Travel experiences, memories and stories about exploring this great planet of ours

Painted Pot, boiling mud pit Photos © 2005 Leaf McGowan    Saturday, 28 May 2005 – Part 3 of 3 Yellowstone National ParkFountain Paint Pots & Pools Fountain Paint Pot Trails by Leaf Mcgowan Lured in by the smell of sulphuric bubbling mud, enveloped by clouds of molten mist, and intrigued by gushing geysers … [...]

Firehole Falls©2005 Leaf McGowan    Saturday, 28 May 2005 – Part 2 of 3 Yellowstone National ParkFirehole Falls & Lake, Fountain Flatsby Leaf McGowan As I came down hwy 20 along the Madison river and merged onto Hwy 89 south, the Park took on geological action. A side-loop scenic trail along the Firehole River that [...]

Photos copyright 2005 Leaf McGowan    Saturday, 28 May 2005 – Part 1 of 3 Hwy 287, Montana – West Yellowstone – Yellowstone National Park By Leaf McGowan The wildfires that they let restore and went out of control, killing the natural beauty of Yellowstone Park can still be seen even though its been years. [...]

When I first moved up to the North Carolina/Virginia border, my husband was still living in Wilmington, 200 miles south. I had a lot of free time on my hands, and so, given my penchant for geology, I began to research the geology of the area. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that this rural, [...]

I visited Seattle this past weekend for the first time and absolutely fell in love with it. It really does deserve the name ‘The Emerald City’–ivy was hanging off everything, and vegetation thrived on every bit of land that hadn’t yet been covered in concrete. The thing I wasn’t used to seeing was all that [...]

I went to Atlanta about a year ago, and the best part about it (besides the hilarous fact that just about every single street is named Peachtree Street) was Stone Mountain (which is actually about 15 minutes outside of the city). Stone Mountain is this gigantic mound of granite–the largest lump of bare, exposed granite [...]

The last time I was on Nantucket, my boyfriend and I discovered something we’d never noticed before–the Old Gaol on Vestal Street. It was built in 1805 to replace the original jail, and used up until 1933. It’s now a museum–unstaffed, unadorned, just sitting there with the door open, allowing you to walk in and [...]

I’ve driven west a few times along I-70, and one of the things that constantly amazes me is the beauty of Utah. I’m orignally from New England, and back home one just doesn’t see rock formations (and colors!) like those along the interstate in Utah. One of the highway’s designated viewing areas was particularly cool–it [...]