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[Phoenix, AZ, Feb 22 – Mar 1, 2025,] Are you’re running low on vacation days and/or live in a colder climate? Spending a week in Phoenix, AZ while working from there can be a great way to soak up some vitamin D without putting a dent in your PTO balance. That’s exactly what we did when we found ourselves in Phoenix for a Saturday night wedding in February 2025. We extended our… Read More
[Mesa Verde National Park & Great Sand Dunes National Park, Sep 7 ,2023] I had really meant for Thursday to just be a travel day, but the cliff dwelling tour schedule at Mesa Verde had once again thrown a little wrench in my plans. There was one more cliff dwelling on the tour schedule, Square House. But it only ran once a day Thursday through Sunday. The limit was 10 people, which… Read More
[Four Corners Region, CO, Sep 6, 2023] Due to the cliff dwelling tour schedule and the closure of the Wetherhill Mesa section at Mesa Verde National Park, we found ourselves with a full free day in the remote southwest corner of Colorado. What to do? I had already done the Million Dollar Highway between Ouray and Silverton. Although the weather wasn’t that great when I did it, I still figured there must… Read More
[Mesa Verde National Park, Sep 5, 2023] People love to hate Gateway Arch National Park because it’s a man-made structure. But they forget several other parks preserve man-made structures, such as Dry Tortugas and Mesa Verde. For over 700 years, the Ancestral Pueblo people built thriving communities on the mesas and in the cliffs of Mesa Verde. The park protects what they built, including several spectacular cliff dwellings that are open to… Read More
[Capitol Reef National Park, Mar 27, 2022] I had saved a short little trail for the morning of my departure. Chimney Rock Trail is on the west edge of the park right off Hwy 24. It’s just over 3 miles and it has only about 600 ft of elevation gain. Another gorgeous sunrise greeted me as I was leaving the hotel. The trailhead was only 10 minutes from my hotel. Despite the… Read More
