national park

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Monticello exterior with people walking up

11 Fun Things to do Near Madison, Virginia

There are so many fun things to do near Madison, Virginia; you may be surprised. When I recently stayed for a month, I was shocked at how places and activities on my ever-growing list of things to do kept expanding. It was astonishing since I’d never heard of the place before renting a little cottage there. But it ended up being an idyllic location in the Shenandoah Valley within just two hours of many premiere Virginia locations and attractions. Plus,...

Thin trees in a swamp with green moss at their base.

5 Unique Reasons Congaree National Park is Worth Visiting

Synchronistic Fireflies and Champion Trees are two reasons to visit Congaree National Park. Plus, Congaree is among the least visited parks, making it blissfully uncrowded. I’ve been to 25+ national parks and there are essentially two types: those people go to and those they don’t. Some parks are filled with amenities, trails and things to do and see, and other parks quietly exist to protect rare and spectacular environments. Congaree is one of the latter. It protects the largest intact...

Rene Cizio standing on a white sand dune

5 Reasons White Sands National Park is Worth Visiting

There aren’t very many people at White Sands National Park. I don’t know how many national parks you can say that about anymore. On the days I was there, weekday and weekend, I was mostly morbidly alone. The sand is lovely, but who wants to go to a beach without water? And hiking in the sand, I can now tell you from experience, is precisely as difficult as you might expect it to be. But this place isn’t about the...

Bayou Sign

Touring the Bayou in Jean Lafitte National Park

Before booking a kayak tour through the Jean Lafitte National Park bayou, I messaged the host. The tour promised a slow paddle through the bayou with likely sighting of swamp birds, turtles, and maybe some gators. Kayaking and alligators didn’t seem like they should go together, so I asked,  “Are there alligators? I want to do this, but it seems totally crazy to me. Am I nuts?”  “There are alligators, but you’re not crazy!! It’s an awesome time!!”  A friend...

Saguaro National Park cactus with orange sunset

5 Beautiful Places to See Near Tucson, Arizona

Tucson is a rare and beautiful place. I didn’t know much about it before I went there, and that’s because the people are chill, and I think maybe they’re trying to keep this fantastic place a secret. You know a place is spectacular when it has two unique lifeforms that only live there – the Saguaro and Pipe Organ Cactus. Here are five places near Tucson that I loved 1 Saguaro National Park Saguaro Cactuses are an icon of the...

Rene snorkel los arcos

Snorkeling at Los Arcos in Puerto Vallarta

There’s an entire underwater world waiting when you go snorkeling at Los Arcos in Puerto Vallarta. I visit its mysterious depths after a walk, a ride in a Volkswagen bus, and a short hike. Then: transcendence. Los Arcos National Marine Park You can see these rocky outcroppings from downtown Puerto Vallarta, but you need to get close to them to appreciate their size and stunning beauty. They look like massive gray boulders dropped in the sea by Poseidon. Los Arcos...

Death Valley

One Day and Night Alone in Death Valley

On my way to Death Valley were palm trees and Joshua Trees. After that, there was nothing except desert sage covered in dust, making everything a monotone beige. Then there wasn’t even that. One can’t help but think of the famous Christian biblical passage when driving into Death Valley, “…into the valley of the shadow of death….” Or is that just me? My drive into Death Valley National Park was about five hours long through the Mohave Desert, so the...

Rene next to a felled Redwood tree

Absorbing the Energy of the Immortal Redwood Trees

Redwoods are the closest thing to immortal that we have on this Earth. On my road trip from Oregon and along the California Coast, I made frequent stops to hike along the many redwood groves and absorb the energy these immortal trees give off. I’d heard of Redwood National Park and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, but somehow it didn’t occur to me that these magnificent trees would grow elsewhere, but they do. Many remain in small groves all...