OK, its been a while but I found the receipts for the gas purchases the other day and I just wanted to post that info in case someone is thinking about doing a trip like this. Now prices have fallen a bit, so I imagine a similar trip would be less expensive but this gives you a good idea of what we spent.
Date Gallons $/Gal. Total
5/31 - 31 gal - $4.06 - $125
6/2 - 28 gal - $4.06 - $107
6/5 - 33 gal - $3.80 - $125
6/6 - 32 gal - $3.88 - $125
6/12 - 23 gal - $4.30 - $100
6/14 - 50 gal - $4.04 - $200
6/15 - 32 gal - $3.98 - $125
6/16 - 66 gal - $3.83 - $251
6/19 - 35 gal - $4.90 - $170
6/24 - 34 gal - $4.40 - $150
6/24 - 30 gal - $4.10 - $125
6/25 - 48 gal - $3.62 - $173 (topping off for RV return)
Total spent on gas: $1,776. That is a little more than I had budgeted for. We favored filling up more frequently instead of topping it off. I would say we filled the tank between half and three-quarters full. Otherwise you are just carrying more weight and remember, gas weighs about 6 lbs. a gallon. That extra 20 gallons is like adding another person on board.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
RV Home Yet?
Whew! What a trip. Definitely worth it. We all had a great time and would do it again in a heartbeat.
We got the RV back in time, emptied and clean. Had a bit of an issue with some damage on the bumper. Please note that the insurance deductible will be high with an RV rental. Like $1,000. We were on the hook for far less than that but still it stings getting hit with another bill at the end of your trip.
Another tip: book the Vegas hotel rooms earlier than the day before. The Electric Daisy Carnival rave was suddenly cancelled in LA and moved to Vegas on the exact same days we were pulling in to end our trip. this meant that most hotel rooms were booked (attendee estimates were around 150,000) and those that were left were jacked way up. Another big sting at the end of the trip.
We stayed at the Mandalay Bay and spent most of our time at the pools. The kids really enjoyed the lazy river. It is probably one of the best places to take the young kids in Vegas. It is kept clean, the lifeguards do a good job of keeping the other guests in line, and it has everything you would need for a family.
Those couple of days went by stress-free and we got on our plane without incident. As we flew back home the stress of work and home responsibilities started trickling back. Now the trip is a memory but one that we won't soon forget.
I do have a couple of observations now that I have been back for a couple of days:
1. My commute feels wayyy shorter than when I left.
2. Every car should have captain's chairs for the driver's seat. Seriously. When you drive your car you probably rest your left arm on the window sill with your hand on the wheel. The armrest on your right is low and you probably can't reach the wheel while resting that arm. But with a captain's chair both armrests keep both your hands on the wheel. Do you know how much longer you can drive when you don't need to hold up your arms on the wheel? A lot further.
3. It is easy to fall asleep at the wheel in a captain's chair.
4. My truck feels like a Miata. I'm zipping all around the beltway, parking in ONE parking space, and it only costs $60 to fill it up! I'm free!
Thanks for following along on our trip. I think Teresa will be adding her own thoughts here very soon. I am working on computing the total gas costs. I will have that info posted in the next day or two. We had a great time but are happy to be back with our family and friends.
Next trip: RV to Alaska!
We got the RV back in time, emptied and clean. Had a bit of an issue with some damage on the bumper. Please note that the insurance deductible will be high with an RV rental. Like $1,000. We were on the hook for far less than that but still it stings getting hit with another bill at the end of your trip.
Another tip: book the Vegas hotel rooms earlier than the day before. The Electric Daisy Carnival rave was suddenly cancelled in LA and moved to Vegas on the exact same days we were pulling in to end our trip. this meant that most hotel rooms were booked (attendee estimates were around 150,000) and those that were left were jacked way up. Another big sting at the end of the trip.
We stayed at the Mandalay Bay and spent most of our time at the pools. The kids really enjoyed the lazy river. It is probably one of the best places to take the young kids in Vegas. It is kept clean, the lifeguards do a good job of keeping the other guests in line, and it has everything you would need for a family.
Those couple of days went by stress-free and we got on our plane without incident. As we flew back home the stress of work and home responsibilities started trickling back. Now the trip is a memory but one that we won't soon forget.
I do have a couple of observations now that I have been back for a couple of days:
1. My commute feels wayyy shorter than when I left.
2. Every car should have captain's chairs for the driver's seat. Seriously. When you drive your car you probably rest your left arm on the window sill with your hand on the wheel. The armrest on your right is low and you probably can't reach the wheel while resting that arm. But with a captain's chair both armrests keep both your hands on the wheel. Do you know how much longer you can drive when you don't need to hold up your arms on the wheel? A lot further.
3. It is easy to fall asleep at the wheel in a captain's chair.
4. My truck feels like a Miata. I'm zipping all around the beltway, parking in ONE parking space, and it only costs $60 to fill it up! I'm free!
Thanks for following along on our trip. I think Teresa will be adding her own thoughts here very soon. I am working on computing the total gas costs. I will have that info posted in the next day or two. We had a great time but are happy to be back with our family and friends.
Next trip: RV to Alaska!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Get Us Out of Here!
We are officially done.
We left early today because we had kind of a long journey ahead of us. Also, I wanted to get some laundry done. Also, I wanted to ship some things back so we didn't need to carry 400 things with us all around Vegas, and through the airport, and through baggage, etc. It sounded like such a good plan.
I got up at 8 a.m., prepped the RV, put Bryce in bed with Teresa, left Sam sleeping on the couch, and started the RV. As I drove to the dump station to empty our tanks I heard a sickening gurgle from behind me. It was loud and worrisome. I quickly stopped — I was only ten feet from our site — and walked back to see what that sound could have been. I was now also interested in that curious aroma that seemed to be getting stronger the further back I went. Familiar with this scent I first checked the bathroom envisioning walls coated with fluids and semi-solids collected over the past few days.
Nothing.
But that smell...I turned around and the shower basin was half-full of a brownish water, not unlike what you might find in the creek behind your home, if your home was built on a sewage treatment plant.
It took a few beats before what I was seeing clicked in my brain. We had so filled up the waste tanks that as I moved the RV the motion pushed the water up through the shower drain. A foggy memory of this fact being explained to me during the "Intro to RV'ing" talk I received on Day One came back to me. Fortunately this was the gray water, only sink and shower water, not the water-that-shall-not-be-named water. Unfortunately due to the premium on space in an RV, we had kept our dirty laundry sack in the shower basin. This meant a sack full of dirty laundry that was now dirtier. And wetter.
OK, not a problem. We had planned on doing the laundry as we left this camp so we could ship some of it back home. We'll dump the waste tanks, head to the laundry 100 yards away, do some laundry while the kids tour the visitor's center, and be on our way.
I returned to the drivers seat and slowly drove to the dump station. I dumped the tanks without incident. The earlier commotion woke up Teresa so she cleaned up the mess in the shower and we drove to the laundry. Oh wait, the entire complex lost power and will not reopen until 3:30 p.m! And we have bags of wet smelly laundry just waiting for the day's heat to ripen them into a big ole stink bomb. How lovely.
Where is the next nearest laundry? There is one on the way out of the park but it takes us about 15 miles out of our way. We decide to go there because I don't want this stench to go any further.
Bad decision #1. GO TO OTHER LAUNDRY.
After driving through a set of harrowing switchbacks on our way to this other campsite with a laundry, we enter a road not meant for a vehicle of this size. I continue down because I can't turn around. We scare some drivers coming up the road and arrive at our destination, Lake Hume Christian Camp. Hmm, no mention of that little tidbit on our park map. No problem, we can handle a few hundred teenage Christians performing syncopated clapping and walking around with acoustic guitars at 9 in the morning. We will just do a few loads of blessed laundry and be on our way.
No we won't. Apparently young Christians don't wear many clothes at camp because the washers hold one bathing suit and a t-shirt. Back in the RV to head up this tiny, twisty road to where we left the main road on our way to Barstow. That was an hour wasted.
Our trip today takes us through many towns. There will be a laundromat in one of those. We drive to Visalia, a town just at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, NOT an onion. There is a laundromat and UPS store here. Great! After an hour of baking in the parking lot while the washers eat our money the nasty clothes are clean again. Hooray! Off to the UPS store.
Bad decision #2. DON'T CALL AHEAD TO THE UPS STORE.
We drive to the UPS store. I climb out and find that the store is closed. Locked up. It is 3:30 on a Friday. The sign says they close at 5:30. And this isn't "Moving my car so I don't get a ticket" closed. This is locked up, lights out, gates drawn, closed.
Okaaaay. Let's drive to Bakersfield, a larger city, which also has a UPS store that we have called, and is open. We enter Bakersfield and find the UPS store easily. We pack our things and walk them into have them shipped.
Bad decision #3. EXPECT TO SHIP THINGS FROM COAST TO COAST FOR RELATIVELY LITTLE MONEY.
I own a business. I ship things. I am not a total idiot. TOTAL idiot, I said. I expect to incur some charges for shipping the items and clothes we will not be using in Vegas for the next two days. I do not expect that delivery from CA to VA will cost $220.00. GROUND delivery. Just for ONE SUITCASE! Holy crap! We decide toting a bag or two through the airport will be fine if it saves us about $500. We do ship a few things that we really can't fit into our luggage, so that is a relief.
We hit a local ice cream store that is supposed to be fabulous and the kids really enjoy getting out for a little while.
Bad decision #4. SKIP AHEAD ON THE DIRECTIONS.
We head out on Route 99 South looking for I-15. This is a fool's errand. You see Rte. 99 and I-15 don't intersect. Never have, never will. As we drive out of Bakersfield towards LA (we are now only 90 miles from the City of Angels) we realize we have missed an exit. We have missed all of Route 89 that eventually leads to I-15 in Barstow. Another hour lost. Did I mention that gas out here in lovely CA is running about $4.29 a gallon for mid-grade? And that we are beyond our prepaid mileage by about 100 miles?
Bad decision #5. MISREAD DAILY MILEAGE FOR DAY"S JOURNEY.
And did I also mention that I thought I only had to drive ONE hundred and eighty miles today, when in fact, I need to drive TWO hundred and eighty miles, and I have just gone about 100 hundred miles out of my way today, and its 6 p.m., and I am still 150 miles from my destination? No? I didn't mention any of that? Never mind then, it really isn't important.
What also isn't important is my boorish behavior after all these bad decisions. Let's just say the miles driving through the desert at night were peaceful and quiet.Very quiet.
So here I am at 4 a.m. We have found our KOA site right alongside of I-15. We have cleaned the RV. We have packed all our belongings. We have thrown out all our food. We have done this because we need to get to Las Vegas and return the RV by 10 a.m. I am thinking we will leave here around 6 in the morning. I really don't want to sleep because I know I will wake up more tired than I am now. I wish now we hadn't shipped all the DVDs earlier today.
Bad decision #6....
We left early today because we had kind of a long journey ahead of us. Also, I wanted to get some laundry done. Also, I wanted to ship some things back so we didn't need to carry 400 things with us all around Vegas, and through the airport, and through baggage, etc. It sounded like such a good plan.
I got up at 8 a.m., prepped the RV, put Bryce in bed with Teresa, left Sam sleeping on the couch, and started the RV. As I drove to the dump station to empty our tanks I heard a sickening gurgle from behind me. It was loud and worrisome. I quickly stopped — I was only ten feet from our site — and walked back to see what that sound could have been. I was now also interested in that curious aroma that seemed to be getting stronger the further back I went. Familiar with this scent I first checked the bathroom envisioning walls coated with fluids and semi-solids collected over the past few days.
Nothing.
But that smell...I turned around and the shower basin was half-full of a brownish water, not unlike what you might find in the creek behind your home, if your home was built on a sewage treatment plant.
It took a few beats before what I was seeing clicked in my brain. We had so filled up the waste tanks that as I moved the RV the motion pushed the water up through the shower drain. A foggy memory of this fact being explained to me during the "Intro to RV'ing" talk I received on Day One came back to me. Fortunately this was the gray water, only sink and shower water, not the water-that-shall-not-be-named water. Unfortunately due to the premium on space in an RV, we had kept our dirty laundry sack in the shower basin. This meant a sack full of dirty laundry that was now dirtier. And wetter.
OK, not a problem. We had planned on doing the laundry as we left this camp so we could ship some of it back home. We'll dump the waste tanks, head to the laundry 100 yards away, do some laundry while the kids tour the visitor's center, and be on our way.
I returned to the drivers seat and slowly drove to the dump station. I dumped the tanks without incident. The earlier commotion woke up Teresa so she cleaned up the mess in the shower and we drove to the laundry. Oh wait, the entire complex lost power and will not reopen until 3:30 p.m! And we have bags of wet smelly laundry just waiting for the day's heat to ripen them into a big ole stink bomb. How lovely.
Where is the next nearest laundry? There is one on the way out of the park but it takes us about 15 miles out of our way. We decide to go there because I don't want this stench to go any further.
Bad decision #1. GO TO OTHER LAUNDRY.
After driving through a set of harrowing switchbacks on our way to this other campsite with a laundry, we enter a road not meant for a vehicle of this size. I continue down because I can't turn around. We scare some drivers coming up the road and arrive at our destination, Lake Hume Christian Camp. Hmm, no mention of that little tidbit on our park map. No problem, we can handle a few hundred teenage Christians performing syncopated clapping and walking around with acoustic guitars at 9 in the morning. We will just do a few loads of blessed laundry and be on our way.
No we won't. Apparently young Christians don't wear many clothes at camp because the washers hold one bathing suit and a t-shirt. Back in the RV to head up this tiny, twisty road to where we left the main road on our way to Barstow. That was an hour wasted.
Our trip today takes us through many towns. There will be a laundromat in one of those. We drive to Visalia, a town just at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, NOT an onion. There is a laundromat and UPS store here. Great! After an hour of baking in the parking lot while the washers eat our money the nasty clothes are clean again. Hooray! Off to the UPS store.
Bad decision #2. DON'T CALL AHEAD TO THE UPS STORE.
We drive to the UPS store. I climb out and find that the store is closed. Locked up. It is 3:30 on a Friday. The sign says they close at 5:30. And this isn't "Moving my car so I don't get a ticket" closed. This is locked up, lights out, gates drawn, closed.
Okaaaay. Let's drive to Bakersfield, a larger city, which also has a UPS store that we have called, and is open. We enter Bakersfield and find the UPS store easily. We pack our things and walk them into have them shipped.
Bad decision #3. EXPECT TO SHIP THINGS FROM COAST TO COAST FOR RELATIVELY LITTLE MONEY.
I own a business. I ship things. I am not a total idiot. TOTAL idiot, I said. I expect to incur some charges for shipping the items and clothes we will not be using in Vegas for the next two days. I do not expect that delivery from CA to VA will cost $220.00. GROUND delivery. Just for ONE SUITCASE! Holy crap! We decide toting a bag or two through the airport will be fine if it saves us about $500. We do ship a few things that we really can't fit into our luggage, so that is a relief.
We hit a local ice cream store that is supposed to be fabulous and the kids really enjoy getting out for a little while.
Bad decision #4. SKIP AHEAD ON THE DIRECTIONS.
We head out on Route 99 South looking for I-15. This is a fool's errand. You see Rte. 99 and I-15 don't intersect. Never have, never will. As we drive out of Bakersfield towards LA (we are now only 90 miles from the City of Angels) we realize we have missed an exit. We have missed all of Route 89 that eventually leads to I-15 in Barstow. Another hour lost. Did I mention that gas out here in lovely CA is running about $4.29 a gallon for mid-grade? And that we are beyond our prepaid mileage by about 100 miles?
