Charming Adventures

Southern CA: By Hook Or By Crook

You may know the old saying, “by hook or by crook,” which means “by any means necessary.” That was our week-long trip to Southern California! We visited the Presidential Library of a certain ex-Prez who loudly proclaimed the now infamous phrase “I am not a crook”; toured the not-to-be-believed Rubel Castle, which was truly built...

We’re HOT for Hot Springs! Ten of Our Favorites

If you know anything about the Millers, it’s that we are obsessed with hot springs! A hot spring is “the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater up to the surface,” but the real definition of hot springs is: “FUN!” Hot springs range from odorless to super-sulphuric, from deserted to crowded, and from undeveloped to luxurious, with...

24 Things To Love! BEST OF This Summer’s Travels

We’ve rounded up our faves from three months of summer travels, just for you and your travel bucket list! Click any highlighted title for the full original blog post, and additional photos, for each of these special places! BEST NATIONAL PARK WINNER! THEODORE ROOSEVELT NATIONAL PARK, Medora, North Dakota: The New York Times’ pick for the “#5 Place to See...

Flagstaff, AZ: Chocolate + Walnut + Cake

The three months of Summer ’22 have flown by. 3,459 miles have ended in Flagstaff, Arizona, just a few hours north of our sticks-n-bricks home. We’re here for three things that all sound mighty delicious: chocolate (falls), walnut (canyon), and (birthday) cake. CHOCOLATE FALLS Visiting Chocolate Falls has been a dream of ours since we started traveling...

San Juans, CO: Mountains, Mushrooms, and Memories

Leaving Montrose and Black Canyon of the Gunnison, we high-tailed it south for the last few stops of our three-month trip. The first leg took us down the Million Dollar Highway, named for the views … but which could also be the price tag of repairs, if you lose concentration on this narrow, hairpin-turn, slow-goin’, steep-grade, views-a-plenty, nerve...

Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP: All the “Est’s”

WHO HAS BEEN DREAMING of visiting Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park?! Wait, you’ve never heard of it? Admittedly, it is not on many people’s radar, and therefore, we had fairly low expectations.  We were shocked, therefore, at its “wow factor” … surprising scale and unusual beauty, best described in superlatives: Deepest! Steepest! Narrowest...

Crested Butte, CO: Simply Breathtaking

We’re still flyin’ high, at 9,000 feet, here in the alpine paradise of Crested Butte. Surrounded with majestic mountain peaks in every direction, it’s breathtaking (literally) … case in point, “Crested Butte Oxygen Rentals” is a real business, and real busy.  The quintessential charming Colorado town, Crested Butte...

Leadville, CO: Just Call Me Silver Dollar

We’re in Leadville, the richest silver mining boom town in Colorado, with no worldly explanation of why it’s not therefore called Silverville, but I digress. Even in the rough-and-tumble days of 1880, it was one of the most sophisticated and modern cities in the world. Remember “Unsinkable Molly Brown” of Titanic fame? She’s from here, as was...