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We had tentative plans to go to Colorado and Utah this month to visit Arches National Park but that trip was put on hold due to coronavirus concerns. Arches was closed to the public due to the public health crisis in late March. It has been a quiet month here in Pennsylvania and it will …
Continue reading “Backyard Birding During Social Distancing in April”
It was a beautiful March day in Philadelphia and John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge was full of people enjoying the weather on the trails. We made our way there on Sunday afternoon and picked up a few more waterfowl that we had been missing from our life list. One of those birds was the bufflehead. …
Continue reading “More Waterfowl and other Birds at John Heinz NWR”
It was a sunny day on Saturday (though a bit windy) so we headed over to Wildlife Drive in Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey north of Atlantic City. It is about 90 minutes from the Philadelphia area. Edwin B Forsythe NWR protects about 47,000 acres along the Atlantic Flyway, including coastal …
Continue reading “March Birding at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Drive”
We decided to head down to John Heinz NWR near the Philadelphia airport with our camera again for some March birding. While we were there, we saw one bald eagle sitting on the nest and the other decided to fly in while we were in the blind on the shore of the impoundment. We were …
Continue reading “Bald Eagle, Northern Shoveler & More at John Heinz NWR”
After a brief cold spell in the Philadelphia area, we had another 50+ degree day today and I took the opportunity to walk around the John J Audubon Center at Mill Grove in Audubon with our Canon SX60 camera to take pictures of the birds in the area. I also crossed Perkiomen Creek and walked …
Continue reading “February Birding at the John J Audubon Center”
We made our first trip down to John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge for a walk and some bird photography this weekend. John Heinz NWR is the nation’s first urban refuge, established in 1972 to protect Pennsylvania’s largest remaining freshwater tidal marsh, Tinicum Marsh. It is located in Southwest Philadelphia near the Philadelphia airport. We have …
Continue reading “January Birding at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge”
We took an hour in December 2019 to see and photograph bald eagles at the Dafter Dump in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, not far from Sault Ste Marie. We went up north to visit family after Christmas and saw a report that there were 25 eagles spotted at the landfill the day before. So …
Continue reading “Bald Eagles at the Dafter Dump in Michigan – December 2019”
We were in Miami for a few days for a wedding in November and decided to complete our visit to Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park. It was a quick trip but we managed to pack in pictures of Stiltsville (on the north end of Biscayne National Park), a semi-private boat tour with snorkeling …
Continue reading “Biscayne & Everglades National Park in November 2019”
We headed down I-80 into Central Pennsylvania for a weekend of fall foliage, state parks and camping. If you are looking to leave cell phone coverage behind, the PA Grand Canyon is a trip we highly recommend! The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania is a 47 mile gorge carved by Pine Creek through the Allegheny Plateuu. …
Continue reading “The PA Grand Canyon for Columbus Day Weekend 2019”
Jayne booked us a morning bird walk at the Audubon Center in October 2019 because Canon was going to provide some of its premium Canon cameras and lenses to participants. It ended up being a pleasant but overcast October morning in the Philadelphia area. I ended up shooting with an EOS RP mirrorless camera and …
Continue reading “Canon Birds in Focus at the Audubon Center in PA”
We had an extra day after a Las Vegas conference at the end of September to do some sightseeing and decided to make a quick road trip out of it to see the Grand Canyon. Since the Hoover Dam is on the way, and neither of us had ever been there, we also stopped there …
Continue reading “Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon (South Rim) in 24 Hours in September 2019”
We took the Ford Mustang convertible (rental car) up the Pacific Coast Highway (California Highway 1) and explored Natural Bridges State Beach, Shark Fin Cove and Beauregard Vineyards on our way from Monterey to the San Francisco airport at the end of our San Francisco trip. Here are some of the photos – we will …
Continue reading “Pacific Coast Highway from Monterey to San Francisco in June 2019”
We visited the West Entrance of Pinnacles National Park on Day 7 of our honeymoon for an hour – and it was action packed! Pinnacles may receive the award for the National Park over which we have argued the most. There are two sections of the park and there is not a direct route to …
