Uxmal: The Most Perfectly Preserved Mayan City

by Richard Quinn | Dec 8, 2015 | Travel

Uxmal, (pronounced, oosh-mahl), is, in my opinion, the most aesthetically spectacular of all the Mayan cities. The beautiful jungle setting, the quality of the architecture, the state of preservation, the wonderful plazas replete with flowering trees. This place has...

Palenque: Palaces and Pyramids in the Land of the Maya

by Richard Quinn | Dec 7, 2015 | Travel

A newer version of this post is now available under a revised title: Palenque: Mayan City in the Hills of Chiapas. The new version has updated text, illustrated with more than two dozen original photographs. Click the photo to be redirected.  Palenque! This ruin of an...

Mexican Road Trip, circa 2015

by Richard Quinn | Dec 4, 2015 | Maya, Mexico, Road Trips, Travel

MARCH 2024: Note that the information in this post has been significantly revised, updated, and expanded into a 14 part series, complete with hundreds of photographs. The series is still a work in progress, but quite a lot has been completed, so you might want to...

Alaska: Step 1

by Richard Quinn | May 15, 2015 | Travel

How much planning? I’m driving to Alaska!  It’s one of those bucket list things that I’ve always wanted to do, and since I recently retired, I finally have the time for it.  I’m anticipating a fair bit of traveling over the next few years, but...

Alaska: Step 2

by Richard Quinn | May 20, 2015 | Travel

Denali! Planning the route: This isn’t so much a drive to Alaska, as it is a drive to Denali, the crown jewel of the Alaska Range and the largest mountain in North America.  Formerly known as Mount McKinley, Denali is a unique natural wonder that heaves upward...

Alaska: Step 3

by Richard Quinn | May 23, 2015 | Travel

Getting Ready For the Drive: What to bring? Some of this is almost too obvious to mention, so I’ll speed through it without getting too specific. There will be temperature extremes, from warm and muggy to freezing and worse, so I’ll have to be prepared for...

Alaska: Looking Back on the Drive

by Richard Quinn | Sep 3, 2015 | Travel

Some Alaska Highway Highlights: (More coming soon)! Okay–so I’ve actually DONE it, and it was more amazing than I ever could have dreamed! I drove north from Arizona, following the west coast of the U.S. as far as Vancouver, then north and east through...

Antelope Canyon: Conjuring a Beam of Light

by Richard Quinn | Jun 13, 2015 | Photography, Travel, Tribal Lands

UPDATE: January, 2020:  This post describes what it was like to take a “Photography Tour” of Lower Antelope Canyon back in 2015. Unfortunately, in the years that have passed since then, quite a lot has changed. Today, both Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon...

Antelope Canyon: Part 1

by Richard Quinn | Jun 12, 2015 | Photography, Travel, Tribal Lands

UPDATE: January, 2020: The situation “on the ground,” at Lower Antelope Canyon has changed since this article was posted, back in June of 2015. At that time, the crowds at Lower Antelope Canyon were barely a trickle when compared to the billowing herds at...

Grand Canyon Rafting

by Richard Quinn | Oct 25, 2014 | Arizona and New Mexico, Grand Canyon, Travel

A major perk that comes along with living in Arizona is the fact that the Grand Canyon, one of the great natural wonders of the known universe, is, like, right there, practically in your back yard. All you have to do is take a little drive, three hours or so from...