Tag: Ontour journal
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Dignity of Earth and Sky
Having lived in Pennsylvania for most of my life (Joe) has defined my expectations of what a rest area on the interstate should offer: A bathroom, and if it’s clean, that’s a plus; Vending machines dispensing salty snacks, and if they take contactless payment, that’s a plus; A picnic area with tables, and if they…
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Grand Teton National Park
With 46.7% of Wyoming falling under federal management (Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, National Park Service, and the Fish and Wildlife Service), there are two remarkable national parks in northwest Wyoming worth visiting: The Grand Teton National Park with 300,000 acres, and Yellowstone National Park, with 2.2 million acres spanning three states (Wyoming, Montana…
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Craters of the Moon National Monument
Located in central Idaho are the remnants of three lava fields that cover 400 square miles of land. Unlike better known stratovolcanos, which are large and conical in shape, the volcanic cones in Craters of the Moon are caused by fissure eruptions that occur at cracks in the earth’s crust and result in volcanic cones…
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Fort Laramie National Historic Site
As we travel through the west, we are surrounded by reminders of the world’s largest voluntary emigration, the westward migration along the Oregon Trail. Fort Laramie in Wyoming played an important role supporting the emigration effort. Fort Laramie began in 1833 as a private trading post, and was first named Fort William. It was build…
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Close Encounters
Fans of Steven Spielberg will recognize this impressive geologic monolith — Devils Tower in northeastern Wyoming — as the site of the climatic final scenes of his 1977 sci-fi film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Neither of us had been to this part of the country and we decided on our way to Utah,…
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Hartman Rock Garden
Imagine being laid off from work. Now imagine it’s 1932, during the Great Depression, and you’ve been laid off by your employer. What would you do? In 1932, Ben Hartman faced that scenario and he began creating art in his back yard. He continued to do so until his death from occupational exposure to silica…
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Fundy Trail Parkway
The Parkway was conceived in the early 1990’s by businessman Mitchell Franklin. He lobbied for the construction of an accessible trail system along the Bay of Fundy. His daughter recalls how her father took New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna for a sightseeing tour of the area in 1994, “I knew he was important because the…
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Oh, Canada!
Even the best laid plans can go awry as we unfortunately discovered this week. We had to cut short our stay in Canada by 12 days and high-tail it back to Maine. You may wonder, why the sudden return?! We’ve had a terrific three weeks and met a number of wonderfully kind people. Canada is…
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Crossing the Border
We experienced some trepidation concerning crossing the border into New Brunswick. Unlike crossing the border during air travel, we had far more stuff with us, especially food, which is always a concern. Our border experience started off on a bad note. The customs guard asked for our license plate number. Apparently our bike rack obscures…
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Signs along the way…
During our travels we’ve come across quite a few street and traffic signs that we don’t see at home in southeastern Pennsylvania. We’ve had fun taking these photos and assembling them here for you to see. We’ll keep adding to this post as we encounter new, interesting and unusual signs. Animals Trains and trolleys Amusing…