< more recent | 15-21 February 2025 | older >
21 February 2025: Started the drive day with a stop at the Witchita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge to look for prairie dogs and the buffalo. It was fairly windy and still cold, but there wasn’t any snow on the ground. The prairie landscape looked wintery though. I saw some of the longhorns and a few brave prairie dogs. Down by the dam the pond was frozen along the edges and a frozen “water fall” spilled over the edge of the dam wall. A few bison were foraging over by the old prairie dog site. I was happy with my observations and photos and continued on towards Texas with a couple of detours to visit some historical locations. The first stop was the Quanah Parker historical marker, not far from the refugee, then I turned north towards the Black Kettle National Grasslands, the site of the Washita Battlefield. The sun was shining but there was a wind and it was a bit raw when I arrived to the battlefield. I was the only human there, and I took my time walking across the site where Black Kettle’s people had camped and where they were observed by the cavalry before the massacre began. Down along the creek there were many bits of fabric and things tied to the trees, these were the prayers of people who come to pay their respects to their fallen ancestors. It was a very moving experience to be there alone, with nature and the spirits, and I lingered until the sun started getting low in the sky, before returning to the Jeep. The sun set as we left the Grasslands and continued the rest of the way to Texas, and dinner at The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo…
20 February 2025: The storms seem to have subsided and the sun was shining this morning, though it was still very cold in eastern Oklahoma when I started the drive day. A coat of snow covered everything, even the Blue Whale at Catoosa who sat in his frozen pond not seeming to really mind at all. But as I drove west it seemed to dissipate, and by the time I reached Oklahoma City I didn’t notice snow at all. Stopped for a great steak dinner at McClintocks Saloon near the Stockyards before calling it a night …
19 February 2025: In the morning I decided to try to at least stop at a few key places en route, so I started off with the Cahokia Mounds World Heritage Site, an important Mississippian cultural site that protects some pretty impressive examples of the mound builders’ work. This morning they were covered with a blanket of snow that somehow made them seem even more otherworldly. From there I continued across the Mississippi, once the dividing line between “east” and “west” and stopped briefly at the Gateway Arch National Park to photograph the “archway” monument as I entered St. Louis, Missouri. Soon the snow started again. And the Interstate was shut down with a long line of tractor trailers at a standstill due to a serious accident somewhere further ahead. A sign said there was at least a 2-hour delay there, and luckily I remembered that historic Route 66 parallels the Interstate through much of Missouri, so I got off the highway and went looking for the old Mother Road. I found it, and it was still covered with a layer of snow, but thanks to Rubi the Jeep that was not a problem. We drove on through the beauty of fresh snow in the countryside, alone on the unplowed road, taking our time, until somewhere further on, our path intersected with the Interstate again. This section was open and we got back on it, still moving slowly due to road conditions, crawling with the traffic all across the state of Missouri. At Springfield the weather seemed to break a little bit, and it was also time to make a stop at the giant Buc-cee’s there for gas and more snacks than we probably needed. Smiling at all the beaver things, and with a full tank of gas, we left as the sunset and continued into Oklahoma before stopping for the night…
18 February 2025: Insanely cold temperatures continued today, as I continued forward covering West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and into Illinois. I kept just pushing on ahead. There was snow everywhere and it was beautiful transforming the rural landscapes, but it was just way too cold to really “do” anything outside. Single digit temperatures with “feels like” posted at -12° Fahrenheit. I didn’t want to get out of the Jeep at all — not even to get gas — and that almost came back to bite me later on, as I had used the Jeep’s gas “range” display to determine I had enough gas to reach my next stopping point. The display said I had a range of 182 miles, and I only had to go 143 miles, so it seemed like I would be fine. However, the gusting headwinds apparently impacted my mileage a lot, and at one point I noted my gas gauge looked quite low. When I checked the range again it said I had 76 miles, but I still needed to drive 93 miles!!! Suddenly I would need to find gas between “here” and “there” but I was driving through a rural woodland area with long distances between exits and not all of the exits had “services”. I started getting concerned and pictured myself running out of gas on a frozen section of highway and having to bundle up in one of those silver foil space blankets so I didn’t freeze to death waiting for Triple A in the middle of nowhere — and praying I would have cell signal to call them! Luckily I found gas before that happened and made a note to self about the inaccuracy of the “range” display, vowing not to let this kind of thing happen again…
