As of this writing, we’ve taken our Airstream into all of the lower 48 States. We’ve camped just about everywhere between Mexico and Canada that we could squeeze our rig. We’ve inexplicably bypassed a few destinations along the way (why on earth did we cruise through Oregon without stopping at Crater Lake?!) but we’ve seen enough terrain to form some opinions. After all these years of domestic exploration, we keep coming back to the first place we camped together: Yellowstone National Park. It remains the gold standard.
I’ve blathered in this space before about Yellowstone, and why it’s God’s greatest creation since Eve, fire, the wheel, and the GPS. It’s the “oldest and best” park, the world’s first national park, and… BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.
There I go again. Let’s face it: you’re tired of hearing me drone on about Yellowstone. So I thought I’d pull together a video of reasons why you should NEVER visit Yellowstone. Instead of hearing about all of the delicious reasons to visit, let’s consider some downside risks. Many of these involve the possibility of dying an unusual and violent death. Studies show that most people prefer to avoid unusual and violent deaths.
In Yellowstone, you run a reasonable risk of death by wild animal. In the video I refer to bison as “the most dangerous animals in the Park.” This is true, as Obi Wan Kenobi might say, from a certain point of view… Read More
Let’s get one thing out of the way: I’m not much of a photographer. Oh, I own some cool cameras and carry around a sack full of Nikon lenses. But my still photography skills are limited. I’m more of a video guy. Hand me your cellphone, and I’ll shoot a feature! Proper photography challenges a [...]
Here’s a brief update from the road — specifically, from gorgeous Grand Teton National Park. I’m in LOVE with our current campsite. This is the finest camping locale we’ve enjoyed all year. We are surrounded by wilderness. We have a tremendous view of some of the most beautiful mountains in North America while LYING IN [...]
Here ya go folks. Fresh new post from the hardest workin’ man in the bloggin’ business! Sure, I don’t post as often as some. But hey, who else gives ya a FRICKIN’ TV SHOW in their blog? (Oh, I guess Diablo Cody does — in RED BAND TRAILER. Anyway…) You must agree that this is [...]
Traveling to historic places is obviously good for the mind. Nothing enhances one’s understanding of history like viewing what’s left of it. But it’s also good for the soul. There’s something both sobering and magical about being amongst sites that were occupied by humans long ago. It provides perspective. It’s not just a matter of [...]
A few years ago, a couple of employees at Yellowstone National Park played a joke on the tourists. They placed a large hand crank apparatus on top of a wooden box. Next they set the whole contraption in the vicinity of the world famous Old Faithful geyser, which always naturally erupts once per hour. Just [...]
When in college, I worked a couple of summers in Yellowstone National Park. My job was usually in the kitchen, where my friends and I could be found chopping vegetables, flipping burgers, or (if we were lucky) scooping ice cream for tourists. As you might imagine, the work paid peanuts. We invested many long, hot, [...]
Last time I wrote about beating gas prices by camping close to home. So it seems fitting that in today’s post we consider what happens when you throw caution to the wind, and camp FAR AWAY from home. For my wife Kristy and I, the time we spent in Canada’s stunning Banff National Park qualifies. [...]
I was once trying to talk a friend into taking a road trip with me. My friend was skeptical about the idea. “Suppose we go,” he said, “what will we actually do once we arrive?” “Learn,” was my one-word reply. And I was serious. The ultimate goal of our journeys is to learn — to [...]
Most people who own RVs also enjoy getting outside to sample the natural pleasures of our bountiful planet. I’m not talking about the pleasures of ice cream, barbecue, and cold pale ale. I’m talking about activities like kayaking, surfing, biking, and hiking. These endeavors go hand-and-hand with camping. Personally, I enjoy a nice hike – [...]
If Yellowstone is birthday cake, the Grand Tetons are ice cream. The two go together like rivers and mountains. The Tetons are just a few short miles to the south of Yellowstone (although the distance between the two will feel much farther as you crawl along the two-land highway). Really, you shouldn’t visit one of [...]