Bad decision #5. MISREAD DAILY MILEAGE FOR DAY"S JOURNEY.
And did I also mention that I thought I only had to drive ONE hundred and eighty miles today, when in fact, I need to drive TWO hundred and eighty miles, and I have just gone about 100 hundred miles out of my way today, and its 6 p.m., and I am still 150 miles from my destination? No? I didn't mention any of that? Never mind then, it really isn't important.
What also isn't important is my boorish behavior after all these bad decisions. Let's just say the miles driving through the desert at night were peaceful and quiet.Very quiet.
So here I am at 4 a.m. We have found our KOA site right alongside of I-15. We have cleaned the RV. We have packed all our belongings. We have thrown out all our food. We have done this because we need to get to Las Vegas and return the RV by 10 a.m. I am thinking we will leave here around 6 in the morning. I really don't want to sleep because I know I will wake up more tired than I am now. I wish now we hadn't shipped all the DVDs earlier today.
Bad decision #6....
Big Trees
When we were planning this trip two things I wanted to do was visit Yosemite and Sequoia. Yosemite has always fascinated me and I also wanted to see some big trees. Well I did. They do grow them big around here and as we rode in the shuttle bus to the General Sherman tree we were awed by all the other large sequoias we saw. It is hard to get an idea of how large these trees are when you are underneath them and harder still to relay that immensity through a photo.
We planned to be at the General Sherman tree at 3:30 for a Ranger-led talk but in the meantime we took a short and easy trail through another grove of trees around a little meadow. As we came to the halfway point we saw another bear! Two days, two bears! We are starting to catch up.
This one was in the meadow inside the paved trail that loops it. We watched it graze its way through the meadow towards the trail. It crossed about 20 yards in front of us and kept on grazing up the hill. Now, I must mention, that these bears are not that big. They were about three feet tall from shoulder to floor and weighed only around 150 pounds. Kind of like a big fat dog. These were young bears and very unimpressed with people. We never really felt in danger and were, in fact, more worried about disturbing them than with our safety.
After a light lunch watching a bear we finished the hike and went to see the General Sherman, the largest living thing on earth. As we started down the trail to the tree, another bear appeared! This is getting good! This black bear had quite a crowd and walked along a ridge parallel to the trail. We all got a good look at him and he posed a few times on a log or stump as he foraged his way along.
We finally made it to the Gen. Sherman with a few minutes to spare before the talk. As the ranger spoke to us about the history of the tree someone pointed out another bear up on the ridge. This had the effect of reducing the previously attentive audience down to older tourists and ourselves who where actually tiring of these damned things. I was surprised to watch our kids quickly glance at the bear, that only days ago they would have died to see, and return to the ranger talk. ABOUT A TREE!
We grabbed the shuttle back home and prepared our last true dinner in a National Park. We ate it outside on a massive boulder Samantha chose and had a campfire with s'mores. It was a fitting end to a lifetime of experiences.
Tomorrow we head out to Barstow then Vegas.
We planned to be at the General Sherman tree at 3:30 for a Ranger-led talk but in the meantime we took a short and easy trail through another grove of trees around a little meadow. As we came to the halfway point we saw another bear! Two days, two bears! We are starting to catch up.
This one was in the meadow inside the paved trail that loops it. We watched it graze its way through the meadow towards the trail. It crossed about 20 yards in front of us and kept on grazing up the hill. Now, I must mention, that these bears are not that big. They were about three feet tall from shoulder to floor and weighed only around 150 pounds. Kind of like a big fat dog. These were young bears and very unimpressed with people. We never really felt in danger and were, in fact, more worried about disturbing them than with our safety.
After a light lunch watching a bear we finished the hike and went to see the General Sherman, the largest living thing on earth. As we started down the trail to the tree, another bear appeared! This is getting good! This black bear had quite a crowd and walked along a ridge parallel to the trail. We all got a good look at him and he posed a few times on a log or stump as he foraged his way along.
We finally made it to the Gen. Sherman with a few minutes to spare before the talk. As the ranger spoke to us about the history of the tree someone pointed out another bear up on the ridge. This had the effect of reducing the previously attentive audience down to older tourists and ourselves who where actually tiring of these damned things. I was surprised to watch our kids quickly glance at the bear, that only days ago they would have died to see, and return to the ranger talk. ABOUT A TREE!
We grabbed the shuttle back home and prepared our last true dinner in a National Park. We ate it outside on a massive boulder Samantha chose and had a campfire with s'mores. It was a fitting end to a lifetime of experiences.
Tomorrow we head out to Barstow then Vegas.
Into the Forest
We are stalling. We need to head out to Sequoia National Park but we do not want to leave Yosemite. Leaving Yosemite means that the trip is nearly over and we will be returning home soon. Passing through the park gate is acknowledging that we need to return to the world we have escaped from for over 20 days. It is something we do reluctantly and we are all a little quieter today.
We know we are lucky to have had this time to share with each other. It is not something many people can do. But that is what makes it difficult to end it. It is so special, it is such a blessing, who would want that to end? But it will end and sooner than we have prepared ourselves.
We headed out to Sequoia today. To get there we must travel down out of Yosemite, across the San Joaquin Valley and back up into the Sierra. As we drove down to the valley I kept an eye on the temperature. It started in the 70s. Then climbed to the 80s. As we got back down towards sea level we were in the upper 90s. When we went through Coarsegold, CA it hit 113 degrees. California has been in a drought for the past three years but this year's record snowfalls mean an end to that disaster. Not an immediate end, though. As we drive through mile after mile of historically fertile farmland it looks like we are in the heart of Texas. As far as we can see brown, dry grass. Small patches of green in the crease of two hills occasionally interrupt the monotony. It is sad. And the temp in the RV starts to rise as well. We have the AC cranked but we are all sweating it out.
We soon approach the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and climb into King's Canyon then further into Sequoia. Here is a fun item we have learned: the Google maps we were provided along with our directions in the itinerary tell us the mileage we have to travel but that is only park to park. In other words, if you wanted to drive from DC to Miami it would be like me telling you the distance from DC to the Florida state line. The amount of time and mileage we need to drive once we reach the park gates can be considerable. In this instance we need to go a further 30 miles into the park to reach our site. Not bad except it is all narrow switchbacks up and down the Sierras in a huge, not entirely sprightly, vehicle. This adds another hour and a half to the drive.
What also adds a bit of time is...wait for it... a bear! A small one, but it still counts. It crosses in front of us and is only a few feet from our window as the kids watch for about three minutes. They are excited to see one, finally, and we cross it off the list of things we wish we could see on this trip. Only mountain lions and pikas are left.
By the time we arrive at our site it is 7:30 in the evening. Still light out but not for too much longer. The kids head down to the river which is deadlier than normal but they have found a safe stream that runs parallel to it. We made dinner reservations on the road knowing we would be pulling in late and head out for our first fine dining in many days. Dinner is good but the views are better. We head back to the site as it gets dark and hope to see more bear tomorrow.
We know we are lucky to have had this time to share with each other. It is not something many people can do. But that is what makes it difficult to end it. It is so special, it is such a blessing, who would want that to end? But it will end and sooner than we have prepared ourselves.
We headed out to Sequoia today. To get there we must travel down out of Yosemite, across the San Joaquin Valley and back up into the Sierra. As we drove down to the valley I kept an eye on the temperature. It started in the 70s. Then climbed to the 80s. As we got back down towards sea level we were in the upper 90s. When we went through Coarsegold, CA it hit 113 degrees. California has been in a drought for the past three years but this year's record snowfalls mean an end to that disaster. Not an immediate end, though. As we drive through mile after mile of historically fertile farmland it looks like we are in the heart of Texas. As far as we can see brown, dry grass. Small patches of green in the crease of two hills occasionally interrupt the monotony. It is sad. And the temp in the RV starts to rise as well. We have the AC cranked but we are all sweating it out.
We soon approach the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and climb into King's Canyon then further into Sequoia. Here is a fun item we have learned: the Google maps we were provided along with our directions in the itinerary tell us the mileage we have to travel but that is only park to park. In other words, if you wanted to drive from DC to Miami it would be like me telling you the distance from DC to the Florida state line. The amount of time and mileage we need to drive once we reach the park gates can be considerable. In this instance we need to go a further 30 miles into the park to reach our site. Not bad except it is all narrow switchbacks up and down the Sierras in a huge, not entirely sprightly, vehicle. This adds another hour and a half to the drive.
What also adds a bit of time is...wait for it... a bear! A small one, but it still counts. It crosses in front of us and is only a few feet from our window as the kids watch for about three minutes. They are excited to see one, finally, and we cross it off the list of things we wish we could see on this trip. Only mountain lions and pikas are left.
By the time we arrive at our site it is 7:30 in the evening. Still light out but not for too much longer. The kids head down to the river which is deadlier than normal but they have found a safe stream that runs parallel to it. We made dinner reservations on the road knowing we would be pulling in late and head out for our first fine dining in many days. Dinner is good but the views are better. We head back to the site as it gets dark and hope to see more bear tomorrow.
Its Better by Bike
Today is another great day, weather-wise. Blue skies, warm temps. In fact, we all agree to rent bikes to make it easier to get around to the far trails. We rent some from the Curry Village equipment tent. Curry Village is the spot where all the eateries and other services like pool and showers are located. It is only a half mile from our campsite and a nice walk through the woods to get there.
We get our bikes, Sam gets a banana-seat bike, kinda like this one, that she isn't too sure about at first but ends up loving. She wants that kind of bike at home she informs us.
We head out to Yosemite Falls and through that village center as well. There is an Ansel Adams gallery there. Inside are images from contemporary photogs as well as Ansel Adams' work. The first image I am drawn to is a shot of Aspen trees that is an original print for only $45,000. In fact, it is the most expensive print in the store. Leave it to me to spot the most expensive meal on the menu.
Moving carefully away from that item I see others prints that are taken from Ansel's negatives that are for sale. There are around 20 select editions for sale. I pick up two for those intrepid souls who have been holding down the fort at my office back home.
We bike on over to Yosemite Falls and it is raging. The mist is as thick as the tourists. One thing that is not around every corner is a BEAR! Still no bear sightings. I am resolved that we will not see one on this trip. Its not the end of the world, but the kids keep on asking and I don't have an answer for why everyone on the face of the earth has seen one except us.
We stop at a gift store and grab a few souvenirs for friends and family. We need to do this now because we are coming to the end of our trip. It is a reality we are reluctant to acknowledge. It seems like the past few weeks have flown by at times. We are now counting down the days remaining instead of the days we have been on vacation.
We are really enjoying Yosemite and list it near the top of the places we have visited. I am not a big fan of categorizing things but try to enjoy each for its own. However, seeing these places one after the other in rapid succession makes comparison inevitable.
The amount of activities and sights in Yosemite make it a place you could explore for years. This beats Yellowstone and all the others for the shear number of amusements. Winter through Summer, you will never run out of new things to try. We are sold on Yosemite.
We get our bikes, Sam gets a banana-seat bike, kinda like this one, that she isn't too sure about at first but ends up loving. She wants that kind of bike at home she informs us.
We head out to Yosemite Falls and through that village center as well. There is an Ansel Adams gallery there. Inside are images from contemporary photogs as well as Ansel Adams' work. The first image I am drawn to is a shot of Aspen trees that is an original print for only $45,000. In fact, it is the most expensive print in the store. Leave it to me to spot the most expensive meal on the menu.
Moving carefully away from that item I see others prints that are taken from Ansel's negatives that are for sale. There are around 20 select editions for sale. I pick up two for those intrepid souls who have been holding down the fort at my office back home.
We bike on over to Yosemite Falls and it is raging. The mist is as thick as the tourists. One thing that is not around every corner is a BEAR! Still no bear sightings. I am resolved that we will not see one on this trip. Its not the end of the world, but the kids keep on asking and I don't have an answer for why everyone on the face of the earth has seen one except us.
We stop at a gift store and grab a few souvenirs for friends and family. We need to do this now because we are coming to the end of our trip. It is a reality we are reluctant to acknowledge. It seems like the past few weeks have flown by at times. We are now counting down the days remaining instead of the days we have been on vacation.
We are really enjoying Yosemite and list it near the top of the places we have visited. I am not a big fan of categorizing things but try to enjoy each for its own. However, seeing these places one after the other in rapid succession makes comparison inevitable.
The amount of activities and sights in Yosemite make it a place you could explore for years. This beats Yellowstone and all the others for the shear number of amusements. Winter through Summer, you will never run out of new things to try. We are sold on Yosemite.
Misty Water-Colored Memories
We awoke early to meet our tour guide for our hike this morning. We have no idea what to expect. I was thinking of a hike through a lovely wide meadow.
Ummm...hello idiot, you are in a valley. An extremely narrow valley with incredibly high cliffs all around you. Where exactly did the NPS hide this enormous meadow?
Our guide, Zach, helps me get over this idea and suggests a hike along the Mist Trail which takes us up to Vernal Falls. The trail is only 1.5 miles long. Zach is knowledgeable and patiently answers all of our questions. As the trail begins we cross the swollen Merced River and head up an incline. One that never stops. We get views of other falls on the way. The going is steep but the kids are up to the challenge. We reach the bridge near the base of the falls in about an hour and a half. Zach asks if we want to continue but he warns us that the going will be damp. "We will get soaked," he says.
That is fine, we brought the kids' rain jackets and the temps are climbing. We start around the corner in the trail where we put on our rain gear and are hit in the face with cold mist that is everywhere across the gorge and trail. And look! Stairs!
Cut into the rock are stairs that twist and turn all the way up. In fact, this hike has a total elevation of 1,000 feet in 1.5 miles. The last half is all stairs. Slippery stairs. There are rainbows in the mist and it seems like they follow you all the way up the trail. Zach has never seen the river and falls this full.
We head up and make it to the top in another half hour. Zach is impressed. "Most families I take only make it to the bridge in three hours." He actually breaks out his map to see where we can go now. We decide that after taking this time to eat lunch and dry out that we will head back the way we came. But before we do we check out a nice little spot above the falls where the water runs over the rock and you can walk right up to the edge of the river, running at about 50 miles an hour today.
Just as we are about to leave I hear Samantha cry out. She has fallen on the rock in a small pool and landed on her wrist. Yes, that wrist. The one she has broken three times and the one that was in a cast until the very last day before we left. It is sore and doesn't feel good so Zach breaks out his first aid kit and puts her arm in a temporary splint. Now we need to descend the wet stairs with Sam in a splint on her right arm.
We make it down without incident and the trail is getting crowded. Sam is feeling better and after Zach removes the splint we head back to camp. It is getting warmer and we decide to go swimming. What a treat to swim and get views of two water falls. We head back for dinner, exhausted but happy.
Ummm...hello idiot, you are in a valley. An extremely narrow valley with incredibly high cliffs all around you. Where exactly did the NPS hide this enormous meadow?
Our guide, Zach, helps me get over this idea and suggests a hike along the Mist Trail which takes us up to Vernal Falls. The trail is only 1.5 miles long. Zach is knowledgeable and patiently answers all of our questions. As the trail begins we cross the swollen Merced River and head up an incline. One that never stops. We get views of other falls on the way. The going is steep but the kids are up to the challenge. We reach the bridge near the base of the falls in about an hour and a half. Zach asks if we want to continue but he warns us that the going will be damp. "We will get soaked," he says.
