Joshua Tree National Park

I’m a huge fan of national parks and one of the parks that I had wanted to visit for a while was Joshua Tree National Park. When the stars aligned and I got a deal on airfare and lodging to Palm Springs, California during my daughter’s spring break, I knew the time had finally come for me (and my daughter) to visit the park.

Joshua Tree National Park is of course known for their Joshua Trees but also where the Mojave and Colorado Deserts meet, creating a unique ecosystem. Joshua Trees are found in the Mojave Desert throughout parts of Nevada, Utah, and Arizona besides southeastern California. If you’re lucky you may also see Bighorn Sheep, Desert Tortoise, Chuckwalla, Greater Roadrunner, and Gambel’s Quail. If you’re unlucky, you may see a rattlesnake or mountain lion.

One of the first things I did when I got to Palm Springs was go to the visitor center to ask them about visiting the park. They had many helpful pieces of advice, like which entrance to go in (West Entrance Station), to bring enough water and snacks for the day since there’s none in the park, and to fill up with gas in advance because there are also no gas stations in the park.

We were also advised to stay in the northern part of the park since the southern part wouldn’t have anything unique to offer that time of year and “it simply wouldn’t be worth the drive,” in the volunteer’s words. Some “must-see” spots included Keys View and Cholla Cactus Garden. Honestly, there were plenty of trails in the northern part that we easily filled our day there anyway. Perhaps if we had been staying at one of the campgrounds we would have ventured further south. I also read the post on Joshua Tree National Park from the Daring Dayhikes blog, https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/156167110/posts/1381. He stayed there for three days and was able to go more in-depth than I was.

I thought surely there would be a grocery store just before the West Entrance to the park, and there are a handful maybe in Twentynine Palms, but if you’re staying in Palm Springs, you’ll have a much greater selection of groceries in Palm Springs than Twentynine Palms. I overpaid for what I got and couldn’t even find any crackers in the store, it had such a limited selection. Still, it was enough and more importantly, I was able to get plenty of bottled water for the day.

There are picnic tables scattered throughout the park and some grills as well. We ate lunch at Hidden Valley and hiked around there. There’s a cluster of spots worth checking out in the area, including Minerva Hoyt, Cap Rock, Oyster Bar, and Hall of Horrors. There are some bathrooms at some of the more popular areas, but don’t count on them being at all of the trailheads.

When I was there in March, there was no need to purchase a national parks pass online in advance but I would check before your trip, especially during busy months. I had to wait maybe 20 minutes to get into the park, which I didn’t think was that bad. I’ve read online that some people have had to wait a couple of hours at the park entrance because there’s so much traffic. No matter what time of year, or what park I’m going to, I’ve found it’s always better to go early in the morning if possible, to beat the crowds or at least get a head start on them. According to the National Park Service, October through May are the busiest months, but maybe we got lucky since we went there on a Monday morning.

Although there are some parts of the park that are for four-wheel drive and high clearance vehicles only, the vast majority of the park is easily accessible by most vehicles, including sedans. I had a mid-size SUV but saw plenty of cars at the park and never saw any areas where a car would have struggled.

Climbing is available and you can find information online and at park stations. We also saw many cyclists and an option is to bike the 38-mile California Riding and Hiking Trail, which runs east to west and is considered challenging, partly because you have to bring all of your water in with you (or drop it off in advance). Since it’s considered a point-to-point course, you’ll also have to arrange for transportation back to where you originally parked your car, or go with a company that arranges cycling tours in the park.

Although we had talked about going back to the park another day later in the week, since our park pass was good for a week, we didn’t end up going back. It’s about an hour drive to the park from Palm Springs, and that’s just to the entrance, and doesn’t include wait time to get into the park. We decided we had seen plenty in one day and didn’t want to spend another full day to go back. Still, it’s one of the most unique parks and I highly recommend going there and loved my time there. Sometimes, a day is enough, though, especially when there are many other places you want to visit in an area.

Have you been to Joshua Tree National Park and if so, what did you think? Anything I missed here that should have been mentioned? If you haven’t been, would you like to go?

For more info, go to the US National Park Service website: https://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm

Happy travels!

Donna

Palm Springs, California-First Impressions

I’ve been all over California since I started traveling as an adult, from San Francisco and Napa Valley a few times to Los Angeles and Long Beach, to the Santa Monica area a couple of times, to stunning San Diego (one of my favorite places anywhere), I’ve hiked all over and backpacked multiple nights in Yosemite (went there a couple of times), Redwood National Park, and now Palm Springs. There are still more places in California I’d love to go to including Big Sur and Death Valley National Park. As you can tell, any time I get the chance, I return to California, but back to my main point here, Palm Springs.

One thing I didn’t understand before I arrived in Palm Springs is just how windy it is here. I’m talking wind mills going like crazy, dust storms blowing, feels like you’re running uphill when running into the wind kind of windy. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing. In general, wind can be kind of nice, especially on a hot day, but I wasn’t prepared for the severity of the winds in Palm Springs when driving through the wind mill area in the northern part of Palm Springs. It was fine but it did make me feel like I should be more aware when driving, not that there was anything I could have done differently.

