Prisoner of Hopes

Tag: Nature

  • Phoenix Zoo: Rural Road Trips

    The Phoenix Zoo is not quite what we hope but still an enjoyable day. We embrace the experience and meet a new friend who tries to share his lunch.

  • Saguaro Shut Down: Rural Road Trips

    Saguaro National Park is wild and wonderful in its desolation. On this trip we are almost the only ones there, which fuels my imagination.

  • Red Rock Hike: Rural Road Trip Arizona

    I love to hike, but I am married to a reluctant hiker. Translation: he actually likes to hike once I can get him on a trail. This may involve suggesting, asking, cajoling, and/ or answering many questions and providing hypothetical solutions. There is ritual involved with often repeated refrains. For this trip, the suggestion…. “I…

  • Verde to Tonto: Rural Road Trip

    I wouldn’t call us aimless. But we have no plan other than to enjoy this beautiful weekend. The weather is perfect. Blue skies. Cool breeze. And we have a whole day ahead of us to enjoy whatever we can. Our first stop is historic Camp Verde. It was a U.S. army outpost in the American…

  • Animal Cafe Takes My Stress Away: Travel Goals Japan

    In Japan, for about $15.00 you can spend an hour having unlimited tea, coffee, and soft drinks while cozying up to wildlife of your choice. There are puppy cafes, cat cafes, pig cafes, capybara cafes….the choices are limitless. After passing dozens of these anima cafes, the number one son and I decided we needed to…

  • Meiji Morning: Travel Goals

    This morning I wake up with the sun. It is a mystery to me how my internal clock always knows sunrise. Even on the other side of the globe, I’m up at the first hint of dawn. Last night we arrived in Tokyo after nineteen hours of travel. Unsurprisingly, the boys are still fast asleep.…

  • Pink Jeep Tour: Rural Road Trip

    We pile into the pink jeep with six strangers. Our driver seems a little crazy….in a mostly good way. He navigates the heavy Sedona traffic like he has done the route hundreds of times. So far so good. He tells stories as he drives. He finds them funny and entertaining. I find them hard to…

  • Safari In The USA: Rural Road Trip

    I am going out on Safari! Our bus just arrived to take us to the bush country of Afri…… make that Arizona. Somewhere between Camp Verde and Cottonwood Arizona is the Out Of Africa Wildlife park. It is a crazy place. A few minutes ago I stepped out of my car. Now I am boarding…

  • Hopi Ruins: Rural Road Trips

    After standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona for about as long as we care to, we head out of town on Route 66. Within a few minutes, we find a trading post that sells native made products. I leave with a lighter wallet and some beautiful jewelry. The shop keeper recommends that we visit…

  • Canyons in Navajo Country: Rural Road Trip

    Sometimes a place calls to me with no rhyme or reason. Canyon de Chelly has jumped off the map for a number of years. It is off the main highways and requires a multi-hour detour through rugged landscape. Deep in Navajo country, the canyon has remained illusive. You have to mean to go there. It…