That is fine, we brought the kids' rain jackets and the temps are climbing. We start around the corner in the trail where we put on our rain gear and are hit in the face with cold mist that is everywhere across the gorge and trail. And look! Stairs!
Cut into the rock are stairs that twist and turn all the way up. In fact, this hike has a total elevation of 1,000 feet in 1.5 miles. The last half is all stairs. Slippery stairs. There are rainbows in the mist and it seems like they follow you all the way up the trail. Zach has never seen the river and falls this full.
We head up and make it to the top in another half hour. Zach is impressed. "Most families I take only make it to the bridge in three hours." He actually breaks out his map to see where we can go now. We decide that after taking this time to eat lunch and dry out that we will head back the way we came. But before we do we check out a nice little spot above the falls where the water runs over the rock and you can walk right up to the edge of the river, running at about 50 miles an hour today.
Just as we are about to leave I hear Samantha cry out. She has fallen on the rock in a small pool and landed on her wrist. Yes, that wrist. The one she has broken three times and the one that was in a cast until the very last day before we left. It is sore and doesn't feel good so Zach breaks out his first aid kit and puts her arm in a temporary splint. Now we need to descend the wet stairs with Sam in a splint on her right arm.
We make it down without incident and the trail is getting crowded. Sam is feeling better and after Zach removes the splint we head back to camp. It is getting warmer and we decide to go swimming. What a treat to swim and get views of two water falls. We head back for dinner, exhausted but happy.
Bodie Bumps
So we left Tahoe with great expectations for Yosemite. In our itinerary there is a note about visiting Bodie, the West's biggest ghost town. With Bryce just getting a gun and both the kids enjoying John Wayne westerns, we decide to go visit.
Now underneath this bullet point in the itinerary is this disclaimer, "there is a short section of gravel road off of Hwy 395. Plan about three hours to drive there and tour the site." OK, no problem. We can handle some gravel. Well, the three hours they mention takes into account about 45 minutes of touring the town. The other time is taken up by driving about five miles of washboard gravel road. Not bad in a Jeep. Bad in an RV. You know, with dishes and glassware, etc.
I found if I drove at about five to ten miles an hour the vibrations were reduced enough to keep the RV from falling apart even though it sounded like we were going to disintegrate at any second. Not quite sure why those ghosts can't get a paved road. I mean if I am roaming earth for eternity I've got some time on my hands to lobby for some asphalt, hell, how about just a steamroller? "Fouuur miles of paaaved roaaad or I will make your waaalls bleeed." That should do it.
After our interpretation of a stagecoach ride we arrived at Bodie. It was actually a pretty cool experience. Only about five percent of the town still exists from its heyday of 10,000 residents, but the kids really enjoyed going into different buildings and walking down the dusty streets. Bodie was the first town to have remote electricity, meaning that the source of the power came from a hydroelectric plant 13 miles away. They ran power lines in a straight line because it was not known whether electricity could turn corners.
First of all, couldn't they just test that rather easily and quickly? Secondly, the power lines went up and down all these cliffs and hills. What is going up and down a hill other than a corner turned on its axis? I mean if electricity can run up and down, couldn't it handle a gradual curve?
Moving on...we left Bodie, another 45 minutes down, and drove to recently opened Tioga Pass. Just driving into Yosemite is an adventure. It takes FOREVER! This park is huge. Lots of switchbacks through high alpine areas with snow. Hints of Yellowstone but recent experience has taught us that we are staying in the valley so it should be warmer.
There are waterfalls everywhere. Around every corner we see another spectacular view. El Cap, Half Dome, Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite Falls. It is all coming too fast to process. By the time we arrive at our campsite between half Dome and Yosemite Falls we are enamored. The valley is warm, in fact it is the first taste of summer we have experienced. The temps are in the 80s with lows in the 40s. It promises to be a great time.
Now underneath this bullet point in the itinerary is this disclaimer, "there is a short section of gravel road off of Hwy 395. Plan about three hours to drive there and tour the site." OK, no problem. We can handle some gravel. Well, the three hours they mention takes into account about 45 minutes of touring the town. The other time is taken up by driving about five miles of washboard gravel road. Not bad in a Jeep. Bad in an RV. You know, with dishes and glassware, etc.
I found if I drove at about five to ten miles an hour the vibrations were reduced enough to keep the RV from falling apart even though it sounded like we were going to disintegrate at any second. Not quite sure why those ghosts can't get a paved road. I mean if I am roaming earth for eternity I've got some time on my hands to lobby for some asphalt, hell, how about just a steamroller? "Fouuur miles of paaaved roaaad or I will make your waaalls bleeed." That should do it.
After our interpretation of a stagecoach ride we arrived at Bodie. It was actually a pretty cool experience. Only about five percent of the town still exists from its heyday of 10,000 residents, but the kids really enjoyed going into different buildings and walking down the dusty streets. Bodie was the first town to have remote electricity, meaning that the source of the power came from a hydroelectric plant 13 miles away. They ran power lines in a straight line because it was not known whether electricity could turn corners.
First of all, couldn't they just test that rather easily and quickly? Secondly, the power lines went up and down all these cliffs and hills. What is going up and down a hill other than a corner turned on its axis? I mean if electricity can run up and down, couldn't it handle a gradual curve?
Moving on...we left Bodie, another 45 minutes down, and drove to recently opened Tioga Pass. Just driving into Yosemite is an adventure. It takes FOREVER! This park is huge. Lots of switchbacks through high alpine areas with snow. Hints of Yellowstone but recent experience has taught us that we are staying in the valley so it should be warmer.
There are waterfalls everywhere. Around every corner we see another spectacular view. El Cap, Half Dome, Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite Falls. It is all coming too fast to process. By the time we arrive at our campsite between half Dome and Yosemite Falls we are enamored. The valley is warm, in fact it is the first taste of summer we have experienced. The temps are in the 80s with lows in the 40s. It promises to be a great time.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Tired of Tahoe
OK. I finished my post late last night as the neighbors pulled in, around midnight. Then they decided to make a racket, stand outside with their dogs, smoke and talk—loudly—until 3:30 a.m.
We woke up a little late, had a great breakfast and the kids and I went out and threw the football. That was when I stepped in a pile of fresh dog crap. Thanks again, neighbors! That is the last straw for Teresa and me. We walk to the RV office and ask for another spot. While I am in the office getting a new site Teresa is talking to the camp host about the noise and other "issues." He tells her he will keep an eye on them tonight but won't mention anything directly to them to prevent any mischief directed our way.
This RV park is a totally different kind of park than we have experienced. It is filled with many more people that are more interested in partying and drinking than any other we have seen. Since this is more of a beach destination and less a national park, we are guessing this is difference. There is a definite L.A. vibe here. Some monster trucks and others that are chopped. Its more tattoos and bikinis than hiking boots and granola.
We investigate heading to the beach but there are way too many 20 year olds walking around the beach with the f-bomb dropping everywhere. And it is packed. Maybe we can rent some wave runners. Oh, all out and they are $109 an hour plus $8 for fuel, EACH. Ummmm, no thanks.
We decide to hang out at the RV and that is a good decision. We play some games, toss the football, kick the soccer ball and have a very nice night at "home." Later on we are treated to an incredibly intense sunset over the lake. I have heard of times when it looks like the sky is on fire and tonight it really does! The light is so intense, the colors so rich, that it looks like there is a wildfire across the horizon.
We are excited to hit the road early and get to Yosemite. We are definitely crowd-averse now. Funny how quickly that set in. We are getting uncomfortable being around people. Maybe not uncomfortable, maybe just annoyed. We are spoiled being out in the wide open spaces. I am sure getting back to Northern Virginia will be a delight!
We woke up a little late, had a great breakfast and the kids and I went out and threw the football. That was when I stepped in a pile of fresh dog crap. Thanks again, neighbors! That is the last straw for Teresa and me. We walk to the RV office and ask for another spot. While I am in the office getting a new site Teresa is talking to the camp host about the noise and other "issues." He tells her he will keep an eye on them tonight but won't mention anything directly to them to prevent any mischief directed our way.
This RV park is a totally different kind of park than we have experienced. It is filled with many more people that are more interested in partying and drinking than any other we have seen. Since this is more of a beach destination and less a national park, we are guessing this is difference. There is a definite L.A. vibe here. Some monster trucks and others that are chopped. Its more tattoos and bikinis than hiking boots and granola.
We investigate heading to the beach but there are way too many 20 year olds walking around the beach with the f-bomb dropping everywhere. And it is packed. Maybe we can rent some wave runners. Oh, all out and they are $109 an hour plus $8 for fuel, EACH. Ummmm, no thanks.
We decide to hang out at the RV and that is a good decision. We play some games, toss the football, kick the soccer ball and have a very nice night at "home." Later on we are treated to an incredibly intense sunset over the lake. I have heard of times when it looks like the sky is on fire and tonight it really does! The light is so intense, the colors so rich, that it looks like there is a wildfire across the horizon.
We are excited to hit the road early and get to Yosemite. We are definitely crowd-averse now. Funny how quickly that set in. We are getting uncomfortable being around people. Maybe not uncomfortable, maybe just annoyed. We are spoiled being out in the wide open spaces. I am sure getting back to Northern Virginia will be a delight!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
We've Got a Long Way to Go and a Short Time to Get There
We woke up and hit the road at 9:30. We need to cover 380 miles today.
We leave Elko, the nation's largest producer of mined gold, as we found out (who knew), and start crossing Nevada. There is nothing here. Or there. Or even over there.
How bad is it? I'll tell you how bad it is...Teresa is not taking any pictures. NONE! This is the first time the kids have been asking how much longer before we get there. Samantha gives up and goes to sleep.
We drove through Carson City and make our way to Lake Tahoe. Its a beautiful drive into Tahoe. We get to the RV park and sign in. Surprise! They don't have our reservation. You know, the one we made in October. And prepaid for in October.
After a bit they find a spot and its nice. We grab a quick dinner and head to the RV. A special treat! We have a cable TV hookup! The kids, especially Samantha stay up late watching TV. Since her five hour nap she seems restless. Odd.
Today we woke up a little late and the we all go out and toss the football. Two little girls show up and the kids play hide and seek for a while. We decide to hit the beach. The skies are blue and the temps are climbing. We spend all day there. Its a good time to let the kids do what they want to do. They have been cooped up for too long. The kids we met earlier see us at the beach and they play all day long.
It is a relaxing day that we hope to repeat tomorrow. Its nice to fit these breaks into the vacation. It is hard not to get caught up in trying to see everything and just take some time to enjoy our time off.
We leave Elko, the nation's largest producer of mined gold, as we found out (who knew), and start crossing Nevada. There is nothing here. Or there. Or even over there.
How bad is it? I'll tell you how bad it is...Teresa is not taking any pictures. NONE! This is the first time the kids have been asking how much longer before we get there. Samantha gives up and goes to sleep.
We drove through Carson City and make our way to Lake Tahoe. Its a beautiful drive into Tahoe. We get to the RV park and sign in. Surprise! They don't have our reservation. You know, the one we made in October. And prepaid for in October.
After a bit they find a spot and its nice. We grab a quick dinner and head to the RV. A special treat! We have a cable TV hookup! The kids, especially Samantha stay up late watching TV. Since her five hour nap she seems restless. Odd.
Today we woke up a little late and the we all go out and toss the football. Two little girls show up and the kids play hide and seek for a while. We decide to hit the beach. The skies are blue and the temps are climbing. We spend all day there. Its a good time to let the kids do what they want to do. They have been cooped up for too long. The kids we met earlier see us at the beach and they play all day long.
It is a relaxing day that we hope to repeat tomorrow. Its nice to fit these breaks into the vacation. It is hard not to get caught up in trying to see everything and just take some time to enjoy our time off.
The Long Haul
These past few days were the longest stretch of driving we had to do the entire trip. We left Yellowstone for Massacre Rocks State Park. From there we went to Elko, NV. Not much in Elko and definitely not much in between the two.
On our way to Elko we stopped at Twin Falls, ID and got lunch at Crowley's, an old fashioned soda fountain. The fountain still in use was installed in 1909. The kids had never seen anything like this, not that Teresa and I are old enough to remember this era either. The owner was very gracious and knowledgeable. He entertained the kids with information about soda fountains. They offer all kinds of sodas, shakes, malts, floats, and fizzes. We ordered diner standards for lunch and Samantha had a huckleberry Sprite, Bryce had a root beer, Teresa had water and I ordered a vanilla Coke. Mine was voted the favorite. We learned that a fizz is like a milkshake with the milk replaced with flavored soda and mixed together unlike a float. For dessert Sam had a chocolate ice cream fizz, Bryce had an orange Fanta fizz and I had a black and white milkshake.
We left the soda fountain later than planned and settled in for a long trip to Elko. It was a windy drive with the RV buffeted from strong crosswinds. There was a time when we entered one of many work zones and saw a road sign saying that the lanes narrow to ten feet. A quick glance down to the sticker on my dash board confirms that the RV is ten feet wide. This should be interesting. I imagine us getting wedged in the barriers going from 50 mph to 0 in a split second. SQUEETCH!
It doesn't happen.
We work our way to the campsite just outside of Elko in the Humboldt National Forest. The site is nestled in a narrow canyon with the creek raging through it. The noise of the water is impressive. It sounds like a windstorm. We have a campfire and watch the stars in the middle of the desert.
On our way to Elko we stopped at Twin Falls, ID and got lunch at Crowley's, an old fashioned soda fountain. The fountain still in use was installed in 1909. The kids had never seen anything like this, not that Teresa and I are old enough to remember this era either. The owner was very gracious and knowledgeable. He entertained the kids with information about soda fountains. They offer all kinds of sodas, shakes, malts, floats, and fizzes. We ordered diner standards for lunch and Samantha had a huckleberry Sprite, Bryce had a root beer, Teresa had water and I ordered a vanilla Coke. Mine was voted the favorite. We learned that a fizz is like a milkshake with the milk replaced with flavored soda and mixed together unlike a float. For dessert Sam had a chocolate ice cream fizz, Bryce had an orange Fanta fizz and I had a black and white milkshake.
We left the soda fountain later than planned and settled in for a long trip to Elko. It was a windy drive with the RV buffeted from strong crosswinds. There was a time when we entered one of many work zones and saw a road sign saying that the lanes narrow to ten feet. A quick glance down to the sticker on my dash board confirms that the RV is ten feet wide. This should be interesting. I imagine us getting wedged in the barriers going from 50 mph to 0 in a split second. SQUEETCH!
It doesn't happen.
We work our way to the campsite just outside of Elko in the Humboldt National Forest. The site is nestled in a narrow canyon with the creek raging through it. The noise of the water is impressive. It sounds like a windstorm. We have a campfire and watch the stars in the middle of the desert.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The Start of Something Big
We slept in late today. It rained quite hard all night long. This did help with the snow pack a bit. Today looks like the first really nice day since we arrived. It is partly cloudy with lots of sun and the temps are coming up. Of course we have a big day of driving ahead of us.
We have a lovely pancake breakfast and prepare for our trip. There are a few things we haven't had a chance to see and that is bugging us a bit. It is such a great day we want to give this park another chance. Who knows? Maybe we will catch a glimpse of a bear today!
We leave the campsite and head out towards Old Faithful. We want to see some of the paintpots and the Grand Prismatic Spring. The trip is a quick one and we see some classic Yellowstone sights under a warming sun. It is a great way to remember this park after several days of disappointment.
We don't get started on our 200 mile drive until 4 p.m. We gas up in West Yellowstone, MT. We drive through Montana in about 30 minutes before we enter Idaho.
Impressions of Idaho: lots of farms, huge sky, and long, straight highways.
