stayed pretty close to home base, we only went into Arches NP and did not make it into Canyonlands NP.

Fred’s Arches National Park
We’re back…in Moab, Utah, for a return visit as we make our way south toward the Grand Canyon. Having left Salt Lake City we have a couple of weeks before I need to be on the north rim of the GC to do my rim-to-rim hike of the deep gash

Fred’s Death Valley National Park
This was a good time to visit Death Valley National Park. Instead of having to deal with the 100 degree plus days and warm nights during the summer, we were moving comfortably around the park in sunshine and temps in the 70’s and 80’s. This was not by accident as

Fred’s Toura Obscura
The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands. Sir Richard Burton On December 3, 2015, Laura and I embarked on a trip, albeit to different destinations. Laura was heading to Amsterdam to meet up with our niece who was studying abroad in Grenada, Spain,

Fred’s Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Dante’s Realm The Grand Canyon with a roof on it. Humorist Will Rogers describing Carlsbad Caverns While Laura was visiting our niece, Kelsey, in Amsterdam, I took a trip of my own through New Mexico and then made my way up to Chicago. I am referring to this excursion as

Fred’s Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
It is cold and there is very little sound coming from the darkness in front of me. But I know that they are there because they landed there at sunset the night before. As the first quiet light touches the sky behind me, the gathering of large birds begin to