Living Desert Zoo an oasis in rapidly growing Coachella Valley
Say Coachella Valley, and it’s likely you’ll think of music concerts, golf courses, gated communities, swank hotels and endless shopping. The cities along the valley’s...
E'Louise Ondash
Museum, spa bring Agua Caliente history to the surface
We are standing in the plaza in front of the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum and Spa at Séc-he in downtown Palm Springs. At first pass,...
Flowers Fields springs to life
Eighty million blooms. Fifty acres. Thirteen colors. Ten weeks. These hefty numbers sum up the Giant Tecolote Ranunculus spectacular that is this year’s event at...
Route 66 turns 100: Read up before you go
Time: Let’s just say it was some time in the last millennium. Place: Gallup, New Mexico. What: My husband and I, on a month-long, cross-country...
After rainy fall, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park ready to bloom
This spring’s flower season in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park may not attain the status of “superbloom,” but it’s going to be a “pretty good year,”...
Offseason a great time to visit Temecula Valley Wine Country
Eat. Stay. Love…the wine, the vineyards, the views. I’m talking about Temecula Valley Wine Country, and though no more than an hour’s drive from any...
Difficult travelers make a tour guide’s job even harder
Let’s hear it for tour guides. They deserve a lot of respect. The job demands many skills — organizer, storyteller, entertainer, mediator, babysitter, crisis manager,...
Here’s to memorable travel adventures!
We missed having our grandson around the Christmas tree this year. He was in Germany visiting a friend whose father is stationed there for a...
A watery wonderland in western Oregon
The trail is steep, shadowy and slippery, but we can’t pass up the chance to see the nearly 300-foot-high Watson Falls, one of a dozen along...
Fall in Carmel-by-the-Sea, and change is in the air
We watch from shore as a young man, sans wetsuit, repeatedly dives into the roiling, white surf. He pops up each time despite what looks...
Autumn’s awesome in Willamette Valley wine country
Dave Lauer, whose family owns Bryn Mawr Vineyards, points to a break in the silhouette of Oregon’s Coast Range. “That’s the Van Duzer Corridor,” he...
Salem: History looms large in Oregon’s capital city
Her name tag says Fannie Kay Bishop, but it takes a minute and some quick math to discern that our docent couldn’t actually be the...
Cuyahoga Valley National Park celebrates a river reborn
On the trail to Beaver Marsh in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, I see two gentlemen engaged in a conversation about something they see with their...
Travel media: Feeling transported when you’re staying put
For whatever reasons, sometimes armchair travel will have to do. Traveling vicariously through stories, books, videos and online courses can be the default if time,...
Why our priceless US national parks deserve protection beyond politics
I confess: For most of my adult life, I’ve taken this country’s national parks and the National Park Service for granted. I’ve not taken for...