Take A Road Trip

I love to hit the road. Road trips are my favorite way to spend a vacation or getaway weekend, targeting some great places and discovering new sites along the way.

Here are photo sets from some of my road trips and other travels. Enjoy the ride!

2024 Travels

Palm Springs Area Road Trip

I headed to Palm Springs, California by way of Phoenix, Arizona in order to visit some sites between the two cities and to finish off my list of sites in the Palm Springs area that I've wanted to see.

Wet Death Valley Road Trip

Heavy rain in August 2023 and February 2024 created a lake in the heart of Death Valley. So, I thought I'd check that out and do some hiking at other regional sites.

Arizona Archaeology and Museums Getaway Road Trip

I spent a few days in the Phoenix and Prescott areas of Arizona to check out some archaeological sites and a couple of museums.

2023 Travels

To Iowa and Back Road Trip

I headed out to Iowa and back to visit family, making a number of sightseeing stops along the way.

Nevada and Old Paria Road Trip

I checked out some of the Extraterrestrial Highway and Basin and Range National Monument rock art sites before heading back to Old Paria for some colorful hiking.

Wyoming and Northeast Utah Road Trip

I made a return trip to Wyoming to explore more of the state. On the way home, I stopped in Vernal, Utah for a couple days so that I could visit nearby Dinosaur National Monument and check out several rock art sites near Rangely, Colorado.

Tri-State Getaway Road Trip

For a short getaway, I targeted sites in and near Kanab, Utah, St. George, Utah and Mesquite, Nevada, including the Donkey History Museum. Although I didn't target any Arizona sites, I still had to pass through part of the state, thus the Tri in Tri-State.

Hiking Utah Road Trip

I made my annual spring trip to Utah, this one focused on hiking, something I haven't done much of since being diagnosed with Charcot Foot. I wanted to put myself to a bit of a test. I also hit some sites in western Colorado that I had planned to visit last fall when returning from seeing my Midwest relatives only to have a winter storm hit the region.

Tucson/Las Cruces Road Trip

I headed for Tucson, Arizona to visit some museums in town and some sites in the region. I then headed for Las Cruces, New Mexico to visit sites there that I had originally planned to see in 2019 when car trouble cut short that trip.

California Deserts Road Trip

I returned to the southeastern California Deserts to see some sites that I missed in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and the Palm Springs area when I was out there a year ago.

2022 Travels

Cross Country Relatives Road Trip

I headed out to the Midwest to visit family. Along the way, I checked out a wide variety of sites, from dinosaur bulges to Frank Lloyd Wright, Pullman cars to French colonial settlements, Buffalo Bill to Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Garden of Eden to Popeye.

California Gold Country and Great Basin Road Trip

Surprisingly, I had never really toured California's Gold Country before. So, I targeted that region and tacked on a handful of other California sites before heading into remote northwestern Nevada in order to visit some more interesting Great Basin sites. Stops included the site of the first A&W, Nevada's oldest brothel and a trio of unusual Trump supporters.

Wyoming and Southeast Montana Road Trip

Plans to visit Yellowstone National Park once again went awry due to weather - flooding, this time - but I still headed for Wyoming and southeastern Montana to see a number of other sites on my list, most related to archaeology, dinosaurs and the western emigrant trails that passed through Wyoming.

Northwest New Mexico Road Trip

For my 350th overnight trip since I graduated college, I headed for northwest New Mexico, in particular focusing on sites near Grants and Zuni Pueblo, Aztec and Espanola. Destinations on Native American pueblos, the Manhattan Project sites at Los Alamos, and colorful Ghost Ranch were among this trip's highlights.

Eastern United States Road Trip

After the COVID pandemic kept my road trips mostly in the desert Southwest for the past two years, I set off on a 3 1/2 week road trip across the Southeast and then up the East Coast before heading west back to Las Vegas. Among my destinations were several newer National Park System units that I hadn't been to before, a number of Native American moundbuilder archaeological sites, American history sites from the settlement of Jamestown to the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era and a number of other sites.

