Granary Burying Ground in Boston – photo by: Werner Kunz

I’ve always loved cemeteries. The darker, more overgrown, and more historic, the better. They are a quiet place to get away from everyone, except the occasional goth teenager. This photo of Boston’s Granary Burying Ground is a great example of cemeteries all over New England.

“Graveyards have a very unique atmosphere. I personally like that they are usually very calm and have something of eternity.” -photographer Werner Kunz

Wandering among the cracked, weathered headstones draws my mind outside of the internal dialogue as I try to read the names and dates. The fallen leaves seem to swallow all sound from the world beyond the wrought-iron gates. I feel alone, but not quite lonely…

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About this author:

Eric Warren has an unhealthy love of  all types of transportation, and is addicted to long stretches of open road.

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Camping in style! Photo courtesy of Joshua Couch

If you’ve ever seen a 4-person tent strapped to the back of a flat-bed truck, then you know there are some pretty entertaining ways people attempt to hit the road with their homes on their vehicles. Joshua Couch’s blog highlights those efforts, from practical to freakish to outright dangerous.

Here are just a few awesome examples of the images he’s compiled.

Westfalia beware! Photo courtesy of Joshua Couch

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Green RVing. Photo courtesy of Joshua Couch

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Eric Warren has an unhealthy love of  all types of transportation, and is addicted to long stretches of open road.

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Fall Time. photo by Christopher Schoenbohm

“I took some back roads in Vermont and managed to capture a few landscapes in between the downpours. Vermont’s countryside is gorgeous – full of farms, rolling hills, and quaint towns.” -Christopher Schoenbohm

Don’t just take his word for it, check out the rest of New England images HERE.

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About this author:

Eric Warren has an unhealthy love of  all types of transportation, and is addicted to long stretches of open road.

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EVER FEEL LIKE SEEING the country, but it seems too damn hard to get out the front door? Brian Defrees’ timelapses come to the rescue! Now, in under five minutes, you can travel 12,225-miles from the comfort of your recliner.

Screenshot from video by Brian DeFrees

Now, before you click the little “play” button on the video, I challenge you to resist reaching for the road atlas for the entire five minutes.

I have to admit, I didn’t make it thirty seconds without glancing at the map on my wall, matching up the landmarks, tracing the lines with the roads I recognized. Envisioning those miles of beautiful countryside rocketing by me.

Of course, Defree’s video probably gets your heart pumping, but if, like many of us, the onset of winter hibernation has changed your blood to the consistency of used motor oil, Brian follows Drivelapse with another time-lapse video of all of the amazing landscapes and city-scapes encountered during his fifty-four-day roadtrip.

So sit back, and admire Defree’s work. Then, pack a bag, grab your camera, and explore someplace you’ve never been.

“I just have more appreciation for this country than I had before. And I hope that my videos will make people go out and try to time-lapse, and travel the country, and just enjoy it.” -Defrees during a WSYR TV interview.

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Eric Warren has an unhealthy love of  all types of transportation, and is addicted to long stretches of open road.

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The Autumn Bells Photo by Matt Santomarco

SOMETHING TERRIFYING HAPPENED when I took a fall drive out of Grand Junction, CO. I left the desert and climbed my way into the mountains, passing Telluride huddled in its bowl surrounded by massive peaks. Turning south, I meandered through a valley of pine forest.

Then, the entire valley lit up into squint-inducing yellow. It was like being in the heart of a forest fire. Crisp golds reached up the mountainsides, like flames licking at the peaks. I disregarded the road, drifting back and forth like a bowling-ball striking the bumpers in the kiddie lane. Nearby drivers might have thought I was drunk, had they stopped see-sawing their own steering wheels long enough to notice.

The most dangerous part was that no one told me it was coming. No signs reading “Caution: Leaves Approaching.” No “tune radio to 1610AM for aspen alert when flashing.” With New England’s fall foliage hype drowning everything else out, I was seriously unprepared for Colorado’s fall color.

This image is your warning: if you’re traveling through Colorado, you WILL turn a corner into a scene like this. Do NOT jam on your brakes. In the calmest way possible, ease safely off the road (far enough off that other rubber-neckers can get past.) Get out, and wonder just how you’ve never heard of this before.

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Eric Warren has an unhealthy love of  all types of transportation, and is addicted to long stretches of open road.

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Highest posted speed limit in the nation.

IN NOVEMBER, Texas highway 130 will top the nation’s fastest road, with a posted speed limit of 85 mph. That puts the US second fastest country in the world (a few stretches of highway in Poland are faster by 1 mph).

It wasn’t long ago that 85 mph would peg the speedo of the average American automobile.

Will this be one of the sights along Texas Hwy 130? Photo by Richard Prince / SRT.

