Super-fantastic Journeys

 Fort Richardson State Park located near Jacksboro Texas provides hikers with four short hiking trails that feature different micro-ecosystems within the park.  The trails are not very long and are probably not noteworthy if you are traveling there just for the hiking.  If you are camping or already find yourself in the area then these trails will take you to some of the best spots in the park. I have ranked these hikes in my order of preference.  I visited in early November so the leaves were changing color and it wad for a really pretty day. I ended up hiking all four of these trails in one morning.  I arrived a little after nine o'clock and was off the trail by noon.  The trails do not connect so you have to move to a new trailhead to start each of the hikes. 1. South West Bank of Lost Creek Trail Distance: 1 mile Elevation Gain: 46 feet Moving Time: 29:13 Total Time: 32:32 Difficulty: East My Rating: 4 Stars AllTrails Link This trail  2. Rumbling Springs Trail Distance: 1 mile

This awesome shot of downtown Fort Worth was on a southbound departure from DFW airport to Phoenix, Arizona.  Was sitting in 11F when I took the shot. You can really see the buildings clearly and the Trinity river as it winds through town.

 The rock formations around Sedona Arizona make it a hiker's heaven. The red rock makes exploring by foot an ideal way to experience the area and see the sites from new perspectives.  These are the hikes that I have completed in the Sedona area.  I have many more that I want to return to hike again on future trips to the area.  If you are here during the summer months I highly recommend getting up just before the sun and try to be out on the trail at sunrise.  The benefits of this are that the hiking temperatures are much more friendly and if you are lucky you will actually be able to find a parking spot at the trailhead. It is important to know that for any trailhead that is developed in the area, meaning it has a restroom, you are going to need to have a Red Rocks access pass.  The pass is $5 a day and multiple day passes are available.  Some of the more popular trailheads have a kiosk where you can purchase a pass with a credit card, but others may not have this convenience. The

 Tuzigoot National Monument is a 53-acre site managed by the National Park Service near Clarksdale, Arizona.  The site became protected as a national monument in 1939 and is an example of the culture and housing of the protects and honors the ruins of a Sinagua people from 1125 CE to 140 CE before they moved north and east to what is now part of the Hopi reservation. This is a fee site for the National Park Service and will require payment on most days.  We were very lucky and happened to hit it on a free park day. Normally the fee is $10 per adult, children under 16 are free.  The fee is good for seven days and will also allow you to enter Montezuma's Castle National Monument. When you arrive and park in the loop lot you can head up the steps to the visitor center.  The visitor center has some interesting displays about the people who inhabited Tuzigoot and some items that were found when the site was excavated.  There is also a nice gift shop located in the visitors center.  Ther

 Neil's Harbour is a small village located on the north-eastern most part of Cape Breton Island.  If you are driving the Cabot Trail, it makes a great spot to stop for lunch and enjoy looking at the sea and the rugged shoreline here.  With a population of approximately 300 people, there is not a lot in town, but the restaurant is well known for its chowder and is on both the Chowder Trail and the Lobster Trail. When you are done eating you can walk across the parking lot and visit Neil's Harbor lighthouse. The restaurant is simply named Chowder House .  You order at the counter, get your drinks and pick your spot at one of the tables where they will brin you your food.  We had to try the chowder which was full of lots of seafood.  The soup is not overly thick for a chowder but had excellent flavor. In addition to the chowder I also wanted to get the lobster stamp for this restaurant so I ordered a lobster roll.  The lobster roll was fresh and had nice flavor.  It was full of lo

 This weeks view from the Wing Tip is of downtown Dallas, TX.  We had taken off to the south and turned left heading to Charlotte, North Carolina.  It was a nice clear day so you could see all of downtown without any obstruction.  The area is also a major hub for multiple highways so this area is called the mixmaxter, you can certainly see why from this view.

