Arkansas
- Visited: Arkansas Post National Memorial
- Not yet: Buffalo National River
- Visited: Fort Smith
- Visited: Hot Springs National Park
- Not yet: Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
- Visited: Pea Ridge National Military Park
- Not yet: President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace
Louisiana
- Visited: Cane River Creole National Historical Park
- Not yet: Jean Lafitte National Historical Park
- Not yet: New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park
- Not yet: Poverty Point National Monument
New Mexico
- Visited: Aztec Ruins National Monument
- Visited: Bandelier National Monument
- Visited: Capulin Volcano National Monument
- Visited: Carlsbad Caverns National Park
- Visited: Chaco Culture National Historical Park
- Visited: El Malpais National Monument
- Visited: El Morro National Monument
- Visited: Fort Union National Monument
- Visited: Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
- Not yet: Manhattan Project National Historical Park
- Visited: Pecos National Historical Park
- Visited: Petroglyph National Monument
- Not yet: Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument
- Not yet: Valles Caldera National Preserve
- Visited: White Sands National Park
Oklahoma
- Visited: Chickasaw National Recreation Area
- Not yet: Washita Battlefield National Historic Site
Texas
- Not yet: Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument
- Not yet: Amistad National Recreation Area
- Visited: Big Bend National Park
- Visited: Big Thicket National Preserve
- Visited: Chamizal National Memorial
- Visited: Fort Davis National Historic Site
- Visited: Guadalupe Mountains National Park
- Visited: Lake Meredith National Recreation Area
- Visited: Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
- Visited: Padre Island National Seashore
- Visited: Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park
- Not yet: Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River
- Visited: San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
- Not yet: Waco Mammoth National Monument
- Visited: Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Site
Recent Posts
Aztec National Monument
The massive stone walls of Aztec Ruins National Monument preserve the remains of an ancestral Puebloan community in northwestern New Mexico. Rising from the desert landscape near the Aztec area, the ruins create a sense of age and accomplishment. The carefully constructed stone masonry and multi-room structures reveal the sophistication of the people who built and lived […]
Bandelier National Monument
Here at Bandelier National Monument, we walked through canyons, climbed ladders into ancient cliff dwellings and stood inside spaces once occupied by the ancestral Pueblo people. Here history felt immediate and alive. The soft volcanic rock of Bandelier allowed homes, called cavate, to be carved directly into the canyon walls. Climbing those wooden ladders as a family became part […]
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
The drive to Carlsbad Caverns National Park seemed long, but somehow that drive became part of the experience itself. We have visited twice, and both times there was something unforgettable about traveling through the wide-open spaces of southeastern New Mexico before finally arriving at the caverns hidden beneath the desert landscape. The miles of dry terrain, distant mountains, and endless sky created a […]
Petroglyph National Monument
Walking among the dark volcanic rocks outside of Albuquerque, is where Petroglyph National Monument is found. Centuries ago, there were people who stood in this landscape carving symbols and images into the stone. The monument preserves one of the largest collections of petroglyphs in North America, with designs created by Native peoples and later Spanish settlers […]
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Site
Driving through the Texas Hill Country to visit Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park was another journey I enjoyed taking. The landscape seems to tell the story of Lyndon Baines Johnson, wide open spaces, working ranch land and the rural setting that shaped the man who would become the 36th President of the United States. […]
Capulin Volcano National Monument
I remember this special road trip with Erin as we explored the panhandle of Texas and drove into New Mexico. It was during on of her breaks from chiropractic school, and we flew into Texas and set out on a long stretch of road that carried us through a landscape shaped by drought. The land […]
Fort Davis National Historic Site
I made my way to Fort Davis National Historic Site, set in the mountains of West Texas near Fort Davis. Rather than sitting on open plains, Fort Davis is tucked into a rugged landscape, surrounded by low mountains that both protect and isolate it. Established in 1854, the fort was built to safeguard the San Antonio/El […]
Chamizal National Memorial
The Chamizal National Memorial in El Paso is not a memorial of war or conflict, but one that marks the peaceful resolution of a long-standing international dispute. The land known as: “El Chamizal” became contested in the mid-1800s when the Rio Grande shifted its course, changing the boundary between the United States and Mexico. What […]
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
Traveling into the remote mountains of New Mexico, I made my way to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, a place that requires preparation to reach. High within the cliffs are the dwellings themselves, built by the Mogollon people in the late 1200s. Between 1275 and 1300, families constructed rooms within natural daes, using stone and mortar […]
Guadalupe Mountain National Park
Exploring the national parks of Texas takes a commitment and the willingness to spend long hours on the road. Driving around Texas is unlike traveling through New England, where towns and landmarks seem to come one after another. Here, the distance stretches out, and I would drive for miles with little interruption. As I made my […]
Padre Island National Seashore
On one of our seminars in Texas, we took the time to drive down to Padre Island National Seashore. The landscape changed as we approached the coast. Texas roads gave way to stretches to water and salt air. Padre Island National Seashore protects the longest undeveloped barrier island in the world, nearly seventy miles of […]
White Sands National Park
White Sands is one of those landscapes that feels almost otherworldly as there is wave after wave of white dunes stretching across the Tularosa Basin in southern New Mexico. What surprised us most was these dunes are not sand but are made of gypsum. Gypsum is a soft mineral that usually dissolves in water, but here, because of the […]