The buzz around Texas 130′s speed limit reminds me of the late 1990′s when Montana’s daytime speed limits changed to “reasonable and prudent.” During that four-year stretch, I saw my first Dodge Viper, along with a slew of Corvettes, Ferraris and Porches as drivers came to see what their cars could do when unleashed on long stretches of Montana blacktop.

It seems unlikely that one stretch of highway near Austin could match a whole state in drawing high-speed tourists. If it does, it could be a boon to both Cintra, the Spanish company raking in the tolls, and the state, which is slated to get $100 million premium from the Cintra-led consortium administering the highway (not to mention the local municipalities busting drivers edging into the 90+mph range.)

The biggest winners will be all those gas stations lining the freeway exits stocking up on high-octane gasoline and ”I hauled-ass in Texas” T-shirts.

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About this author:

Eric Warren has an unhealthy love of  all types of transportation, and is addicted to long stretches of open road.

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MOTOR TREND’S JESSI LANG AND FRANK MARKUS drive the new Tesla Model S sedan from LA to Las Vegas in one charge (and still have juice to cruise the strip.)

Lang and Markus have a fun adventure testing the limits of an electric car, including sweating their asses off unnecessarily babying the battery. What their sweat-stained seat-time shows is that electric vehicles have crossed a threshold into the realm of long-distance travel.

Tesla Model S. Photo courtesy of Tesla Motors

It’s not the first time that an electric car has eaten up 200 miles of pavement at a stretch. What is new, however is that the Model S isn’t some one-off MIT science project, it’s a mass-production, sub-$50,000, 5-seat sedan. Factor in an 8-year, unlimited mileage battery warranty on the Signature trim package, and you’ve got a killer roadtrip car.

Before you get out your atlas and black out everything beyond the Model S’s 250-mile range, it’s worth checking out Tesla’s recently unveiled solar-powered “supercharger” recharging stations. The stations are capable of giving the Model S a 150-mile charge while you eat a sandwich and use the restroom. An hour gives the S a full charge.

The new station has already been installed at six California rest stops with more throughout California, Nevada and Oregon slated to open by the end of the year. Tesla hopes to “blanket almost the whole US” within two years.

The kicker: the recharge is free.

Even if dropping $50,000 on a Tesla isn’t in your plans, the innovations they’ve pioneered are likely to open up a whole new way of going ‘cross-country’ in the near future.

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Eric Warren has an unhealthy love of  all types of transportation, and is addicted to long stretches of open road.

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Tioga Gas and Whoa Nellie Deli. Photo by Jim Heaphy

ONCE IN A WHILE, I hear about something so bizarre that it makes me question reality. Often, I find out it’s some kind of hoax, and I can go back to my normal existence. Once in a while, however, I look it up, and find what shocked me to my core is real.

The Dirtbag Diaries podcast hurtled a real life-changer in my direction with its episode “The Mobil.”

I’ll never think of rest stops the same way again.

“The American convenience store is one of the best things about road travel. Each store is a unique expression of local tastes, an effort to meet the needs and prey on the boredom and hunger of drivers and passengers.”

Brendan Leonard tells a story about a gas station that is so much more than just a place to buy gas, or stock up on bald eagle t-shirts. The Tioga Gas Mart and Whoa Nellie Deli just outside Yosemite National Park has become a destination in itself.

Sure, I have convenience stores that I frequent on oft-traveled stretches of highway, enjoying a specialty sausage hot-off-the-roller, or the rare, but awesome, hands-free milkshake machine. But, a destination?

Five words: live music and trapeze lessons.

If that’s not enough to start planning a trip, I don’t know what is. If you’re still not convinced, listen to Leonard tell the story HERE.

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Andrew McClary next to his EVGT-40. Photo by Andrew McClary via Earth Techling.

Andrew McClary built an EV that gives the Tesla Roadster a run for its money. The Florida inventor spent two years rebuilding a fiberglass Ford GT-40 replica with an electric motor and a battery pack producing 38 kWh. The drivetrain will push the car to 130 mph and has a range of around 120 miles–plenty of milage to cruise between electric stops on the West Coast Electric Highway.

What this car has in performance, it more than equals in style. This car is going to turn a lot of heads, including highway patrol officers. With what he’s saving in fuel, he can probably afford a few tickets.

Get a closer look at the car through this short video.

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Great Fountain Geyser at sunset. Photo courtesy of wikipedia.

MY LOVE OF YELLOWSTONE’S lesser-known geysers started with little Echinus Geyser in Norris Geyser Basin, with its moderate, predictable eruptions, and whirlpool drain after the gushing had stopped.

Having lived within a few hours of Yellowstone National Park for much of my life, I have memorized the boardwalks around the geyser basins, know the difference between a mud pot and a fumarole, and can tell when Old Faithful is going to erupt (hint: not from my innate knowledge of its cycle, but the density of tourists gathered.)

