Places beaugunderson Wants to Go

A World War II officers' club features Old West murals painted by German POWs.

This old abandoned sign flickers to announce a motel that isn't even there.

Minimalist modern art on a repurposed military base in rural Texas.

Mysterious glowing orbs float through the desert night.

A Prada store in the West Texas desert that is never open for business.

A lush Seattle garden designed by the same landscape architects responsible for New York's Central Park.

An old vending machine serves up unpredictable beverages from its seemingly magical insides.

This contemporary art museum is filled with other, smaller museums, which feature work from artists primarily in the Pacific Northwest.

An enclosed rotunda at the Henry Art Gallery in which viewers can look up and see the uninterrupted sky.

A mistaken marker makes an erroneous claim along the historic Old Divide Road.

Once called the Jersey Lilly, this former saloon was the domain of infamous Judge Roy Bean.

Beauty and history abound in this remote West Texas canyon.

An abandoned mine where dreams of quicksilver trickled away over 75 years ago.

An abandoned quicksilver mining town surrounded by the Big Bend parks.

Ghost town with a beer-drinking goat for mayor.

This collection of vintage signs reflects the long and colorful history of this Arizona town.

One of the largest open-pit copper mining operations in the entire country.

A towering bronze statue memorializes the founding father of postwar American conservatism.

The first permanent memorial to a unique secret weapon of World War II.

Some of the tallest ancient American ruins continue to inspire awe and curiosity.

Rumor had it that these concrete crosses scattered across the Arizona scrubland helped align spy satellites. (They didn’t.)

A strenuous, unofficial trail leads to spectacular views in one of America's most remote national monuments.

The historic “pink house on the hill” is an architectural gem that now serves as a center for water conservation.

The biggest solar telescope in the world helps reveal the secrets of our sun.