I also didn’t fully appreciate just how compact of a city Palm Springs is, especially if you’re primarily talking about downtown Palm Springs, which is only a couple of miles long. One day on a long run, I literally ran the length of the city of Palm Springs on a 14 mile run. It was a straight shot along one of the main roads, Palm Canyon Road, so I didn’t venture off through any neighborhoods, but still, I was shocked when I saw the city limits on both ends during my run. There were sidewalks the entire way and since it was in the morning before some of the shops and restaurants opened, the downtown area wasn’t crowded yet. One of the best ways to explore a city truly is by foot.

One of my first stops in Palm Springs was to the Visitor Center. The two women there were helpful and full of advice and tips. When I asked about rattlesnakes in the area, both said they had never seen one here and they had both lived here decades, so that made me feel a bit better. They also said snakes are much more active during the summer months when they’re seeking water, and with it being March, I felt like as long as my daughter and I stayed aware when hiking and didn’t touch anything like a tree or rock, we should be fine.

Although I was aware of how expensive Palm Springs can be before coming here, I discovered there are some affordable options. I found several cute, locally-owned restaurants and cafes with delicious food at reasonable prices. We also ate in the hotel room a couple of nights, with food from the deli of a nearby grocery store, which made up for the other more expensive meals we had. We’ve always enjoyed picking up something for lunch at a grocery store and eating it along the way while hiking, and of course we did that here as well. As with restaurants, there are hotels in the area with a huge range of prices from several hundred dollars a night to ones that are half that but still clean and safe, albeit not with a spa and other high-end offerings.

Speaking of safe, I never felt unsafe whether I was running by myself in the mornings or walking around the city. I’ve always followed the basic rule of not walking alone at night, no matter where I am, but especially in an area where you don’t live. My daughter and I were out past dark one evening at a street festival and I felt perfectly safe.

The people of Palm Springs seemed friendly and courteous, whether it was shop-owners or just people walking or running on the sidewalks. Most people said hello or waved when going by. Many of the people working in local shops and restaurants thanked me for coming and chatted a bit as well. I also found Palm Springs to be an easy city to drive and navigate in general. The grid system the streets are laid out on are easy to figure out and I was able to figure out where I needed to go for the most part on my own without using Google Maps after the first day (running did help as well).

I appreciated and was aware of the mid-century modern style of the houses in Palm Springs the city is famous for. What I was surprised by was the abundance of classic cars everywhere, although perhaps that shouldn’t come as such a surprise in hindsight. Apparently Palm Springs even has its own style called Desert Modernism, named for the combination of mid-century modern with the dramatic mountains that surround the area.

Speaking of mountains, Palm Springs has not one but three mountain ranges that wrap around the city, the San Jacinto, Santa Rosa, and San Bernadino Mountains, with the most famous being the San Jacinto Mountains. The San Jacinto Peak is the sixth highest peak in the United States, and the most popular way to ascend the peak is via the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Once at the top, there are trails you can hike plus there are two restaurants, observation decks, a natural history museum, two documentary theaters, and a gift shop. If you’re hard core and want to hike to the peak on your own two feet, there’s the strenuous 17.5 mile Cactus to Clouds Trail that goes straight up to 10,834 feet from the desert floor.

While I knew there would be epic hiking in the Palm Springs area, I had no idea there are literally dozens of trails, many that are accessible directly from Palm Springs, plus all of the trails at the top of San Jacinto Mountain. If you’re willing and able to drive about 30 minutes outside the city, there are even more hiking options in Indian Canyons and Tahquitz Canyon. This isn’t even including all of the trails in Joshua Tree National Park, just about an hour’s drive from Palm Springs. Plus, Palm Desert, which is about 30 minutes from Palm Springs has many hiking trails.

Palm Springs was one of the few cities I’ve visited where I could see myself living and the cost of living doesn’t appear to be that much higher than where I live (thanks to the skyrocketing cost of living in my area). I would of course want to look more into it and visit during various times of the year, but I have plenty of time before I retire. In short, I definitely see myself returning, maybe to another city in the area like Palm Desert, to see what it’s like there.

Have you ever been to Palm Springs and if so, what did you think of it? Do you want to visit Palm Springs but just haven’t gone yet?

Happy travels,

Donna

Underrated State Parks

I came upon this article by Outside where they list 50 underrated state parks, one in each state, and I wanted to share it here (link is shown below). The author points out that of the 424 units managed by the National Park Service, 26% of visitors went to the eight most visited parks. However, depending on who you believe online, there are anywhere from a whopping 10,000 state parks to 2,500, the latter number being called “official” state parks. I’ve also seen numbers around 6,800 state parks. Even at the low end, that’s a ton of state parks.

Like the author of the Outside article, I also tend to seek places that are off the beaten path. The result was this list of underrated state parks compiled by the author based on research into state parks, campgrounds, and trails. Other outdoor writers and trail users across the United States were also asked to give some of their favorite hidden gems.