Continue reading “Pinnacles National Park (West Entrance) in June 2019”
We spent a day in Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park after our stay at Yosemite National Park. We took the tour at the General Grant tree, drove through Kings Canyon to the end of the road at Copper Creek Trailhead, explored the area around the General Sherman Tree, drove under Tunnel Log, climbed Moro …
Continue reading “Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park in June 2019”
After we spent a day exploring San Francisco, we drove over for three days in Yosemite National Park. We stayed in the canvas tent cabins of Half Dome Village and explored Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point, Taft Point and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. We arrived into Yosemite Valley around mid-day via 120 and Big Oak Flat Road …
Our first full day in San Francisco saw us make a whirlwind trip through Fisherman’s Wharf, across the Golden Gate Bridge, to Point Reyes National Seashore and Muir Woods National Monument. We arrived at San Francisco airport on a late Sunday night flight and after a stop at the rental car agency (where we got …
Continue reading “From the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods in June 2019”
We finished off our trip to Congaree National Park with two days in the Charleston area. We explored historic downtown Charleston, Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, Francis Marion National Forest, Hampton Plantation State Historic Site, Santee Coastal Reserve and Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. It was a busy two days and there was plenty that we …
Continue reading “Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie and Charleston in April 2019”
We planned a canoe trip down the Congaree River through Congaree National Park from Columbia, SC to the 601 bridge in April 2019. Unfortunately, it was rained out as too many April showers led to flooding throughout the park. We made the trip to the park anyway and spent two days camping at Congaree, exploring …
We have been going to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in the fall for a few years now. Hawk Mountain is a wild bird sanctuary located along the Appalachian flyway north of Reading and west of Allentown. It is known for its spectacular views, hiking trails and, of course, the birding. On a good day, thousands of …
Continue reading “Birding and Fall Foliage at Hawk Mountain in September”
We live about 12 hours from the nation’s most visited national park, which is Great Smoky Mountains. More than 11 million people visit it every year. We finally made time to go down there this year in early August for a long weekend and a very special occasion. We were a bit concerned as we …
Continue reading “72 Hours in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Early August”
We made a quick trip north of Philadelphia to Tyler State Park in Bucks County for July 4th today! We’re still getting used to paddling our new Advanced Elements inflatable kayak so we thought it would be a great opportunity to get some more practice. Plus, it is over 90 degrees so spending some time …
Continue reading “Our Afternoon Kayaking at Tyler State Park in PA”
We were supposed to make a quick trip down to Biscayne National Park during our trip to Florida, but because of uncertainty about the weather due to the forecast (scattered thunderstorms in the forecast), we decided to spend the day at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore instead. The weather ended up …
I have been telling Jayne that I would take her up to Ithaca and show her Cornell University (my alma mater) for most of our relationship. So when the first weekend in June rolled around this year and we were facing a rainy weekend in the Philadelphia area, I proposed we get out of town …
Continue reading “24 Hours Around Ithaca Waterfalls in June”
We made a day trip up to Evansburg State Park to celebrate a birthday with family and friends. Evansburg State Park is located in southcentral Montgomery County near Collegeville and Skippack. This 3,349 acre PA park tracks Skippack Creek as it meanders toward Perkiomen Creek. It wasn’t meandering when we were there, however, because it …
On the opening day of trout fishing season, March 31, 2018, we headed up to French Creek State Park to fish in Scotts Run Lake, and we visited nearby Hopewell Furnace NHS while we were there. It was the first time we had been to either park, and we were excited to explore a little …
We spent the morning of December 31st searching the Rudyard area of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for our first ever snowy owl sighting. As you can see from the photos, it was a success! We saw four snowy owls in around an hour. Snowy owls are typically found in the Arctic tundra but some migrate south …
Continue reading “We saw a Snowy Owl outside Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan!”