We are making good time, a 75 mile an hour speed limit helps, and we are about 30 miles out of Massacre Rocks State Park, our stop-over, when we decide to restock the RV at Walmart. By the time we leave Walmart it is 8:15. We know the park employees' day ends at 8:00 so we will have to find our site on our own. We enter the park and head toward the campsites. Now here is where RV'ing has its benefits. First, you are never that worried about finding a place to camp for the night. If nothing else, you can always park in a Walmart knowing you have everything you need to get through the night. Second, almost every park RV camp has a host. These are made up of mostly retirees who stay at a site for a week, a month, a season, and are there to assist all travelers that stay at that site.
We drive into the campsite and find a sign directing us to the campground host. His name is Dick and he and his wife are retirees staying here for the summer. He takes our voucher, shows us our reserved spot, "the pick of the litter," tells us about the area, warns us of the dangers — rattlers and strong river currents "We lost a 22 year-old two years ago when he tried to swim across the river," — and tells us to get in touch with them with anything we need. It is reassuring to know that there is someone familiar with the area and with RV'ing just a few sites down from where you are spending the night. It is something I didn't know existed until I tried this myself and I think it is great. There is a camaraderie between RV'ers. Part of it is a shared vulnerability, I mean there is only so much security built into these things, but everyone looks out for each other and we have met so many people just out enjoying the sights with their families.
We are just above the Snake River and have a great view. the moon is full and lights up the entire valley. The weather is finally warm enough that I don't think we will need the furnace tonight. The first time in about ten days that we can say that. Tomorrow brings another long haul, about 250 miles, and then another 350 miles on Thursday. This is the longest stretch of driving on the trip but we have three days of relaxation after this.
It is hard to believe we are halfway through the trip. It seems like we have been out for a while but I am starting to feel the end drawing closer. The kids and I threw the football tonight while Teresa made dinner and they got along so well. They were complementing each other and helping each other all night. Teresa swears they are going through a growth spurt and Sam's hiking pants do seem to be getting a little shorter. I think they are growing in ways we can't even perceive.
We have a lovely pancake breakfast and prepare for our trip. There are a few things we haven't had a chance to see and that is bugging us a bit. It is such a great day we want to give this park another chance. Who knows? Maybe we will catch a glimpse of a bear today!
We leave the campsite and head out towards Old Faithful. We want to see some of the paintpots and the Grand Prismatic Spring. The trip is a quick one and we see some classic Yellowstone sights under a warming sun. It is a great way to remember this park after several days of disappointment.
We don't get started on our 200 mile drive until 4 p.m. We gas up in West Yellowstone, MT. We drive through Montana in about 30 minutes before we enter Idaho.
Impressions of Idaho: lots of farms, huge sky, and long, straight highways.
We are making good time, a 75 mile an hour speed limit helps, and we are about 30 miles out of Massacre Rocks State Park, our stop-over, when we decide to restock the RV at Walmart. By the time we leave Walmart it is 8:15. We know the park employees' day ends at 8:00 so we will have to find our site on our own. We enter the park and head toward the campsites. Now here is where RV'ing has its benefits. First, you are never that worried about finding a place to camp for the night. If nothing else, you can always park in a Walmart knowing you have everything you need to get through the night. Second, almost every park RV camp has a host. These are made up of mostly retirees who stay at a site for a week, a month, a season, and are there to assist all travelers that stay at that site.
We drive into the campsite and find a sign directing us to the campground host. His name is Dick and he and his wife are retirees staying here for the summer. He takes our voucher, shows us our reserved spot, "the pick of the litter," tells us about the area, warns us of the dangers — rattlers and strong river currents "We lost a 22 year-old two years ago when he tried to swim across the river," — and tells us to get in touch with them with anything we need. It is reassuring to know that there is someone familiar with the area and with RV'ing just a few sites down from where you are spending the night. It is something I didn't know existed until I tried this myself and I think it is great. There is a camaraderie between RV'ers. Part of it is a shared vulnerability, I mean there is only so much security built into these things, but everyone looks out for each other and we have met so many people just out enjoying the sights with their families.
We are just above the Snake River and have a great view. the moon is full and lights up the entire valley. The weather is finally warm enough that I don't think we will need the furnace tonight. The first time in about ten days that we can say that. Tomorrow brings another long haul, about 250 miles, and then another 350 miles on Thursday. This is the longest stretch of driving on the trip but we have three days of relaxation after this.
It is hard to believe we are halfway through the trip. It seems like we have been out for a while but I am starting to feel the end drawing closer. The kids and I threw the football tonight while Teresa made dinner and they got along so well. They were complementing each other and helping each other all night. Teresa swears they are going through a growth spurt and Sam's hiking pants do seem to be getting a little shorter. I think they are growing in ways we can't even perceive.
Why-oming?
Today sucked. I’m sorry, did I say sucked? I meant it super-sucked. It was raining the entire day. We drove all over the park. It was cold and all the locals are sick of the snow. It ain’t that great for us tourist either! Deepest snowpack this late into the year for over thirty years, they say. We were to go to our second campsite today. The kids are upset because we are leaving their friends. “This campsite is even further south so it should be even warmer and there will be kids there too,” I say.
As I pull the RV past snow drifts so high I can’t see over them from where I sit six feet up in the RV, our hearts sink. We spent four hours driving around in the cold trying to find places to hike that aren’t closed due to snow, not that it makes much of a difference with the steady, cold rain, and now we arrive at 5 p.m. at an RV site so deep in the snow that most of the sites haven’t been shoveled and there are no pull-through spots available so we need to take a back-in site because that’s all they have and they haven’t seen weather like this in years and it really SUCKS!
We check out the site. The pad has been plowed and then they did something very unusual; they shoveled a path to the picnic table and shoveled out about half of the table and benches. And when I say a path to the table I really mean a hallway to the table. The snow is higher than the table, hell, its taller than the kids.
We second guess staying at Canyon Village and call to try to get our site at Madison back for another two nights. All booked. The people here at Canyon recommend Norris campground. It is a self-reservation NPS run site but it is very nice they say and its only 12 miles away but lower in elevation so not snowed in. We go to take a look. It is a nice site, right by the Norris Geyser Basin, and we get a spot in a hilly part of the campground. Teresa doesn’t like the look of several of the single, male campers sleeping in their trucks and we start to have third thoughts about this decision. Besides, its raining and cold here and there are absolutely no facilities and Canyon had laundry, showers, dining room, cafeteria, shops, a grocery. Let’s go back.
We head back to Canyon and they still have our spot. We pull in and settle in for a chilly night underwhelmed by what we are sure is normally an incredible park.
As I pull the RV past snow drifts so high I can’t see over them from where I sit six feet up in the RV, our hearts sink. We spent four hours driving around in the cold trying to find places to hike that aren’t closed due to snow, not that it makes much of a difference with the steady, cold rain, and now we arrive at 5 p.m. at an RV site so deep in the snow that most of the sites haven’t been shoveled and there are no pull-through spots available so we need to take a back-in site because that’s all they have and they haven’t seen weather like this in years and it really SUCKS!
We check out the site. The pad has been plowed and then they did something very unusual; they shoveled a path to the picnic table and shoveled out about half of the table and benches. And when I say a path to the table I really mean a hallway to the table. The snow is higher than the table, hell, its taller than the kids.
We second guess staying at Canyon Village and call to try to get our site at Madison back for another two nights. All booked. The people here at Canyon recommend Norris campground. It is a self-reservation NPS run site but it is very nice they say and its only 12 miles away but lower in elevation so not snowed in. We go to take a look. It is a nice site, right by the Norris Geyser Basin, and we get a spot in a hilly part of the campground. Teresa doesn’t like the look of several of the single, male campers sleeping in their trucks and we start to have third thoughts about this decision. Besides, its raining and cold here and there are absolutely no facilities and Canyon had laundry, showers, dining room, cafeteria, shops, a grocery. Let’s go back.
We head back to Canyon and they still have our spot. We pull in and settle in for a chilly night underwhelmed by what we are sure is normally an incredible park.
Yellowstone Day Two - OR - Bears Are Extinct
We have a full-day tour scheduled for today. We get up in time to scarf down some breakfast before the guide arrives. We load into the van and he takes us around the various parts of the park leaving some of the area around our second campsite for us to discover on our own. He is very knowledgeable and we see all the major sites. Half the day is spent looking for bears. We go on hikes, we eat a very nice box lunch out in a nice spot for ten minutes before we are chased back to the van by a quickly passing rain shower. We go to Lamar Valley where everyone has seen bears. We hit a traffic jam with a park ranger watching over many people. This is a sure sign of a bear sighting! The guide pulls over and we pile out. He walks to the ranger and asks what they have and the ranger replies, “Badger.” A badger? I ask, “Is it the world’s largest badger?” Hte ranger says, “Yes, and it was just doing cartwheels.” The guide has never seen a badger back-up before and we leave dissappointed in our lack of bear luck.
We are out all day, from 9 until 5 with the guide and the kids are getting antsy. They want to play with their new found friends and I am getting a little carsick. We get back to camp and the three kids from Indiana have just returned as well.
We get together with our new found friends again this evening and talk about our day. “We saw a grizzly take down a baby elk and drag it into the woods,” says the family from Australia.
“We saw a bison carcass and black AND grizzly bears today,” says the family from Indiana.
“We heard about a badger but didn’t see it,” say our children.
Every time we inquire about bears, everyone has seen one in the exact same place we were, but an hour before, or after, our arrival. We are beginning to believe that we won’t see any bears on this trip. It is an interesting phenomenon. We noticed this trend in the Tetons. We would be driving down the main drag in the park and would come across a sign that would say something like, "Wildlife next twelve miles". this would inevitably lead to a vacant, almost desolate stretch of road without so much as a sick duck flying overhead, let alone large herds of anything anywhere in sight. We are fairly certain that those signs deter all forms of animal life.
We are out all day, from 9 until 5 with the guide and the kids are getting antsy. They want to play with their new found friends and I am getting a little carsick. We get back to camp and the three kids from Indiana have just returned as well.
We get together with our new found friends again this evening and talk about our day. “We saw a grizzly take down a baby elk and drag it into the woods,” says the family from Australia.
“We saw a bison carcass and black AND grizzly bears today,” says the family from Indiana.
“We heard about a badger but didn’t see it,” say our children.
Every time we inquire about bears, everyone has seen one in the exact same place we were, but an hour before, or after, our arrival. We are beginning to believe that we won’t see any bears on this trip. It is an interesting phenomenon. We noticed this trend in the Tetons. We would be driving down the main drag in the park and would come across a sign that would say something like, "Wildlife next twelve miles". this would inevitably lead to a vacant, almost desolate stretch of road without so much as a sick duck flying overhead, let alone large herds of anything anywhere in sight. We are fairly certain that those signs deter all forms of animal life.
Don't Eat The Yellow-snow-stone
Before we left the Tetons we went on a bear hunt. We left early in the morning, for us, and drove around to look for all the bear people have been telling us about. I mean everyone we run into tells us some great bear story. The campsite we were at has a sow grizzly and two cubs that were spotted in the crossroads no more than a quarter mile from our RV not more than two days ago. Have we seen anything ursine-like? Except for me in the morning, no.
We drive for a while and end up at Jenny Lake. There is a ferry that will take you across the lake to a short hike up to a waterfall. Its a nice day and we decide to do this. We board the ferry and on the way the guide tells us that while the waterfall is accessible due to the late breaking winter the trail to Inspiration Point is closed under several feet of snow. We hike a quarter mile to the falls which are bloated with runoff and roaring loudly. When we get back to the RV we say good-bye to the Tetons and head for beautiful Yellowstone.
When we reach the south entrance of Yellowstone we are greeted by newly opened roads with four feet of snow pack on either side. This does not bode well. If this is the southern part of the park what in the hell does the northern part of the park, where we are to camp, look like? I try to hide my growing disappointment at every rise as more and more snow covers the ground. The roads are clear but all the features of the park are buried. We drive past Lewis Lake, it is completely frozen over. Parts of Yellowstone Lake are iced over. Again, this is not the SUMMER trip we had planned.
As we head further into the park we drop in elevation and the snow abruptly disappears and we are treated to some amazing views of the park. I call it a park but it is one quarter of Wyoming and it is hard to get your head around the fact that everything you see, the mountains in the far distance, the valleys all around you, are part of a national park.
On our way to the campsite we pass Old Faithful. We are lucky and only wait for about 20 minutes before the eruption. I think everyone is duly impressed and we take a quick spin through the new visitor’s center before we need to leave for the campsite.
As we drive we pass signs labeling the sights and points of interest on our way. "What is this lake called?", asks Teresa. "Ummmm...here's the sign... Nez Perce Creek," I say. "That's a creek?"
There is water everywhere and the snow pack has just started melting. The Snake River is full and every other river or stream we pass has overflowed its banks and inundated the meadows.
We pull into Madison Campground and get our lot number. After three attempts to back the RV into this space with Lodgepole Pines six inches from the side of the road we give up and head back to the office to ask for another space. They move some reservations around and find one that will accommodate a 31’ vehicle. The campsite is very nice. It is a little close to a road in the park but on the other side there is a beautiful river that runs through this small valley. With the sun beginning to set it really is a picture.
As we set up for dinner Samantha and Bryce begin to kick the soccer ball around. In a matter of minutes 6 children have shown up to play with them. There is a ten year old boy from Australia and three kids from Indiana and some others from who-knows-where. After cooking dinner we call the kids in to eat. Bryce wants to invite the three kids from Indiana over after dinner to roast marshmallows. Samantha is feeling shy and does not. We say it would be very nice to invite them over since they came over to play with you first. After dinner Bryce screws up enough courage to head over to their campsite and ask them over. The kids are excited and the parents say yes. We invite them over for beer and wine and the Australians as well. In a matter of minutes we have a gathering of people all sitting around a fire roasting marshmallows and talking about various experiences until 11 p.m. It really was an RV commercial.
Our kids want to play again tomorrow but we have a tour of the park scheduled for most of the day.
We drive for a while and end up at Jenny Lake. There is a ferry that will take you across the lake to a short hike up to a waterfall. Its a nice day and we decide to do this. We board the ferry and on the way the guide tells us that while the waterfall is accessible due to the late breaking winter the trail to Inspiration Point is closed under several feet of snow. We hike a quarter mile to the falls which are bloated with runoff and roaring loudly. When we get back to the RV we say good-bye to the Tetons and head for beautiful Yellowstone.
When we reach the south entrance of Yellowstone we are greeted by newly opened roads with four feet of snow pack on either side. This does not bode well. If this is the southern part of the park what in the hell does the northern part of the park, where we are to camp, look like? I try to hide my growing disappointment at every rise as more and more snow covers the ground. The roads are clear but all the features of the park are buried. We drive past Lewis Lake, it is completely frozen over. Parts of Yellowstone Lake are iced over. Again, this is not the SUMMER trip we had planned.
As we head further into the park we drop in elevation and the snow abruptly disappears and we are treated to some amazing views of the park. I call it a park but it is one quarter of Wyoming and it is hard to get your head around the fact that everything you see, the mountains in the far distance, the valleys all around you, are part of a national park.
On our way to the campsite we pass Old Faithful. We are lucky and only wait for about 20 minutes before the eruption. I think everyone is duly impressed and we take a quick spin through the new visitor’s center before we need to leave for the campsite.
As we drive we pass signs labeling the sights and points of interest on our way. "What is this lake called?", asks Teresa. "Ummmm...here's the sign... Nez Perce Creek," I say. "That's a creek?"