Minnesota has some amazing state parks

Of course I read through the list to see which ones I’ve been to, and it turns out I’ve been to a surprisingly decent amount of places on the list. Many of the places I haven’t been to are ones that I’d love to go to. However, I have a bone to pick with the author. This is supposed to be a list of state parks, and yet some national parks/monuments/areas are on the list, like North Cascades National Park in Washington (one place I’d love to go to), Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota (I’ve been there and it’s definitely worth going to), Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in Montana (another place I’d love to go to), and some others. There are plenty of beautiful state parks that could have easily been chosen here, like Custer State Park in South Dakota or one of dozens in Washington. In other words, there was no reason to include national parks in this list when there are plenty of state parks to choose from, especially when that’s supposedly the whole point of the article.

Not all state parks are filled with trees and dirt trails either, like Jockey’s Ridge State Park in North Carolina

Being from North Carolina, I scanned the list until I reached the state park chosen for North Carolina, South Mountains State Park. Huh? Never heard of it. In fact, I had to look it up on Google Maps just to see exactly where it is. I’ve spent plenty of time everywhere from the mountains to the beaches and many places in between in North Carolina and yet I’ve never heard of this place, but maybe it’s just me. I would have thought any number of other state parks would have made the list, like Gorges State Park, Hanging Rock, Chimney Rock, or Stone Mountain State Park. Maybe I should check out South Mountains State Park to see for myself.

One of my favorites, Smith Rock State Park in Oregon

Here’s the list. See what you think and if you agree with the choice for your state, or some of the other states if you’ve been to any of them.

https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/destinations/north-america/most-underrated-parks-us/?utm_source=Outside%20Magazine-facebook&fbclid=IwAR1Id4KFBIaY2XyNOJdGnbrIBboXhAOKTugbxkJ_P83f69mnIjtVUdBbJb4&utm_medium=organic-social

Let me know what you think of the list, especially for any of the state parks you’ve been to!

Happy travels!

Donna

What has travel brought into your life that you otherwise wouldn’t have had?

This post was inspired by my other post What has running brought into your life that you otherwise wouldn’t have had? Similar to running, travel has brought into my life so many things that I wouldn’t have otherwise had, nor could I have ever imagined how radically travel would shape who I am today. Fortunately I don’t have many negative travel experiences so I’m just going to focus on the positive travel experiences here.

One of the first things to come to mind that travel has brought to my life is an open mind when it comes to people from different cultures and lifestyles. I grew up in West Virginia, a state not exactly known for their open-minded people, or at least not when I grew up there. My parents and grandparents were likewise not what I would call open-minded when it came to people from other cultures or alternative lifestyles.

On my trek to Machu Picchu, we stayed (in tents) with this guide’s family one night, and met his parents and their llamas

It was only when I went away to college that I discovered just how sheltered in many ways my childhood had been. Sure, there were some people from other countries in my schools but they were by far the minority. The ethnic restaurants in my hometown consisted of Americanized Mexican and Chinese foods which today I wouldn’t even consider eating.

I also took my first international vacation when I was in college after I won a day cruise to Freeport, Bahamas that included a hotel stay in Freeport (3 or 4 nights; I don’t remember which) and a day cruise on the same smallish cruise ship back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That trip opened my eyes up to travel and left me with wanting more. It was my first exposure to international food and culture and I wanted to experience more.

Travel has also brought me countless experiences I’ve been fortunate enough to share with friends and family. The older I get, the less materialistic I am and the more important experiences are for me. Instead of buying me a piece of expensive jewelry, take me on a vacation where we can make some memories.

Yes, my daughter and I have even been to Hell together

I’ve always thought it was imperative, not just important, but necessary to take my daughter along when I travel. She had flown to Florida, Vermont, and Hawaii all before she turned two years old. She’s gone to places like Austria, Germany, New Zealand, the Canary Islands, Peru, Chile, Portugal, Costa Rica, the Caribbean and all except three states in the United States. Her teachers told me over and over that they saw personally how travel had helped shape and influence my daughter. One teacher thanked me for taking my daughter along on vacations because “travel is one of the best forms of education.” I fully concur.

Travel has educated not only my daughter but also myself. I’ve learned about cultures in a diverse array of places around the world that you just can’t otherwise learn. You can’t watch a video on YouTube and be effected by it in the same way as when you’re there in person. By watching a video, you only see what’s on the surface. You miss things like the smells, being able to look around beyond the person being videoed, you can’t ask questions in real time (I know, unless it’s a live streaming video). Instead of just watching something, you’re more of an active participant.

Travel has shown me that people are mostly helpful, most of the time. Sure, there are exceptions like pickpockets and at the most extreme end of the spectrum, people that do others physical harm, but for the most part, those are rare and can usually be mitigated by staying aware of your surroundings, not having valuables out in the open, and avoiding known dangerous areas. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, even on vacation, and that’s just a fact of life.

This trip to Portugal really tested my perseverance. I got yelled at, ignored, had to take a bus when the flight to Faro was cancelled, and missed my flight going back home but despite all that, it was an incredible trip that I treasure!

Another thing travel has brought into my life is the ability to be more resilient. I didn’t have an easy childhood so I already had a good foothold in being resilient but travel has expanded that. Things often go awry when you’re traveling. Your luggage is lost by the airline (one reason I never check a bag with an airline; see my post Never Check a Bag with an Airline Again), you miss a flight and there are no more flights out that day, you get lost, you get injured or sick, your credit card doesn’t work in another country, etc.