We decided to spend the afternoon at Valley Forge National Historical Park today. Located only 25 miles from downtown Philadelphia, it is one of the nation’s most significant historical landmarks from the American Revolution. Nearly 240 years ago, on December 19, 1777, Washington’s army marched into Valley Forge where they would stay for the next …
Continue reading “Afternoon at Valley Forge National Historical Park in December 2017”
We picked up some extra sleeping pads and cots from REI this weekend to test and review. We were able to buy a pair of the REI Kingsman Cot 3, an Exped Megamat Duo 10, a Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite, a Therm-a-Rest ProLite Plus, a Sea to Summit Comfort Plus, a Big Agnes Q Core SLX, …
Continue reading “We Bought Camping Air Pads to Review Next Year”
We took a trip up to Acadia National Park over Columbus Day Weekend. Neither one of us had ever been to Maine and we were hopeful that the early October trip would be late enough in the year to give us some brilliant fall foliage as well. It certainly did! Fall is typically a great …
Continue reading “Columbus Day Weekend in Acadia National Park”
We did two days of cave tours at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky last weekend. We were there because Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system in the world with more than 400 miles of explored caves below the surface. It became a national park in the 1940s but has been on the nation’s …
Continue reading “Two Days at Mammoth Cave National Park in September 2017”
We spent a Friday in late June at Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida. Because the park is 70 miles west of Key West, in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, it is one of the more isolated parks run by the United States. It is also one of the smallest in terms of …
Continue reading “Our Day at Dry Tortugas NP via the Yankee Freedom III”
We made our first visit to Everglades National Park this June with a brief stop over there on our way between Orlando and Key West. Since we were only planning to be in the Miami area for a few hours, we decided to forego nearby Biscayne Bay and concentrate on seeing as much of the …
Continue reading “Our June 2017 Stop in Everglades National Park”
We realized recently that we visited this site in the national park system and forgot to write about it. So we are going to go back soon and fill in the missing information from our trip. Stay tuned!
President Obama has named three new national monuments and expanded two others in the final days of his presidential term. After creating two new national monuments in December, Obama used his authority five more times in January, 2017. Obama used the Antiquities Act of 1906 to add to the park system more than any other …
Continue reading “President Obama Designates Three National Monuments and Expands Two”
President Obama designated two national monuments at the end of 2016, protecting an additional 1.35 million acres of federal land in Utah and Nevada. The new national monuments are Bears Ears National Monument and Gold Butte National Monument. Bears Ears Bears Ears Buttes is located in southeastern Utah. The national monument designation was originally proposed …
Continue reading “President Obama Designates Two National Monuments”
On our way to celebrate the holidays in Michigan, we stopped at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We didn’t even know there was a national park in Ohio until a few months ago. And it turns out we had already passed through it many times without realizing it! If you have ever driven the Ohio Turnpike …
Continue reading “Our Christmas Eve Stop at Cuyahoga Valley National Park”
Thank you for checking out our new website! We’re excited to be sharing information about the national parks with you.
Shenandoah National Park in Virginia is known for spectacular views from Skyline Drive, abundant wildlife, and magnificent hiking on the Appalachian Trail. Only 75 miles from Washington DC, it is a must visit for nature lovers on the East Coast. We spent a weekend in mid-November 2016 at Shenandoah National Park to catch the last …
Continue reading “2 Day November Fall Foliage Trip to Shenandoah National Park”
We spent four nights camping on Isle Royale National Park in August 2016. It was our first backpacking adventure and this remote island in Northern Michigan did not disappoint. We had a real blast and were definitely looking forward to our next adventure. Although I do have to admit that we were pretty happy to …
After concluding two days in Grand Teton, we headed north to Yellowstone National Park. We found it hard to tear ourselves away from the remarkable beauty of the Grand Tetons, but we would soon come to find out why Yellowstone is considered the crown jewel of the park system. We entered Yellowstone via the south …
Continue reading “3 Days in Yellowstone National Park in May 2016”
We stopped an hour short of Grand Teton National Park the night before we entered the park since the sun was setting on our drive from Rocky Mountain National Park. We spent the night camping at the Dubois/Wind River KOA in Dubois, Wyoming since we didn’t have a campground reservation in the park and we …
Continue reading “2 Days in Grand Teton National Park in May 2016”
Rocky Mountain National Park is a gem with breathtaking views, abundant wildlife and outdoor recreation opportunities such as hiking, fishing and camping. Located just past Estes Park in the Greater Denver area, it is the perfect place for a long weekend jaunt or a destination for an even longer vacation. We were fortunate to spend …
Continue reading “Our 2 Days at Rocky Mountain NP in May 2016”