17 February 2025: Cold sub-freezing temperatures and strong winds accompanied us as we crossed the first four states — NY, NJ, PA, WV. I usually plan the route around a series of stops where I can go exploring, take a hike, look for wildlife or learn some interesting history, but the weather forecasts for the whole middle of the USA this week is just WINTER and WORSE WINTER, so I think I will just try to drive as much as I can to get to the southwest sooner and hopefully find the sun. Today’s planned detour turned out to be just a short stop due to freezing cold temperatures, wind, and the fact that so much of the landscape was frozen over. It was the first time I stopped to check out the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey, though I had seen signs for it and wondered about it many times. With ice everywhere and brutal cold winds, I wasn’t really up for a long hike (and I don’t think the wildlife were doing too much venturing outside anyway) but I did do a little bit of exploring. Drove Long Hill Road into the swamplands and checked out a couple of observation points, where I observed frozen wetlands and attempted to take a short walk, but kept getting frustrated while trying to take photos because I had to keep taking off my gloves! From the swamp I got back on the road and made it through Pennsylvania and into West Virginia passing snow-covered mountains along the way …
16 February 2025: The longest, most arduous part of the cross-country roadtrip from Long Island NY to anywhere is the simple fact of getting to the mainland. Circumventing New York City and crossing into New Jersey is always a traffic nightmare unless we leave at 4am (and even then there can be unpleasant surprises). This time we did it a little differently, taking advantage of the fact that I had a big family event to go to in upstate New York, we began the journey west from there, making a much easier “crossing” into New Jersey after a great afternoon celebrating…
THIS MONTH:
Roadtrip, heading southwest, for a few months of training, events and exploration in the desert. But first we need to get there, so it’s time to put together a fun route with some cool stops as we drive from New York to Arizona …
COMING UP SOON:
Joining the Barlow Adventures Rebelle Rally training for an intensive sand dune driving and navigation practice at the Imperial Sand Dunes in southern California. This is a seven-day driving and navigation program that focuses on moving safely and effectively through large dunefields with skills-building exercises intended to improve pace, line choice and vehicle control. There is a full classroom day of navigation instruction focused on mapping and understanding the basics of plotting and route planning on paper maps, as well as increasingly challenging in-the-field practice to develop precision map and compass navigation skills. It all culminates in a final day of “chasing checkpoints” out in the big dunes…
Trail Guiding for the California 4-Wheel Drive Association’s fifth annual Death Valley Experience fundraiser event. Each day will feature a choice of runs to some famous, some infamous and some secretive points of interest within Death Valley National Park. Some of the points of interest we may visit during Death Valley Experience 2025 include Zabriskie Point (famous), Barker Ranch (infamous) and the Racetrack (learn the secret of the moving rocks). Other points of interest include Dante’s View, 20 Mule Team Canyon, Artists’ Drive, Chloride Cliffs, Aguereberry Point, Skidoo, Titus Canyon, and Darwin Falls. All of the trail runs are suitable for novice drivers and SUVs with high clearance and 4-wheel drive…
USnomads.org is very proud to be presenting the fourth edition of the Nomad Overland Virtual Adventure Rally in 2025. This is a unique kind of rally experience — a ten week event that participants can do from anywhere within the continental U.S.A. Competitors design their own routes as part of the rally, then drive it in a points-based online competition that includes optional activity tasks, quests and weekly challenges. The 2025 rally will run from 2 June – 10 August and is open to any driver within the United States who has an off-road capable vehicle — stock or modified. Registration for 2025 is currently open. For more information see the Rally website …
This October JoMarie Fecci of USnomads.org will be joining with Jody DeVere of AskPatty.com to form TEAM CELEBRATION, competing in the 10th Anniversary edition of the Rebelle Rally, as Team 111. Team Celebration will be busy in the coming months, training for the great adventures ahead as they hone their driving and navigation skills and prepare for the mental challenges the Rally will bring …
ABOUT QUANAH PARKER