How you handle those issues has a lot to do with how resilient you are. If for example you miss a flight and just break down in tears in the airport and can’t think straight, it’s going to be much more difficult to figure out what to do than if you can remain clearheaded and find someone else who can help you if you don’t know what to do. One thing I say to my daughter over and over is, panicking never helps. I can’t think of a single scenario when panicking would make a bad situation better. Travel has given me the ability to stop, take a deep breath, and with a clear head, figure out what to do when something goes wrong in my life.

A final thing that comes to mind that travel has brought me is it’s helped bring my daughter and me closer. We have travel memories that we’ll both forever cherish, like when we first saw a sunset at Sunset Cliffs in San Diego, when we took that boat ride in New Zealand and laughed the entire time, when we ate so many delicious meals together all over the world, standup paddle boarding in multiple states, spontaneously seeing dolphins on a walk along the water in Florida and that same day seeing peacocks in a neighborhood, running half marathons together in multiple states, and on and on.

What are some things that travel has brought into your life?

Happy travels!

Donna

What Travel Taught Me In 2023

Every year in December I like to summarize my year in travel and what I learned from each vacation. This year was different from most years in that I feel like I barely traveled, compared to most years. There were multiple reasons why I didn’t travel as much but it made the vacations I did have even more special.

I started the year off with a bang and went to Hawaii for a week with my daughter. I’ve been to the Hawaiian islands a few times and every other time I went, I spent some time on one island and more time on another island. For this trip, I spent the entire time on the Big Island of Hawaii, but I stayed at a part of the island I had never been to before.

Hiking in Hawaii

This trip taught me a couple of things: 1) Airfare to Hawaii drops hugely in January compared to what it is in December. I knew my daughter would have a week off from her classes in January and desperately needed to get away but I couldn’t decide where to go. When I saw airfare to Hawaii was literally half what it normally would be that week in January, I bought the tickets immediately. Score!

The second thing I learned on this trip was to venture out of my comfort zone more. Every time I had been to the island of Hawaii I stayed in the Kona region but this time I decided to stay in a new area, Waimea. This turned out to be a perfect location for us, since we could easily take day trips all over the island, we had shopping and restaurants near us, but we weren’t in the hustle and bustle that is the Kona region. You can find my posts from this trip here: Highlights of Kailua-Kona in Hawaii- Hiking, Turtles, Coffee, and Historical Sites, Exploring Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii, “The Big Island,” Third Time’s a Charm While Discovering Waimea, plus I have another post on Hawaiian islands in general here: Which Hawaiian Island is Right for You?, and even more if you search Hawaii in my posts.

In April I went with my daughter to see my dear friend who lives in Miami, Florida for a week. Miami is another place I’ve been to multiple times, some to see my friend and others before she moved there. Usually I’m an avid planner and have multiple places lined up to visit, things to do, and restaurants I want to go to. This time, I had literally nothing planned in advance and left all of the planning to my friend.

From the botanical garden in Miami

I also learned two things when I was in Miami: 1) sometimes it’s OK to let someone else do all of the vacation planning for you, with some caveats. I’m fortunate that my friend and I are alike in many ways and enjoy similar things to do and like the same foods so I trusted that she would choose places that my daughter and I would enjoy. If that hadn’t been the case, I would have simply planned things for us to do and suggested specific places to eat.

This was my first time using public transit in Miami and I learned that even though it may seem complicated, I could figure it all out, thanks largely to Google Maps. We ended up taking multiple forms of transportation and had to walk a bit after getting off one form to get on another but between the signs, Maps, and asking someone once, I was able to piece it all together. When I told my friend later that evening what my daughter and I had done that day, she said she was impressed and that she had been too nervous to take public transportation there. I told her it really wasn’t that difficult and not a big deal, but I understand how taking that first step can be challenging. My posts on this trip to Miami are here: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida, Everglades National Park, and. Figuring Out the Public Transportation System in Miami plus another one from a previous trip here “Welcome to Miami”- Long Weekend in Miami, Florida.

Some of the Miami wildlife we saw

May, June, and July were spent getting the house ready to sell, packing, getting my daughter ready to start college in August (including a quick trip to her college for orientation and registration), finding a new house, moving, and unpacking in the new house. There was zero time for travel or much of anything else for that matter.

Finally in October during my daughter’s fall break, we went to Charleston, South Carolina. This is one of my favorite cities in the world, and one of few that I’ve chosen to return to many times over the years. However, on this trip, I learned not everything about Charleston is always rosy. There are many things I adore about Charleston but on this trip I noticed some things that weren’t so great, like the traffic, which was congested no matter the time of day or where we were going.

You can read my post on Charleston here Charleston, South Carolina- The Great, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly plus some others on Charleston: Charleston Tea Garden, America’s Only Large-Scale Commercial Tea Garden, A Bit of History and Nature in Charleston, South Carolina- Charleston Sole Walking Tour and The Center for Birds of Prey, How to Plan a Vacation to Charleston, South Carolina-Part 1, How to Plan a Vacation to Charleston, South Carolina, Part 2, Nature Boat Tour in Charleston, South Carolina.