When Echinus erupted, at least in the first several years after I “discovered” it, I had the show all to myself and whomever happened to be walking by. I felt as if I’d stumbled onto something special. Something open to everyone, but also something secret.

Over the years, the crowds grew larger, and seating was built onto extended boardwalk. Then, in 1998, the eruptions became erratic and unpredictable. I haven’t seen an eruption in several years, but that doesn’t stop me from sitting on the empty benches, and waiting a little longer to see if I’ll get lucky.

Here are five other geysers that keep Yellowstone’s thermal features interesting, no matter how many times I visit.

US National Park Service, Yellowstone
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Yellowstone Geysers
Guide to Yellowstone’s geysers
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Yellowstone trip planning
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Geyser Observation and Study Association
Scientific information about Yellowstone’s geysers
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Wyoming Dept of Tourism
Extend your trip beyond just Yellowstone Park
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Yellowstone webcams
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1. Lone Star Geyser

If you’re new to Yellowstone’s backcountry, then the short hike to Lone Star Geyser will be a great introduction. The trail follows old auto road that’s been closed since 1972, wandering along the Firehole River, and through meadows where wildflowers dot the tall grasses with color.

The trail is about 2.5 miles each way, getting you far from the thunder of Harleys and the buzz of tourists, but the grade makes this a leisurely stroll more than a hike. Lone Star’s eruptions are about three hours apart, so expect to spend a little time relaxing in the area, enjoying the solitude. Even minor eruptions gush water up to 45 feet, so don’t be fooled. Major eruptions are followed by a roaring steam phase.

Access the Lone Star Geyser trailhead just past the Kepler Cascades parking lot on the Grand Loop Road

2. Riverside Geyser

Two things make this geyser different than most. First, its beautiful location. Balanced on the edge of the Firehole River, Riverside Geyser launches water in a 60-degree arc over the river. If the eruption occurs during late afternoon, the low sun makes rainbows out of the mist. Even without the ideal sun conditions, Riverside is one of the most attractive geysers in the park.

The other thing that makes this geyser different is its predictability. This is one of the most predictable geysers in the park, rarely exhibiting the constant flux that most thermal features go through. This is because, even though it lies near other geysers in the Old Faithful area, it’s far enough away that it has its own source of heat and water. This distance from the rest of the hot springs also means that it’s just far enough from the pitter-pat of tourist feet that you may even get an eruption all to yourself. Maybe.

Eruptions are every 6-7 hours and last about 20 minutes with a height of about eighty feet. Look for it across the Firehole River along the paved trail from Old Faithful just before you get to Morning Glory Pool.

3. Great Fountain Geyser

One of Yellowstone’s biggest predictable geysers, Great Fountain Geyser’s eruptions last for an hour, and can shoot water between 75-150 feet (with occasional bursts of 200 feet). The geyser lies along the Firehole Lake Drive, a meandering one-way road that passes several of the Lower Geyser Basin’s thermal features. Compared to the other geysers of the area, which erupt from cones, Great Fountain erupts from a crater within an intricately terraced hot spring. This may be an indicator that the geyser is fairly new.

While its eruptions can usually be predicted to within an hour or so, the other geysers of Firehole Lake drive, like White Dome Geyser, which erupts with greater frequency, will help pass the time.

4. Imperial Geyser

What Imperial Geyser lacks in power, it more than makes up for in beauty. This backcountry geyser churns and spurts at the edge of a brilliant blue and orange pool. The otherworldly colors are a result of mats of algae and bacteria known as thermophiles for their ability to thrive in the scalding water.

The three-mile hike gives Imperial a feeling of seclusion, as well as showing the resilience of a forest recovering from the fires of 1988. Dense groves of new trees, and rampant wildflowers illustrate how essential fire is to this landscape. Along the hike you will encounter Fairy Falls, a feathery 200-foot cascade, and tiny Spray Geyser.

Imperial Geyser erupts infrequently, but when it does, the geyser can reach 35 feet or more. Find the trailhead at the metal bridge near Biscuit Basin.

5. Morning Geyser

Considered one of the most attractive geysers in Yellowstone, the irregular Morning Geyser can have massive 200-foot tall eruptions dwarfing the other features in the Fountain Paint Pots basin. Unlike geysers such as Old Faithful and Lone Star which release a jet of water, Morning geyser erupts in a series of ground-shaking bursts that illustrate just how powerful geo-thermal forces are.

Of course, seeing this geyser erupt will be based more on luck than research, but that shouldn’t deter you from stopping by for a look. It’s the hike through the woods, or watching a breeze ruffle wildflowers while you wait that makes these geysers special. And when you see one of them go off, you will have your own secret spot that ninety-percent of Park visitors will never see.

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About this author:

Eric Warren has an unhealthy love of  all types of transportation, and is addicted to long stretches of open road.

-

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