Category: Nature
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Cross-Country, Part 4 (Zoos & Brews)
I came for the county counting. Although, let’s recall I had to bribe my older son before this road trip could even begin. How many zoos could we see during six days of driving from coast to coast, plus a week in Phoenix? A lot. We visited six, well seven actually, although we only got…
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Australasian Adventures, Part 8 (Captive Animal Encounters)
The previous article discussed our several encounters with wild animals in their native habitats. However, we saw even more in captivity. My older son collects zoos like I collect breweries. He makes sure that he saves a map from each one as a souvenir too (wonder where he inherited that quirk from?). No matter where…
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Australasian Adventures, Part 7 (Wild Animal Encounters)
Certainly the wildlife we experienced differed from what we’d typically seen before. Australia and New Zealand, so far removed from the rest of the world for so long, featured all sorts of famously unique creatures. I don’t need to elaborate. We’re all familiar with them. I simply enjoyed the opportunity to experience them in their…
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Australasian Adventures, Part 5 (Heading Inland)
As mentioned earlier, we didn’t spend much time away from the coastline during our adventures except for a couple of days on New Zealand’s North Island. I already wrote about the geothermal sites. We saw several additional noteworthy sites during our inland jaunt as well. Hobbiton My older son watched the entire Lord of the…
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Australasian Adventures, Part 4 (Geothermal)
New Zealand anchored the southwestern end of the Ring of Fire, a long strand of seismic and volcanic activity on the outer edges of the Pacific Ocean. Here the earth’s tectonic plates collided, with results particularly apparent on the nation’s North Island. No active volcanoes currently threatened although cracks and fissures hissed angrily in numerous…
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Rockies Loop, Part 5 (Sites)
I always need at least one extra article to collect all the odds and ends that don’t fit anywhere else. Generally those involve locations or topics that might be a little off center or peculiar. In other words, they certainly fit the definition of things needing a Twelve Mile Circle visit, and maybe even worthy…
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Rockies Loop, Part 2 (Hikes)
I did my best to stay active during our Rocky Mountains trip as I explained in the previous installment. The entire trip revolved around the outdoors. That became something of a gamble during a transitional period between seasons. Snow still covered higher elevations. Meanwhile, prevailing wind patterns threatened us with afternoon rainstorms more characteristic of…
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Totally Eclipsed
Can anyone stand one more eclipse story? I promise this one will be a little different than most. I drove a thousand miles for a 4-day weekend and, well… Mother Nature had different plans. Lots of loyal Twelve Mile Circle readers asked me if I planned to see the August 21, 2017, total eclipse of…
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Four Corners, Part 2 (Hikes)
The vast empty spaces of the Southwest offered great scenery with long distances between stops. That didn’t bother me. I liked driving and I enjoyed the view. We found plenty to do along the way too, mostly outdoors. Every place worth a detour also included a signature hike of some sort. Even the most crowded…
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Lickety-Split
I’ve begun to plan a long-distance road trip for April that I’m not quite ready to reveal to the Twelve Mile Circle audience. However, offering just a hint, I noticed an oddly named town in Indiana called French Lick. It fell remarkably close to Santa Claus, the subject of one of the earliest articles on…