There is water everywhere and the snow pack has just started melting. The Snake River is full and every other river or stream we pass has overflowed its banks and inundated the meadows.
We pull into Madison Campground and get our lot number. After three attempts to back the RV into this space with Lodgepole Pines six inches from the side of the road we give up and head back to the office to ask for another space. They move some reservations around and find one that will accommodate a 31’ vehicle. The campsite is very nice. It is a little close to a road in the park but on the other side there is a beautiful river that runs through this small valley. With the sun beginning to set it really is a picture.
As we set up for dinner Samantha and Bryce begin to kick the soccer ball around. In a matter of minutes 6 children have shown up to play with them. There is a ten year old boy from Australia and three kids from Indiana and some others from who-knows-where. After cooking dinner we call the kids in to eat. Bryce wants to invite the three kids from Indiana over after dinner to roast marshmallows. Samantha is feeling shy and does not. We say it would be very nice to invite them over since they came over to play with you first. After dinner Bryce screws up enough courage to head over to their campsite and ask them over. The kids are excited and the parents say yes. We invite them over for beer and wine and the Australians as well. In a matter of minutes we have a gathering of people all sitting around a fire roasting marshmallows and talking about various experiences until 11 p.m. It really was an RV commercial.
Our kids want to play again tomorrow but we have a tour of the park scheduled for most of the day.
Armed and Dangerous on a Sugar High
We went back to Jackson today. You see, Bryce has been itching for a toy gun. I know this because my fatherly intuition tells me. Through careful study and observation I picked up on signs that he would like to have this item. I watched him use paper towel tubes as rifles and play various roles in his favorite movie, Rio Bravo.
Also, he asked me about every 10 minutes if he could get a gun.
I tell him we can find a gun in Jackson so first thing in the morning we motor on down to look for a gun for my son. Its so red-blooded American. Of course we are talking about a cap gun so maybe its more fuschia-blooded.
We park the RV in the only lot we can fit it and get some pictures under the famous antler arches. I thought that Jackson had one, perhaps a pair, of these things but it turns out that there is an antler arch just about everywhere you look. There are four in the town square, one on the way out toward the Tetons, one on the way in from some other place, whatever, there are a lot of antler arches. On the bright side, the elk sanctuary just outside of town is remarkably antler-free.
As we tour the town we find a gift shop that has some cap guns. Bryce is excited and takes about 30 minutes picking out the one he wants. It comes with a holster and belt. Right down the walk from this store is a candy store, the Yippy I-O Candy Co., with just about every type of new and old candy you can imagine. Now this is something Samantha can get excited about! She takes about 45 minutes to pick out her choice pieces and Bryce picks up one pack of candy cigarettes.
Picture an eight-year old boy with a cap gun in a holster around his waist and a candy cigarette dangling from his mouth. Now he is also wearing bright orange sweat pants with a Life is Good t-shirt. One of these things is not like the other, one of these things does not belong. He keeps striking cowboy poses and shooting his gun. It is really cute. Samantha is excited about her candy and is trying to figure out what she wants to get. The kids were both allowed to get a few things on this trip and, of course, Bryce has hit his limit with this outing. Samantha has not really even started. I hope she doesn’t wait too long.
We head back into the Tetons and do some more wildlife spotting. Teresa calls ahead for dinner reservations at the Teton Lodge. We walk into the to the imposing structure and sit down for dinner in the mural room. One wall is murals of old west scenes adn the other is floor to high ceiling windows with views of the mountain range. I order the elk. How odd it seems that everywhere you travel the first thing people mention is how wonderous the wildlife is. The second thing that happens is you sit down for a meal and they offer you the very same animals. Very odd.
“Welcome to the Tetons, have you enjoyed watching the vast, roaming heard of majestic elk on your way in? You have?! Good, because we just shot some yesterday and the chef has prepared it in 26 different ways.”
After a lovely meal we went back to “home” had some candy for dessert and turned in.
Also, he asked me about every 10 minutes if he could get a gun.
I tell him we can find a gun in Jackson so first thing in the morning we motor on down to look for a gun for my son. Its so red-blooded American. Of course we are talking about a cap gun so maybe its more fuschia-blooded.
We park the RV in the only lot we can fit it and get some pictures under the famous antler arches. I thought that Jackson had one, perhaps a pair, of these things but it turns out that there is an antler arch just about everywhere you look. There are four in the town square, one on the way out toward the Tetons, one on the way in from some other place, whatever, there are a lot of antler arches. On the bright side, the elk sanctuary just outside of town is remarkably antler-free.
As we tour the town we find a gift shop that has some cap guns. Bryce is excited and takes about 30 minutes picking out the one he wants. It comes with a holster and belt. Right down the walk from this store is a candy store, the Yippy I-O Candy Co., with just about every type of new and old candy you can imagine. Now this is something Samantha can get excited about! She takes about 45 minutes to pick out her choice pieces and Bryce picks up one pack of candy cigarettes.
Picture an eight-year old boy with a cap gun in a holster around his waist and a candy cigarette dangling from his mouth. Now he is also wearing bright orange sweat pants with a Life is Good t-shirt. One of these things is not like the other, one of these things does not belong. He keeps striking cowboy poses and shooting his gun. It is really cute. Samantha is excited about her candy and is trying to figure out what she wants to get. The kids were both allowed to get a few things on this trip and, of course, Bryce has hit his limit with this outing. Samantha has not really even started. I hope she doesn’t wait too long.
We head back into the Tetons and do some more wildlife spotting. Teresa calls ahead for dinner reservations at the Teton Lodge. We walk into the to the imposing structure and sit down for dinner in the mural room. One wall is murals of old west scenes adn the other is floor to high ceiling windows with views of the mountain range. I order the elk. How odd it seems that everywhere you travel the first thing people mention is how wonderous the wildlife is. The second thing that happens is you sit down for a meal and they offer you the very same animals. Very odd.
“Welcome to the Tetons, have you enjoyed watching the vast, roaming heard of majestic elk on your way in? You have?! Good, because we just shot some yesterday and the chef has prepared it in 26 different ways.”
After a lovely meal we went back to “home” had some candy for dessert and turned in.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
The Grand Tetons - OR - Those Are Bison, My Son.
We woke up a little late today. We headed out to the trails to Swan Lake and Heron Pond. These are fairly easy trails around Colter Bay and we were told to be Bear Aware. In fact, everything here says Be Bear Aware.
We attached the bear bells to the kids packs, loaded up our gear, and went out into a nice day, temperature around 60 degrees. The hike took us through some light woods, down to the edge of Swan Lake where we saw some Sandhill Cranes and a cute chipmunk. We saw some herons and ducks but no bear. As we got about halfway through our hike the skies got grayer and we heard some thunder in the distance. We put it in gear and started on our way back. It took us about an hour to get to where we were and we were making good time when the storm overtook us. It was a cold rain with some heavy gusts. Bryce and Sam were in shorts, Teresa and I were in hiking pants but we had packed rain gear for the kids. They threw their jackets on and we trotted off back to camp. It took a while with the lightning getting closer and the wind really whipping off the bay. We made it to the visitor’s center and hung out there until it died down a bit.
We hit the grocery and picked up some food and made it to the RV. While Teresa took care of the kids I did the laundry. I needed a bit of space. It has been almost two weeks in the RV and it was obvious Dad was getting a little testy.
We attached the bear bells to the kids packs, loaded up our gear, and went out into a nice day, temperature around 60 degrees. The hike took us through some light woods, down to the edge of Swan Lake where we saw some Sandhill Cranes and a cute chipmunk. We saw some herons and ducks but no bear. As we got about halfway through our hike the skies got grayer and we heard some thunder in the distance. We put it in gear and started on our way back. It took us about an hour to get to where we were and we were making good time when the storm overtook us. It was a cold rain with some heavy gusts. Bryce and Sam were in shorts, Teresa and I were in hiking pants but we had packed rain gear for the kids. They threw their jackets on and we trotted off back to camp. It took a while with the lightning getting closer and the wind really whipping off the bay. We made it to the visitor’s center and hung out there until it died down a bit.
We hit the grocery and picked up some food and made it to the RV. While Teresa took care of the kids I did the laundry. I needed a bit of space. It has been almost two weeks in the RV and it was obvious Dad was getting a little testy.
Action Jackson
I had always thought of Salt Lake as a city next to a lake in the middle of some high desert area. Very arid and barren. As we drove out of the city and through the valleys I was surprised to see so many fertile valleys. It was lush and vibrant. I changed my attitude about the area immediately.
It was a long haul to Jackson (254 miles). The scenery was nice and entering into Jackson was a treat. We gassed up just outside of town (a wise move) and drove into Jackson proper. The architecture is impressive. Almost everything has an arts and crafts feel to it with the most imposing buildings being the banks. Nothing is taller than three stories, but it appears that everything is built of massive timbers and large stone.
Our RV park is in the middle of town in a not-so-private lot where the neighbors are withing spitting distance. It began to rain as we made dinner and we noticed quite a bit of water leaking through the windscreen. We set up a line of bowls and cups on the dashboard to collect all the water. Thankfully it was not a hard rain but it lasted all night so Teresa and I were up often emptying rainwater. We collected about 2 cups of water within an hour of rain in the beginning. We called the RV company and they told us to get it fixed but to contact them so they could approve the repair.
We awoke early and called a couple of glass shops. We found one just a couple of blocks from the RV park and made an appointment for later in the day. The rain had stopped for the most part and we had some white-water rafting to do!
Teresa and I have rafted before during my “Bachelor Month” before our wedding. We ran the Nu River in West Virginia with many friends and family including the “man behind the plan” of Bachelor Month, Rob Pitera. We hit some class 5 rapids on that day. Because we had some small children with us on this day, we planned for an easy section of the Snake River hitting some class 3+ rapids. It was a 10 person raft and we plopped Bryce and Samantha in the middle. The group chosen to go in our raft was a bunch of college-age girls and one guy. Normally this is not a problem for me but when you need everyone in the raft to paddle, even if you are getting hit with a wave and feel the need to stop what you are doing and scream as loudly as you can in octaves only the wolves waiting downstream for the bodies of two small children to float ashore can hear, I could think of better rafting companions.
The trip down the river was cold and gray with a light mist that turned into a steady drizzle. Samantha enjoyed herself and seemed to have a great time. Every time I looked over at her she was smiling. Bryce, on the other hand, was cold, wet, and while not entirely miserable, less than thrilled with the entertainment value of such an excursion. He had a point. The river was about 44 degrees and the outside temperature was around 55. This is not turning out to be the SUMMER vacation we had planned.
After the trip we went to dinner while the RV was repaired, and left for Grand Teton National Park. The drive in was spectacular with the mountains jutting up from the ground at a such a severe angle and the clouds scattered in a cyan sky. The valley is filled with sediment so that there are no foothills. The appearance as you drive toward them is that you will eventually run into them like a wall at the end of the road. We see bison and elk and many birds as we drive through the park. The road winds through the valley and we are enjoying looking at every detail we can find.
We arrived at a lovely campsite in the middle of the park on Colter Bay and set up the RV. We are too late to go to the store so we enjoyed a dinner in the RV.
It was a long haul to Jackson (254 miles). The scenery was nice and entering into Jackson was a treat. We gassed up just outside of town (a wise move) and drove into Jackson proper. The architecture is impressive. Almost everything has an arts and crafts feel to it with the most imposing buildings being the banks. Nothing is taller than three stories, but it appears that everything is built of massive timbers and large stone.
Our RV park is in the middle of town in a not-so-private lot where the neighbors are withing spitting distance. It began to rain as we made dinner and we noticed quite a bit of water leaking through the windscreen. We set up a line of bowls and cups on the dashboard to collect all the water. Thankfully it was not a hard rain but it lasted all night so Teresa and I were up often emptying rainwater. We collected about 2 cups of water within an hour of rain in the beginning. We called the RV company and they told us to get it fixed but to contact them so they could approve the repair.
We awoke early and called a couple of glass shops. We found one just a couple of blocks from the RV park and made an appointment for later in the day. The rain had stopped for the most part and we had some white-water rafting to do!
Teresa and I have rafted before during my “Bachelor Month” before our wedding. We ran the Nu River in West Virginia with many friends and family including the “man behind the plan” of Bachelor Month, Rob Pitera. We hit some class 5 rapids on that day. Because we had some small children with us on this day, we planned for an easy section of the Snake River hitting some class 3+ rapids. It was a 10 person raft and we plopped Bryce and Samantha in the middle. The group chosen to go in our raft was a bunch of college-age girls and one guy. Normally this is not a problem for me but when you need everyone in the raft to paddle, even if you are getting hit with a wave and feel the need to stop what you are doing and scream as loudly as you can in octaves only the wolves waiting downstream for the bodies of two small children to float ashore can hear, I could think of better rafting companions.
The trip down the river was cold and gray with a light mist that turned into a steady drizzle. Samantha enjoyed herself and seemed to have a great time. Every time I looked over at her she was smiling. Bryce, on the other hand, was cold, wet, and while not entirely miserable, less than thrilled with the entertainment value of such an excursion. He had a point. The river was about 44 degrees and the outside temperature was around 55. This is not turning out to be the SUMMER vacation we had planned.
After the trip we went to dinner while the RV was repaired, and left for Grand Teton National Park. The drive in was spectacular with the mountains jutting up from the ground at a such a severe angle and the clouds scattered in a cyan sky. The valley is filled with sediment so that there are no foothills. The appearance as you drive toward them is that you will eventually run into them like a wall at the end of the road. We see bison and elk and many birds as we drive through the park. The road winds through the valley and we are enjoying looking at every detail we can find.
We arrived at a lovely campsite in the middle of the park on Colter Bay and set up the RV. We are too late to go to the store so we enjoyed a dinner in the RV.
Salt Lake Shi**y
We left Bryce and headed out for a long drive (285 miles) to a stopover in Salt lake City. We drove for a while through Utah and stopped in a small town called Torrey. We got lunch at a joint called Slackers Burger Joint. The owner was there and her daughter was working in the back. We ordered some sandwiches, Samantha got mac and cheese wedges and then had some homemade milkshakes. Well, I had a shake. Bryce had a root beer float and Sam had caramel sundae and Teresa enjoyed a blueberry and raspberry sundae. They were delicious and we enjoyed chatting with the owner about the town, population around 75 full-time.
We arrived in Salt Lake City around in the middle of rush hour, which was not that bad, comparatively. I dropped the kids off with Teresa to enjoy the water rides and lazy river we had promised the children they could play in all day yesterday, and headed to the Super Target to restock for dinner. It took longer at Target than expected but I was loading the RV when Teresa contacted me on the two-way radio (a must-have on this trip) to inform me that when they arrived a the gate they were told that the water rides were closing in 4 minutes and that it really didn’t seem wise to pay $35 a head for 240 seconds of wet ‘n wild fun! So I hurried back to the campsite and made dinner.
Our RV park was just that, an amusement park called Lagoon. You know how some amusement parks have animal exhibits? Do you know where they put the animals after hours? Doesn’t that sound like the perfect spot for an RV park? The smell of the savannah permeated our spot and was interrupted for only short spurts by the charcoal in our grill.
I picked up some DVD box sets of Everybody Loves Raymond, Teresa and the kid’s favorite show, and we watched them late into the night. We were awoken only once by the roar of a lion.
We were not that impressed with this stop-over. It was voted the worst of the trip so far.