Quanah Parker, the last Comanche Chief, was born in Elk Creek just below the Wichita mountains circa 1850. Quanah, the son of Petah Nocony and Cynthia Ann Parker who was captured by the Comanches, became a fierce warrior and skillfully defended Comancheria against all invaders. Col. Ranald McKenzie pursued Quanah for years but never captured or defeated him. The destruction of the buffalo forced Quanah to lead the Comanche down this trail to Fort Sill in June 1875. A born leader, Quanah bridged the great gap between the old world as a War Chief to the new life as a Civil Chief without losing his Comanche identity…
WITCHITA MOUNTAINS NWR
The Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, located in southwestern Oklahoma near Lawton, has protected unique wildlife habitats since 1901 and is the oldest managed wildlife facility in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service system. The Wichita Mountains are approximately 500 million years old, and the refuge covers a geologically unique area of undisturbed mixed grass prairie measuring about 59,020 acres. The refuge is home to several species of large native mammals including bison, elk, white-tailed deer and Texas longhorn cattle which are preserved here for their cultural and historic importance. Many smaller mammal species also live in the refuge, including the nine-banded armadillo, bassarisk, and the black-tailed prairie dog. The refuge was important in saving the American buffalo from extinction: In 1907 the American Bison Society brought 15 bison to the refuge. Quanah Parker and a host of other Indians and whites turned out to welcome the “return of the buffalo” as the animals had been extinct on the southern Great Plains for 30 years. The bison herd now numbers about 650 on the refuge…
ABOUT CAHOKIA MOUNDS
The Cahokia Mounds World Heritage Site is the largest pre-Columbian site north of Mexico. At its peak, around 1100, this metropolis stretched over 4,000 acres, encompassed about 120 earthen mounds, and hosted a population of nearly 20,000 individuals – larger than London at that time. The State of Illinois now protects roughly 2,200 acres of the central portion of the Site, including 72 of the nearly 80 remaining mounds. It is a striking example of a complex chiefdom society, with many satellite mound centres and numerous outlying hamlets and villages. Cahokia is the pre-eminent example of a cultural, religious, and economic centre of the Mississippian culture (800–1350), which extended throughout the Mississippi Valley and the south-eastern United States. The site includes 51 platform, ridgetop, and conical mounds; residential, public, and specialized activity areas; and a section of reconstructed palisade, all of which together defined the limits and internal symmetry of the settlement. Dominating the community was Monks Mound, the largest prehistoric earthen structure in the New World. Constructed in fourteen stages, it covers six hectares and rises in four terraces to a height of 30 meters. The mounds served variously as construction foundations for public buildings and as funerary tumuli. There was also an astronomical observatory (“Woodhenge”), consisting of a circle of wooden posts. Cahokia graphically demonstrates the existence of a pre-urban society in which a powerful political and economic hierarchy was responsible for the organization of labor, communal agriculture, and trade…
Nesconset | Paris | Belgrade | Oklahoma City | Lawton | Amarillo | Yuma | Phoenix | Sedona | Las Vegas | Death Valley
MORE NOTES FROM THE ROAD:
1-14 February – New York
January – Paris
23-31 December – Holiday Roadtrip
16-22 December – Holiday Roadtrip
18-15 December – New York
8-30 November – New York
1-7 November – Roadtrip South
23-31 October – Roadtrip South
15-22 October – Roadtrip South
8-14 October – Roadtrip South
1-7 October – Roadtrip South
September – New York
August – New York
26-31 March – Eastbound
20-25 March – NM
15-19 March – DVE
9-14 March – AZ
1-8 March – NV & AZ
23-29 February – Glamis
16-22 February – Roadtrip SW
1-15 February – Roadtrip SW
Archive
ROADTRIP
An epic journey crisscrossing the USA from east to west and back again, exploring some of the beautiful wild spaces that make up our “public lands.” The roadtrip covered almost 15,000 miles, much of it off-grid and off-pavement, focusing on the deserts of the American southwest. Some locations were truly “iconic” while others were little known, and the segments of independent exploration where punctuated with some fun events across the region… [read]
SPECIAL REPORT
All about exploring ghost towns and abandoned places in the USA and beyond, with tips, and information on the many different types of sites to be found across the globe, including detailed guides for eight specific sites… [read]
LOCATION
This installment of a series that focuses on locations around the USA takes a look at some favorite places near our home base in NY. We share a few places we like to explore, where you can experience something of the raw natural beauty of coastal beaches, pine barrens and a little bit of obscure military history… [read]
