A photo gallery of my travels driving across the country from Illinois to Phoenix. Editor...

Finding Freedom in Historic Concord, the place of the Revolutionary War and birthplace of America. I love to travel because I love to discover myself, who I am, what I want, and declare my freedom to pursue my dreams in each place that I experience. There is no better place to seek out finding freedom in historic Concord, but perhaps not for the reasons that you think.

The Clay Mine Trail is a 1.6-mile trail that is also shared with horses and riders in the Cave Creek Recreational Area.   You would think after seeing one cactus or desert bloom you have seen it all, but seriously each trail is so unique and beautiful, and continues to take my breath away! Lovely way to start our adventures for the Cave Mine Tour.

Along one of the turns, we saw a crashed van pulling a boat on the side of the road where yellow caution tape was up. We all had our theories about what possibly could have happened. Did the van get too close to the edge? Did foul play happen because it looked like gunshots in the windows? We’ll never know. We pulled over by the lake for a picnic lunch and enjoyed the serene views. When we got to the dam, we stopped and marveled at the history of all that this land holds and tried to imagine riding this trail via stagecoach. It was an adventure even by car.

Convincing my teenage daughter to hike Pinnacle Peak Mountain turned out to be more than family travel, it was a mother-daughter moment that brought us together.

Any reason to travel and I am all on board. I have my life list, which shows my must-see locations and must-do activities, but actually, I am happy to travel anywhere to explore. I even believe strongly in exploring locally. No matter where you are, make sure to see something new. It is easy to capture something extraordinary, but the key to true joy is finding something extraordinary in all the things that seem ordinary.