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Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway

Cruising the Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway: An Honest Look at Kansas’s Red Earth

If your mental image of Kansas is entirely flat, golden wheat fields, the Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway will completely shatter that stereotype. Spanning 42 miles along U.S. Highway 160 between Medicine Lodge and Coldwater, this route drops you into an otherworldly landscape of vibrant crimson soil, deep canyons, and ancient, flat-topped mesas. We recently took […]

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Lady in Marina

Bamahenge & Beyond: Unexpected Roadside Attractions Near Gulf Shores

Our recent trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama, promised days of sun-kissed relaxation on its incredibly soft, sugar-white sands. However, Mother Nature had other plans for one of our mornings, greeting us with unseasonably chilly temperatures and blustery winds that made a beach day less than ideal. But true adventurers know that a change in plans

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Witnessing a Rocket Launch

We visited the Kennedy Space Center in 2022 and was fascinated by the exhibits, wouldn’t it be neat to watch a launch? When it turned out that a rocket launch would be happening when we were in the general area, I knew that we had to go to watch. It was the SpaceX Falcon 9

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Burlington Roadside Attractions

Quirky Burlington Roadside Attractions

We love breaking up serious sightseeing with a healthy dose of the delightfully absurd, and Burlington, Vermont, does not disappoint. On a recent trip, we tracked down two of the city’s best Burlington Roadside Attractions—plus a necessary maple creemee run—proving that sometimes, the best sights are the ones that make you scratch your head and

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Great American Eclipse

Viewing the Great American Eclipse from Dallas: 4 minutes of Totality Miracle

The date had been circled on our calendar for what felt like an eternity: April 8, 2024. The Great American Eclipse. And our chosen vantage point? Dallas, Texas, sitting firmly within the path of totality. We’d envisioned a flawless celestial spectacle – the midday sun swallowed whole by the moon, plunging us into an eerie

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Spiro Mounds Grass Trail

A Walk Around the Spiro Mounds

Nestled in eastern Oklahoma, the Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center offers a fascinating glimpse into a prehistoric American Indian culture that thrived in this region centuries ago. Our recent visit was a journey back in time, a chance to explore the remnants of a significant Mississippian Period site and learn about the Spiro people who built

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A Walk to the Pawnee Buttes

Itching to get out of the house, but hesitant to go someplace that had a lot of people, we decided to drive about 2 hours to Pawnee National Grassland (north of Ft. Morgan, East of Ft. Collins) and walk trail 601 to the Pawnee Buttes. Driving through the grasslands was not as exciting as I

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Walking the Freedom Trail

We started the Freedom Trail at the Boston Commons, the oldest public park in the country. From the visitor center, you can easily find the red line trail, sometimes the trail is red paint, other times it is brick. Helpful Hints: We underestimated how long it would take us to do this trail, thinking it

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Tour of the Hammond Candy Factory

While my family doesn’t visit me that often, we’ve done a lot around Colorado. Coming up with new ideas is sometimes a challenge. But then I remembered the Hammond Candy Factory in north Denver that doesn’t require reservations and is free so it saved my tush by not planning in advance and balanced well with

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