We arrived in Salt Lake City around in the middle of rush hour, which was not that bad, comparatively. I dropped the kids off with Teresa to enjoy the water rides and lazy river we had promised the children they could play in all day yesterday, and headed to the Super Target to restock for dinner. It took longer at Target than expected but I was loading the RV when Teresa contacted me on the two-way radio (a must-have on this trip) to inform me that when they arrived a the gate they were told that the water rides were closing in 4 minutes and that it really didn’t seem wise to pay $35 a head for 240 seconds of wet ‘n wild fun! So I hurried back to the campsite and made dinner.
Our RV park was just that, an amusement park called Lagoon. You know how some amusement parks have animal exhibits? Do you know where they put the animals after hours? Doesn’t that sound like the perfect spot for an RV park? The smell of the savannah permeated our spot and was interrupted for only short spurts by the charcoal in our grill.
I picked up some DVD box sets of Everybody Loves Raymond, Teresa and the kid’s favorite show, and we watched them late into the night. We were awoken only once by the roar of a lion.
We were not that impressed with this stop-over. It was voted the worst of the trip so far.
No, we are NOT dead!
We have had an exciting time but have been incommunicado for a while. Sorry for the gap in time. I will try to get everyone caught up in the next few posts. OK, where were we? Oh, that's right, we were in Bryce Canyon...
Well today we decided to find some nice hikes. We packed our bags, took plenty of water, and caught the shuttle bus to the end of the canyon, Bryce Point. We had planned on taking a short loop but we felt good and started at Bryce Point, went through part of the Peekaboo and Navajo Trail, then through Queen's Garden and up Sunrise Point. All in all a fairly strenuous 5 mile hike into the bottom of the canyon and out again. I must say that Teresa and I were very proud of the kids. They held up through all the walking. Both Bryce and Samantha had a fall, not serious, but enough that they shed some tears but they both got up, dusted themselves off, and got right back on the trail. Through the entire hike we did not see any other children with any of the other hikers. People were amazed that they did the entire 5 miles. Good job kids!
We walked through hoodoos and arches, down through the sandstone to the bottom with trees and dry creek beds and back up the canyon walls. Teresa loved the canyon. It is so very different from anything we have ever experienced. The colors are soft and warm and the entire canyon has a
Needless to say the kids were pretty tired by the time we got back. We grabbed a quick meal and unhooked the RV to go back to the canyon after hours for their astronomy talk. This is a neat program that happens every month on the darkest nights. Amateur astronomers bring their telescopes to the visitor's center and let everyone look at different objects. We arrived halfway through the talk and went around back tot eh parking lot to get a head start on the viewing. There are six 12' telescopes outside with ladders so you can reach the viewfinders. Some of the telescopes we focused on Saturn and others on the sliver of moon out that night but the most exciting thing out that night was a supernova that was discovered that very day in Spain. All the astronomers were thrilled to see this event and we were some of the first people in the world to see this exploding star.
Little known fact: Bryce Canyon is one of the best spots in the country for viewing the night sky. The altitude and clarity of the air make it perfect for observation.
It was a really memorable day.
Well today we decided to find some nice hikes. We packed our bags, took plenty of water, and caught the shuttle bus to the end of the canyon, Bryce Point. We had planned on taking a short loop but we felt good and started at Bryce Point, went through part of the Peekaboo and Navajo Trail, then through Queen's Garden and up Sunrise Point. All in all a fairly strenuous 5 mile hike into the bottom of the canyon and out again. I must say that Teresa and I were very proud of the kids. They held up through all the walking. Both Bryce and Samantha had a fall, not serious, but enough that they shed some tears but they both got up, dusted themselves off, and got right back on the trail. Through the entire hike we did not see any other children with any of the other hikers. People were amazed that they did the entire 5 miles. Good job kids!
We walked through hoodoos and arches, down through the sandstone to the bottom with trees and dry creek beds and back up the canyon walls. Teresa loved the canyon. It is so very different from anything we have ever experienced. The colors are soft and warm and the entire canyon has a
Needless to say the kids were pretty tired by the time we got back. We grabbed a quick meal and unhooked the RV to go back to the canyon after hours for their astronomy talk. This is a neat program that happens every month on the darkest nights. Amateur astronomers bring their telescopes to the visitor's center and let everyone look at different objects. We arrived halfway through the talk and went around back tot eh parking lot to get a head start on the viewing. There are six 12' telescopes outside with ladders so you can reach the viewfinders. Some of the telescopes we focused on Saturn and others on the sliver of moon out that night but the most exciting thing out that night was a supernova that was discovered that very day in Spain. All the astronomers were thrilled to see this event and we were some of the first people in the world to see this exploding star.
Little known fact: Bryce Canyon is one of the best spots in the country for viewing the night sky. The altitude and clarity of the air make it perfect for observation.
It was a really memorable day.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Old Bryce Town
So we slept in a bit today. Woke up around 9:30. That's good for this trip. We had breakfast in an RV that was colder inside than the temperature was outside. We didn't plan to do anything today. We went to the oversized general store at Ruby's Inn. I should mention that everything in the vicinity is owned by Ruby. Started in 1929, Ruby's has become something of an icon in these here parts, or as we say in the east, a "monopoly" or "racket".
Anyway, we went to the gift store and the kids found some paintings and postcards of John Wayne and were very excited. Let me explain. For the past few months the kids have watched John Wayne movies with their father as I did with mine. John Wayne and James Bond were the two movie genres that I remember most watching with my dad. So the kids have gotten into it. They talk like him, walk like him, and have even wanted to dress like him. Sorry mom and dad, looks like that great cowboy outfit you got for Bryce was a few years too soon. Bryce picked up a sheriff badge today and wants a vest to go with it. His cowboy hat still fits, although it was left at home.
At this inn, across the street, there is a little fake old west town constructed for the tourists with souvenir shops and attractions, including a rodeo, atv rides, horseback tours, ice cream parlor, etc. This strip is called Old Bryce Town. Young Bryce likes this idea so we spent most of today hanging out at the local attractions. One thing that they have at this strip is a very nice rock shop. They have fossils, geodes, and a world-class selection of petrified wood. Samantha has turned into a bit of a rock hound and was very interested in this store. Out back there is an area where you can pick through the piles of rocks and buy whatever you find. Sam found some nice sandstone and something called Moqui Balls. These are ping-pong sized rocks that when split into two have interesting colored patterns inside, similar to a jawbreaker. Bryce had fun looking at the dinosaur bones and fool's gold.
We came back to the RV for lunch and a movie and headed out to see a bit of the canyon from the shuttle bus. We hit the visitor's center and walked a bit of the rim before we had to get back home. We ate inside, enjoyed another John Wayne film, Fort Apache, and called it a night. It was the lower 20's last night and it feels like the lower 30's tonight. The days are fine, around 65-70 with a nice light breeze but the nights are brutal. We could use that heat wave you guys have back home.
Anyway, we went to the gift store and the kids found some paintings and postcards of John Wayne and were very excited. Let me explain. For the past few months the kids have watched John Wayne movies with their father as I did with mine. John Wayne and James Bond were the two movie genres that I remember most watching with my dad. So the kids have gotten into it. They talk like him, walk like him, and have even wanted to dress like him. Sorry mom and dad, looks like that great cowboy outfit you got for Bryce was a few years too soon. Bryce picked up a sheriff badge today and wants a vest to go with it. His cowboy hat still fits, although it was left at home.
At this inn, across the street, there is a little fake old west town constructed for the tourists with souvenir shops and attractions, including a rodeo, atv rides, horseback tours, ice cream parlor, etc. This strip is called Old Bryce Town. Young Bryce likes this idea so we spent most of today hanging out at the local attractions. One thing that they have at this strip is a very nice rock shop. They have fossils, geodes, and a world-class selection of petrified wood. Samantha has turned into a bit of a rock hound and was very interested in this store. Out back there is an area where you can pick through the piles of rocks and buy whatever you find. Sam found some nice sandstone and something called Moqui Balls. These are ping-pong sized rocks that when split into two have interesting colored patterns inside, similar to a jawbreaker. Bryce had fun looking at the dinosaur bones and fool's gold.
We came back to the RV for lunch and a movie and headed out to see a bit of the canyon from the shuttle bus. We hit the visitor's center and walked a bit of the rim before we had to get back home. We ate inside, enjoyed another John Wayne film, Fort Apache, and called it a night. It was the lower 20's last night and it feels like the lower 30's tonight. The days are fine, around 65-70 with a nice light breeze but the nights are brutal. We could use that heat wave you guys have back home.
A Bryce place to visit...
Well we rolled into Bryce on Thursday after a little backtracking from the Grand Canyon. We passed the eastern entrance to Zion which we left a few days earlier.
On our way we stopped at the same gas station we hit on the way to the Grand Canyon. The first time I gassed up before we went to the adjoining market to get some groceries. It wasn't until then that we noticed we could save 15 cents a gallon on gas with the market receipt. It was too late to claim that savings on that gas up so we decided to use it the when we went by it again on Thursday. I got $111 worth of gas and save $4. Seems like that should be more. Rather anticlimactic after all that anticipation of savings.
We rolled into Bryce, or rather past it by about 15 miles. We were busy looking at scenery and I missed the turnoff for Bryce Canyon. Yes, its a big brown sign. Yes, I should have seen it, and if I didn't what the heck was I looking at? Whatever. It was a long drive and I don't have to explain myself to you.
We pulled into Ruby's Inn which is a rather famous stop just outside the entrance to Bryce Canyon. The RV park is the first private RV stop we have been in. It is a bit different than the national parks we have stayed in. Imagine a gravel parking lot. Now imagine I am in it. That's about it.
It does offer some amenities like a full hookup, meaning water, electricity, and sewer all within a hose reach of our RV. It also allows us to use the indoor pool at the inn which we took advantage of Thursday night. Teresa was a trooper and did the laundry. We ate in the RV and spent the coldest night yet, lower 20's. I am ready for some heat. Everybody here is saying they can't believe how cold it is. This is not looking good considering we need to travel north in a few days.
On our way we stopped at the same gas station we hit on the way to the Grand Canyon. The first time I gassed up before we went to the adjoining market to get some groceries. It wasn't until then that we noticed we could save 15 cents a gallon on gas with the market receipt. It was too late to claim that savings on that gas up so we decided to use it the when we went by it again on Thursday. I got $111 worth of gas and save $4. Seems like that should be more. Rather anticlimactic after all that anticipation of savings.
We rolled into Bryce, or rather past it by about 15 miles. We were busy looking at scenery and I missed the turnoff for Bryce Canyon. Yes, its a big brown sign. Yes, I should have seen it, and if I didn't what the heck was I looking at? Whatever. It was a long drive and I don't have to explain myself to you.
We pulled into Ruby's Inn which is a rather famous stop just outside the entrance to Bryce Canyon. The RV park is the first private RV stop we have been in. It is a bit different than the national parks we have stayed in. Imagine a gravel parking lot. Now imagine I am in it. That's about it.
It does offer some amenities like a full hookup, meaning water, electricity, and sewer all within a hose reach of our RV. It also allows us to use the indoor pool at the inn which we took advantage of Thursday night. Teresa was a trooper and did the laundry. We ate in the RV and spent the coldest night yet, lower 20's. I am ready for some heat. Everybody here is saying they can't believe how cold it is. This is not looking good considering we need to travel north in a few days.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Canyon country
We are losing track of days. We know it is day 5 in the RV. We know that we are supposed to be at this site. We do not know what day of the week it is. We are vaguely aware that it is Wednesday? Maybe Thursday. Hard to tell.
This is my litmus test of a good vacation. It usually takes a few days to reach this point. I can't believe we have 20 or so more days of this. It would be more relaxing if we did not have to be someplace else tomorrow but the changing scenery, the new experiences, and the expectation of a new site make it worthwhile.
The kids are getting along. Now I say that and it sounds like there has never been a quarrel or squabble. Not true! But it is no more than any other time and, in fact, is greatly reduced. They have been coloring and writing journals of all they have seen. They are interacting well and entertain themselves more than at home. We are gradually letting them wander farther away from the RV. Not a 1/2 mile away, but farther each day.
The family is doing well and I am proud of us all. We are laughing and enjoying telling stories, playing games, really devoting time and attention to each other.
Enough sap, how did the Rodgerson's almost die today?
Well in several ways which I will relate to you now...
We woke up early to see the sunrise. There is nothing I love more than a sunrise. Especially if I haven't slept the night before. However, there is nothing I could care less about seeing than a sunrise. Especially if I have had even 10 minutes of sleep the night before. Last night I slept.
Teresa and I lock the kids in the RV (we cracked a window) and headed out at 5:30 a.m. to that outcrop to watch the sunrise. Walking out to a 2,000' vertical drop is one way to really wake oneself up. I was groggy crossing the road but fully awake one minute later scaling those rocks.
The day was hazy so it wasn't a great sunrise. Back to the RV and crawl into bed. Wake up at 8:20 and make breakfast. Eggs and bacon. After performing a simple test to confirm that the smoke detector is in working order we sit down to breakfast. (Note to self, cook bacon outside on grill from now on.)
We plan our day. We will drive to the farthest point on the North Rim and hike to the Cape Royal trail. This seems simple enough. We prep the RV and take off for the trailhead. As I turn on to the road leading to Cape Royal I pass a sign that states in a superior tone that vehicles larger than 30' long are discouraged from taking this narrow road. Teresa tries to dissuade me from continuing but I am a guy and guys: a.) never notice warning signs, 2.) like to think that all warning signs are made by men who have eaten Cream of Wheat every morning since their mommies made it for them when they were five and have never, ever thought bungee jumping looks like a really cool thing to try.
And so we forge ahead — slowly. After all, its not my RV. I wouldn't want to damage it. After 23 miles of tight squeezes and sphincter-tightening hairpin turns we reach the summit. We abandon ship and hike to the lookout point. Stunning views. The only view of the Colorado from the North Rim, the sign says. This sign is posted on the edge of the rim in front of a railing, purportedly installed so that people don't wander over the edge like lemmings. I'm down with that. I get that. What I don't get is that the fence consists of two parallel rails, the first of which is about two feet off the ground, the second is about four feet high. There is chain link from the ground to the lower rail. There is nothing between the lower and upper rails. So I guess we have solved the crawling baby horror scenario but everyone else is screwed. I mean I was watching my kids walk up to a rail that could accommodate their entire body with a simple duck of the head.
Look, you can't fix stupid and anyone that walks off any canyon rim is stoopid. And I don't think we should try to keep stupid people from doing stupid things but if you go through the trouble of installing a guard system why would you enclose only the bottom two feet? What study concluded that most fatalities occurred because double-jointed limbo experts crabbed their way under a 24" high barrier only to meet their demise at the end of a 2,400' bunny hop?
After a day of sightseeing we head back to camp. We need to empty the tanks at the dump station. This was my first experience at mobile home sewage removal. There is nothing to report.
We have reservations at the Grand Canyon Lodge for dinner but first, wouldn't it be nice to shower for the first time since Vegas? Yes, yes it would. We jump out and head for the showers. No hot water. No warm water, in fact, no tepid water. Quick showers complete, we head out for dinner. Very nice dinner with great views. We finish up, hit the general store for dessert (no s'mores!) and watch another lovely sunset.
The wind is picking up tonight and it will be about 34 degrees. We head out to Bryce Canyon in the morning.
This is my litmus test of a good vacation. It usually takes a few days to reach this point. I can't believe we have 20 or so more days of this. It would be more relaxing if we did not have to be someplace else tomorrow but the changing scenery, the new experiences, and the expectation of a new site make it worthwhile.
