Petrified Forest National Park, AZ

After a short stop at El Malpais National Monument, we drove to reach Petrified Forest National Park at least an hour before the sunset. We reached the southern entrance of the park an 1.5hrs before sunset and the park was closing at 5PM. The rangers insisted that after 5PM, if we are still inside the …

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El Malpais National Monument – NM

After spending the day at Bandelier National Monument, we drove in the direction of Arizona. After sunset we decided to stay at Grant, NM for that night. It was the thanksgiving day and there was absolutely no restaurant open in that town. But we had a backup plan. Checkout the dehydrated food section for more details. …

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Bandelier National Monument – NM

Ater VLA, we drove straight to Santa Fe and stayed there overnight. Didn’t get much time to explore the town besides walking around to get a place to eat. Next day morning, the day of Thanksgiving, we drove to Bandelier National Monument. And the park visitor center was open. The cave dwelling walking loop, 1.2 …

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Very Large Array – NM

After the gorgeous sunrise with 1000s of birds at Bosque Del Apache Wilderness, we drove to Very Large Array of antennas, about 50 miles from Socorro. The radio astronomy observatory details: https://public.nrao.edu/telescopes/vla I can’t write anything intelligent about this place, so figured i will let you read the official website and I will just post pictures from …

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Bosque Del Apache Wilderness – NM

After White Sands National Monument, we drove to Bosque Del Apache Wilderness, in time for the sunset. Early November to Mid-February, 1000s of birds find refuge at this wilderness. There are corn fields around the area where they spend the day time eating and come to the ponds to sleep overnight. There are few different ponds …

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White Sands National Monument – NM

Next destination on our “Road Trip Thanksgiving 2015” was White Sands National Monument. The same day morning, we had spent time exploring the City of Rocks State Park. These dunes of gypsum sands is another one of magic hour paradises. Getting there for sunset to see the line up of colors like an artist’s palette is truly …

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City of Rocks State Park – NM

After Saguaro National Park, we drove to the state of enchantment, New Mexico, at night and stayed at the border town of Lordsburg. The plan was to start driving next day morning towards White Sands National Monument. While browsing through the google map, we noticed a few green areas. We knew about Gila National Monument, and …

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Saguaro National Park, AZ

Park Alert: Stay till the golden hour, when everything seems a bit more magical !! We were 723-miles away from home. Got to say the drive from home (Sunnyvale,CA) to Phoenix, AZ is the longest we have driven in one day. We decided to drive our own dear-car, Honda Accord 2003, instead of renting a newer …

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El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico

As the only rainforest in the US National Forest System, a must-visit place in Puerto Rico is El Yunque National Forest. The forest area is relatively small with a handful of hiking options. I chose to do the following trails: El Yunque peak La Mina waterfall For someone pressed on time, a drive through the …

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