Text: Claire Lessiau
Photographs: Marcella van Alphen & Claire Lessiau
Keep Traveling!Completely off-the-beaten path, Mesa Verde National Park provides more than natural beauty: real insights into the lives of the Puebloan people, early inhabitants of America. This great cultural significance combined to the exceptionally well-preserved ruins makes Mesa Verde one of the highlights of any trip to the West.
The vast Colorado River winds its way through the metamorphic red stones of the Colorado Plateau where it has sculpted the land for millions of years carving one of world’s most spectacular gorges. If the Grand Canyon had made explorers of the Great Unknown shiver, the shorter Cataract Canyon just a couple of hundred miles upstream had remained one of the most difficult sections of the Colorado River to conquer. In the springtime, the melting snow feeds both rivers, the Colorado and the Green that merge at Confluence in the heart of Canyonlands NP, the starting point of the Cataract Canyon. Both un-dammed for hundreds of miles upstream, these mighty rivers merge to lead to the greatest white waters of the USA this time of the year with Class II to V rapids ranking along with those of the Grand Canyon in power and difficulty. Today they make the bravest white water enthusiasts shrill while riding these exhilarating rapids!
San Francisco seems to have sacrificed its vibrant vibes to its wild gentrification becoming one of the most expensive cities in the USA in the process. Still, the setting of San Francisco remains exceptional with Keep traveling!
The legendary Slick Rock trail in Moab, the Porcupine rim or the Gooseberry Mesa are just a few of the most scenic and technical mountain biking trails leading through the characteristic rocky terrain of Utah. However, with the popularity of mountain biking sky-rocketing these trails get crowded with avid mountain bikers from all over the world and locals alike, especially as they cannot be done year round due to snow cover in winter. Luckily Utah is a big playground and its most Southern West corner has not been touched by mass tourism yet! All the more reasons to hop on a bike to explore its trails!
There are plenty of ways to take in the world famous landmark of San Francisco. From the land at one of the many viewing points or biking or walking the bridge, from the sea by boat or kayak, or… from the air! Flying over the Golden Gate Bridge in open WWII biplane aircraft is definitely a unique and unforgettable experience and the best way to see it in style!
World’s most famous prison lies in the seemingly peaceful bay of San Francisco. The federal prison on the rocky island was highly feared by the United States’ most wanted criminals, a final destination for some. Escaping? Impossible! Or at least that’s what you think…
Initiated in the 1930’s as one of the first contemporary art museums, it is in the 1990’s that the Italian architect Mario Barro turned a dump downtown into the basis of today’s SFMOMA. In 2013 Keep traveling!
Take an exclusive tour of the Santa Lucia AVA (American Viticultural Area) vineyards, get up close and personal with the winemakers and experience their tasting rooms! Keep traveling!
“The Tenderloin? Don’t go!”
This is what you can read on most websites and in most guidebooks. It is true that the neighborhood looks pretty dodgy despite its 433 (!) historical buildings. However, it has been on the vanguard of sweeping social changes for over a century… Keep traveling!
I have been seating on a rock in the wind overlooking a small creek along the coast of Big Sur for a good half hour by now. If the landscape is stunning with the green and rocky cliffs falling into the Pacific Ocean, it is a raft of sea otters Keep traveling!
Beyond musicians looking for a mystical inspiration and fans walking in the footsteps of their legends, the Joshua Tree National Park attracts nature lovers and rock climbers from all over the world.
Best regards from far, 