Explore the journey — one trail, museum, meal, and memory at a time.
Burned Forests and Idaho City
I expected the drive from Stanley to Boise to be mostly a travel day. Instead, Highway 21 kept giving me reasons to stop. Burned forests covered entire mountainsides, young trees were growing among blackened trunks, and a roadside marker introduced me to Emma Edwards Green. Then I reached Idaho City looking for lunch and ended up spending three hours walking through old streets, reading about gold miners, Chinese merchants, Frank Church, the county courthouse and something I had never heard of before, a pest house. By evening I was finally in Boise, eating pizza, reading about Yellowstone geology and wondering how a simple drive had turned into another full day of discovery.
Craters of the Moon
A drive across eastern Idaho turned into a day filled with unexpected stops. I passed the Three Buttes, stopped at Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1, read roadside signs about Idaho’s nuclear history, found Submarine 666 and Arco Number Hill, and then spent the afternoon exploring the strange volcanic landscape of Craters of the Moon National Monument.
Bannack Montana Ghost Town
I spent the morning walking through Bannack, Montana, reading the stories behind its old saloons, schoolhouse, assay office, Hotel Meade and abandoned homes. What looks at first like a quiet ghost town quickly becomes a much darker story of gold, road agents, vigilantes, Henry Plummer and a settlement that briefly served as Montana’s territorial capital.
Montana Capitol, Charcoal Kilns and Bannack
I returned to the Montana Capitol early for another round of photographs before heading south toward the Canyon Creek Charcoal Kilns. The rough washboard road led past the ruins of Glendale and finally to the old beehive-shaped kilns once used to produce charcoal for the mining district. From there, I continued to Bannack State Park and arrived in time for an evening walk through the ghost town before settling in for the night.
Serendipitous Sunday in Helena
What began as a quiet Sunday morning in Helena turned into one of the most unexpected days of my Montana travels. I toured the State Capitol, ran into a friend I had known decades earlier in Switzerland, watched the Septemberfest soapbox derby, wandered through Reeder’s Alley, photographed downtown Helena and ended the evening back near the Montana Heritage Center.
Four Museums in Fort Benton
A full museum day in Fort Benton took me through the Missouri Breaks, Upper Missouri history, the reconstructed Old Fort and the Museum of the Northern Great Plains. I also stopped at the town’s war memorials, including tributes to Vietnam War service dogs and U.S. Navy ships, before ending the day along the Missouri River.
Edmonton: Old Strathcona and Whyte Avenue
I spent a Saturday exploring Edmonton's Old Strathcona Farmers' Market and Whyte Avenue, photographing street art, historic buildings and the people I met along the way. There was Falun Dafa, a pedal-powered pub, Georgian dumplings and plenty of unexpected conversations before I finished the day photographing the Edmonton skyline and Walterdale Bridge from Queen Elizabeth Park.
Ninilchik, AK
Rain forced me to slow down in Ninilchik, Alaska, where I spent hours photographing the historic Holy Transfiguration Church and its remarkable overgrown cemetery. Between rain showers I explored the area's Russian history, searched for Old Ninilchik Village, and reflected on how nature quietly reclaims even our oldest stories.
Homer - Grewingk Glacier Hike
Up before sunrise in a Homer church parking lot, then coffee at Coal Town before a water taxi across Kachemak Bay. The hike to Grewingk Glacier brought a black bear with cubs, porcupine scratches, and dozens of rock cairns, ending at a lake ringed by mega tsunami warning signs, an old herring saltery, and wildflowers worthy of Van Gogh. The drive out of home was also beautiful above the town and an eagle stopped to gather grass fo a nest.
Dutch Harbor WWII History Museum
Getting from Dutch Harbor back to Anchorage should have been easy. Instead, the day turned into a series of delays, missed opportunities, and unexpected conversations. Along the way I finally visited the Aleutian World War II Visitor Center, where the story of the Japanese bombing and the Lost Villages gave me a much deeper appreciation for the people who call these remote islands home.
Dutch Harbor, Amaknak Island, Unalaska
After arriving in Dutch Harbor, I walked from Amaknak Island across the Iliuliuk Bridge into the City of Unalaska. Along the way I photographed bald eagles, explored World War II history, visited one of North America's oldest Russian Orthodox churches, and spent time with a local family harvesting salmon.