Making Collections in Advance of Making Decisions
During 2018, 2019 and 2020, I spent a bit of time looking into possibilities for looking into North American excursions until they necessarily had to stop because of the pandemic. Until I decided to use the task of fleshing them out as a test for GenAI, the only output was a set of collections of websites. More recently, they became articles that you now find here in what once was a destination direction. Things may progress further with these yet.
Until July 2023, my only encounter with the U.S.A. was on a business trip more years ago than I care to admit. That saw me spend time around Pennsylvania and Delaware, but those are not states that would attract me for a return visit. For the first leisure trip to the U.S.A., I ventured to the San Francisco Bay Area instead. That granted me a lot of hiking opportunities that could be taken around San Francisco, into Marin Country and across to the East Bay Area. All sated me, yet even this has not scratched the surface when there is so much else to explore and experience.
California has more wild scenery than what I got to savour; the writings of John Muir would confirm that. Other parts of Oregon, Washington State, Montana and Wyoming have equal appeal. A combined trip to Seattle and Portland might have come to pass if there were no other distractions. In the end, that might have been biting more than could be chewed. However, America's eastern seaboard is off limits either, with Acadia National Park along with mountain areas in New York like the Catskills or the Adirondacks.
Other information gathering continues, and a webinar brought Scottsdale on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona to my notice as a possibility for a mid-winter sunshine break. The websites of magazines like Backpacker and Outside receive continued visits because collecting ideas on an ongoing basis often ensures that their staying power endures more than a single massive research session.
