Super-fantastic Journeys

Roxborough State Park is located just 40 minutes from Denver and is designed to preserve the natural beauty of this area of red rock formations.  The park focuses on making a minimal impact on the land while preserving the area and providing habitat for birds and other wildlife.  The park has 3, 339 acres of property.   The park has a small visitor center that provides a few displays about the wildlife and ecosystem in the area. The visitor center is a great place to start your journey and provides guests with restroom facilities.  There is a central courtyard at the visitor's center which is well-designed and is a nice place to sit before or after enjoying one of the hikes in the park. Most of the park is accessible by hiking paths that explore different portions of the park. Many other activities are not permitted in the park including mountain bikes and horseback riding.  There are nin different trails in the park to explore, for 12.54 miles of hiking available. Hiking the Fount

South Valley Park is an open space park in Jefferson County Colorado.  Consisting of 995 Acres this park sits in a unique valley on the west side of a rock uplift called the Hogback.  The park has numerous red rock formations similar to the rocks at Red Rocks Amphitheater or Garden of the Gods, just smaller.  There are two separate parking lots at the park.  The north lot is large and has lots of space, while the south parking spot is smaller but still has a good number of spots.  Restrooms are available to hikers at both parking lots.  The upper parking area also has picnic spots available after your hiking journey. There are 7.7 miles of Trail available in the park.  The trails create a variety of different loops of varying lengths.  Most of the trails in the park are rated as easy with a few sections that are rated moderate because of the increased steepness.  All Trails has eight different trails listed for this open-space park.  Connector trails also connect this park to other ope

 Sedona is a place where you can step into another world that allows you to self-center and remember everything you enjoy most. Whether it is time to sit in nature and renew your energy, enjoy great food and drinks with friends, or get your adventure on and explore the miles of trails and canyons, Sedona will have what you are looking for. Sedona is about 60 minutes south of Flagstaff, Arizona, and about 2 hours north of Phoenix.  You can take multiple routes to get to Sedona, each of them being designated as a scenic byway. Where we Stayed: We stayed in a very nice townhome that we found on Airbnb, located within walking distance of the downtown Sedona area.  It was ideal to leave the car parked and easily walk down to the Sedona Beer company or hit many restaurants and shopping.  The accommodations were very comfortable, and working with the management company was easy.  The unit was immaculate and well maintained, so we felt good about our stay.  The kitchen was also well stocked wi

When you travel the end of the Point Reyes Headlands to visit the Point Reyes Lighthouse, you want to make sure to take a little extra time to head out to Elephant Seal Overlook.  Drakes Bay on the south side of Point Reyes National Seashore Headlands provides a protected area for the Northern Elephant Seal to raise their young.  The first breeding pair came to the area in 1981, and the population of these animals has been growing ever since.  The largest number of seals can be found here from December until March, which is the birthing season, and then into the spring, the females and juveniles will be on the beach for molting. We visited in June, and there were still many elephant seals on the beach, but not like in February when there can be up to 600 animals on this section of beach. The Elephant Seal Overlook trial is a short half-mile round trip trail that takes you out to a viewpoint where you can watch these animals interact with each other.  The trail is flat and easy to walk,

The New River Gorge became a National Park in December of 2020.  It is a spot that definitely deserves this designation and I am thankful to have had multiple opportunities to explore this area over the last two years on a number of occasions.  One of the many recreational opportunities in the New River Gorge is hiking.  There is a wide range of trails for you to choose from with varying levels of difficulty.  Hiking trails along the rim of the gorge tend to be fairly easy and provide you with great views of the river below.  If you are looking for something a little more difficult pick one of the trails that goes below the rim and you will quickly drop in elevation, knowing that you will soon be climbing back up to get back to your trailhead. I have hiked here in the winter and summer months, and I have to say that winter is actually my favorite.  The foliage here is so dense that in the summer months, the trees will block most of the view. So if you want big vistas try and pick a tim

Muir Woods National Monument is located just 16 miles Northwest of Fishermans Warf in San Francisco. Muir Woods is a stand of Coastal Redwoods protected over the years and allows visitors to walk amongst these giants.  Many of the trees in the area are 500 - 800 years old, and the tallest tree at the monument stands 258 feet tall.  The trees create their own climate below the canopy allowing many different plants and animals to live here that would not do well in the arid climate otherwise.  The Coastal Redwoods grow in Northern California, primarily between San Francisco and Oregon.  They thrive here because of the fog.  The fog will condense on the needles in the trees, then drip down into the forest below.  This process is how these giant trees get enough water to sustain the forest that they create. Being so close to San Francisco Bay area Muir Woods is a popular destination and requires you to make a paid reservation just to get parkin.  We made our reservations months in advance

Georgetown is an old gold mining town located less than an hour from downtown Denver.  Growing up in Colorado, Georgetown was just one of the small towns you drove by while going somewhere else.  Now Georgetown is a great place to visit and use as a base camp for more exploring in the area.  The town of Georgetown has changed over the years in a very positive way but has maintained a lot of its old mountain charm. Georgetown is known for the Victorian houses built here back in the 1800s, and many of them are still standing and well maintained.  Many of the yards are full of flowers during the summer, making for a beautiful town to explore. Where I Stayed Microtell Inn & Suites 2190 Argentine St. Georgetown, CO 80444 720-741-8989 Website Service: ✮✮✮✮✮ Rooms: ✮✮✮✮ Cleanliness: ✮ ✮✮ ✮ ✮ Amenities: ✮✮✮ Microtel Inn & Suites George Town - Photo from Wyndham Hotels The Microtel Inn & Suites is a new property in Georgetown and sits on the west end of Lake Georgetown.  I was nicel