Category: 2026 Snowbird Trip
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2026 Snowbird Trip Recap
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12/18/2025 – 03/21/2026 Our snowbird trip to the Southwest was an overwhelming success. While we missed the beaches of Texas this winter, we didn’t miss the humidity. The weather couldn’t have been better, and the unusually warmer months of February and March allowed us to venture further north in Arizona than we had originally planned.…
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Champions Landing Stop then Home
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For our final stay of our epic 2026 Snow Bird Trip, we had intended to overnight at the Strataca Salt Mine in Hutchison, Kansas after our tour there, since they are a Harvest Host. However, it was still in the upper 90’s and after running the AC in the van during our mine visit we…
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Strataca: Kansas Underground Salt Mine
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My friend, Martie, has been suggesting a visit to this place for years. When I saw them on the Harvest Host map, I knew it was time to stop, do a tour, then spend the night in their parking lot. The Strataca Museum is located 650 feet below the city of Hutchinson, Kansas. This is…
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Two State Park Overnighters
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As this year’s snowbird trip is ending, we have found ourselves in the midst of record breaking high temperatures across the southwest and far up into the central states. We left Moriarty, New Mexico on Wednesday with the goal of reaching central Kansas by Friday and then home on Saturday. Ute Lake State Park We…
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Petroglyph National Monument and a Brewery
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It’s that point in our snowbird journey when it’s time to start pointing Usain toward home. Our points of interests will become fewer, not because they aren’t interesting, but rather they become more familiar as we will be overlapping past journeys (there are only so many ways to get back to Iowa). For now, though,…
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Petrified Forest National Park
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As a kid, my family visited the Petrified Forest National Park. I remember seeing the “logs” laying on the ground in pieces, and that differed from the vertical tree trunks I had imagined. I also recall buying a piece of petrified wood in a gift shop, and now wonder what happened to it. Most of…
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Homolovi State Park
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We stayed a couple of nights at Homolovi State Park located a couple of miles north of Winslow, Arizona. The Hopi spelling of the word is Homol’ovi, which means “place of the little hills.” Before 2011 the park was named Homolovi Ruins State Park, but the Hopi petitioned the state parks board to remove the…
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Standing on the Corner in Winslow, Arizona
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“Well, I’m a standing on a corner in Winslow, ArizonaAnd such a fine sight to seeIt’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed FordSlowin’ down to take a look at me” — second verse of the song “Take It Easy” by the Eagles It’s funny how a single verse from a song can put a…
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Meteor Crater
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Today we saw a different type of crater than yesterday’s Sunset Crater. The Meteor Crater is not volcanic, though that wasn’t proven until 1960. Meteor Crater science is relatively young. With the snow-covered San Francisco Peaks still visible in the west, people thought logically that this crater must also be part of a volcanic field.…
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Sunset Crater National Monument
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Sunset Crater is the remains of a cinder cone volcano that erupted over 900 years ago. Every “mountain” in this area is really a volcano. This type of volcano typically erupts once and the cinders and ash pile up around the vent to form the cone. Sunset Crater was a primary vent among smaller ones,…