Places LauraAndFauna Wants to Go

Sunset-colored dunes of volcanic ash make taking a poor photo impossible.

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

Thousands of years ago, Indigenous people painted images onto these canyon walls that are still on display today, provocative, mysterious, and enduring reminders of the people who lived here long ago.

A roaring, awe-inspiring double cascade of icy water flows through woodland Oregon like something out of a Tolkien novel.

This rare, carefully curated collection showcases the history of neon inside a grandiose Elks lodge.

This Big Sur waterfall drops 80 feet directly into the Pacific Ocean, and inspired the hillside house up top.

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

America's only nuclear missile silo open to the public.

This collection of neon icons is preserving Arizona's history, one sign at a time.

First Joe Pagac sculpture; sculpture reflects native Tucson wildlife in an urban setting.

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

The installation’s official name, “You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies,” says it all.

The flower-shaped temple in Virginia aims to transcend the boundaries of the world’s religions.

The remnants of a wooden-hulled fleet built and abandoned in WWI, now home to a thriving ecosystem.

The legend of a local monster still haunts this small town.

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

With print dying, this local paper keeps the lights on by doubling as a stunning cafe and cocktail bar.

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

A Bhutanese temple gifted from the isolated Himalayan kingdom is now a surprising cultural gem located at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Search for traces of the dinosaurs that roamed here more than 90 million years ago.

Steep canyon walls hide a forested oasis in the West Texas desert.

Wee (and not so wee) footprints that insects and reptiles of the Paleozoic Era left behind.

This is one really big nut.

More than 21,000 images fill this overlooked gem of a prehistoric site.