Southwest | Travels With Two

My Eclectic Guide to L.A. for Boingo Wireless

Howdy, dear readers! How’ve you been lately?

For much of April, I’ve been endlessly recovering from walking pneumonia, planning an impending/exciting/fun/eventually romantic/hopefully-not-too-exhausting month-long trip to Europe (more on that next week) and writing two Los Angeles-area guides for USA Today.com‘s travel section, which I’ll happily share just as soon as they’re ready.

What I haven’t been doing? Writing anything new here on Travels With Two.

A lovely coincidence, then, that my guest post for Boingo Wireless has just been published!

Boingo, my favorite international Wi-Fi-hotspot provider, has asked me to share my top five off-the-beaten-path pursuits when visiting Los Angeles (or even just LAX, our semi-delightful airport). I hope you enjoy these recommendations for exploring my home city, and become inspired to seek out your own adventures here.

Here’s the link, and I wish you a great weekend — wherever you are!

Melanie Waldman’s Eclectic Guide to LA 2012: Roller Derby, Dumplings and Pop Art

Filed Under: California, Los Angeles, Malibu, Southern California, Southwest, The Americas, USA

Driving the American West: Western Colorado

By Melanie 4 Comments

A wintry slice of the Rocky Mountains, between Carbondale and Basalt, Colorado

Continued from
Driving the American West: Moab to Arches

By the time I cruised up from southeastern Utah into Western Colorado, I was worried I might have had my fill of beauty and could see no more. But it turns out that my eyes were well prepared for another onslaught.

In the late afternoon light, I followed the icy blue Colorado River into lilac light, its banks rimmed with dark red grasses and winter-orange trees. Yellow trains chugged through towering passes and signs warned of road-roaming elk. Snow-draped mountains gave shelter to fir trees, cabins and twinkling lights, a stateside Switzerland in a Christmas snow globe.

I said aloud: “I can’t believe my friend gets to LIVE here!”

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Filed Under: Aspen, Carbondale, Colorado, Glenwood Springs, The Americas, USA

Driving the American West: Moab to Arches

By Melanie 7 Comments

Wilson Arch outside Moab, Utah

Continued from
Driving the American West: Monument Valley to Canyonlands

From the Needles section of Canyonlands, I stumbled across Hole ‘N the Rock, a ragtag collection of kitsch that forms the ultimate roadside attraction. It’s places like this that make you realize that a road trip is utterly unlike other kinds of travel…and that’s a wonderful thing.

I then eased on into a two-night stay in Moab, Utah, a few friendly blocks’ worth of a river walk, pueblo architecture, and darn fine brewpub or three. At my favorite, the Moab Brewery, I was seated beside two long tables of teens in shiny formal wear, celebrating before their high school’s Sadie Hawkins Dance.

And I treated myself to a glorious half a day at Arches National Park, a relatively small swath of dazzling erosion.

*Sigh.*

I miss Utah.

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Filed Under: Arches National Park, Moab, Southwest, The Americas, USA, Utah

Driving the American West: Monument Valley to Canyonlands

By Melanie 3 Comments

Utah's Monument Valley

Continued from
Driving the American West: Mojave Desert to the Grand Canyon

Days three to five of my Great Big American West Road Trip? Simply awesome.

I cruised from the Arizona high desert into Utah’s Monument Valley, a rocky, orange landscape that looked a heck of a lot like the Pixar movie Cars. Probably because it was the inspiration for the Pixar movie Cars.

I spent the night in a quiet, riverside motel on a lonely stretch of highway in Mexican Hat, a town named for a huge rock shaped like a sombrero.

After a couple of gravelly switchbacks beside towering sandstone mesas, I headed into the Needles section of Canyonlands National Park to find snow, ponds, rabbits, mountain bluebirds and enormous rocks shaped like everything from arrowheads to tiramisu.

Then I wandered my way through Canyonland’s Island in the Sky, a winding expanse of craters that rival the Grand Canyon, rimmed by the snow-capped La Sal Mountains.

I feel like my eyes have been popping out of my head for a week now…