The kids are getting along. Now I say that and it sounds like there has never been a quarrel or squabble. Not true! But it is no more than any other time and, in fact, is greatly reduced. They have been coloring and writing journals of all they have seen. They are interacting well and entertain themselves more than at home. We are gradually letting them wander farther away from the RV. Not a 1/2 mile away, but farther each day.
The family is doing well and I am proud of us all. We are laughing and enjoying telling stories, playing games, really devoting time and attention to each other.
Enough sap, how did the Rodgerson's almost die today?
Well in several ways which I will relate to you now...
We woke up early to see the sunrise. There is nothing I love more than a sunrise. Especially if I haven't slept the night before. However, there is nothing I could care less about seeing than a sunrise. Especially if I have had even 10 minutes of sleep the night before. Last night I slept.
Teresa and I lock the kids in the RV (we cracked a window) and headed out at 5:30 a.m. to that outcrop to watch the sunrise. Walking out to a 2,000' vertical drop is one way to really wake oneself up. I was groggy crossing the road but fully awake one minute later scaling those rocks.
The day was hazy so it wasn't a great sunrise. Back to the RV and crawl into bed. Wake up at 8:20 and make breakfast. Eggs and bacon. After performing a simple test to confirm that the smoke detector is in working order we sit down to breakfast. (Note to self, cook bacon outside on grill from now on.)
We plan our day. We will drive to the farthest point on the North Rim and hike to the Cape Royal trail. This seems simple enough. We prep the RV and take off for the trailhead. As I turn on to the road leading to Cape Royal I pass a sign that states in a superior tone that vehicles larger than 30' long are discouraged from taking this narrow road. Teresa tries to dissuade me from continuing but I am a guy and guys: a.) never notice warning signs, 2.) like to think that all warning signs are made by men who have eaten Cream of Wheat every morning since their mommies made it for them when they were five and have never, ever thought bungee jumping looks like a really cool thing to try.
And so we forge ahead — slowly. After all, its not my RV. I wouldn't want to damage it. After 23 miles of tight squeezes and sphincter-tightening hairpin turns we reach the summit. We abandon ship and hike to the lookout point. Stunning views. The only view of the Colorado from the North Rim, the sign says. This sign is posted on the edge of the rim in front of a railing, purportedly installed so that people don't wander over the edge like lemmings. I'm down with that. I get that. What I don't get is that the fence consists of two parallel rails, the first of which is about two feet off the ground, the second is about four feet high. There is chain link from the ground to the lower rail. There is nothing between the lower and upper rails. So I guess we have solved the crawling baby horror scenario but everyone else is screwed. I mean I was watching my kids walk up to a rail that could accommodate their entire body with a simple duck of the head.
Look, you can't fix stupid and anyone that walks off any canyon rim is stoopid. And I don't think we should try to keep stupid people from doing stupid things but if you go through the trouble of installing a guard system why would you enclose only the bottom two feet? What study concluded that most fatalities occurred because double-jointed limbo experts crabbed their way under a 24" high barrier only to meet their demise at the end of a 2,400' bunny hop?
After a day of sightseeing we head back to camp. We need to empty the tanks at the dump station. This was my first experience at mobile home sewage removal. There is nothing to report.
We have reservations at the Grand Canyon Lodge for dinner but first, wouldn't it be nice to shower for the first time since Vegas? Yes, yes it would. We jump out and head for the showers. No hot water. No warm water, in fact, no tepid water. Quick showers complete, we head out for dinner. Very nice dinner with great views. We finish up, hit the general store for dessert (no s'mores!) and watch another lovely sunset.
The wind is picking up tonight and it will be about 34 degrees. We head out to Bryce Canyon in the morning.
Next stop...Grand Canyon
We leave Zion reluctantly. The kids want to know if we can return to Zion on our loop back. They really enjoyed it. We can't but maybe they can when they are grown.
We leave Zion on our way to the impetus for this excursion, the Grand Canyon. Teresa has always wanted to see the canyon and it was the foundation of our trip.
To leave Zion toward the Grand Canyon, the shortest route goes through the Mt. Carmel tunnel.
Fun Fact: The height limit for vehicles traveling through the tunnel is 13' 1" and requires an escort. Our RV is 13' high, at least that is what the official looking sticker slapped on the dashboard at a suspiciously wonky angle tells me. Now I'm in a quandary. How much should one trust a sticker? Who made the sticker? Is the sticker generic for any large-ish RV? Does the 13' take into account the air conditioning unit on top? How about how much water and fuel is on board, did that lower the vehicle at the time of measurement? How much air is in my tires? We are talking about a 1" variable here.
We approach the entrance to the tunnel and two park rangers radio the other side. They stop traffic for our RV and tell us to proceed directly down the center of the tunnel maintaining 25 miles an hour. We make it through without incident and then drive down some switchbacks through some beautiful slickrock canyons.
We hit our first town in a while and gas up. We are only about 3/8ths down but we will be at the canyon without a hookup which means running the generator which uses the gas from the tank to charge the batteries. I don't know how much gas the generator will use so I decide to fill up. We add 30 gallons and pay only $125. I know I will pay the same in the end but I like the idea of filling up more times for less money than fewer times for more money. Something about dropping $350 at one fill-up makes me want to shoot a sheik.
While we fill up we resupply and head back out. The trip to the canyon is all uphill, which I never really thought about. We keep passing signs that say things like 6,000 feet above sea level. 7,000 feet above sea level. It stops climbing when we reach the Kaibab Forest. There are aspen trees and Ponderosa pines everywhere. We pass some meadows that are immense! I think back to the Great Meadows in the Shenandoah and you could fit several of those into one of these. There are several patches of what is most decidedly snow. It is 70 degrees outside but the elevation and shade keeps patches of snow on the ground.
We enter the Grand Canyon park and find our site. It is about 150 yards to the rim. There is a small rocky outcrop we can climb on and peer over the edge to the canyon floor. We can see down the canyon and across to the South Rim. We set up camp, buy some firewood, cook a lovely spaghetti dinner, and eat s'mores. Again. I might be tiring of this, up-'til-now, annual or bi-annual dessert.
The sunset is incredible and lights up the sky in a sherbert kaleidoscope that intensifies into deep oranges and pinks and yellows. It is gorgeous and Teresa nails that one great shot. Along with 514 others. I know this because she reports her card is full and she had 515 shots available. OK, you say not bad. We've been gone for a few days. But I emptied her card this morning. And we drove most of the day.
It is a cold night and everyone hunkers down for a busy day in the canyon...
We leave Zion on our way to the impetus for this excursion, the Grand Canyon. Teresa has always wanted to see the canyon and it was the foundation of our trip.
To leave Zion toward the Grand Canyon, the shortest route goes through the Mt. Carmel tunnel.
Fun Fact: The height limit for vehicles traveling through the tunnel is 13' 1" and requires an escort. Our RV is 13' high, at least that is what the official looking sticker slapped on the dashboard at a suspiciously wonky angle tells me. Now I'm in a quandary. How much should one trust a sticker? Who made the sticker? Is the sticker generic for any large-ish RV? Does the 13' take into account the air conditioning unit on top? How about how much water and fuel is on board, did that lower the vehicle at the time of measurement? How much air is in my tires? We are talking about a 1" variable here.
We approach the entrance to the tunnel and two park rangers radio the other side. They stop traffic for our RV and tell us to proceed directly down the center of the tunnel maintaining 25 miles an hour. We make it through without incident and then drive down some switchbacks through some beautiful slickrock canyons.
We hit our first town in a while and gas up. We are only about 3/8ths down but we will be at the canyon without a hookup which means running the generator which uses the gas from the tank to charge the batteries. I don't know how much gas the generator will use so I decide to fill up. We add 30 gallons and pay only $125. I know I will pay the same in the end but I like the idea of filling up more times for less money than fewer times for more money. Something about dropping $350 at one fill-up makes me want to shoot a sheik.
While we fill up we resupply and head back out. The trip to the canyon is all uphill, which I never really thought about. We keep passing signs that say things like 6,000 feet above sea level. 7,000 feet above sea level. It stops climbing when we reach the Kaibab Forest. There are aspen trees and Ponderosa pines everywhere. We pass some meadows that are immense! I think back to the Great Meadows in the Shenandoah and you could fit several of those into one of these. There are several patches of what is most decidedly snow. It is 70 degrees outside but the elevation and shade keeps patches of snow on the ground.
We enter the Grand Canyon park and find our site. It is about 150 yards to the rim. There is a small rocky outcrop we can climb on and peer over the edge to the canyon floor. We can see down the canyon and across to the South Rim. We set up camp, buy some firewood, cook a lovely spaghetti dinner, and eat s'mores. Again. I might be tiring of this, up-'til-now, annual or bi-annual dessert.
The sunset is incredible and lights up the sky in a sherbert kaleidoscope that intensifies into deep oranges and pinks and yellows. It is gorgeous and Teresa nails that one great shot. Along with 514 others. I know this because she reports her card is full and she had 515 shots available. OK, you say not bad. We've been gone for a few days. But I emptied her card this morning. And we drove most of the day.
It is a cold night and everyone hunkers down for a busy day in the canyon...
Zion Taming
What a park! We woke up at a reasonable time, 8 a.m., ate, packed, and planned our hikes for the day. We were ambitious and decided to do three attractions. We caught the shuttle by the flag pole we walked by yesterday several times. The shuttle took us to the Emerald Pools trailhead.
There are three levels of pools, the Lower, the Middle, and the Upper. Nothing if not succinct, those park rangers. The first trail is paved and quite easily hiked. That would be why we were getting paced by both the elderly and the toddlers. After a few stops we came to the first set of waterfalls. Three falls drop about 80 feet into the Lower Pool. The path leads you around the concave cliff and behind the falls where the cool mist drops on all who pass. A little climb higher, not paved, and you reach the Middle Pool fed by a stream. But climb even higher along a path that has you scrambling and hiking and you reach the Upper Pool and discover the source of all the pools, a 300 foot water fall that drops into a shallow but large pool. It is spectacular.
We link to another trail that takes you along the edge of the cliffs overlooking the Virgin River which is still in flood from the winter thaw. The river is a cloudy green color with several areas of whitewater formed by a landslide that occurred just a year ago. We go down a few steep switchbacks to The Grotto, and sheltered area of the canyon.
By now the kids are tired and we catch the shuttle back to camp. We change and walk to a restaurant recommended by our guide from yesterday. We have a great dinner of Mexican food and Samantha eats an entire plate of quesadillas, the best she ever had!
When we get back to camp we cook some s'mores with caramel this time, and head in to watch the John Wayne file, The Cowboys. The kids have mixed reactions to the film. They don't appreciate the fact that John Wayne is killed in the movie. "But he's the star!", they scream. The kids have become enamored with John Wayne and his films. We have brought four of them with us on the trip. Their favorite by far is, Rio Bravo.
There are three levels of pools, the Lower, the Middle, and the Upper. Nothing if not succinct, those park rangers. The first trail is paved and quite easily hiked. That would be why we were getting paced by both the elderly and the toddlers. After a few stops we came to the first set of waterfalls. Three falls drop about 80 feet into the Lower Pool. The path leads you around the concave cliff and behind the falls where the cool mist drops on all who pass. A little climb higher, not paved, and you reach the Middle Pool fed by a stream. But climb even higher along a path that has you scrambling and hiking and you reach the Upper Pool and discover the source of all the pools, a 300 foot water fall that drops into a shallow but large pool. It is spectacular.
We link to another trail that takes you along the edge of the cliffs overlooking the Virgin River which is still in flood from the winter thaw. The river is a cloudy green color with several areas of whitewater formed by a landslide that occurred just a year ago. We go down a few steep switchbacks to The Grotto, and sheltered area of the canyon.
By now the kids are tired and we catch the shuttle back to camp. We change and walk to a restaurant recommended by our guide from yesterday. We have a great dinner of Mexican food and Samantha eats an entire plate of quesadillas, the best she ever had!
When we get back to camp we cook some s'mores with caramel this time, and head in to watch the John Wayne file, The Cowboys. The kids have mixed reactions to the film. They don't appreciate the fact that John Wayne is killed in the movie. "But he's the star!", they scream. The kids have become enamored with John Wayne and his films. We have brought four of them with us on the trip. Their favorite by far is, Rio Bravo.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Camp believe it.
This is the name of our site. We just can't believe we are here so we call it "Camp Believe It".
Sounds great but we are rushing around trying to get the family out the door to meet the guide from Zion Rock and Mountain Guides at the flagpole by 7:00 a.m. sharp. We can't be late says the itinerary. We rush out the door with almost all of our gear for the canyoneering tour at 6:55. We get to the flagpole at exactly 7 a.m. No one there. No SUV to pick us up. It is now 7:15 and still nothing. Of course we left the phones back in the RV so I return and call the guides. No answer. We hang out another 20 minutes and realize this first guided tour is not going to happen.
I get a call two minutes later from the outfitter saying the guide has been all around the flagpole looking for us. We were at the wrong flagpole.
But everything gets better. We get our rappelling gear and head out. It is one guide and us. The kids are excited and we drive to the canyon in about 20 minutes. We start our hike through the canyon and everything is so foreign to us. The sand feels like nothing we have walked on before, the wildflowers are blooming among rocks and sand, the canyons erupt out of the ground in clusters. The weather is great, upper 60's to 70 and light fluffy clouds stippled across this wonderfully blue sky.
We climb up to a rappel that the guide recommended because the normal spot was too busy due to our late departure. It is a much higher rappel but we can do it, he says. This does not make Samantha happy. She is not fond of heights.
We climb to our spot and tie in. Samantha wants to tandem and not go alone. We get tied together and begin. Sam is quite nervous but goes along. The first few steps are harrowing for her and she is scared. Halfway down she starts to enjoy it and exclaims, "I can't believe I am laughing!" Next over the edge are mom and son. They do a great job with Bryce saying, "Just go woman!" and we move on to the next rappel which is not a vertical drop like the first one. Bryce wants to try on his own and he does very well. Sam and T come down in tandem again. I was very proud of all of them.
The rest of the day is spent with a nice nap, a little walk and dinner at a cute little spot with great food. We return to the RV, watch a movie and turn in. We are looking forward to another great day here in Zion before we move out on Tuesday to the Grand Canyon.
Sounds great but we are rushing around trying to get the family out the door to meet the guide from Zion Rock and Mountain Guides at the flagpole by 7:00 a.m. sharp. We can't be late says the itinerary. We rush out the door with almost all of our gear for the canyoneering tour at 6:55. We get to the flagpole at exactly 7 a.m. No one there. No SUV to pick us up. It is now 7:15 and still nothing. Of course we left the phones back in the RV so I return and call the guides. No answer. We hang out another 20 minutes and realize this first guided tour is not going to happen.
I get a call two minutes later from the outfitter saying the guide has been all around the flagpole looking for us. We were at the wrong flagpole.
But everything gets better. We get our rappelling gear and head out. It is one guide and us. The kids are excited and we drive to the canyon in about 20 minutes. We start our hike through the canyon and everything is so foreign to us. The sand feels like nothing we have walked on before, the wildflowers are blooming among rocks and sand, the canyons erupt out of the ground in clusters. The weather is great, upper 60's to 70 and light fluffy clouds stippled across this wonderfully blue sky.
We climb up to a rappel that the guide recommended because the normal spot was too busy due to our late departure. It is a much higher rappel but we can do it, he says. This does not make Samantha happy. She is not fond of heights.
