A pictorial road trip.

Like most nomads on here I like to travel and see this great land of ours.

Here is a brief pictorial of the last 4 years traveling around and seeing some of it….

Florida, never thought I would like it so much. Kayaking in the gulf out to islands such as Egmont key.

Kayaking on many rivers such as the Crystal River with is just that.

First shot is the Withlacoochee river with it's spring.

Next is Hillsbourgh river running through Tampa and loaded with alligators, turtles and snakes.

Third is snakes on the Hillsbourgh river.

Fourth shot is out in the Gulf.






[Edited on 4-14-2016 by Fatboy]



[Edited on 4-14-2016 by Fatboy]

The Sunsets over the gulf.

What is more American than the 4th of July?

From Tampa, FL....

Of course the wildlife like snakes and gators….

Living in Florida also meant the south was at our doorsteps. We went and briefly explored all through the south.

First picture is a small town in Georgia that is home to the Rural Phone Museum.

Closer to the coast is this store front in Georgia in the second picture.





[Edited on 4-14-2016 by Fatboy]

Of course we had to do a 3 Day Kayaking trip in the Okefenokee swamp, camping on two different islands only accessible by boat.

It was all done by a permit system so you had the whole island to yourself for the night.

Here we are arriving at Floyd's Island after a 8 mile or so paddle.





[Edited on 4-14-2016 by Fatboy]

[Edited on 4-14-2016 by Fatboy]

Then there was the Appalachians.

Small towns, country roads.

We did a 4 day camping trip centered around the Tennessee-North Carolina borders.

A tree in fall…

We also 'climbed' all the high points of the south as a lark. We did Florida (took TWO attempts!) Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas (OK, that really is a mtn, a small 1 but a mtn none the less).

Here is Louisiana and Arkansas highest points…

Texas, what can I say? I ain't a fan, I dislike it, I have yet to find its charms?

Some cool things though. We spent a little time in Dallas going to Delaney plaza and came across this cool park with this cattle drive….

Best two weeks in Texas was spent in Big Bend National Park, flowers were blooming, weather was great, we even kayaked about 25 miles of the Rio Grande/International Border.

Was a little afraid that if we landed on the Mexico side of the river, even for a second, would the border patrol come running out of the brush to harass us?

Here are some graves at our campsite….





[Edited on 4-14-2016 by Fatboy]

New Mexico, now we are talking!

We saw the VLA, camped up high by Cloudcroft, toured the telescopes, saw Elk.

While we where there we heard that the semi-annual 1 day opening of the Trinity Atomic Bomb site was going to be open so we waited in a line of cars 7 miles long to go and see it….





[Edited on 4-14-2016 by Fatboy]

Don't forget to play in the sand.

White Sands National Park, NM

Arizona, East to West and North to South, my kind of state.

First shot Monuments in Northern Arizona….

Second shot Cochise Stronghold in the south after some rain showers…

Third picture is a sunset in the central portion of Arizona outside of Phoenix….

One super awesome thing about Arizona is that it borders amazing Utah. You have not lived until you spent some time in the slot canyons, my favorite area is off the Hole-in-the-Rock road. 50 miles of dirt to the end and you have to go back out the way you came.

Rattlesnakes, Mysteries, Views, Tragedies (13 dead Boy Scouts), Dinosaur Tracks, Indian Ruins, Rock art and more slots than you can shake a stick at.

And in Davis Gulch you can find rock art, Kiva's, Pottery Shards, Ancient corn cobs and maybe what happened to Ruess.

Here is an Arch in Davis Gulch…

Followed by Escalante Red Rock….

Then some desert flowers near Dance Hall Rock, Escalante Utah…

finally up towards Wyoming you can exploring an area with one of the largest concentration of hieroglyphs around….





[Edited on 4-14-2016 by Fatboy]

Utah to Wyoming, red cliffs in southern Wyoming…..

Maybe back to Nevada now.

Spend days on dirt roads with out seeing a soul, such as this one near Winnemucca….

Or you can do a little spelunking like here about 50 miles south of Wells, Nevada….which is the second picture

From Nevada head north and west and you end up in Oregon.

First picture is a dirt road near Gold Beach Oregon….

Don't ignore the big cities.

Couple of shots of Portland...

Some public art in downtown Portland and a street one early Sunday morning….





[Edited on 4-14-2016 by Fatboy]

Cross the river, cross the border. Wet and rainy Washington state.

How else would you get waterfalls like these….

How about some Huckleberries? Indian Heaven Wilderness is just the ticket…

Washington isn't all liquid sunshine, out here in eastern Washington it is high desert and horses…

Lets go a little more north and spend some loonies.

While the mainland has plenty to see, treat yourself to a ferry ride to that large island.

If you are in the know you would do well to disembark in Nanaimo and treat yourself to a locally made Nanaimo bar. Careful about the sugar overload that results.

Travel north on this island and maybe stop at Englishman Falls state park….

Or camp near a remote lake….

