I firmly believe the traveller’s mantra…trips are about the journey, not the destination – and sometimes, the detours make the best memories. While it’s entirely possible that one person’s travel treasure can be another’s trash, sharing insider tips with others is one of the best parts of returning from any road trip. For me, the lure of the road is constant and my travel bucket lists are infinite. Picking favourites is almost impossible, but I’ve tried – by curating a list of Extraordinary Places – to enhance your next road trip. RV Lifestyle There are, essentially, three ways to experience the Grand Canyon: The more remote and less crowded North Rim; the more developed South Rim with more amenities; and the rigorous Rim to Rimhike, which lets you experience both. A powerful and inspiring landscape, Grand Canyon overwhelms our senses through its immense size. Unique combinations of geologic colour and erosional forms decorate a canyon that is 445 km long, up to 30 km wide and 1.6 km deep. Grand Canyon National Park, a World Heritage Site, encompasses 493,076 ha and lies on the Colorado Plateau in northwestern Arizona. The land is semi-arid and consists of the raised plateaus and structural basins typical of the southwestern United States. Drainage systems have cut deeply through the rock, forming numerous steep-walled canyons. Forests are found at higher elevations, while the lower elevations are comprised of a series of desert basins. Mesa Verde (Spanish for green table) offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home from about AD 600 to 1300. Today, the park protects nearly 5,000 known archeological sites including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the U.S. About 1,400 years ago, long before Europeans explored North America, people living in the Four Corners region choseMesa Verde for their home. For more than 700 years, they and their descendants lived and flourished here – eventually building elaborate stone communities in the sheltered alcoves of the canyon walls. Then, in the late AD 1200s, in the span of a generation or two, they left their homes andmoved away. Mesa Verde National Park preserves a spectacular reminder of this ancient culture. Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona Extraordinary Places are the places that stay with you long after visiting. They are the places that fill you with wonder. They are epic natural wonders, weird roadside attractions and deeply meaningful locations. Simply put, Extraordinary Places turn a great road trip into an unforgettable adventure. Here are just some of the places that I love the most – that is, until I hit the road again and discover new favourites. Explore my list and start planning your next road trip today. What is an Extraordinary Place? Extraordinary Places for Your Next Road Trip 26 | www.snowbirds.org
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzMzNzMx