The desert air is dry and warm, even on this late fall day. The heat of the summer has faded, but winter rains - rare even during the later months - have yet to quench the thirst of the earth. Blue skies, white clouds, brown dirt, gray rocks: the colors combine on the canvas of…
Editor's note: I had never heard of Big Thicket National Preserve before reading this take on it from Christian, our national parks expert here at The Royal Tour. This story made me laugh, smile, and shake my head at some people - yes, Christian, I'm looking at you - who will brave anything just to…
It is hot here on an early October day, made more so by the need to wear my mask when other people are around, which many are since it's a Saturday morning and Covid has closed all but one parking area here on the east side of Pinnacles National Park. We are about ninety minutes…
Editor's note: another fun story from Christian Grand, our national park-obsessed writer! To read more of his work, click here. Over the course of my lifetime, I intend to visit every national park. I hope you’ll forgive me, however, when I tell you that this article isn’t about a national park. My intentions to drive…
Editor's note: this is such a beautiful description of a place I love, Lassen Volcanic National Park. To read all of Christian Grand's articles here on The Royal Tour, visit his index here. I’m from San Diego, but I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest for about ten years. Over the last decade, I’ve been on…
Editor's note: I, too, have visited Crater Lake a number of times, but it is fascinating to read Christian's account of visiting during these times. For more of his stories here on The Royal Tour, visit his index here! Every visit to a national park is a unique experience. I roll over memories in my…
Let's put it this way: it is 388 miles to drive between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Imagine being in a cave that whole way, and still not having the exit in sight. That is what makes Mammoth Cave unique. Mammoth Cave National Park protects a bit more than 52,000 acres of central Kentucky, but…
Palm Springs is hot in July. Very hot. Wearing my mask, I grab a double-double and a vanilla shake from California's most iconic burger chain, In N Out, and start up a winding road into the mountains. This road, California Highway 74 and turning into California Highway 243, is known as the Palms to Pines…
Editor's note: I, too, have spent time at Petrified Forest National Park, and it's fun for me to follow another writer's story, in this case our resident park expert, Christian. Mine can be found here, for comparison's sake. To read more of Christian's adventures, click here. I’m fortunate to have been to Petrified Forest National…
Editor's note: Our resident national parks expert takes us to a less traveled one in Utah. For all of Christian's posts here on The Royal Tour, click here. When I travel alone, I have a habit of showing up at dusk to a town I’ve only known existed for the last few hours, and parking…