It was not on a road trip, I was hiking in the back country. I hiked up some unnamed water course on the edge of the Rockies west of Calgary. I hiked to the top of the ridge and dropped down into a hanging valley and an amazing microclimate of a temperate old growth rainforest. There were Douglas Fir trees the likes I have never seen outside coastal British Columbia. The forest floor was moss so deep it was like walking on feather pillows. There were ferns nearly as tall as I am, it was like I had left the real world and entered the realm of the fairies. I doubt that the whole valley was any bigger than 1 square mile but, it left a impression of wonder on me I will never forget, for it simply should not have existed there but there it was.

I was out hunting for agates near Edwards AFB when I stumbled on what looked like the remains of an old house built out of local rock. It was actually a pile of discarded rusty cans that drew my attention to the area.

Virgin River Gorge, northern Az-Southern Ut. The walls of the gorge are turquoise in the rain.

10 years ago I drove down a road that I had driven past hundreds of times in my life, found a beach I had never seen and on my way out bought 3.5 acres of land on the road to the beach. I was that impressed with the place driving away was negotiations via the agent, and the place was mine before I got to the next town.

I discovered a place called Grand Canyon Caverns once purely by happenstance. I was travelling from Phoenix, AZ to Las Vegas, NV and decided to take old Route 66 between Flagstaff and Seligman just to travel it. Along the way, I discovered the place and took the tour. Really cool!

[gccaverns.com]

A Native, if not naive Oregonian, after deciding to relocate, I drove across ‘America.’ WOW, seemed I either grinned or fought to stay in my lane the whole way across… I’d of course watched travel documentaries, and had been to Mexico, Canada & Hawaii, but thought - everyone needs to do this!

Over East, eventually settling in SW VA, I’m surrounded by history … talk about the Civil War! I’d say roaming the back streets of Alexandria Virginia impressed me the most. Out in OR, we still felt like Pioneers. Over here, with a solid 400 years of ‘English History’ ..it still blows me away… I’ve yet to see Europe, I’d likely be frozen in awe China, even worse ~

For me, nothing beats nature for the most awesome sites to see and can be found most everywhere. Your mileage may vary.

Apparently that’s the world tallest thermometer? We saw it on way to Vegas for Misfits show.

Memphis, eh? We toured the Gibson Guitar factory there. Worth the $10.