Tag Archives: national park
Zany Park Signs
What’s Your Ology? Dislocated shoulders? God as security guard?
Our National Parks have a sense of humor too! Or do they mean to be this funny? Either way–we sure appreciate the effort!
Sled Dogs & Snow Ghosts – Whitefish, Montana in the Winter
Whitefish, Montana! A quirky, friendly little town with a great sense of humor, a fabulous microbrewery, and some of the most incredible scenery in the world!Join us as we head into Glacier National Park in the snow and dog sled (!!!) through the breathtaking Stillwater State Forest with goofy grins pasted on our faces… CONTINUE READING >>
A Winter Wonderland Aboard Amtrak’s Empire Builder
Join your GypsyNesters aboard Amtrak’s iconic Empire Builder as we head through a winter wonderland in luxury!See Glacier National Park out the huge windows of the Sightseer Lounge, celebrate Veronica’s visit to her 48th state over crab cakes (for breakfast!) in the dining car, share a fun-filled wine and cheese tasting, and enjoy tours of our sleeper car and all the fabulous amenities that you never knew Amtrak provided! … CONTINUE READING >>
How to Volunteer at a National Park (and live for free!)
Whether you are a retiree or empty nester looking to enrich your life through volunteerism, an outdoorsy-type wanting to get back to nature, or a college student looking to pump up your resume in a meaningful way, the Parks Service provides wonderful ways to help preserve America’s natural heritage.
And now is the time to prepare for next summer’s adventure.
From the… CONTINUE READING >>
Oh My Stars!
Looking up at the night sky at an out-in-the-boondocks National Park sent my thoughts wandering, as only the night sky can. Then came a shocking thought:How long until we can no longer see the stars?
Sitting up and scanning the land around me I saw the bright dots from tiny little towns – and, alas, the Park itself – enough light pollution to hinder me from observing what The Ancients or Magella… CONTINUE READING >>
Our Year in an RV – What We Spent & How We Did It
So how do committed boat people end up in an RV? Easy. On a spur of the moment whim.Since we headed off into GypsyNester territory, BAMF has taken us to thirty-four states, three Canadian provinces, fourteen National Parks and a beautiful seaside town in Mexico. It was an amazing journey. We had no idea what we were doing, but we sure learned a lot, so we’d like to share some of what we discovered along the… CONTINUE READING >>
Why? Could it be the Cacti?
Everybody has to ask “Why?” from time to time. Our time came on the drive to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. On the northern edge of the park, along the only road going in, lies the miniscule town of Why, Arizona.Wondering why, we figured we should ask around. The Why-Not Travel Store seemed a good place to inquire. Actually, it was the only place to inquire.
It seems there are two main stories as to how the town came to be named Why, one more likely true than the other.
Some folks say that… CONTINUE READING >>
A Hike Though Organ Pipe National Monument
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This is the only place in the US to see the AMAZING Organ Pipe Catcus! Want to know more?: http://www.gypsynester.com/why.htm
Easy to be Hard
While we are firm believers in a “take it easy” philosophy, we have never been standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona before. Call us wacky, we were pretty stoked about it.
The town of Winslow is pretty stoked, as well.
They built a little monument to the lyric, complete with a mural of a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look at the statue named “Standing On The Corner.” It’s painted as if it is a reflection in a plate glass window and really works. The mood is captured.
Cool as it was to climb inside an Eagles song, we… CONTINUE READING >>
Glacier National Park from the Dome Car of Amtrak’s Empire Builder!
Our snowy early morning trip had us glued to the windows of The Sightseer Lounge of The Empire Builder as we snaked our way through… CONTINUE READING >>
Southern Comfort Zone
Traveling up the Mississippi River from New Orleans on the Great River Road, we encountered the epitome of the Old South. All along the river north to Baton Rouge, Plantation Country lives on in well preserved splendor. Cotton was not king down here, unlike the plantations throughout the rest of The South, these gave us some… CONTINUE READING >>USS Cairo Ironclad at Vicksburg National Military Park
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Walking along the decks and peering into the Cairo’s inner workings, it wasn’t too hard to feel transported back to Civil War Era. The display is made all the more interesting because… CONTINUE READING >>
San Diego, Padre
San Diego could have a massive inferiority complex, being overshadowed by its giant neighbor to the north — like a redheaded stepchild, but it doesn’t. No need to — the beauty and attractions have so much to offer.We discovered San Diego while driving down from that sprawling metropolis above, our buddy Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo found it by sailing up from Mexico.
Although Portuguese by birth, Johnny C. was working for Spain on a find-a-shortcut-to… CONTINUE READING >>
Sur. Yes Sir!
Waves crashing against the craggy coast, mist drifting up mountains that rise abruptly from the sea, bridges impossibly clinging to cliffs — we’d seen …CONTINUE READING >>Baby Elephant Seal – One Day Old!
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Baby seal born on the Elephant Seal Beach. Baby and mother have a visit from a bull and things get… CONTINUE READING >>
What in the Sam Hill is a Yosemite?
OK, show of hands. How many of us first heard of Yosemite from Looney Tunes? C’mon, reach fer the sky fragnabbit! On those childhood Saturday mornings Yosemite Sam introduced us to the name but he had nothing to do with the National Park. Friz Freleng just liked the plumb western sound of California’s premier park for his loud-mouthed, sourdough, going-off-all-half-cocked, six-shootin’ little fella. Fifty-odd years of Saturdays later yer flea bitten GypsyNestin’ varmints finally met Sam’s namesake… CONTINUE READING >>Massive Redwoods! “Tree model” David!
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Impossible to show how big the Redwoods are on film? Nope! This… CONTINUE READING >>
Ewok-ing Through the Redwood Forest
Timber! For over one hundred years that dreaded cry filled the forests of the northern California coastal region. Redwoods over three hundred feet high and a thousand years old came crashing to the ground at a frightening pace. Over two million acres of these majestic trees were reduced to a few groves.Thankfully the State of California stepped… CONTINUE READING >>
Yellowstone – What a Gas Hole!
Our odyssey deep into the American West continued across cowboy country, The Cowboy State, Wyoming. Vast expanses of open range stretch as far as the eye can see. The deer and the antelope really do play out here. It was hard to tell from a distance but we believe it was… CONTINUE READING >>Video – Beautiful, Majestic Yellowstone
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Two-thirds of all the geysers in the world are within the borders of Yellowstone. Superheated water gushes… CONTINUE READING >>
Big Heads, Badlands & Bear Claws
After the seemingly endless trek across the windswept northern prairie, the landscape suddenly changes. On second thought, suddenly hardly describes it.Abruptly, immediately, instantaneously the topography dramatically goes from flat grassland besieged with billboards to the spectacularly gnarled Badlands.
Out of nowhere the South Dakota plains give way to layers of soft shale, clay and limestone that wear away at a rate of about an inch a year… CONTINUE READING >>