Or near a nameless waterfall…

Or drive all the way to the top of the island and challenge yourself with the Cape Scott and North coast trails.

Here we are camping on the beach on the North Coast Trail, backpack with all the food hung high and hopefully out of reach of the bears…and there are LOTS of bears there!





[Edited on 4-14-2016 by Fatboy]

Back down through Washington and Oregon now to my home state of California. Just a couple of pictures.

Here is the Middle fork of the Eel river in the Yolla Bolly Wilderness, another bear haven….

Followed by my sole picture of a week long kayak trip me and my daughter went on from Red Bluff to the San Francisco bay…

Last shot is rain over Mono Lake….

Alright, if you made it this far you know we went coast to coast and up into Canada.

So lets finish with a final shot in Baja….

Quote: Originally posted by BornFisher

Ha, before I opened my computer, I was thinking of planning a road trip. Now it feels like I took one!!! Thanks for this, really great stuff!!

Quote: Originally posted by StuckSucks

Excellent group of photos. How many miles was your entire trip? Makes Baja driving appear wimpy. Really like your photography!

Quote: Originally posted by Phil S

Well. This helped my early morning awakening pass by enjoyably. I've driven from Oregon to Florida and back once some years ago. Didn't take pictures. Was in a hurry to get there to get on a cruise ship. Was one of those "been there once. done that once. don't need to do that again." trips. BUT. Did manage to see a lot of country in a month trip. Thanks for sharing your trip & photos. Tons of places to see in Oregon. (been doing that for past 81 years) Yes. Native Oregonian. If you haven't been to Crater Lake in Oregon, I highly recommend it. Start at mileage post 125 on I-5. at Roseburg Oregon. Spend some time at Two Shy Brewing (son & partners 4 year old brewery). Tell them that your a Baja Nomad, and the first beer will be on my charge account. Curious why I'd post about Two Shy Brewing? Look it up on Facebook. The variety of brews have great tasting pleasures. It's only a tasting event, as no bottling yet. BUT. They do sell growlers in a couple sizes. Any other Nomads offering free samples when Nomads are "passing through"?

Quote: Originally posted by Phil S

big boy. Yeah? It's free lst glass. Is that so unusual? I'm a Nomad, and proud to be one, and it's a legit offer. It promotes an incredible National Park in our area. And it also promotes an incredible brewer company that makes incredible brews. And one of it's IPA's made a top ten list in one publication judging Oregon brews. So fellow Nomads. Look up Two Shy Brewing Roseburg Oregon on I-5, and check their days & hours their open, and have a free "first glass" pleasurable experience. Oh yeah, big boy. No one questions our Baja Nomads offers to "stop by and I'll buy you a beer" that live in Baja. And though I don't own in Baja anymore, I still visit every year or so, and will be in Cabo next week for a week meeting with relatives & friends, and again in November for couple weeks. Viva La Nomads !!!!!!!!!

Quote: Originally posted by DianaT

That was fun! Thanks for sharing it all. Visiting alligators is definitely on our bucket list.

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo

Quote: Originally posted by DianaT   That was fun! Thanks for sharing it all. Visiting alligators is definitely on our bucket list. How about crocodiles? You can get up close and personal with them here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Manzanilla There is no barrier between their lagoon and the restaurants on the beach. They lay on the beach and swim in front of it. I have some photos, but will have to figure out how to edit and put them here!

Personally I would not want to get up close and personal with them.

Course you can go to Florida and see plenty of Gators, see crocs down on the tip and even go boating with wild monkeys.

Do wish it was easier to post pictures here.

Quote: Originally posted by chuckie

Small world! I was also at the TRINITY site this year, so we were there at the same time..Thanks for the pics...

Quote: Originally posted by Fatboy

Texas, what can I say? I ain't a fan, I dislike it, I have yet to find its charms? Some cool things though. We spent a little time in Dallas going to Delaney plaza and came across this cool park with this cattle drive….

Quote: Originally posted by Mexitron

Quote: Originally posted by Fatboy   Texas, what can I say? I ain't a fan, I dislike it, I have yet to find its charms? Some cool things though. We spent a little time in Dallas going to Delaney plaza and came across this cool park with this cattle drive…. As a mostly Californian I feel your pain...West Texas is awesome but the area around DFW you have to dig around to find the natural beauty--next time go through the Hill Country...Sabine River with the Bald Cypress, Llano River area, Devil's River. I'll throw in this too---when Texas was admitted to the union they did not have to turn over large tracts of land to the Feds (for National Forest, BLM) so public lands are few and far between, especially for a state so large; its mostly privately owned land, a paradise for the Bundy types evidently, but for folks looking to wander around open wilderness its a long drive.

EXACTLY! Due to Texas's wise decision it hampers folks like me and after living in a state like Nevada for a few year the difference is huge!!!

To all the folks that responded, THANK YOU for the positive feedback. I was worried after not posting for a few years that the NOMADS board had changed for the worst....NOT!

[Edited on 4-16-2016 by Fatboy]

Thank much