Tom Ryan, Author

Tom Ryan, Author

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Tom Ryan, Author
Tom Ryan, Author
The Best Day of Our Vagabondage

The Best Day of Our Vagabondage

Two hikes with the Joshua Trees

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Tom Ryan
Mar 08, 2022
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Tom Ryan, Author
Tom Ryan, Author
The Best Day of Our Vagabondage
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Emily with a healthy Joshua tree at dawn in Red Rock Canyon.

After the most fulfilling day of our Vagabondage yet, we’re staying in the quirkiest hotel. We split the previous nine nights between Tucson (three) and the Las Vegas strip (six) at equally clean, sterile, and professional Home2 Suites by Hilton, where the windows are sealed shut. We find ourselves in a tacky but darling hotel.

During a pandemic, it’s a comfort to stay in places that take cleanliness seriously. But I’ve missed the unpredictability of independent hotels. There’s a charm to many of the old-fashioned mom-and-pop kinds of businesses.

Other than way too much air freshener pumped into the combination lobby, casino, restaurant, and bar, this place just twenty minutes outside of Death Valley National Park is a treasure. We have a first-floor balcony next to the manmade lake, and our doors are flung open.

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