The Mercury News

Wish You Were Here

-

MOUNT RUSHMORE: San Jose residents Eileen and Ron Wolk visited Grand Teton and Yellowston­e national parks, finishing the trip with a visit to Mount Rushmore. “No matter how many times you visit Mount Rushmore, you appreciate the size and scope of the great project and the men it honored,” Eileen says.

TRAVEL TIPS: “September was a good time to visit. The afternoons were warm, crowds small, and the mornings were cool and refreshing.”

NEW MEXICO: From left, Mellownie Salvador, Thuy Nguyen, Bonnie Ouchida and Ampy Castro, all from San Jose, and Cora Pamintuan from El Dorado Hills. “We were in Albuquerqu­e, New Mexico, to attend the Internatio­nal Hot Air Balloon Fiesta and took a quick hike at the Petroglyph National Monument,” Thuy says. “The monument protects one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America (17 miles). There are several sites that you can visit to see designs and symbols carved onto volcanic rocks by Native Americans and Spanish settlers about 400-700 years ago. These images are believed to be used for communicat­ion or as religious symbols.”

TRAVEL TIPS: “Be sure to visit the visitor center first to watch an informativ­e film about the history of the site and to receive maps to the different areas of petroglyph­s. Trails are easy to walk/hike, but wear sun-protective clothing and bring water as the trails have no trees.”

Our intrepid readers have shared their travel adventures so enthusiast­ically, we are awash in “Wish You Were Here” submission­s. Please bear with us while we work through the backlog. We’ll let you know when submission­s reopen.

 ?? COURTESY OF THE WOLK FAMILY ??
COURTESY OF THE WOLK FAMILY
 ?? COURTESY OF THUY NGUYEN ??
COURTESY OF THUY NGUYEN

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States