2023 attractions, part 4

Concluding the summary of some of the attractions we visited in 2023. With some sneak peeks of places we visited recently that haven’t been posted about yet!

This is part four of four, covering October through December, inclusive. Start with part one, or check out part two or part three, if you haven’t already.

October 2023

Yellowstone Lake area:

Sylvan Lake

Yellowstone Grant area:

West Thumb Geyser Basin

Yellowstone Old Faithful area:

Geyser

Yellowstone Madison area:

Grand Prismatic Spring

Yellowstone Norris area:

Norris Geyser Basin

Yellowstone Mammoth area:

Mammoth

Yellowstone Tower-Roosevelt area:

Tower Fall

Yellowstone Canyon area:

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Yellowstone old west cookout and wagon ride:

Horses and wagons

Chief Joseph Scenic Byway:

Interesting landscape

Buffalo Bill Dam:

Dam

Buffalo Bill Center of the West:

Buffalo Bill museum

Bighorn scenic drive:

Bighorn Canyon

Crazy Woman Canyon:

Crazy Woman Canyon

Devils Tower National Monument:

View from West Road

November 2023

Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit:

Scenery

Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit:

Wild horses

Pitchfork Steak Fondue and Medora Musical:

Medora Musical

Black Hills area:

Spearfish Canyon Highway

Jewel Cave National Monument:

Cave formations

Crazy Horse Memorial:

Crazy Horse Memorial

Mount Rushmore National Memorial:

Mount Rushmore

Badlands National Park:

Badlands

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site:

Delta-01 Launch Control Center

Wall Drug:

Wall Drug

Wind Cave National Park:

Bison

Custer State Park:

Cathedral Spires Trail hike

Iron Mountain Road:

Tunnels

December 2023

Kansas rocks:

Monument Rocks

Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico:

Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta morning sessions:

Balloons

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta evening sessions:

Balloons

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta flight:

Aerial view

Annular solar eclipse:

Eclipse

Cadillac Ranch:

Cadillac Ranch

Palo Duro Canyon State Park:

Canyon view

Hot Springs National Park (blog post coming in January):

Ozark

Garvan Woodland Gardens (post coming in January):

Anthony Chapel

Graceland (post coming in January):

Graceland mansion

Natchez Trace Parkway (post coming in February):

Laurel Hill Road

New Orleans (post coming in February):

French Quarter

New Orleans airboat swamp tour (post coming in February):

Alligator

New Orleans Oak Alley Plantation (post coming in February):

Big house

New Orleans Steamboat Natchez Sunday Brunch Jazz Cruise (post coming in February):

Steamboat Natchez

The National WWII Museum (post coming in February):

WWII museum

Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve (post coming in February):

Chalmette Battlefield

New Orleans St Louis Cemetery Number 1 (post coming in February):

Cemetery tombs

New Orleans Celebration in the Oaks:

Holiday lights

Lambert’s Cafe (post coming in February):

Fried okra

Fort Morgan State Historic Site (post coming in February):

Fort

USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park (post coming in February):

USS Alabama

Lots of fun activities!

2023 attractions, part 3

Continuing from yesterday, a summary of some of the attractions we visited in 2023.

This is part three of four, covering July through September, inclusive. Start with part one, or check out part two, if you haven’t already.

July 2023

San Diego and Balboa Park:

Museum of Us

San Diego Zoo:

San Diego Zoo

Paso Robles wineries: McPrice Myers Vineyards, Calcareous Vineyard, DAOU Vineyards, Parrish Family Vineyard, Le Cuvier Winery:

View

Hearst Castle:

Castle

Bruce Munro: Light at Sensorio:

Field of Lights

Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center:

Charles M. Schulz Museum

Napa and Sonoma wineries: Domaine Carneros, Iron Horse, Korbel:

Steps

Mariners at Athletics baseball game:

Baseball

Muir Woods National Monument:

Muir Woods

Avenue of the Giants, Humboldt Redwoods State Park:

Gould Grove Nature Loop Trail

August 2023

Battery Point Lighthouse:

Battery Point Lighthouse

Redwood State and National Parks:

Grove of Titans

Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area:

Umpqua Beach

Newport, Oregon:

Newport

Oregon coast lighthouses:

Yaquina Head

Seaside, Oregon:

Seaside

Pacific coast food:

Mo's in Florence, Oregon

Ocean City beach:

Ocean City beach

September 2023

Olympic National Park beaches and rainforests:

Tree of Life

Seattle Mariners vs Chicago White Sox baseball game:

Baseball

Ferry to Seattle, Mariners team store:

Mariners Team Store

Craters of the Moon National Monument:

Old lava

Grand Teton National Park:

Grand Teton National Park

Snake River whitewater rafting:

Rafting

Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion, tomorrow.

2023 attractions, part 2

Continuing from yesterday, a summary of some of the attractions we visited in 2023.

This is part two of four, covering April through June, inclusive. Check out part one, if you haven’t already.

April 2023

Frontier Texas!