 The Five Islands Lighthouse has not had a very easy life.  Currently located in a wonderful park overlooking the north shores of Minas Bay where you can enjoy the wonderful park views of the bay, this has not always been its home.   The lighthouse was first built in 1913 and was located on Sand Point.   The design is a pretty classic square house design that holds both the living quarters and the light itself.  The original coast to build the light was $750.  I wonder what the exchange rate was back then? The structure has been moved three times before arriving at its current locations.  The first two moves were because of shore erosion back in the 1950s.  It came to its current locations in 1996 after the property it was sitting on had been sold.  I am thankful that the community cared enough to save this lighthouse because it serves as a focal point in this stunning park. The views here a panoramic and the tides are amazing.  Clamming is big here and as we visited during low tide we

 During our adventures in Nova Scotia, we learned that there is no shortage of breweries and distilleries available throughout the province. While we were in Lunenburg we walked down the street to check our and visit Ironworks Distillery.  Located in an old blacksmith shop just a block up from the waterfront the distillery takes its name from the heritage of the shop that they now occupy.  When you walk into the building you can see that they are passionate about their brand and connecting to the history that they have adopted for new purposes.  You can see the bright shiny copper still and yet it still breathes the years of history it has experienced. It is a very cool building. Ironworks distillery has a range of different products available for tasting. They had a number of different flavors of liqueurs including blueberry and cranberry which I enjoyed.  They had a decent selection of Rum products which is not one of my favorites so I did not taste any of them.   They also had a gin

 Lunenburg is a town built for the Atlantic coastal tourist who wants to learn a little bit about history, eat great food and enjoy a leisurely stroll through the streets of a beautiful town overlooking the harbor from almost anywhere you stand.  Located about 90 minutes south of Halifax, Lunenberg is an easy drive to make for an easy getaway from the big city.  It is a town that is one of the most photographed in the province because of its beautiful colors, traditional style, and that sought after shot from across the bay at Sunset. We arrived in Lunenburg late in the afternoon because we were coming all the way from Advocate Bay and had a couple of stops that we made along the way.  We chose to stay in a town just south of Lunenberg to escape some of the tourism traffic and found a wonderful location, the Lighthouse Motel, and Cottages.  Located on the LaHave River this property is a great value.   From our hotel, we would make a short trip upriver and then head back downriver to ge

  We were in Lunenberg for the evening and saw this very inviting restaurant up above the harbor area.  We arrived just as the sun was setting enjoyed a great evening of food and conversation over our dinner.  This outdoor eating experience was the perfect cap to a beautiful day. While only open seasonally, this restaurant focuses on fresh seafood.  They had six different types of oysters that you could get served on the half shell, broiled, or done Rockefeller style.  I had two different kinds of oysters, the Chebooktook from New Brunswick and the Gowanbrae from Prince Edward Island.  They were served on ice with a slice of lemon and cocktail sauce in a cute little squeeze bottle.  The oysters were perfectly shucked and delicious. For entrees, I got the seafood paella which was packed with a ton of seafood.  There were shrimp clams in the shell, mussels, scallops, and fish.  The flavors were great and it was a definite treat.  The price point was very fair based on the amount of seafo

 This week's view from the wing tip comes from our departure from Nova Scotia.  Our last glimpses of the Province we had just toured for a week was this amazing sunrise.

 The Terrance Bay lighthouse is located at the end of  Chebucto Peninsula between Halifax and Peggy's Cove.  The light is a square pyramid design with a balcony around the top.  The light sits 43 feet above the water and is painted with the classic red and white paint job of many of the Canadian lighthouses. Access to this light is a problem.  There is a dispute in the community and the property and the access trail that leads to the light.  The trail goes between two houses, and the house on the left is not very friendly to people cutting through to go out to the light.  I spoke to a local who was out on her daily walk and she said that we could walk out to the light but that the people would probably give us some trouble.  In the end, we decided that we did not need to deal with all of that and we got the best picture that we could, power lines and all. If you are trying to check lighthouses off your list, then the drive down the peninsula was beautiful and you drive through a nu

 The Three Sisters references a rock formation that is located off the cliffs of Cape Chignecto Provincial Park near Advocate Harbor, Nova Scotia.  I had seen many pictures of this location and it quickly made it onto my bucket list of places that I wanted to go kayaking.  I have enjoyed sea kayaking for a number of years, and have always had to travel to get to participate in it.  Kayaking seems to be the best way to experience these particular rocks and the cliffs that surround them.  There are some trails from within the park that will get you to viewpoints along the cliff but there is nothing that can top quietly paddling amongst the rocks. When we travel we will find a local guiding company to go out on the trip with.  They will provide you with all the equipment that you need except for some basic clothing items.  They also know about the local tides, currents, and the winds in the area, all of which can cause you to have issues if you are not careful while kayaking.  I do not wa