2020 USA Road Trip

Travel Bytes from our 2020 USA Road Trip Journey

Run from Evel

August 9, Day 69: My goal this morning – run to and from Evel Knievel’s jump site! An early start provided beautiful sunrise views of the Snake River Canyon on the way.

Land of 1000 Springs

August 7-9, Day 67-69: Southern Idaho is a desolate and parched land, but it hides 1000 springs offering cool water and a ribbon of green and blue in the Snake River.

June 22, Day 21: We found hidden life in Death Valley. Yes, that picture is #nofilter, unretouched. While the temperature in the valley was well over 100F, Darwin Falls was a cool, willow-shaded oasis teeming with red dragonflies, lizards, and chirping birds.

Run at Eagle Lake

October 4, Day 123: I did a Sunday morning run at Eagle Lake, on those marvelous chat-rock carriage trails that wind through Acadia National Park.

I parked and made the short walk across Duck Brook Bridge to the carriage trails. I intended to run around eagle Lake, a total of about seven miles. It was a cool and wonderful fall morning, perfect for a run.

Cottonwood Canyon Road

June 18, Day 17: We ventured Cottonwood Canyon Road, a 47-mile backroad through the Grand Escalante National Monument from near Zion to Kodachrome Basin State Park. We left our yurt near Zion National Park and headed east on US Highway 89 for a couple of hours to a non-descript exit. We turned north, and the pavement ended.

Chapel Rock

September 5, Day 94: One of our favorite parts of Michigan is Chapel Rock in Painted Rocks National Shoreline. The Chapel Rock / Mosquito Beach hike along the Lake Superior shoreline was one of our favorites of the entire trip. At 13 miles, it was long, so we started at 7am. Already, there were a dozen cars parked at the trailhead lot.

USA Road Trip 2020

USA ROAD TRIP 2020 – In 2020, the pandemic played havoc with our plan to travel to Greece for a month. So, we adjusted our plan! We sold Jean’s car, bought a Jeep Wrangler, and set out to explore America the Beautiful.

Hudson River Airbnb

September 21, Day 110: A cool and misty morning at our Hudson River Airbnb. Jean and I strolled through the yard with our coffee, enjoying the quiet. Suddenly a loud SQUAWK shattered the peace.

Hurricane Mountain

September 24, Day 113: Pancakes with bananas for breakfast to fuel us. We needed it for the 6½ miles and 2,000′ in elevation gain to summit Hurricane Mountain in the Adirondacks. AllTrails uses rated this a 4.8 / 5 stars, and with the beautiful fall foliage we couldn’t agree more.

Mount Cinnamon

August 15, Day 74: Located in the Madison Range of SW Montana near Big Sky, Mount Cinnamon sits at 9,235 feet with expansive views in all directions. AllTrails rated this as moderate, but given the elevation gain and starting altitude, it was anything but that for us!