Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Category: Water

  • Green Mountain Railroad – White River Flyer

    White River Junction to Thetford, Vermont (October 2010) A beautiful early fall day is a perfect time for a ride on the Green Mountain Railroad. They offer three routes for tourist excursions: Burlington to Charlotte (“Champlain Valley Flyer”); Bellows Falls to Chester Depot (“Green Mountain Flyer”) and White River Junction to Thetford (“White River Flyer”).…

  • Timpanogos Cave National Monument

    American Fork, Utah, USA (July 2011) We’d never heard of Timpanogos Cave National Monument prior to our trip to Utah. During our planning we’d asked people for suggestions for fun activities in or near the Salt Lake Valley. A family friend who lived in the area recommended Timpanogos (map). It sounded like something right down…

  • Rendezvous Beach

    Bear Lake State Park; Garden City, Utah, USA (July 2011) We drove east out of Logan, Utah on Highway 89, the Logan Canyon Scenic Byway through the Bear River Mountains, a branch of the Wasatch Range. We meandered for nearly forty miles along the winding road until we crested the summit and stopped at a…

  • Antelope Island State Park

    Davis County, Utah, USA (July 2011) Look at a map of the Great Salt Lake. It’s nearly cleaved through its eastern third by a mountain range, some of which is submerged below the waters. The northern section is a peninsula, the Promontory Point. The southern section is an island, Antelope Island, although it sometimes joins…

  • Finishing Pennsylvania, Part 4 (Western Loop)

    Only five of Pennsylvania’s sixty seven counties remained to be visited. They all aligned neatly to the west of our base in Clearfield. I felt pretty excited that morning. I knew I’d finish the statewide quest within the next few hours. Once again my older son decided to come along on the journey while the…

  • Finishing Pennsylvania, Part 3 (Northern Loop)

    The initial push to capture a dozen remaining unvisited counties in Pennsylvania took a decidedly northern turn. This loop led nearly to the New York border. It also reduced my punch list by half while taking only 4 ½ driving hours. New counties encountered: Elk; Cameron; Potter; McKean; Warren; and Forest. Roadside Aliens My older…

  • 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…

  • Finishing Pennsylvania, Part 1 (Planning)

    I wanted to go to Idaho this summer. Then COVID-19 happened and threw those plans into disarray. Airplanes seemed unsafe and I couldn’t tell when I might fly again. My last real trip happened in February when I went to Bermuda. Back then the pandemic seemed a million miles away, something taking place on the…

  • 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.…

  • Jack Daniel Distillery

    Lynchburg, Moore Co., Tennessee, USA (April 2010) The Jack Daniel Distillery offers one of the best tours of any production facility I’ve ever had an opportunity to visit. It’s comprehensive, informative and efficient. They obviously get a lot of visitors and the know how to put on an entertaining session. A visit to the distillery…