Capitol Reef National Park. That must be somewhere in Hawaii. Or maybe Guam? Or American Samoa? Or at least somewhere off the coast of California? Right? That’s what I thought too, but no. Capitol Reef National Park is in Utah. A reef in the desert. Capitol Reef gets in name […]
If you follow me on social media (@valeriedperry on everything) you probably saw that I was hanging out at Playlist Live in Orlando, Florida a couple weeks ago. While a trip to Florida typically means time with my sister and some other friends, this trip had the bonus of also […]
I knew very little about Canyonlands National Park before this trip. I only knew that it was home to what is probably Utah’s most famous arch outside of Arches National Park: Mesa Arch And I assumed it had a canyon. You know, because it was called Canyonlands. I was expecting […]
Stop #6: Arches National Park The park I was most excited to see in Utah was the one we visited first. There is something majestic and magical about natural arches. We began the day with a glimpse of Delicate Arch in the distance. I said that I wanted to hike […]
A Camper Minivan? I was intrigued when I saw it in an email from Groupon. I’d always wanted to go RVing, but didn’t want to drive a big rig around. But I’d driven a minivan before; this I could handle. Ultimately the Groupon deal dates didn’t work for me, but […]
I’m a country girl. That should be no surprise to you as most of this blog is filled with hiking and other outdoorsy expeditions. Two years ago I took a job in Washington, DC but ultimately decided to live in the suburbs so I could be either downtown or in […]
Mention South Dakota to someone and they’ll likely respond with something about Mt. Rushmore or the Badlands. Or prairie. That’s all I knew about South Dakota. But, as you know, I discovered caves, mountains, and wildlife on my roadtrip. I had intended for the Badlands to be my final stop […]
I’d been near the Badlands before…at night…on Interstate 90. Though just a few minutes from the Interstate, the Badlands are a completely different place…especially in the daytime. Before entering Badlands National Park I made an obligatory stop at Wall Drug. If you’ve ever driven through South Dakota on Interstate 90, […]
My #100by100 Project is focused on National Parks – seeing 100 National Parks by the time the United States National Park Service turns 100 on August 25, 2016. So when someone suggested that I stay in Custer State Park (CSP) during my visit to the Black Hills in South Dakota, […]
Located just 30 miles from Jewel Cave National Monument is the completely different underground world of Wind Cave National Park. Wind Cave became the United States’ seventh National Park in 1903. It was discovered only a few decades earlier in 1881 by Jesse and Tom Bingham. The brothers were on […]
Did you know that many of the world’s largest caves are found in the United States? The third largest is in South Dakota – Jewel Cave National Monument. Jewel Cave got its blinging name because of the calcite crystals that cover the walls and ceilings of the cave and shimmered […]
It’s that time of year again. Everyone is making resolutions and hitting the gym while I’m recollecting everything I watched last year. I’ll be honest. I didn’t plan on making this list for 2015. But due to my list in 2013 and 2014, someone requested another list for 2015. This […]