I like Calgary. It’s a nice town, but leaving is no great hardship considering the extraordinary sweep of plains and towering mountains that surround the city. I’m heading on a solo four day circular trip to Glacier National Park. Once on the road south, it’s not long before I enter Diamond Valley. The place is anything but diamond-like, and the few outlets at the intriguingly named Sheep River Crossing don’t help to enhance the area either.… Continue reading “Glacier National Park, USA from Calgary”
Category: Road Trips Page 1 of 2
We enter Yellowstone National Park from the south at 1225pm. The time is important because I’ve been waiting for this moment for over 25 years. This extraordinary place has been at top of my wanted list for so long, ever since I saw a film about the introduction of wolves to the park and how they changed the course of the rivers.… Continue reading “Yellowstone Fever”
Salt Lake City’s Temple is covered in scaffolding when we visit, undergoing a four-year renovation scheduled to finish in 2026, so no doubt many other tourists will be disappointed as well by not getting the full visual impact in this magnificent square. I guess it’s a metaphor for ‘work in progress’ for both the building and the Mormon Church. Membership of the Latter-Day Saints is declining in the US but growing elsewhere.… Continue reading “From Grand Mormons to Grand Tetons”
Naples isn’t necessarily the airport of choice when deciding on a road trip through Puglia. Bari or Brindisi are somewhat more convenient, but there was method in my madness. Renting a car one way from east to west is just too expensive, and anyway we hadn’t seen Naples in a while. After driving a couple of thousand kilometres round Puglia, we wanted to end up with four days of peace and quiet on the island of Ischia.… Continue reading “Appointment with Puglia”
Arriving at the Grand Canyon is like no other arrival. When I was first here in 1991 we jumped on a helicopter – I must have had money in those days – and set off about hundred feet above the trees of the Kaibab National Forest. I thought it would easy to the see the Canyon once we were airborne, but the fascination of skimming the tree-tops left me totally unprepared for the sudden lack of tops, never mind trees, being replaced by a huge chasm of nothingness.… Continue reading “Grand Canyon to Salt Lake City”
We’d hardly left our accommodation in Sedona before we stop at Firecreek Coffee house for sustenance. Out on the deck I meet 77 year-old Joseph, kitted out in his cowboy trench-coat, leather hat and walking rod, even though it’s already sweltering. He looks out of place in a coffee shop but is obviously a regular which makes for an interesting conversation.… Continue reading “Sedona, AZ to Grand Canyon AZ.”
The previous night had been a late one – that’s if you call 1130pm late in Durango. We’d managed to grab the last two seats in the bar at the Strater Hotel just as a local Country and Western band took to the stage. I say stage, but it was more like a raised pallet, just enough to give some height to the musicians so those at the back of the room who weren’t paying attention, could hopefully see them perform. … Continue reading “Durango, CO to Sedona, AZ”
It’s early morning and we’re preparing to head south, up into the mountains to tackle the Million Dollar Highway. Classed as one of America’s most spectacular roads, there are a few theories as to where the name for the highway came from. It could be to do with the views, or locals used to joke that they would only attempt it if paid a million dollars to do so.… Continue reading “Ouray, Co to Durango, Co”
You would think that the settlement of Gunnison would be relatively near the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, one of Colorado’s hidden gems, and although the Gunnison River starts from the headwaters above the town, we take over an hour to drive the 60 miles to the Black Canyon National Park. Its location deters most tourists, or as one wag suggested, who wants to drive five hours from Denver to look at a hole in the ground, which is a bit mean-spirited to talk about poor old Black Canyon like that.… Continue reading “Gunnison, Co to Ouray, Co”
The fun starts at the Avis desk at Denver Airport. The cheerful lady behind the desk lobs car keys in my direction a little too cheerfully. I pick them up from the floor and for some unknown reason actually apologise for my incompetence at not being catcher of the year.
I head off to find our car and seconds later I’m back at the desk.… Continue reading “Denver, Co to Gunnison, Co”