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[Louisville, KY / Mammoth Cave National Park, KY, Mar 21-22, 2024] After my work trip was over at lunch on Thursday, we drove 4 hours east to Louisville, KY. This put us within 90 minutes of Mammoth Cave, so it was a good place to overnight. We stayed in downtown Louisville, so we walked to dinner. The streets were busy with people hauling musical instruments around the conference center, so we figured… Read More
[Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Oct 11, 2023] For our only full day in the park, we wanted to do the best hike in the park, 5.5 miles one way to Mt LeConte. At 6,593 ft (2,010 m) it is the third highest peak in the national park. There are three other subpeaks above 6,000 ft (1,829 m) on the mountain, and we were going to reach them all: High Top, named… Read More
[Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Oct 10, 2023] Once upon a time, the 6 of us lived in LA and ran every Saturday together to train for the LA marathon. Four of us knew each other from business school, and the other 2 were Olivia’s friends that eventually became ours, too. Over the years, a few of us have moved away, so when an opportunity to get together arises, we don’t pass… Read More
[Gary/Porter, IN, Sep 12, 2023] Indiana Dunes National Park is one of the youngest. It got upgraded from a National Lakeshore in 2019 to become the nation’s 61st national park. It runs for about 20 miles along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, in northwestern Indiana. The closest big city is Chicago, IL. If you’re coming from there, be aware that Chicago is on Central time, while Indiana Dunes is on Eastern… Read More
[St Louis, MO, Sep 9, 2023] And just like that, the Colorado part of this giant trip was over. After our very busy day finishing up Mesa Verde, driving to Great Sand Dunes and then to Colorado Springs, we spent a much-needed low-key day at my friend May’s. We went to the Garden of the Gods, which I’d been to before and always love coming back to. The next day, Ash and… Read More
