Occasional Jots and Tittles

Kicking off the part of tens: Ten spots in the United States famed for scenery or natural wonders that I want to visit. They’re not in order of importance, really.

1. Big Bend. Something about the combination of mountains, deserts, forests, a river, and being about as far from any major town in Texas as you can get. It’s also a great birding spot and one where I’m sure I could pick up a dozen birds for my life list. This one’s on the short list for next year.
2. Yosemite. Waterfalls. Big trees. BIG BIG trees. And of course, more birds.
3. Carlsbad Caverns. Some of the biggest caves in North America. I can’t imagine what a cave covering 8 acres feels like.
4. Chiricahua Mountains. The confluence of four major ecosystems results in a variety of wildlife unlike anywhere else in the country. Nearly 200 species of birds in this one range alone–including 13 species of hummingbirds. Definitely on the short list for this decade.
5. Joshua Tree. Aside from the dramatic scenery and the wildlife, this park also features a lot of cultural history, being once home to several prehistoric groups of Native Americans.
6. Crater Lake. A lake formed inside the caldera of an extinct volcano. I’ve heard the water is clearer blue than a sapphire.
7. Yellowstone. When it blows, we’re all goners anyway, so might as well see it before it does.
8. Saguaro National Park. Really big cactuses. Deserts. More birds.
9. Redwood National Park. TALL trees. Always wondered what that “Land of the Lost” feeling would be like.
10. Lake Superior. I’ve seen some of the other Great Lakes, but something about “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” still evokes a chill in me. Although I’m sure much of the year it’s a bright, cheerful place.

Looking these over, I notice a preponderance of deserts and mountains. Maybe I’m tired of all the rain here in the flatlands? In any event, it’s time to start planning road trips.

Anyone who reads the “Dummies” series of computer books, like I do, should be familiar with the Part of Tens, in the back, where the authors will print various lists of “Ten X’s for Y” (“Ten tips for CSS positioning,” “Ten Sites for More Info about ASP.net”, etc.).

In an effort to force me to blog more, I’m going to start my own Part of Tens. Lists of ten (and sometimes more, or less) things that are relevant, or not, to me or my life.