Photo taken at the Charleston Tea Garden

In November, I went to the mountains of North Carolina to spend time with my daughter over her Thanksgiving break. I discovered a little mountain town called Waynesville, which I don’t have a post about specifically, but it’s on the map in my post Southwestern North Carolina- Small Towns, Mountains, Nature, and Not Much Else (but that’s a good thing!). Waynesville has a beautiful lake called Lake Junaluska, which I fell in love with. You can walk or run around the lake and there are several little cafes, restaurants, and shops plus a few options for accommodations, ranging from a hotel to cabins. Waynesville is decently-sized (for a mountain town) and has a few department stores, a couple of grocery stores, and several good restaurants. I’m sure by the time my daughter graduates, I will have visited each of the tiny little towns at least once and will be making new discoveries all the time! On this trip I learned how much I enjoy discovering new little mountain towns.

Although this was by far my lightest year for travel than ever before, I still learned so much. Plus, having visited some of my favorite places in the world, Hawaii and Charleston, and getting to see one of my favorite people in the world in Miami, I have no complaints and feel fortunate.

What did you learn from your travels in 2023?

Happy travels!

Donna

Charleston, South Carolina- The Great, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Charleston, South Carolina is one of my favorite cities in the world and one of few places I’ve been back multiple times. There’s plenty to love about the city- the food, the culture, the historical sites, the beaches, the colorful homes and stately mansions to ogle, the ocean views. However, there’s also plenty to not like about the city- the traffic, the high prices of pretty much everything, the tourists that don’t respect property and do stupid things, the heat and humidity in the summer that stretches well into the fall, and the lack of parking.

Let’s start with the great. Even though I don’t consider myself a foodie, I appreciate a good meal. I’m not a picky eater and love everything from ramen to po’ boys; there isn’t much I don’t like. On my first trip to Charleston, I had shrimp and grits and was like, “Oh, that’s what grits are supposed to taste like? I had no idea!” Only once have I had a bad meal in Charleston. Think about that for a second. Out of probably around 55-60 meals eaten in the city, only one wasn’t good, and most were outstanding. That’s saying something.

Huguenot Church in downtown Charleston

While I don’t consider myself a foodie, I am a beach-lover. Even though I could get to beaches in North Carolina quicker, I prefer to drive longer to get to the beaches near Charleston. Why? Well, I find the beaches like Folly Beach, Kiawah Island, Isle of Palms, Sullivan’s Island Beach, which are all near Charleston to be cleaner, generally wider, with powder white sand, and clearer water than North Carolina beaches. All of that great food in the surrounding area is an added bonus!

Charleston is a known hot-spot for historical sites, with museums, walking tours including ghost tours where your guide can fill your ears with stories that may or may not be true, historical mansions and former plantations. Since the city was founded in 1670, originally called Charles Towne, there are an abundance of historical sites. There’s also Fort Sumter, the site of the first battle of the American Civil War, which you can tour.

The famous Angel Tree near Charleston

Many people have seen photos of the famous Rainbow Row, the stretch of townhomes that are pastel pink, mint green, light blue, yellow, and purple. It’s become an iconic part of Charleston, just like City Market, Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, Huguenot Church, the Battery, Angel Oak Tree, Pineapple Fountain, and the many mansions like Boone Hall Plantation, Magnolia Plantation, and more. Even if you don’t go inside any of these places that are open to the public, they’re still unique enough to admire the view. This brings me to the not-so-good, however, as admission to the plantations in particular is expensive and quickly adds up.

Not only are admissions to things to do expensive, so is lodging and restaurants. While it’s possible to find less expensive things to do in Charleston, like just walking around the historic district or window shopping, you often have to pay for parking so even those things aren’t completely without a price. You can stay in West Ashley or Mount Pleasant for considerably less than in the historic district but it’s still not that budget-friendly compared to other parts of the country. To save money at restaurants you can eat your largest meal of the day at lunch and have a smaller dinner, otherwise meals for dinner often run $30 per person and up, just for the entree, not including a drink, appetizer, dessert, or taxes and tip.

As I mentioned earlier, Charleston can be hot and humid from around April through the end of September, sometimes stretching into early October. When the humidity drops, usually in September, it’s noticeably more comfortable, and when the temperatures also drop, it’s what most people would say is finally tolerable. I’m used to hot and humid weather so I’ve been to Charleston many times during the summer months, which coincide with the best beach weather, and it’s never bothered me, but I’m more heat-tolerant than most people. October is probably the ideal month to come, when crowds are a bit less and temperatures are comfortable.

Soft, white, sandy beach in Charleston

I was just in Charleston in late October and was shocked frankly at how bad traffic was. It had gotten worse from the last time I was in the city, just a little over a year ago in November of 2022. I overheard many people who live in the area complaining about how bad traffic has gotten here. It seems the word about Charleston being such a wonderful city has gotten out and the growth rate has been hovering around 1.8% the past few years. When you pile a bunch of people into tiny connecting islands with not much physical space to grow and it’s nearly impossible to expand the roadways, that just makes for a traffic jam.

