Tales of a Technogypsie

The Whitby Abbey* Abbey Lane, Whitby, North Yorkshire – YO22 4JT * I have always been drawn to the iconography of the Gothic Abbey atop the hills of Whitby, England. It is that vaguely interwoven backdrop of the gothic culture that is drawn to this city that once was home to Bram Stoker and the [...]

Fontana Village Resort * http://www.fontanavillage.com/ * Fontana Village Resort | 300 Woods Road • P.O. Box 68 | Fontana Dam, North Carolina 28733 * Phone: 828.498.2211 * We were seeking an escape to the mountains and while this time of year the blue ridge parkway had segments shut down, we ventured via main roads to [...]

Fontana Lake* Smokey Mountains National Park, Fontana Dam, North Carolina * Named after the Italian word for “fountain”, Fontana Lake is named after the flooded town of Fontana, which was the Smokey Mountains infamous lumber and copper-mining hub back in the day at the mouth of Eagle Creek. Now a reservoir contained by Fontana Dam [...]

Congaree National Park100 National Park Road, Hopkins, SC 29061 * Phone: (803) 783-4241 * (outside of Columbia, South Carolina) * http://www.nps.gov/cong/ * One of the natural attractions to Columbia, South Carolina is the infamous Congaree National Park which preserves the largest tract of old growth bottom land hardwood forest that remains left in the United [...]

The Great Sand Dunes* http://www.nps.gov/grsa/index.htm * One of my favorite parts of Colorado is its great diversity in the ranges of the Rocky Mountains. One of those hotspots of “oddity” is the vast Sahara-like desert of sand dunes in the San Luis Valley. Of course California, New Mexico, and Arizona has tons of sand dunes [...]

Australian National Botanical Gardens * GPO Box 1777 * Canberra, Australia Capital Territory * 2601 * Australia * +61 2 6250 9599 * http://www.anbg.gov.au/ * In the heart of Australia’s Capital Territory and City of Canberra is the Nation’s most exquisite National Botanical Gardens. Radiating like a gem in the midland plains, this fabulous collection [...]

Bittangee Bay/Ben Boyd National Forest New South Wales, Australia A refreshing break from the metropolis of Melbourne, me and my travel mate Sir Bluey, headed off for some camping along the infamous “Bittangee Bay” in the Ben Boyd National Forest. A unpaved dirt road led us to this amazing campground overlooking Australia’s rugged South Coast. [...]

Leatherbarrel CreekMt. Kosciouszko, New South Wales, Australia Along the highway of “Alpine Way” heading from Thredbo to Albury lies a nice little picnic and camping area called “Leather Barrel Creek”. It hosts over 10 campsites and is accessible by sealed roads. GPS: Latitude 36° 31′ 32.52″ S; Longitude 148° 11′ 34.8″ E. Nice wading stream, [...]

Kosciusko National Park* The Snowy Mountains, New South Wales, Australia * The highest peak in Australia, Mount Kosciuszko is also surrounded by a 690,000 hectare national park of the same name in the southeastern corner mainland of New South Wales. It is also contiguous with the Alpine National Park of Victoria in he south and [...]

Australia’s Snowy Mountains New South Wales, Australia On the road from Canberra to Albury, one will past the historical and breath-taking “Snowy Mountains” of Australia. Built within this alpine paradise for Australia’s skiiers and snowboarders is a hydro-electricity and irrigation complex called “The Snowy Mountains Scheme” which is built up of 16 major dams, 7 [...]

Glacier Park in British Columbia: In the Eastern region of British Columbia stands the beautiful Glacier Park. This Provincial and Canadian National Park is one of the wonders of British Columbia. Completely pocketed with giant mountains with glaciers cradling most of them, this Park of beauties is definitely the place to spend a camping and [...]

The CurraughNear Kildare and Naas, Ireland It is said that in 480 C.E. Saint Brighid came to the area to found a monastery in Kildare and had approached the King of Leinster and asked for land for the poor and on to which to build it. He laughed a her and told her that if [...]

Glenariff Forest ParkAntrim, Northern Ireland One of Northern Ireland’s enchanted woodlands … Glenariff Forest Park is full of myth and legends, faeries, and woodland creatures. It is home to a unique Waterfall Walkway that was introduced to tourists 80 years ago and significantly upgraded along its 3 mile length that passes through a National Nature [...]

Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge:Ballintoy, County Antrim, Northern Ireland One of the attractions along Northern Ireland’s Coastal Causeway that is part of the Giant’s Causeway highlights of the area, is a pedestrian suspension rope bridge that connects the mainland to the tiny Carrick island (rock) off the coast. It can’t be seen from the parking lot, and [...]

The Giant’s Causeway: near Bushmills, Northern IrelandTied into the legendary faerie lore with being created by Finn Mac Cool as a causeway to walk between Ireland and Scotland, the area is rich in myths and legends. A World Heritage site (UNESCO 1986), operated by the National Trust, the Giant’s Causeway consists of over 40,000 interlocking [...]

