Gateway Arch National Park, St Louis, MO

The final national park that we visited on our road trip this spring was Gateway Arch. We added it to the itinerary when we realized it was literally on our way home! The hope was that we would get an early check in at our hotel and have the afternoon to explore the park. Not…

Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio

Just south of Cleveland is the beautiful and unique Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This national park was created in 1974 as part of the federal Parks to People program. This program called for national parks in population centers. CVNP is 33,000 acres nestled in the Cuyahoga River valley and is full of walking and biking…

Indiana Dunes National Park

Along the very south of Lake Michigan you will find Indiana Dunes National Park. We visited the park towards the end of April and although we didn’t have to fight the summer crowds, we experienced some frigid weather that I didn’t expect when I was planning our trip. I guess because I live in the…

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Our next stop after our “Wall Drug” adventure in the town of Wall, was Badlands National Park. Badlands encompasses 244,000 acres and protects the largest expanse of prairie in the National Park System. The Oglala Lakota called these lands mako sica, meaning “land bad”. The French trappers and traders followed suit by calling this place…

Hot Springs National Park History

While visiting Hot Springs NP last October, we made a visit to The Fordyce, a bathhouse that was restored as a museum and configured as the bathhouse was, back in 1915. Along with my book “Images of America Hot Springs National Park” I gained a great overview of the park’s history. A few fun facts about…