Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Category: Terrain

  • Finishing Pennsylvania, Part 2 (Positioning)

    I’d worked for three months without much of a break as the pandemic lingered. Workdays lasted longer and blended into weekends. Little separation existed between home and office in a full-time telework world. Nonetheless I felt fortunate even if I needed a respite from the churn. The drive to Pennsylvania went well and traffic seemed…

  • Wonder World Park

    San Marcos, Hays County, Texas, USA (March 2007) Wonder World Park contained several attractions in one compact area, including a cave; an observation tower, an “anti-gravity” house, and a wild animal park. It also included a gift shop and a snack bar. Tickets could be purchased for the entire tour or for individual portions. Wonder…

  • Big Bend National Park

    Terlingua, Brewster Co., Texas, USA (May 1992) We left San Antonio, passed Uvalde, passed Del Rio, driving through ever smaller and less frequent towns, moving into one of the most remote locations imaginable. We were heading towards that place where the Rio Grande River flows southeast and then takes a sudden jog to the north.…

  • Crossing South Dakota

    Adventures Along Interstate 90 (June 1992) We had already completed most of our RV tour of the southwestern and interior western National Parks, and we pushed into the final stretch. We still had some time to catch a few more sites as we sped towards our home and the end of our expedition. The entirety…

  • The Cleetwood Cove Trail

    Crater Lake National Park; Klamath County, Oregon, USA (July 2012) Crater Lake National Park offers many different trails to choose amongst. The Cleetwood Cove Trail leading down to the shores of Crater Lake at Cleetwood Cove would be a good option for anyone with limited time available (map). The trailhead begins right next to Rim…

  • Coos Bay to Eugene, Oregon

    Western Oregon, USA (May 11, 1998) Florence, Oregon provided excellent access to the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Along this stretch of coast the cliffs gave way to large hills of sand (map). We spent the morning investigating various trails among the dunes and drove to our southern terminus in Coos Bay. A Hike In…

  • The Big Obsidian Flow

    Deschutes County, Oregon, USA (July 2012) The Big Obsidian Flow has an appropriate albeit unimaginative name for this geological structure in central Oregon, just east of the Cascades. It is indeed a big obsidian flow. It forms part of the vast Newberry National Volcanic Monument, founded in 1990 within the Deschutes National Forest, and specifically…

  • Chaco Culture National Historical Park

    San Juan Co., New Mexico, USA (May 1992) We spent much of a day and drove more than four hundred miles without ever leaving the state of New Mexico. That morning we left Carlsbad in the far southeastern corner destined for Chaco Culture National Historical Park in the for northwest. First we passed Roswell, looking…

  • Carlsbad Caverns National Park

    Carlsbad, Eddy Co., New Mexico, USA (May 1992) We drove up and over the Guadalupe Mountains in Texas, crossing into New Mexico and heading towards Carlsbad Caverns National Park in the southern part of the state (map). This is an unusual environment for a variety of reasons. The Guadalupe range is the exposed portion of…

  • Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

    Near Traverse City, Michigan; September 2000 Glaciers scoured the Great Lakes region during the last Ice Age. This mighty forces inundated the countryside, carving out many areas while leaving deposits behind in others. Sleeping Bear Dunes became one of those locations that happened to gain land, and presents rare examples of what are known geologically…