Return to Southeast Utah Road Trip

After more than 30 years, I finally explored Shafer Canyon at Canyonlands National Park. And for the first time since the COVID pandemic began, I returned to Blanding, Utah and Page, Arizona to explore more sites in those areas.

California Deserts Road Trip

After checking out the annual poppy bloom at Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, I explored Palm Springs and outdoor sites in the Mojave and Colorado Deserts in southeastern California.

Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico Road Trip

After driving out to the Dallas area for a family event, I took a sightseeing trip on my way back home, with stops in downtown Dallas, along Route 66, and in the dinosaur country of northwest Oklahoma and northeast New Mexico, with a number of other stops thrown in, too.

2021 Travels

Deep in the Heart of Texas Road Trip

On my way back home from a visit to see my brother and his family in Texas, I visited a number of sites in the Texas Hill Country and west Texas. I also made repeat visits to a few sites as I crossed New Mexico.

Great Plains Road Trip

Fully vaccinated for COVID-19 but sporting a medical boot for a broken bone in my foot, I set off on a road trip to Iowa to see family. On the drive out there and much moreso on the drive home, I checked out the scenery and a number of interesting stops in the Great Plains states.

A Nevada-Great Basin Region Road Trip

I finally took another Great Basin road trip through central and northern Nevada, with stops in California, Oregon and Idaho, using an itinerary that I first put together a few years ago. In addition to my usual geology, pre-Columbian archaeology and paleontology sites, highlights included a handful of ghost towns and two nuclear test sites.

Sites Around St. George, Utah and Mesquite, Nevada Road Trip

Mesquite, Nevada and St. George, Utah are close enough to Las Vegas that I could visit area sites through a series of day trips. But that just wasn't happening, and I had built up quite a list of places to see. So, I packaged several of these up into a 4-day road trip so that I could finally see what I had been missing.

Utah's San Rafael Swell and Cathedral Valley Road Trip

I took my usual annual April road trip to Utah, although once again the length and agenda were somewhat abbreviated due to pandemic concerns. But I did hit a long-time goal of visiting the remote Cathedral Valley area of Capitol Reef National Park, and I continued to explore the San Rafael Swell, arguably the most deserving area in Utah that ought to be a national park or national monument but isn't. As always, I found a few other places worth visiting, too, and I added a few more items to my "someday" list.

Arizona's Gila Bend Road Trip

With the COVID-19 pandemic still underway, and especially because of a devastating winter surge, I stayed home for five months. But the surge had eased, so I hit the road for another socially distant road trip, this one targeting Gila Bend, Arizona. There were some sites near the town that I wanted to see, and I also made a return day trip to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument with clear, sunny skies, to make up for my overcast and rainy visit there a few years ago. Limited sightseeing on the drives to Gila Bend and back added some interest to those drives.

2020 Travels

Mojave Desert Road Trip

I had planned on a more ambitious road trip through California's Mojave Desert sites last March, but COVID-19 pandemic closures cancelled those plans. For this road trip, I covered what I had planned to see on the Barstow stay portion of that earlier trip, including remote destinations just to the west and east of Death Valley National Park.

Along Arizona's Route 66 Road Trip

With the COVID-19 pandemic-caused cancellation of plans for a different fall road trip, I decided to spend a few days in Winslow, Arizona so that I could check out some archaeological and geological sites in the region. But getting there meant that I was following a segment of Route 66, the Mother Road, so I checked out some Route 66 sites along the way, too.

Utah Sightseeing Road Trip

Between the COVID-19 pandemic and a cracked bone in my foot, I didn't get away this summer. But with the foot on the mend, I decided to take another road trip, a return to the places I stayed in Utah at the start of the summer, and daily plans in remote areas where I could expect to have the places to myself. No hiking this time, though, as my recovering foot wasn't ready for that yet. Not as great as the social distancing road trip, but still a good getaway.

