Super-fantastic Journeys

Don't forget to look up, you may be missing one of the best parts! As you travel the United States visiting the State Capitol Building, or in some places called the State House, is a great activity to build into your trip plans.  As a governmental building, the State Capital is open to the public and often provide tours, either guided or self-guided.  While visiting the house and senate chambers and learning something about the history of the state taking a moment to pause in the  rotunda  and looking up can be rewarding. Take a look and see some of the rotundas I have been fortunate to visit. State of Washington State of Texas State of Maryland State of Illinois State of Connecticut State of New Mexico State of Montana State of Arkansas

The best place to drop quarters into a machine in Las Vegas is not in a casino.  If you want to have a great time on just a few dollars, the best place to go is the Pinball Hall of Fame .  That is right, there is a Pinball Hall of Fame and all the machines are a hands-on interactive exhibit.  The best thing about pinball machines over slot machines is that there is actually some skill involved in playing pinball and your skill determines your ability to win free games, not just luck. Located just east of the strip on Tropicana (driving or uber is suggested) this 10,000 square foot facility is currently filled with 260 pinball machines that you can touch and play.  The machines date from the 1950s to the 1990s and yes I was able to find a number of my favorites.  When you pull up outside the building and vinyl sign makes you wonder if you made the right decision for an activity compared to all the glitz of Vegas.  Once you walk inside there are r...

Through our multiple visits to Bandelier National Monument, we have hiked a number of the trails that depart from the visitor center.  The hiking here is very accessible and is friendly to the time-crunched traveler.  I would highly recommend one of the trails that takes you through the ruins.  This is a dream spot for kids to hike because they get to climb ladders and go through narrow passageways. Main Ruin Loop Trail Distance: 1.4 Miles Trail Type: Loop Elevation Gain: 291 feet Difficulty: Easy All Trails Map The Main Ruin Loop Trail begins and ends at the visitor center.  The trail is 1.4 miles in length and is broken into two sections.  The first section is paved and is handicap accessible.  The second portion of the trail has some narrow sections of stairs to climb as you work your way up onto the cliffs sides to be able to access the carved out alcoves that were made in the side of the canyon for homes and storage.  Ladders fr...

Bandelier National Monument is located near Los Alamos, NM, and is on the eastern slope of the Jemez Mountains.  Once the home of ancient Pueblo people, the national monument is a great place to explore a diverse ecosystem and the cultures that have inhabited the area over the years.  The park only has 3 miles of road but has over 70 miles of trails on over 33,000 acres of land.  Created in 1916, the park is probably best known for its ruins of ancient people who lived amongst the cliffs and eventually developed a large village on the valley floor below. The Frijoles Canyon is a hub for the activities at Bandelier National Monument and the park's visitor center.  Located at the base of the canyon, the road winds down the side of the canyon to a small parking area.  Parking is very tight here, and in the summer months (May 16 - October 16), visitors must take a shuttle from the nearby town of White Rock which also hosts a new visitors center.  The shut...

I would have never guessed that Arkansas might be the first state that I would have visited all the National Park Sites in.  I only have one left to go.  I always made fun of Arkansas until I actually visited it. Arkansas is known as "The Natural State" and it is a well-earned title.  There are some amazingly beautiful places to visit in Arkansas and I still have a lot of the state to explore.  There are seven different sites run by the National Park Service in Arkansas.  Six of the site are historical in nature and one site is based on the natural beauty of the area. I have ranked the sites here based on my preferences and only rank the sites that I have been to. #1 - Buffalo National River The Buffalo River became America's first national river when it was established in 1972 and snakes its way 135 miles through northwest Arkansas through the Ozark Mountains.  It is one of the few remaining undammed rivers in the lower 48 states.  The large ...

I find that the idea of flight is simply amazing.  While we sit there and complain about the amount of leg room we have on the plane, it is still a miracle that we are in a metal tube hurtling through the air at 500 miles per hour and then in just a short period of time we can be all the way across the country.  I have always enjoyed aviation, in fact at one time in my childhood I thought that I would become an aeronautical engineer. Planes have played many important roles in our history and have really made a lot of different events and advancements possible.  Aviation museums are a great way to see actual aircraft and learn about the role they have had in our country, region or civilization.  This post is a ranking of the air museums that I have visited and a bucket list of the museums that I still want to visit.  The ranking is purely my opinion and this post will update as I visit other air museums on my travels.  As the blog grows I hope to add ...

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located in the Southeast portion of New Mexico, 20 miles from the town of Carlsbad.  The park has over 117 caves made in the limestone which was once an ocean reef.  The caverns were formed in this area when waters rich in hydrogen sulfide mixed with rainwater to create sulfuric acid.  The acid ate away the limestone and created the chambers that you are able to visit today.  About four million years ago this process stopped and the cave started making formations as surface water started working its way into the cave.  The formations that we see today is a result of the surface water bring minerals down and depositing them in the area. Carlsbad Cavern is the cave that most people visit and is developed for the large number of visitors the park hosts each year. The Carlsbad Cavern has 30 miles of passages surveyed and has been developed extensively for visitors.  The great room that you visit is 8.2 acres in size...