Brú na Bóinne* aka “Palace of the Boyne” or “Bend of the Boyne” * Knowth/Newgrange, Donore, Co. Meath, Ireland * UNESCO World Heritage Site *“Bru na Boinne” is the name of a Boyne River Valley section that is home to the World Heritage sites consisting of the Tumulus Sidhe known as “Knowth”, “Dowth”, and “Newgrange”. [...]

Big Island Pu-ukohola heiau National Historic Site / Kohala Kona, Big Island, Hawaii Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site is located right off to the side of the infamous Outrigger Hotel. It is a National Register historic site that preserves the ruins of one of Hawaii’s most major native temples. The temple existed from the time [...]

Ka’u Desert Ka’u Desert Big Island, Hawaii The Kaʻū Desert is an amazing desert of lava rock and sand in the southwest rift zone of the Kilauea volcano. It is not a true desert because it does get rainfall, albeit it acid rain, and it exceeds 1,000 mm per year. (39 inches) The desert consists [...]

Big Island Volcano National Park Volcano, Big Island, Hawaii One of Hawaii’s most notorious and famous National Parks, “Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park” was established in 1916 as a National Park, a International Biosphere Reserve in 1980, and a World Heritage Site in 1987 to demonstrate the history and living geological experiene of volcanism, geology, and [...]

Kilauea Caldera Kilauea Volcano, Big Island, Hawaii Kīlauea is one of the most spectacular volcanoes existing on Big Island in Hawaii. Rising 4,091 feet above sea level, the summit caldera is a broad shelf of uplands well beneath the long profile of Mauna Loa. It is a very low flat shield volcano lying against the [...]

Kilauea Lava Flow Kilauea Lava Flow* End of Highway 130 on the east side not far from Kalapana, Big Island, Hawaii *Flowing out of the active volcano Kīlauea on the Big Island, comes one of the world’s most frequent outpouring of lava. Lava has been issuing continuously at Puʻu ʻŌʻō since January 1983. In 1998 [...]

Thurston Lava TubeVolcano National Park, Volcano, Big Island, HawaiiWhile visiting a friend who lives in Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii we took a late night cruise through the Thurston Lava Tube … which was absolutely fascinating. Not the first tube for me to go down as I’ve been in some in Washington and [...]

Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Wyoming Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area – “Firehole Canyon” campgroundWyoming * http://www.wyomingtourism.org/overview/Flaming-Gorge-Recreation-Area/32475* Elevation: 6,300 ft. * Open Seasonally May 12 – September 18 * $14 per day – Single * $28 per day – double * Maximum Stay Permitted (days): 16 * 7 water spigots * hot showers * pay [...]

Rock Art,petroglyphs,National Parks,volcanoes,hiking,archaeology Petroglyph National Monument * http://www.nps.gov/petr/ * Petroglyph National Monument * 6001 Unser Blvd, NW * Albuquerque, New Mexico 87120 * (505) 899-0205 ext. 331 * Petroglyph National Monument is a several area park nestled up to the Albuerqueque’s resident volcanoes that protects a variety of cultural and natural resources including the volcanos, [...]

Balanced Rock Balanced Rock * Arches National Park * Moab, Utah “The forces of erosion are sculpting more than just arches. Balanced Rock clearly shows the various layers responsible for this amazing defiance of gravity. The caprock of the hard slick rock Member of the entrada sandstone is perched upon a pedastal of mudstone. This [...]

Arches National Park Arches National Park * http://www.nps.gov/arch/ * PO Box 907 Moab, UT 84532 * (435) 719-2299A panoramic array of mesas, arches, canyons, and buttes naturally occuring near Moab, Utah known as Arches National Park. The National Park preserves over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, like the world-famous Delicate Arch, as well as many other [...]

Canyonlands National Park Canyonlands National Park * http://www.nps.gov/cany/ * Canyonlands National Park * 2282 SW Resource Blvd. * Moab, Utah 84532 * (435) 719-2313 In the heart of Utah near the resort town o Moab lies one of North America’s most scenic desert canyon playgrounds known as “Canyonlands”. A pristine national park that presents a [...]

Dark Hollow Falls Dark Hollow Falls @ Shenandoah National Park * http://www.nps.gov/shen/ * Shenandoah National Park, 3655 US Hwy 211 East, Luray, Virginia 22835 * 540.999.3500 Just outside of Big Meadows and a couple miles down from the road lies Dark Hollow Falls. These falls can get crowded because they are located just across Skyline [...]

Shenandoah National Park Shenandoah National Park* http://www.nps.gov/shen/ * Shenandoah National Park, 3655 US Hwy 211 East, Luray, Virginia 22835 * 540.999.3500 What a beautiful day for a beautiful drive through Shenandoah National Park. Having roughly 1/2 a day to explore, I decided to drive from the Front Ryal (North) Entrance Station down to Big Meadows [...]

George Washington Memorial Parkway* http://www.nps.gov/gwmp/ * Washington, D.C. Often nicknamed “The Road to Adventure” which was suitable as it gave me my route out of D.C. to the famous Shenandoah National Park. Locals call it “GW Parkway”. This memorial parkway is managed by the National Park Service and was designed as a gateway and greenway [...]