Utah Social Distancing Road Trip

The COVID-19 pandemic upended most of my 2020 travel plans. But when travel restrictions eased somewhat, I decided to head up to Utah for a road trip where masks and social distancing were vital. I stayed in two counties that had few cases (all recovered), and visited a number of remote areas well off pavement and away from popular destinations. I was rewarded with a number of great places - Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, a remote corner of the Grand Canyon, cool places in the San Rafael Swell and nearby San Rafael Desert, some dinosaur sites, and even the Red Planet. Mars? Really? Read and find out.

Latin America

I headed down to Central America, specifically to Costa Rica and Panama, for a nearly three-week trip. I based myself in each country's capital city, but saw much more of each country through a number of day trips that focused on national parks, wildlife, cultural sites and more.

Phoenix and Southeast Arizona Road Trip

This first trip of 2020 was a continuation of last year's Southeast Arizona Road Trip, which I had to cut short due to car trouble. I mostly focused on sites in and near Phoenix, but included a swing to pick up sites to the southeast of Tucson, too.

2019 Travels

Cross Country Relatives Road Trip

On a cross-country road trip to see family, I checked out a mix of places that featured geology sites, archaeology sites, dinosaur sites, Republicans, nuclear missile sites, corny sites and the Jolly Green Giant.

4-Day Southwest Utah Road Trip

I had a week at home without any appointments, so I decided to head up to southwest Utah to check out some ghost towns, Cedar Breaks, lava sites, and out of the way scenic views. Throw in some hiking and it was a great getaway.

The Balkans, the UK and Roman Britain

I spent four weeks in Europe in July 2019 with a focus on the Balkan countries of Romania and Bulgaria, with side trips into Serbia and North Macedonia. My trip was book-ended by stays in London, where amoung other things I focused on sites associated with the Roman Britain cities of Camulodunum (Colchester), Verulamium (St. Albans) and Londinium (London).

Southern Utah and Western Colorado Road Trip

It was time for my annual Four Corners spring trip. I came up with a number of mostly new-to-me hikes and destinations around Page, Arizona, Blanding, Utah, Grand Junction, Colorado and Green River, Utah.

Southern Road Trip and Long New Orleans Weekend

I wanted to visit relatives in Fort Worth, Texas and make a return trip to New Orleans. So I flew to New Orleans, took a road trip that covered sites between the two cities, and capped the trip with a 4-night stay in the Big Easy.

Death Valley and Goldfield Road Trip

After returning from New Orleans, a relative and I took a 2-day road trip to introduce her to Death Valley and to check out some other sites in the area between Death Valley and Goldfield, Nevada.

Southeast Arizona Road Trip

For my first trip of 2019 I planned a road trip that would hit several sites from southeast of Tucson, Arizona east to Las Cruces, New Mexicon. But things didn't go according to plan.

2018 Travels

Cross Country Relatives Road Trip

In October 2018 I took a road trip from Las Vegas to the Midwest to visit relatives, making a handful of deliberate and ad hoc sightseeing stops along the way. On the way back home I spent a few days in the Moab/Green River area of Utah to visit Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Unfortunately, rain, local flooding and snow limited some of my sightseeing.

Los Angeles, California Parks, Great Basin

In September 2018 I headed to Los Angeles for a 4-day weekend getaway. On the way home I took the scenic route to Las Vegas, visiting some of California's famous national parks and then visiting some sites in the Great Basin as I made my way back home.

Baltic States, Finland and the UK

In June and July 2018 I spent a month in Europe. My primary goal was to visit the Baltic states - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - as well as Finland. I bookended the trip with stays in London, a favorite destination that I hadn't been back to since 2013. It was interesting to learn about the history of the Baltics, including their occupation by the old Soviet Union and their eventual emergence as free Western European states.

Great Unconformity Day Trip

In May 2018 I took a day trip to some places on the eastern edge of Las Vegas. My primary target was an exposed segment of a geological feature known as the Great Unconformity, one of two intriguing geological features along the edges of Las Vegas. Other stops included the Rainbow Hills and Lake Mead's Wetlands Trail.