Even still, given how expensive everything is, how bad traffic is, and how hot and humid it can be, I still love Charleston and will keep coming back. The many good and great things about the city outweigh the not so great and bad things, so at least for now, it remains one of my favorite cities in the world. No city is perfect and neither is Charleston, but it has enough charm to capture my heart.

The Hunley Submarine you can tour on weekends

If you haven’t read my other posts on Charleston, you can find them here: A Bit of History and Nature in Charleston, South Carolina- Charleston Sole Walking Tour and The Center for Birds of Prey, How to Plan a Vacation to Charleston, South Carolina, Part 2, How to Plan a Vacation to Charleston, South Carolina-Part 1, Charleston Tea Garden, America’s Only Large-Scale Commercial Tea Garden

Have you been to Charleston? If so, what do you you think of the city’s growth and its effects? If not, do you want to go there?

Happy travels!

Donna

What has running brought into your life that you otherwise wouldn’t have had?

I saw this blog post idea and it inspired me. Running has brought a myriad of things into my life I wouldn’t have otherwise had, both good and bad, to be perfectly honest (shin splints, IT band issues, to name a couple of the bad), but of course most people want to hear about the good so that’s what I’ll focus on here.

When people ask me how long I’ve been running, I always tell them the same thing: I’ve been running since I was in grade school. Usually I’ll get a side glance and they’ll raise their eyes and ask, “REALLY?” To which, I’ll say, “Yes, really.” I guess I’m not your typical runner. I did take a few years off from running consistently in college after a particularly bad bout of shin splints but other than that, I’ve been running since I was about 8 or 9 years old.

I’ve written before about how influential my grade school PE teacher was to my running. He also highly encouraged me to earn the Presidential Physical Fitness awards when I was in the 5th and 6th grade.

In grade school, I ran on our school’s track team, which is when I was introduced to the camaraderie that often goes along with running. I still remember doing laps around our school on those chilly days with my track teammates. Even though I couldn’t tell you the name of any of the meets or even where they were (not at my school is all I know), I remember a couple of the “big” ones, and winning some ribbons. When I went to junior high and high school, I chose not to even try out for the track or cross country teams because I chose other extracurricular activities instead since running was one thing I knew I could do on my own. I continued running through college on my own until aforementioned shin splints happened so the camaraderie part was just a brief glimmer of my relationship with running in my life to that point.

When I picked running back up after college, I noticed how running lets you get to know an area like no other activity. I had moved to a new state and running allowed me to learn the area better than just driving around ever could have. Often, I would set out to run a certain route but get sidetracked when I saw a greenway or new neighborhood I didn’t know existed before. Running became an outlet for me to go exploring.

I discovered even when I traveled, I could run and stumble upon restaurants, parks, or shopping areas that looked interesting. When I got back to my hotel room, I would look up those places I had seen on my run and often go back to them later to spend some time there. I’ve also seen countless animals while on runs, including deer, peacocks, a wild turkey (and so many other birds), dolphins, alligators, snakes, but I’ve never had a bad encounter or anything that scared me.

Deer poking their heads out to get a drink at a lake (seen on a run)

When I decided to run a half marathon in all 50 states, running allowed me to travel to every state, something I’m sure I never would have done otherwise. By having that goal and specific half marathons on my calendar that I had planned out, sometimes years in advance, it pushed me to achieve that goal. Although I’ve always enjoyed traveling, I’m sure I wouldn’t have otherwise traveled to many of the states I went to, like Nebraska, which I loved, or South Dakota, which was one of my favorite half marathons ever and I fell in love with the area, or Rhode Island, another state that I feel is underrated and I had a great time visiting, plus so many more.

Probably one of the absolute best things that running has brought into my life is my group of running friends I met at a running group just a few short years ago but I feel like I’ve known some of these people my whole life. Some of them have become like family to me. A few people in the group have been through some traumatic events over the last couple of years and no matter what, we all ask, “How can I help?” when something comes up. I know I can count on these people regardless of what I asked from them and I hope they know they can count on me.

I’ve joined some other running groups over the years but none of them have been what this group is to me. We come from all walks of life and have very different types of jobs so if not for running in these group runs, we never would have met, or certainly never would have become as close as we have. Running together has allowed us to open up to one another in ways we wouldn’t have otherwise.

One of the running groups I’m a part of asked me to be a mentor with a training plan they offer in the spring and fall months. There’s always a goal race at the end of the training plan, usually either a half marathon, 10-mile race, or sometimes a 5k as well. I’ve been a mentor for a few times at this point and every time I’ve been inspired by the people who sign up for these training plans. Inevitably, the vast majority of these people don’t see the potential that I’m able to see in them, but by the end of the plan, they’re starting to see glimmers of what they’re capable of and what can happen whey they push their bodies in a thoughtful, educated way (proper mileage build-up, good nourishment, hydration, stretching, etc.). I always feel like I get so much out of these sessions and have found myself looking forward to them and am always pleased when I’m asked to come back as a mentor.

One thing I didn’t mention is all the miles I’ve run with my daughter. It’s brought us closer and she’s gotten to run in many of the same races I ran in, in addition to running on non-race vacations and just running at home together.

