To be honest, I had never heard of Glen Canyon until we were setting up camp on the shores of Wahweap Bay, an offshoot of the iconic Lake Powell. Ironic, because the lake we had come to see was man-made, …
Author: Mike Ballard
Cross-Country Road Trip: Bryce Canyon National Park
Travel typically involves movement. A physical, material shift from one location to another that reveals the glory of this world. The vistas of the Alps versus the Andes versus the Himalayas. The striking contrast between the eastern and western banks …
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Cross-Country Road Trip: Magical Moab and Canyonlands National Park
Perfectly positioned between Arches and Canyonlands National Parks lies the quaint and quiet town of Moab, Utah. While it's name doesn't conjure the same metaphysical tones of a Sedona, Arizona, or a Ringing Rocks, Pennsylvania, it is a magical place …
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Cross-Country Road Trip: Arches National Park, Done Three Ways
There are essentially three different ways to see Arches National Park and still get an idea of what the place is all about. You can drive it. You can short-hike it. Or you can really take your time and venture …
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Cross-Country Road Trip: Watching the Rockies Rise
I have to make a confession about this road trip. Apparently, I have trouble judging both linear distances and the height of mountains. Yes, we were on our way to Angela’s childhood home in San Diego. Yes, we were all …
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Cross-Country Road Trip: Near-Miss Twisters and Burnt Ends in Kansas City
At the risk of being cliché, Kansas is flat. The kind of flat that can cause agoraphobia, with your line of sight rushing out to a blue and green split-screen, no matter which way you turn. Standing outside the ring of …
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Cross-Country Road Trip: Thirteen States and Ten National Parks
We had taken some interesting trips before, finding the lost corners and unexplored regions that could be easily reached from our home base. But we were looking for something more. It was time to pull the trigger on a family …
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Greek Adventure: Coming Home to Rhodes
We were coming to the end of our travels in Greece, sailing from our secluded anchorage in Tilos, skirting along the northern coast of Rhodes, and arriving once again in Mandraki Harbor, where we had begun the whole thing. And …
Greek Adventure: Outlaw Diving in Pserimos
Up until 2005, scuba diving was essentially illegal in Greece. In a country that boasts over 9300 miles of coastline, only about 62 miles of it was legal to dive, and that small portion was heavily guarded and restricted by …
Greek Adventure: Riding the Volcano in Nisyros
Nisyros is one of the six currently active volcanoes in the Greek islands, and its signature as such is undeniable when viewed from above, with the whole island seeming to rise out of the Aegean only to crest at a …