All the national parks in a year!
This was a cool place. It happened to be right on my way. I decided at some point to expand my trip to include historic sites related to the civil and revolutionary wars. So the birthplace of the man who beat the traitors seemed like a perfect spot to stop and see. They even had …
The Hot Brown is a very special sandwich. All the guides agreed it was the best single dish to get in Kentucky. It even has its own wikipedia page… A Hot Brown sandwich (sometimes known as a Louisville Hot Brown or Kentucky Hot Brown) is an American hot sandwich originally created at the Brown Hotel …
This was a weird place. They say it’s normally better because of covid. Basically the cave that’s currently open is just a long boring hallway and then when you get to the end you turn around and come back. As you can see, there are no stalactites, no stalagmites, no lilly pads, nothing to see …
I decided to visit the now infamous “Treeisalive” commune and see what The Garden was like for myself. I met a lot of amazing people and learned a lot. It all started a few weeks ago. I have a close internet friend of about fifteen years who until recently I had never met. A few …
The Great Smoky Mountains are a really cool place. Basically the clouds hug the mountains which makes them look smoky. This is the most popular of all the national parks whuch surprises me given how grand the grand canyon is. Check out this video… @cjtrowbridge##greatsmokymountains ##greatsmokymountainsnationalpark ##nationalpark ##nationalparks ##roadtrip ##adventure ♬ original sound – CJ …
(View the full album here) This one is really just a spite park. It was created to prevent development in the area. It’s just a normal forest with hiking. There isn’t really anything remarkable about it. (Video) They were also doing prescribed burns so the trails were closed. lmao. So basically it was just a …
(View the full album here) Okay so this might be my favorite day of the Florida leg of the trip. I started by heading to Fireman Derek’s Bake Shop in downtown Miami. I got a slice of what many reviewers call the most authentic key lime pie. Then I drove to Key Biscayne National Park …
(View the full album here) This was a really amazing sandwich, though kind of terrifying experience to actually get the sandwich… (Video) I have had Cuban Sandwiches before but this was much better. I read somewhere that there is something about the way they prepare the ham in traditional cuban sandwiches that is different …
(View the full album here) Key West looked like it would be a lot of fun normally. It was kind of terrifying at the moment because basically not a single person was wearing a mask anywhere in the town, and everything was very close together so there wasn’t really any way of avoiding the unmasked …
(View the full album here) The Everglades! What a cool and interesting place. There is lots of sun for the solar panels and lots of nature to explore. The weather in Florida is great this time of year. It stays warm and breezy, even at night, and it’s not too humid yet. This is my …
Hot Springs is a small town in Arkansas. It’s also a National Park. It’s very strange as far as national parks go, to have the park and town mixed together like this. There is no entrance fee for example and the visitor center is a shop in the town. (Video) The only hot springs are …
(You can view the full album here) I know what you’re thinking. You stopped at Yosemite in between Texas and Florida? Well yes but there are three reasons. First, I had to get my car smogged in California. Second, Texas was a fucking mess at this point. Third, the firefalls! Also I was lucky enough …
(You can view the full album here) Big Bend is also basically just normal mountains. There is no cave or anything. Again it’s kind of unusual to have mountains in this area so that’s cool. Also it’s very pretty to look at, but again not really anything unique or special aside from the nice scenery. …
(You can view the full album here) I really don’t understand why this is a national park. It’s just some normal mountains with hiking. It’s kind of weird to have mountains in this area so maybe that’s why. There are a lot of caves. Carlsbad Cavern is technically inside the Guadalupe Mountains and there are …
(View the full album here) Carlsbad Caverns is an amazing place, just like all the national parks are. I was excited to learn that they take masks and social distancing very seriously. Everyone must have masks on everywhere in the park, even outside or down in the cave. Very cool and practical dedication to safety. …
(View the full album here) Taos was an adventure. This was easily one of the things I was most excited to see in person on this trip. We had planned to stay at Cebolla Mesa campground. Everything I’ve read said that the roads should be fine, but unfortunately that was not correct. I had to …
(View the full album here) We stopped in Albuquerque for several reasons. First because It’s an extremely long way from The Painted Desert to Taos. Second because we needed to shower and do laundry. Third because they have the best rated place for the famous Puerca Adovada which everyone online seems to agree is the …
(View the full album here) The painted desert is really amazing. It stretches on as far as you can see. Most of the photos I’ve seen of it in the past were EXTREMELY stylized, but it really is very beautiful to see all the bright colors exposed by eons of erosion. This is the Painted …
(View the full album here) This is a really cool place. I first learned about this in my early astronomy classes. Naturally I had to stop by since it was on the way to the next destination. It’s basically just a big meteor crater that you can tour and explore. Then take selfies with the …
(View the full photo album) We set up camp at Long Jim Loop which is a huge, free, two-week BLM camping area in Tusayan just a few minutes from the park. We only had an hour or two until dark so we decided to finally play with the new Oculus Quest 2. This is a …
Nogales Hot Dogs! Every guide I could find agreed that the best thing to eat in Arizona is the Sonora Hot Dogs at Nogales Hot Dogs No 2 in Phoenix. This might be the sketchiest place I have ever eaten. 🤣 There is this tent under a billboard in a rough part of town and …
(View the full photo album here) I started by picking up an annual pass and a passport to all the parks. This will get a lot of use this year. The cool thing about Saguaro National Park is really just the Saguaro cacti. These are basically everywhere in Arizona but they are very dense here. …
Next we stopped at Cosanti in Phoenix on the way to Saguaro National Park. This is where Soleri lived and worked while he was building Arcosanti. They still do a lot of similar bronze and ceramics work at Cosanti today just like Arcosanti. Here is the ceramics working apse at Cosanti. The tunnel at the …
(View the photo album with full quality pics, photospheres, and panoramas) To say I was really excited would be an understatement. I have been obsessed with this place for years and finally I get to see it in person! This was my view for the week from a camp site behind the arcology, looking out …
Organ Pipe National Monument was pretty cool to see. Lots of weird and interesting plants. I’m glad I stopped by. Here is me with an Organ Pipe Cactus. It’s so named because it looks like the pipes from a church organ. I camped at Gunsight Wash as recommended by the friends I made in Quartzsite. …
Here’s me, the moving cabin, and my first ever Saguaro on the morning when I arrived at Quartzsite! I met up with a group of nomads and we camped together for several weeks. The meetup was very very strict with covid compliance which was great. We had a great time getting to know each other …
This post is about the first leg of my year in the wilderness. I’m traveling to all the national parks in the contiguous 48 states. I’m also stopping at several other interesting spots along the way, and making sure to sample the local fare. Public health officials across the country argue that this is one …