Exhibits

Tombstone, Arizona:

Tombstone

Bisbee, Arizona:

Bisbee buildings

May 2023

Mariners Spring Training:

Baseball

Grand Canyon West:

Skywalk

Kingman, Arizona:

Old police car

The Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil:

Love show

Red Rock Canyon:

Red Rock Canyon

Valley of Fire State Park:

Valley of Fire State Park

Death Valley Furnace Creek Visitor Center and The Ranch:

The Last Kind Words Saloon

Death Valley Zabriskie Point:

Zabriskie Point

Death Valley Star Wars locations driving tour:

Artists Palette

Death Valley Badwater Basin hike:

282 feet below sea level

June 2023

Death Valley Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and Stovepipe Wells:

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

Calico Ghost Town:

Calico

Peggy Sue’s Diner:

Peggy Sue's Diner

Joshua Tree National Park day 1:

Dirt road, Joshua trees, mountains

Joshua Tree National Park day 2:

Arch Rock Nature Trail

Joshua Tree National Park day 3:

Barker Dam hike

Disneyland:

Rise of the Resistance ride

Disney California Adventure:

Cars Land

Cabrillo National Monument:

Lighthouse

Comic-Con Museum:

Comic-Con Museum

Japanese Friendship Garden of San Diego:

Japanese Friendship Garden

Stay tuned for part three, tomorrow.

2023 attractions, part 1

One of the main reasons for traveling the United States in a motorhome is to explore the many wonders around the country. This is a summary of some of the attractions we visited in 2023. Again, you can also see the ones from 2022, and from 2021.

We’ve seen so much, I’ve split this topic into four parts, one for each quarter of the year. This is the first part, for January through March, inclusive.

As with the previous summaries, I’ll include a link to the corresponding blog post, and a sample picture. Click or tap the link or picture to see more.

You can see all of the attraction-related blog posts via the exploring category, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top.

January 2023

Lockhart, Texas:

Lockhart courthouse

Austin, Texas:

Austin

Columbus, Texas:

Columbus

February 2023

Space Center Houston:

Space Shuttle

March 2023

Dr Pepper Museum:

Dr Pepper Museum

Waco Mammoth National Monument:

Fossils

US Virgin Islands sailing & snorkeling:

Sailing

US Virgin Islands: Magens Bay Beach:

Pelicans

US Virgin Islands National Park:

Nice view

US Virgin Islands power boat circle of St. John:

Swag

Check out part two, coming tomorrow!

Cadillac Ranch

We visited a famous roadside attraction, Cadillac Ranch, an art installation of ten Cadillac cars, buried nose-first in the ground since 1974, in Amarillo, Texas.

Graffiti on the road:

Graffiti on the road

They sell spray paint and merch; people are allowed and encouraged to spray on the cars:

Spray paint and merch

Approaching Cadillac Ranch:

Cadillac Ranch

Lots of people when we visited:

Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac Ranch

A fun roadside attraction.

Merry Christmas; New Orleans Celebration in the Oaks

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, or Happy Holidays!

To mark the occasion, here’s a post out of sequence. We stayed in New Orleans around Thanksgiving this year, and while there attended the New Orleans City Park’s Celebration in the Oaks holiday lights. The blog posts about New Orleans aren’t scheduled to be published until February (yes, I’m rather behind; we do things faster than I can post about them!). But I figured I could bring this one forward to a more appropriate time.

This holiday celebration has driving and walking options; we did both. Here’s a map of the routes:

Map

We started with the driving portion, where one drives along roads in the park that have holiday light decorations:

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

A timelapse video from my 360 camera of the drive:

We then parked at the mini golf in the park, and played a round (Jenn won):

Mini golf

Mini golf

Mini golf

Mini golf

Mini golf

Then proceeded to the walking part, wandering around the New Orleans Botanical Garden and environs, with lots of holiday lights:

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Greenhouse

Greenhouse

Greenhouse

Greenhouse

Greenhouse

Greenhouse

Greenhouse

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Jenn reaching for a star:

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

A cute narrated Cajun Night Before Christmas story, with synchronized lights: 

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

An amusing New Orleans variation of 12 Days of Christmas:

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Model trains:

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Holiday lights

Amusement park rides were also included, but we didn’t participate in any (considered the train, but it was full, and the carousel, but didn’t want to wait):

Holiday lights

It is a nice historical carousel, though:

Carousel

Carousel

Carousel

Attractions

Holiday lights

A fun festive evening. Always interesting to see local variations of holiday lights.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Annular solar eclipse

During our stay at the balloon fiesta was a fairly rare event, an annular solar eclipse. This is when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, but without totally blocking it, leaving a “ring of fire”. This was the last annular eclipse that will be visible from the US until 2039.

Jenn taking photos of the annular eclipse, using a special filter on her camera:

Jenn taking photos of the annular eclipse

A sequence of photos from Jenn’s camera:

Eclipse

Eclipse

Eclipse

Eclipse

Eclipse

Eclipse

Eclipse

A GIF combining those images:

Eclipse GIF

Some photos from my iPhone, using a handheld filter:

Partial annular eclipse

Annular eclipse:

Annular eclipse

Annular eclipse

Annular eclipse