Finally, running has given me a mental health outlet. I’ve always known that when times were difficult, all I needed was to go for a run outside and I would come back feeling better. That’s not to say running magically made all of my problems go away but after running, I felt like I had the mental clarity to deal with my problems better.

If you’re a runner, what has running brought into your life? If your preferred form of movement is something else other than running, say cycling, hiking, swimming, or walking, what has it brought to your life?

Happy running!

Donna

Fall Foliage Photos with Interactive Map

Since I live in North Carolina, I don’t have to travel far (or at all really!) to see the leaves change from green to shades of yellow, orange, and red all around me. However, I have often traveled during the fall months because of a planned half marathon and I’ve witnessed some spectacular Autumn shows put on. I could never say which states are the “best” places for fall foliage, but what I will say is, there are plenty of options no matter where you live, as long as there are deciduous trees of course.

At the end of this post, I’ve included a link to a super cool website where you can slide the bar at the bottom of the map and see a prediction of fall foliage by date ranging from no change, minimal, patchy, partial, near peak, peak, and past peak. If you’re someone who likes to surround yourself with peak fall foliage, this is a good planning tool for that.

But first, here are some of my photos that have captured some of the fall beauty I’ve been lucky enough to witness:

I absolutely fell in love with these cottonwood trees in New Mexico!

Some of the various colors in West Virginia in the fall

The Ozarks in Arkansas

I’m lucky enough to have trees like this where I live in North Carolina

I loved these trees (red maple?) with bright crimson leaves all over Massachusetts in the fall!

Here is the link to interactive map I promised earlier. Play around with it and see what you think. https://smokymountains.com/fall-foliage-map/

Do you travel specifically to check out fall foliage? Where are some of your favorite spots to enjoy the fall colors?

Happy travels!

Donna

Top Five Most Beautiful Races I’ve Run

Similar to my other post, Some of My Favorite Places to Run- Vacation Edition
these are my top five most beautiful races I’ve run. Some of the places I’m going to show you will likely surprise you; they surprised me. For example, even though one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to was San Diego, California, that race I ran there was not one of the most scenic races I’ve run. Likewise, the half marathon I ran in Anchorage, Alaska was primarily along greenways and since I was running on greenways at home all the time, I didn’t find the race that scenic, or at least not that uniquely scenic, especially since it was in Alaska. On the flip side, I was pleasantly surprised that one of the most beautiful races I ran was in South Dakota, which I’ll start with here (these are in no certain order, however).

Not the best photo but a good example of “the photo just doesn’t do the area justice.” This was taken at the start of the Spearfish Canyon Half Marathon in South Dakota.
Spearfish Canyon Half Marathon, South Dakota- 34th state

Mountain views, greenery and trees everywhere, and a downhill start made the Star Valley Half Marathon in Thayne, Wyoming one of my most memorable.
Star Valley Half Marathon, Thayne, Wyoming- 46th state

I’m a sucker for a race through a canyon, because here’s another race that was through a canyon, like the previous two. This was at the Famous Idaho Potato Half Marathon in Boise, Idaho.
Famous Potato Half Marathon, Idaho-42nd state

One of many of the covered bridges you run through or past on the course of the Covered Bridges Half Marathon in Vermont. Between the covered bridges and greenery everywhere, this course ranks high as far as scenery.
Covered Bridges Half Marathon, Vermont-9th state

You get views like this of the bay on the Bayshore Half Marathon in Traverse City, Michigan, a hugely popular race that regularly sells out quickly (photo credit to SexyMotherRunner on Pinterest. All of my race photos were terrible compared to this one.)
Traverse City Bayshore Marathon and Half Marathon, Michigan-15th state

Have you run any of these races? If so, what did you think of them? What are some of the most beautiful races you’ve run?

Happy running!

Donna

Southwestern North Carolina- Small Towns, Mountains, Nature, and Not Much Else (but that’s a good thing!)

My daughter will be starting college this fall at a school in Southwestern North Carolina. We’ve been to the mountains several times at this point but until she announced she wanted to check out the school, I had only been to that part of North Carolina once despite living in the state for 26 years. I had been to Asheville many times, which is about 45 minutes to an hour east of where I’m referring to, and I had been to Gatlinburg and Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is about 90 minutes to 2 hours north of the towns I’m going to talk about here.

West of Asheville, NC and South of Gatlinburg, TN lie many quaint small towns worth checking out, especially if you love nature and want to “get away from it all.” Picture traditional bed and breakfasts where your room is filled with antique furniture in an old Victorian-style house with a full breakfast and coffee served every morning or waking up in your cabin by the river and watching the deer graze right outside. There are waterfalls and trails scattered all throughout the area to fill your days and when you’re tired of hiking, you can stroll along tiny downtowns with brick buildings and every shop is locally-owned and full of friendly faces.

I’ll start with some of the towns you might want to check out and what they each have to offer.

