The Times and Travels of Nolan
Documenting trips I've taken and places I've seen.
You know what was the coolest part of working in Alaska in August of 2024? The correct answer is “everything”. But it was especially awesome to go to Denali one weekend for work, and then get the chance to go right back to the national park the next weekend with my family. We spent a …
Continue reading “Denali National Park: Bus Tour With Family”
I saved this post from our March trip for last for two reasons. First of all, this is the only national park on the trip that Elizabeth and I visited for the first time. Anytime you visit a new national park, you deserve a longform blog post. The second reason is that – as you …
Continue reading “Desert Vacation 2026: White Sands National Park”
Elizabeth and I first visited Guadalupe Mountains National Park on July 14, 2018. We were just kids then – dumb 20-year-olds who stayed close to 2 hours away so we could save a few bucks and didn’t show up to the trailhead until we were guaranteed to fight the worst heat of the day and …
Continue reading “Desert Vacation 2026: Magical Views and Major Terrors in McKittrick Canyon”
Until very recently in my life, the West Coast was a complete unknown. Somewhere out beyond the Rocky Mountains, a foggy land of $4 per gallon gas, surfer bros, and hippies remained outside of my sphere of consciousness. I never saw the Pacific Ocean until 2021 when I was a full 23-year-old adult. Since then, …
The first national park I ever visited was Mammoth Cave. It was part of a Spring Break way back in the day – like, I must have been 6 years old or something. As Elizabeth and I prepared to visit Mammoth Cave for her first time 20+ years later, I wondered: would any long-buried memories …
Continue reading “My 28th Birthday Trip: Mammoth Cave’s Sinkholes”
It’s amazing to think about, but Elizabeth and I graduated from college 5 years ago. Those years were a great time for many reasons. One of the biggest? The wonderful friends the two of us made. After graduation, we all gradually went our own separate ways (well, maybe not all – there are several of …
Before I jump into it: this post covers my trip to my twenty-first American national park. That’s insane to me. When Elizabeth and I first conceived of our trip to Guadalupe and Carlsbad 6 summers ago, I’d been to 9 of them with my family. Even as recently as the middle of 2020, my count …
Continue reading “Colorado 2024: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park”
A conundrum, expressed in chart form: There are 63 American national parks. Elizabeth and I want to visit each of them. After a slow ramp up, we really got going in the post-graduation pandemic times when the outdoors was the only escape. And then in August 2021, we made a huge mistake: we got engaged. …
Continue reading “Arizona 2024: Petrified Forest National Park”
Dawn light filtered into the cabin Elizabeth, Stephen and I shared. After a surprisingly decent sleep given how much I’d shivered, this morning felt like one to jump out of bed and greet the day with enthusiasm. I checked my phone and realized it was only 6:00 am. Now, you have two choices when it’s …
Continue reading “Pinnacles National Park: High Peaks Trail”
If I asked 100 people to name a national park in California, I imagine a few responses would dominate. There would be a huge group of “Yosemites”, quite a few people mentioning “Death Valley”, and maybe a smattering of others would mention Sequoia, the Redwoods, or Joshua Tree. I’m pretty confident none of those 100 …
Continue reading “Pinnacles National Park: Flying to the Bay Area”
