I thought it’d be fun to create an animated GIF of selfies and other pictures of Jenn and me from 2023. We’ve been to some interesting places!
exploring
Attractions and other places we visit.
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 Old Faithful area:
Yellowstone Tower-Roosevelt area:
Yellowstone old west cookout and wagon ride:
Buffalo Bill Center of the West:
Devils Tower National Monument:
November 2023
Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit:
Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit:
Pitchfork Steak Fondue and Medora Musical:
Mount Rushmore National Memorial:
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site:
December 2023
Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico:
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta morning sessions:
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta evening sessions:
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta flight:
Hot Springs National Park (blog post coming in January):
Garvan Woodland Gardens (post coming in January):
Graceland (post coming in January):
Natchez Trace Parkway (post coming in February):
New Orleans (post coming in February):
New Orleans airboat swamp tour (post coming in February):
New Orleans Oak Alley Plantation (post coming in February):
New Orleans Steamboat Natchez Sunday Brunch Jazz Cruise (post coming in February):
The National WWII Museum (post coming in February):
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve (post coming in February):
New Orleans St Louis Cemetery Number 1 (post coming in February):
New Orleans Celebration in the Oaks:
Lambert’s Cafe (post coming in February):
Fort Morgan State Historic Site (post coming in February):
USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park (post coming in February):
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
Bruce Munro: Light at Sensorio:
Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center:
Napa and Sonoma wineries: Domaine Carneros, Iron Horse, Korbel:
Mariners at Athletics baseball game:
Avenue of the Giants, Humboldt Redwoods State Park:
August 2023
Redwood State and National Parks:
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area:
September 2023
Olympic National Park beaches and rainforests:
Seattle Mariners vs Chicago White Sox baseball game:
Ferry to Seattle, Mariners team store:
Craters of the Moon National Monument:
Snake River whitewater 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
May 2023
The Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil:
Death Valley Furnace Creek Visitor Center and The Ranch:
Death Valley Star Wars locations driving tour:
Death Valley Badwater Basin hike:
June 2023
Death Valley Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and Stovepipe Wells:
Joshua Tree National Park day 1:
Joshua Tree National Park day 2:
Joshua Tree National Park day 3:
Japanese Friendship Garden of San Diego:
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
February 2023
March 2023
Waco Mammoth National Monument:
US Virgin Islands sailing & snorkeling:
US Virgin Islands: Magens Bay Beach:
US Virgin Islands National Park:
US Virgin Islands power boat circle of St. John:
Check out part two, coming tomorrow!
Palo Duro Canyon State Park
We visited Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Amarillo, Texas. The second largest canyon in the country.
Entrance:
Canyon view:
Visitor center:
Heading down into the canyon:
Store:
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:
They sell spray paint and merch; people are allowed and encouraged to spray on the cars:
Approaching Cadillac Ranch:
Lots of people when we visited:
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:
We started with the driving portion, where one drives along roads in the park that have holiday light decorations:
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):
Then proceeded to the walking part, wandering around the New Orleans Botanical Garden and environs, with lots of holiday lights:
Jenn reaching for a star:
A cute narrated Cajun Night Before Christmas story, with synchronized lights:
An amusing New Orleans variation of 12 Days of Christmas:
Model trains:
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):
It is a nice historical carousel, though:
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:
A sequence of photos from Jenn’s camera:
A GIF combining those images:
Some photos from my iPhone, using a handheld filter:
Annular eclipse:
Video: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta flight (360°)
A fun variation: a 360 degree timelapse video, that you can drag around to look in any direction.
Recorded from my head-mounted 360 camera during our hot air balloon ride at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
(Note, it’s a bit shaky at first, but gets better once in the air; the head mount probably wasn’t the best position for the camera.)