Some Unique Towns and What They Have to Offer

Sylva is a cute little town with some breweries along the water, like Lazy Hiker Brewing, Balsam Falls Brewing, Innovation Brewing, and Nantahala’s Brewing Sylva Outpost and Brewpub, plus other restaurants like Mad Batter Kitchen (with really good pizza), Lulu’s on Main, Creekside Oyster House and Grill, and City Lights Cafe, just to name a few. There are also some coffee shops like The Farmhouse Mercantile and Coffee Bar, The Coffee Shop, and White Moon Coffee Shop. Saturday mornings from 9-12 you can find the Jackson County Farmer’s Market. If you want to relax after a long day hiking on the trails you can make an appointment for a massage or other body treatment at Fusions Spa and Wellness. https://www.fusionsspa.com

Dillsboro is a short drive from Sylva (just a few minutes by car) and you can find some antique shops and locally made products in the Old Dillsboro Shops. It’s a tiny town so I wouldn’t plan to spend much time here but it’s worth checking out if you have some time to kill. If you enjoy museums, you can check out the Appalachian Women’s Museum. They’re open on Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm April through October. They have events scheduled throughout the year so check out their website https://www.appwomen.org

Continuing south, you’ll come upon three towns, Highlands, Cashiers, and Sapphire. Highlands is the furthest west and is 20 minutes from Cashiers, which is 15 minutes from Sapphire. You can find many restaurants in Highlands including Lakeside Restaurant, Madison’s, 4118 Kitchen and Bar, The Secret Garden, and The Ugly Dog Public House, just to name a few. There’s also the Highlands Country Club, Mountain Theater Company for live shows, and The Bascom: Center for the Visual Arts. https://www.thebascom.org

In Cashiers you can find The Orchard Restaurant, Events, Barn, and Cottage (so yes, you can stay here as well), Cashiers Valley Smokehouse, a few Mexican restaurants, Slab Town Pizza, and more. There’s also Cashiers Sliding Rock (which is technically in Highlands so it’s a bit confusing; even more confusing when there’s another sliding rock in the area simply called Sliding Rock in the Pisgah Forest), where you can slide down the rock in the summer months into icy cold water to cool off.

Sapphire has a ski resort, Ski Sapphire Valley, where you can go skiing in the winter or go hiking in the warmer months. You can stay at the sprawling and pricey golf resort The Greystone Inn on Lake Toxaway or the Cabins at Seven Foxes, not on the water but nearby. You can eat at Sapphire Mountain Brewing Company, Grand Olde Station Restaurant, Villa Amato (pizza), and Los Vaqueros Mexican Restaurant.

Most of these towns are dog-friendly so here’s my dog at one of the restaurants with outdoor seating, which many places have

Trails and Waterfalls

This part of North Carolina has the highest concentration of trails and waterfalls in the state. By no means is this all of them (just a tiny fraction) but I’ll list some of the more popular ones, starting on the furthest west near Highlands and going east towards Sapphire, then I’ll go up towards Sylva. Just put them in Google Maps and make your own waterfall map.

• Bust Your Butt Falls (Highlands)
• Bridal Veil Falls (Highlands)
• Sequoyah Falls (Highlands)
• Ranger Falls Loop Trail (Highlands)
• Glen Falls (Highlands)
• Secret Falls (aka Big Shoals Falls) and Secret Falls Trail Head (Highlands)
• Silver Run Falls and Trail Head (Cashiers)
• Rainbow Falls Trailhead (Rainbow Falls and Turtleback Falls) (Brevard)
• Panthertown Valley Trail (to Schoolhouse Falls) (Glenville)
• John’s Jump Falls (Sapphire)
• Frolictown Falls (Sapphire)
• Granny Burrell Falls (Sapphire)
• Gorges State Park (Sapphire)
• Southern Highlands Reserve (a botanical garden in Lake Toxaway)

North of the already mentioned trails and waterfalls you can find the following:

• Upper Sols Creek Falls (in Tuckasegee)
• Cowee Mountain Overlook, off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Canton
• Courthouse Valley Overlook, off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Canton
• Little Bird Falls (Canton)
• High Falls (Glenville)
• Pinnacle Park (Sylva)

For something unique, there’s the Judaculla Rock in Cullowhee, a large soapstone boulder with carvings believed to be 2000-3000 years old, pre-dating the presence of Cherokee Indians in the area but their origin is unknown. It’s free and a quick stop for something different. https://freecharm.com/JudacullaRock/JudacullaRock.html

Logistics

The weather is relatively mild throughout the year so you can easily hike during the spring, summer, and fall months. It does snow here, as you can tell from the fact that there’s a ski resort in the area, and you could hike during the winter months, but I’m not a fan of hiking through the snow myself but you certainly could do that with good winter boots and warm clothes. I personally like going to this area the most during the summer because it’s cooler than where I live and not as humid so it’s a nice break from the heat and humidity, but it is the most crowded then.

Most of these towns are tiny, with limited options of where to stay so make sure you make reservations at hotels, inns, bed and breakfasts, and Airbnb stays well in advance, especially during holidays and the summer. You will need a car to get around so unless you’re driving here, you’ll need to rent a car. The closest airports are Asheville Regional, about an hour away, and for larger airports Charlotte Douglas International Airport is about 3 hours away, and Atlanta is also about 3 hours away.

Have you been to this part of North Carolina? If you haven’t would you like to go?

Happy travels!

Donna