Four Corners Rock Art, Ruins and Hiking

In April 2018 I took a 17-day road trip around the Four Corners region to see a number of ruins, petroglyph, pictograph and geological sites - most of which I hadn't been to before even though I've been in the region a number of times. This included 34 hikes on the first 16 days of the trip. It was a great trip - and it was pretty obvious that when hiking through Four Corners canyon country it pays to keep your eyes open.

California's Mojave Desert

In March 2018 I stayed close to home for a six-day road trip on which I explored the southern Mojave Desert, in particular Mojave Trails National Monument and Mojave National Preserve. I also checked out some destinations in the southern part of Lake Mead National Recreation Area and followed historic Route 66 from Kingman, Arizona to Barstow, California.

Southern Arizona and Southwest New Mexico

For my first road trip of 2018 I headed for destinations in southern Arizona. Although I got some sightseeing and hikes in, the weather didn't cooperate, with rain everyday until the day I headed home. Good thing Arizona is close.

2017 Travels

Cross Country Relatives Road Trip

In October 2017 I drove from Las Vegas to Illinois and Iowa to visit some relatives, padding the drive with some sightseeing days in New Mexico, Texas, Illinois, Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah.

New Mexico and Southwest Texas

In September 2017 I took a 2-week road trip around New Mexico and southwest Texas as I headed to Fort Worth, Texas to visit family.

Great Basin Sights

In August 2017 I took a 9-day road trip around the Great Basin region, visiting sites in eastern California, northern Nevada, southeastern Oregon and eastern Oregon that I had dropped from a number of past trips due to time constraints (and last year's forest fire in one case).

New Mexico Ruins and Rock Art

In July 2017 I spent two weeks exploring northwest New Mexico and northeast Arizona; during this trip I visited or saw about three dozen Ancestral Puebloan ruins sites, many associated with Chaco or Mesa Verde cultures; I also took in a number of geological sites and some museums, and I took about two dozen shorter to mid-length hikes.

Petroglyphs and Geology of Southeast Nevada and Southwest Utah

In June 2017 I took a short road trip that included stays in Caliente, in southeast Nevada, and St. George, in southwest Utah, so that I could explore some petroglyph sites, geological sites and state parks in the region. This trip also included a stop at a museum focused on the westernmost known Ancestral Puebloan ruins site.

Great Basin Ghost Towns, Geology and Little Green Women

In May 2017 I took a road trip that included three nights in the small town of Tonopah, Nevada; I had stopped there for the night on a handful of previous trips and had compiled a list of places to check out in the area; I took a California route back home that included some colorful geology and a place nicknamed Star Wars Canyon.

Northern Arizona and Southeast Utah

In April 2017 I took a two-week trip to Utah, taking familiar roads but visiting a lot of new sites and sites that I haven't been to in years - even decades in some instances. I especially focused on places in the San Rafael Swell, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and locations around Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, but visited other areas.

Desert Superbloom of California and Arizona

In March 2017 I returned to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in southern California to check out a wildflower superbloom (result of the state's good winter rainfall), and then continued on to southwest Arizona to visit some sites there that I dropped from last fall's trip.

2016 Travels

Palm Springs and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Here is a photo set from a November 2016 trip I took to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and some national monuments and other public lands sites in southern California.

Cross Country Relatives Road Trip

Here is a summary/photo set from the October 2016 cross-country road trip I took to visit relatives in Texas and the Midwest.

Exploring Nevada

These are a couple summaries and photos sets from an August 2016 road trip I took around central and northern Nevada.

Returning to New York City

In June 2016 I made a return trip to New York City after 10 years away from the city. I combined some first-time stops and old favorites with some shows on and off Broadway.

Summary of Mark's Retirement Travel Destinations

If you're curious, here's a PDF that lists all of my travel destinations since I retired September 30, 2016. It's a pretty big list.

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