800 Feet /  by Dave Hileman

At the upper end of the canyon at Zion National Park, just a few yards down the trail to the Narrows, is a view you do not get most of the year while visiting Zion. The heavy snow pack had waterfalls up and down the valley but none of them were has high nor as powerful as this one. The rangers said it was at least 800 feet, that is an 80 story building, and was rapidly filling the Virgin River that runs through the canyon. We were so fortunate this spring to encounter the majesty of Zion with a unique opportunity to see several tall and mighty falls.

We Interrupt this Blog for a Special News Update /  by Dave Hileman

Dateline - Raleigh, August 2023: It is now being reported by reliable sources that Kellen - grandson to the Two Lane Touring editors, has asked the lovely Lauren to marry him. The answer was yes and the ring of engagement slipped on her finger. The citizens of the greater Raleigh area are celebrating now even though the impending vows are almost two years away. The families of both of the newly minted fiancees are reported to be very pleased, indeed brimming with excitement. Someone’s grandparents are thrilled. The planning has already begun for what will be the most watched event of 2025. Stay tuned to this channel for updates, the latest news, and the most farfetched rumors.

Busy /  by Dave Hileman

There is a small park near our house, Wooten Meadow Park. It is in a depression between two housing developments and along Hare Snipe Creek. It has a walking trail in the form of a paved figure 8 of only one quarter mile. The first half loop is wetlands and wild flowers with three tiny ponds and wild grasses, the second is a flat grass area where kids and dogs like to play. I don’t often walk here because of the size but I should because the flowers are beautiful and there are three kinds of water lillies as well. The flower here is well past peak but the bees were still busy getting every last bit of nutrient they could. This is a fun photo to super enlarge. At least it is to me, you may in fact be normal:)

US Route 60 /  by Dave Hileman

We read often of Route 66 but other US highways crossed the US going from Sea to Sea while the fabled Route 66 was from Chicago to Santa Monica. US 60 once stretched about 3000 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to San Diego but in 1972 the California portion was deactivated as a US designated highway. US 60 is a road I drove often living in Williamsburg as it went through town and a good alternate route to I-64 if you were traveling to Richmond. I have driven it from the starting point in Virginia Beach to the end in Virginia at the West Virginia line and beyond. So, I was excited to find in a very rural and out of the way portion of New Mexico that I was once again traveling on US 60, this time from Abu to Mountainair along one of the busiest transcontinental railroads. We spent a bit of time in Mountainair waiting for the NPS Visitor Center to open and toured some of the town. This block of of three motel units was all that was left of a 1920’s - 1930’s motel, from a time when Mountainair was a busier place with the coast to coast traffic. So if you want to explore a long, scenic and endlessly interesting highway try US 60 or US 2 or US 30 and leave the over-hyped Route 66.

Content Advisory /  by Dave Hileman

This photo shows the most common wildlife encountered in the Beartown State Park. They come in various iterations from the annoying Selfious Photogium to the silly Snapious Photogium (the subspecies Snapious Photon Photogium is nearly extinct forced out by the ubiquious Snapivarious Phonious Photogium) and finally the most intrusive of all the Tripodium Photogium captured here in a singular, nearly rational moment. Most often this species is frantically dashing to and fro peering into small black accouterments and bemoaning the “light.”

This particular specimen is rare for this area as it is usually confined to coastal America and drawn to old boats and iron horses. We also see here the typical costume of this species, hat, usually red, hiking boots (even for the back yard) satchel and “any kind of weather” clothing from the last century. We also observe him in the usual blocking posture while focused on some minutiae unseen by normals. Please note there are various scientific opinions as to whether the black box is fixed to the host or if it can be removed. Most hold to the idea it is removable but that has never been verified in the wild.

So if you choose to visit Beartown State Park in West Virginia and I recommend that you do, bring lots of Photogium spray.  A simple device that you aim toward the attached equipment and with just a few drops of water the Photogium will flee back to some shelter and you can enjoy your hike.

PS, output of this particular Tripodium Photogium can be viewed at www.thewanderinglensman.com

Viewer discretion advised.

Green Dragon /  by Dave Hileman

This is a fiddlehead from a fern located in the Beartown State Park in West Virginia. Beartown is worth the trip to experience a remote, boulder strewn landscape cloaked in ferns, pines, mountain laurel, mist and mystery. There is a boardwalk that twists and turns over the landscape. Tomorrow’s photo will show the native wildlife.

Abo /  by Dave Hileman

These are the remains of a late 1500’s Spanish Mission Church at the Abo section of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. You can imagine how impressive it was rising six stories high over the pueblos on the high desert south of Albuquerque. There were three different pueblo mission churches served by this single NPS designation and they are about 20 miles apart. I really was deeply moved by this place, not sure why but I was.

New Visitor Center Entrance Plaza at Mesa Verde National Park /  by Dave Hileman

The old VC is still in partial use - a log structure built by the CCC miles into the park where most of the cliff dwellings are located. It takes an hour to drive to this portion of the park at the southern end. In contrast the new VC is just a few hundred feet into the park at the northern edge. You can get needed permits and passes here. .

This is a striking piece of an Indian with a basket of stones as would be needed in the construction of the dwellings.

Pond & Dock /  by Dave Hileman

We camped two nights at a winery in Northeastern New Mexico along the San Juan River. We were there to visit a couple of National Park Service sites. A pond behind the small store on the property was reflecting the bare trees in the early spring.

I tired some new editing things on this photo, the right side was very dark the left overexposed. Not really happy with it but…. out of time today, so here you go.

In the Rain /  by Dave Hileman

My only photograph of my walk around - no I did not stay here, rooms start at 900 a night, of the White Sulphur Springs Hotel near the WV/VA border just off I-64. It is a resort of the first order with golf, skeet, swimming, horseback riding, ATV adventures, a theater with live broadway shows, shops, fine dinning at a whole lot more. I did enjoy a coffee while walking the lower lobby.

Flowers Among the Cactus /  by Dave Hileman

We are climbing a hill to visit the Tonto National Monument, a cliff dwelling in central Arizona. The flowers were spectacular that morning and the views as well over the valley. This cliff dwelling was built about 800 years ago and showcased the way the Indians adapted to the harsh conditions of the Sonoran Desert.

A Decade /  by Dave Hileman

There was a gala celebration last month when Two Lane Touring turned ten. Well currently it is TLT the blog had other names early on. I started the posts to create a forcing function to improve my photos. I figured that if I posted them then I would really want to get better photos. Not sure how well that theory worked but the photos are better, just don’t go too far back in the archives, please. The new name took root in conjunction with the purchase of the Oliver Travel Trailer and the semi-serious goal of visiting and photographing all 400 plus units of the National Park Service. That is actually going pretty well as we are now at 357 with fewer than 75 more to visit. Though they add to that number each year or so. And some are really far away - Guam anyone?

You will note in the photograph that Cadillac Moose, excuse me, Chef C. Moose, went all out with the culinary delights he served at the black tie gala.

We sadly found out later that the news releases and the hundreds of invitations were never mailed so the turnout was rather low, but hope soars for the next decade’s celebration.

This is a very small blog, we only attract the most discerning and amazing people who have excellent taste in all things. TLT has on average about 120 different people each week and are up 11% for the year. The numbers peaked in April and May on our Spring travel and they usually do fluctuate with the trips. We plan to go this fall about mid-September. Meanwhile there are thousands of photos across the miles and the years. And more to come. Thanks for viewing!

Unique Camera /  by Dave Hileman

My grandson, Kellen, is a rising junior in a university’s Industrial Design program. (And doing very well!) One of his last assignments ending his sophomore year was to model a camera - the kind of camera was given randomly by the professor, a full size model using only a small sheet of foam board. His camera was the Hasselblad. When he was home briefly before going to Prague for a summer design study program he came over to share with us his projects from the spring semester and surprised me with this model camera. It appears perfect in its detail and dimensions and I am pleased to display it on a shelf in our living room.

There is an old Mastercard ad campaign that lists a couple of costs and then something you can’t buy with the tag line “priceless” I’m not sure what a foam board costs or modern glue but having a super grandson, Priceless.

The name of the camera was hand carved on a thin sheet of foam and glued on.

Pick Up Day /  by Dave Hileman

In the Spring of 2016 we took delivery of our Oliver Elite 18 foot travel trailer. The photo shown is ours waiting for our instruction on how things work. We arrived at the facility in Hohenwald, TN, with our new-to-us Ford Explorer Sport Trac. Since that day we have towed the Oliver to 49 states, many several times, three provinces and one territory in Canada for a total of a bit over 122,000 miles. We have camped in National, State and County Parks, commercial campgrounds, Walmarts, Cracker Barrels, friend’s driveways and a lot of interesting places with both Harvest Host and Boondockers Welcome. Plus a few sketchy spots not on the preferred camping agenda. We now use a Toyota Sequoia and it is much better suited to towing the Oliver. We have been in cold weather, wet weather, hot weather, windy weather and perfect weather and the Oliver has proved itself equal to the elements to keep us comfortable. Not sure where we go next but looking at Connecticut, MA, New York, including Long Island, and Pennsylvania for the fall, Florida next winter and summer in the Northwest. We shall see.

Our first view of the Oliver ready to go.

A Most Unusual Rest Stop /  by Dave Hileman

Highway 170 on the Texas -Mexican border from Lajitas to Presidio is a road well worth taking. It dips and bends skirting the border and the Rio Grande the whole way. At one point the grade up and down a pass is a 15% incline. Pulling a trailer is a challenge but the scenery was wow and the fort at the Presidio a must see. Then there was a rest area with three covered picnic stations in the form of giant teepees. Well done, West Texas.