We climb to our spot and tie in. Samantha wants to tandem and not go alone. We get tied together and begin. Sam is quite nervous but goes along. The first few steps are harrowing for her and she is scared. Halfway down she starts to enjoy it and exclaims, "I can't believe I am laughing!" Next over the edge are mom and son. They do a great job with Bryce saying, "Just go woman!" and we move on to the next rappel which is not a vertical drop like the first one. Bryce wants to try on his own and he does very well. Sam and T come down in tandem again. I was very proud of all of them.
The rest of the day is spent with a nice nap, a little walk and dinner at a cute little spot with great food. We return to the RV, watch a movie and turn in. We are looking forward to another great day here in Zion before we move out on Tuesday to the Grand Canyon.
Leaving Las Vegas...
FRIDAY, MAY 27, 4:30 p.m.
"Our shuttle can pick you up at 11 a.m. but if you want to take a cab we open at 8 a.m."
"Ha! This is our vacation, we will be sleeping in. We'll meet the shuttle at 11."
SATURDAY, MAY 28, 5:30 a.m.
"I feel great. Can we pick up the RV now?", says the small boy.
And so there went the only comfortable bed I could enjoy for the next 28 days. 5:30 in the morning and Bryce is feeling better. Stoopid kids.
So we picked up the RV early. The people at Road Bear RV are very nice. They show us around our brand new 2012 RV. It has 1950 miles on it. All of them put on when the RV was delivered to their lot. We are the first rental! It still has that new RV smell, which is a hell of a lot better than that old RV smell of vomit, stale beer, and vomit.
The RV is so new, in fact, that they provide us a group of five keys, four of which the dealer knows the uses of, one he does not. "We have looked everywhere but we do not know what this key goes to. We gave it to you just in case you need it." Hence a new game was born, "Discover The Use of The Mystery Key Before The End of The Trip".
Now this is the first time I have ever driven something this large and it is brand new. Recipe for disaster.
We head directly to WalMart and spend entirely too long in there. We hit the road to go to Zion and I see my dream road. Rt. 15 with a 75 mile an hour speed limit. Well the RV does fine at that speed but the 50 mile an hour wind gusts (there was a wind advisory today) makes it a bit squirrely. It is a bit of work to keep something 2 feet thinner that the average highway lane in that lane when buffeted by strong crosswinds.
We arrive in Zion park and can't believe the gorgeous campsite. We are right on the river in the middle of the canyon. It is impressive. Overwhelming.
We set the RV up, I get dinner on and we enjoy a nice little meal of roasted rosemary chicken and redskin potatoes, baguette, and a nice local brew. We watch the sun set and get some sleep for the early morning tomorrow.
"Our shuttle can pick you up at 11 a.m. but if you want to take a cab we open at 8 a.m."
"Ha! This is our vacation, we will be sleeping in. We'll meet the shuttle at 11."
SATURDAY, MAY 28, 5:30 a.m.
"I feel great. Can we pick up the RV now?", says the small boy.
And so there went the only comfortable bed I could enjoy for the next 28 days. 5:30 in the morning and Bryce is feeling better. Stoopid kids.
So we picked up the RV early. The people at Road Bear RV are very nice. They show us around our brand new 2012 RV. It has 1950 miles on it. All of them put on when the RV was delivered to their lot. We are the first rental! It still has that new RV smell, which is a hell of a lot better than that old RV smell of vomit, stale beer, and vomit.
The RV is so new, in fact, that they provide us a group of five keys, four of which the dealer knows the uses of, one he does not. "We have looked everywhere but we do not know what this key goes to. We gave it to you just in case you need it." Hence a new game was born, "Discover The Use of The Mystery Key Before The End of The Trip".
Now this is the first time I have ever driven something this large and it is brand new. Recipe for disaster.
We head directly to WalMart and spend entirely too long in there. We hit the road to go to Zion and I see my dream road. Rt. 15 with a 75 mile an hour speed limit. Well the RV does fine at that speed but the 50 mile an hour wind gusts (there was a wind advisory today) makes it a bit squirrely. It is a bit of work to keep something 2 feet thinner that the average highway lane in that lane when buffeted by strong crosswinds.
We arrive in Zion park and can't believe the gorgeous campsite. We are right on the river in the middle of the canyon. It is impressive. Overwhelming.
We set the RV up, I get dinner on and we enjoy a nice little meal of roasted rosemary chicken and redskin potatoes, baguette, and a nice local brew. We watch the sun set and get some sleep for the early morning tomorrow.
Friday, May 27, 2011
We have touch down!
Ok. We made it. The kids were nervously excited about the flight. For about 1 hour. Then they were bored. How did children survive before electronics? We went through an ipad, ipod, and one phone on this one trip. And they were all boooooring! Samantha likes take offs more than landings. So do I but this landing was quite intersting. Very windy and came down on one wheel. Anyone who knows me knows my love of flying. Actually I enjoyed this flight more than any other in a long time. Something about seeing the magic of air travel with someone that hasn't done it before.
So we get in to the MGM Grand at three and we check out the lions and get in line for the buffet. C'mon, its Vegas, you have to experience a buffet at least once. Well, some of us experienced a buffet just once. Bryce didn't eat anything or drink anything all day. By the time we sit down at 5 to eat he has a headache and stomach ache. Not feeling well at all. A $21 buffet and he is down before he starts. I knew it was trouble when he wouldn't touch the crab legs. Teresa takes him up to the room after one plate of her $35 buffet. So now its up to Samantha and I to make up the difference. Well, let's say we didn't come close. Did I mention that the buffet didn't offer anything Sam liked? We are talking about a restaurant whose offerings are spread over an area measured in hectacres and she can't find anything she likes. It will be interesting to see how that casserole recipe plays when cooked in an E-Z Bake oven inside that RV.
But now I have a sick boy in bed and Teresa's first visit to Vegas she spends in the hotel room. I took Sam to the pool and then we walkled the strip for about two hours. Now its 11pm and I have just ordered room service to feed someone but if course they have all taken asleep. I annoy eating all these damn diners!
I think Bryce will be fine. He has no fever and says he feels better after the forced tube feeding of Gatorade we administered. I have a feeling this is going to be a great trip!
So we get in to the MGM Grand at three and we check out the lions and get in line for the buffet. C'mon, its Vegas, you have to experience a buffet at least once. Well, some of us experienced a buffet just once. Bryce didn't eat anything or drink anything all day. By the time we sit down at 5 to eat he has a headache and stomach ache. Not feeling well at all. A $21 buffet and he is down before he starts. I knew it was trouble when he wouldn't touch the crab legs. Teresa takes him up to the room after one plate of her $35 buffet. So now its up to Samantha and I to make up the difference. Well, let's say we didn't come close. Did I mention that the buffet didn't offer anything Sam liked? We are talking about a restaurant whose offerings are spread over an area measured in hectacres and she can't find anything she likes. It will be interesting to see how that casserole recipe plays when cooked in an E-Z Bake oven inside that RV.
But now I have a sick boy in bed and Teresa's first visit to Vegas she spends in the hotel room. I took Sam to the pool and then we walkled the strip for about two hours. Now its 11pm and I have just ordered room service to feed someone but if course they have all taken asleep. I annoy eating all these damn diners!
I think Bryce will be fine. He has no fever and says he feels better after the forced tube feeding of Gatorade we administered. I have a feeling this is going to be a great trip!
Monday, May 23, 2011
T-minus 4 days and counting...
Getting into the thick of it now. We should probably begin packing soon. Might need to stop by REI and pick up some clothing and gear. Thank God their annual sale is happening the week before our departure.
We just cleaned the house and confirmed the house/dog-sitter. How nice is that? We get both jobs taken care of with one person! Huge relief! Hamster-sitting is being outsourced.
We have a friend dropping us off at the airport, which is also a godsend.
We are starting to ask some seriously detailed questions re: the RV. Things like: what kind of port does the RV have so we can listen to our iPods through the stereo? Is the DVD player blu-ray? Which stops have laundry facilities?
It is starting to sink in that we will be on the road for longer than we ever have before. Its not like we are at the ends of the earth, but I don't want to be stopping at every park and picking up things we forgot.
I have loaded up some apps for the iPad but I am seriously doubting I will carry it with me anywhere and I really don't want to play with any more electronic devices than I absolutely have to on this trip. The point of this vacation is to focus on something other than an LCD screen.
On a serious note, T and I see this as a seminal moment in our lives. We are probably building it up a bit too much, but we are reveling in the idea of dropping out for a while. Its a bit naive, but we find that every trip is just bulging with the promise of the unknown and rumors of the unexpected. I have always enjoyed the surprises travel brings. There is a dichotomy in my personality. One part enjoys chaos and just tuning in to the flow of the trip. There is another side that just wants to be in control and ensure that we get to where we need to be before we are late. I don't know if I will ever resolve this contrast but I look forward to indulging the more carefree side of myself on this vacation.
I really am excited to spend some time with the family. Some parents miss the days that have passed when their children were younger. Some parents are always looking forward to the next stage in their kid's lives. I always try to focus and enjoy the age they are in the present. The memories of times passed seem so fleeting it makes sense to me to concentrate on the time I have with them right now.
Anyway, its getting late and I should probably start on my packing list. More to come.
We just cleaned the house and confirmed the house/dog-sitter. How nice is that? We get both jobs taken care of with one person! Huge relief! Hamster-sitting is being outsourced.
We have a friend dropping us off at the airport, which is also a godsend.
We are starting to ask some seriously detailed questions re: the RV. Things like: what kind of port does the RV have so we can listen to our iPods through the stereo? Is the DVD player blu-ray? Which stops have laundry facilities?
It is starting to sink in that we will be on the road for longer than we ever have before. Its not like we are at the ends of the earth, but I don't want to be stopping at every park and picking up things we forgot.
I have loaded up some apps for the iPad but I am seriously doubting I will carry it with me anywhere and I really don't want to play with any more electronic devices than I absolutely have to on this trip. The point of this vacation is to focus on something other than an LCD screen.
On a serious note, T and I see this as a seminal moment in our lives. We are probably building it up a bit too much, but we are reveling in the idea of dropping out for a while. Its a bit naive, but we find that every trip is just bulging with the promise of the unknown and rumors of the unexpected. I have always enjoyed the surprises travel brings. There is a dichotomy in my personality. One part enjoys chaos and just tuning in to the flow of the trip. There is another side that just wants to be in control and ensure that we get to where we need to be before we are late. I don't know if I will ever resolve this contrast but I look forward to indulging the more carefree side of myself on this vacation.
I really am excited to spend some time with the family. Some parents miss the days that have passed when their children were younger. Some parents are always looking forward to the next stage in their kid's lives. I always try to focus and enjoy the age they are in the present. The memories of times passed seem so fleeting it makes sense to me to concentrate on the time I have with them right now.
Anyway, its getting late and I should probably start on my packing list. More to come.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
T-minus 8 days and counting...
OK, we are off to a great start. Sam broke her arm last week but the cast will come off the day before we leave. Oh, and she got head lice last week as well but those are gone now. Bryce is nervous about flying and won't break in his hiking boots, but at least hasn't broken anything or brought blood-sucking parasites into our home. I am sick and tired of vacuuming and laundry.
I figure we won't need to worry about vacuuming OR laundry while we are on our trip. We will live off the land. Picture Dual Survival but with four instead of two. No showers, no housecleaning, no friends.
Everyone is asking about our itinerary. In a nutshell:
1. Fly to Las Vegas and pick up RV.
2. Zion National Park
3. Grand Canyon, North Rim. Known as the connoisseur's canyon which sounds suspiciously like what they would call Siberia. "Experience the 'Connoisseur's Russia', visit SIBERIA! Stay in one of our recently converted gulag motels. Savor reindeer jerky three times a day. Explore the scenery between June and August when we get three entire hours of sunlight each day! Don't stray from the guide ropes or you won't make it back for borscht wrestling!"
4. Bryce Canyon.
5. Salt Lake City. (But in an RV park in Salt Lake City, so none of those swanky SLC hotels for us, no sir.)
7. Grand Teton Nat'l. Park
8. Yellowstone Nat'l. Park
9. Elko, NV. Where? You heard me, Elko, NV
That's the trip. Sounds fun! Stay tuned for more preparations as we get closer to this "once in a lifetime" event.
UPDATE: Here is a map...
I figure we won't need to worry about vacuuming OR laundry while we are on our trip. We will live off the land. Picture Dual Survival but with four instead of two. No showers, no housecleaning, no friends.
Everyone is asking about our itinerary. In a nutshell:
1. Fly to Las Vegas and pick up RV.
2. Zion National Park
3. Grand Canyon, North Rim. Known as the connoisseur's canyon which sounds suspiciously like what they would call Siberia. "Experience the 'Connoisseur's Russia', visit SIBERIA! Stay in one of our recently converted gulag motels. Savor reindeer jerky three times a day. Explore the scenery between June and August when we get three entire hours of sunlight each day! Don't stray from the guide ropes or you won't make it back for borscht wrestling!"
4. Bryce Canyon.
5. Salt Lake City. (But in an RV park in Salt Lake City, so none of those swanky SLC hotels for us, no sir.)
6. Jackson, WY. Just saw this little nugget of info: "Travel Alert: May 18, 2011: Please be aware that Highway 26/89 in the Snake River Canyon has been closed due to a landslide."
8. Yellowstone Nat'l. Park
9. Elko, NV. Where? You heard me, Elko, NV
10. Lake Tahoe
11. Yosemite Nat'l Park
13. Barstow, CA. As in "Don't forget Winona, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernandino," from the song Route 66.
14. Las Vegas to return our beloved RV. Perhaps we will fall in love with it and keep it! Perhaps not. That's the trip. Sounds fun! Stay tuned for more preparations as we get closer to this "once in a lifetime" event.
UPDATE: Here is a map...
Saturday, May 14, 2011
T-minus 13 days and counting...
We are less than two weeks away from launch! Thirty days of living in a 31-foot POD on wheels with the family, touring the great national parks in the American West. In a moment of Clark Griswold euphoria I thought, "This will be great. We can spend time with the kids and share the discovery of a country they have never seen before they start to hate us. Good, quality time."
I have found that there are two reactions to that idea. (1.) "I was just talking to my husband about doing this! I think its great! I am so excited for you!" (2.) "My wife was just talking to me about this. Are you out of your #&@$* mind?"
Now I am thinking, "Four depart, but only one returns."
But it will be good, right? I mean good things will happen, right? I mean in between the kids (8 and 10) trying to murder each other for eating the last Pop-Tart, my wife and I trying to navigate a too-large-for-any-sane-person recreational vehicle, and the filling up of an 80-gallon tank in an RV that gets five to eight miles a gallon in the day of $4.50 gasoline—for a month!
One saving grace—the dog and hamster remain behind.
For one minute let's pretend no one needs to remember the "flush the black water first then follow that with the grey water" rule. Focus on the positive. Let us concentrate on stunning vistas; long stretches of open road in the still not-quite-tamed West of my provincial east-coast suburban imagination. Yes, let us ruminate on that. You know what else ruminates? Buffalo, moose, elk—all manner of wildlife I expect to see roaming around just feet from our camp as my wife and I embrace by the fire, gazing at an impossible number of stars in the night sky while our children recollect the day's hike over s'mores and the babbling of black water being deposited into an underground holding tank.
OK. I promise you, this will not be a Pollyanna kind of blog. Everything will not go well. Things will fall apart. We will document it. It could get ugly. It might get mean, but it will be a learning experience. And, I suspect for all my buddies, damned entertaining.
So buckle up and make sure everything is locked down, we are getting ready to do this thing. The Good, the Bad, and the RV.
I have found that there are two reactions to that idea. (1.) "I was just talking to my husband about doing this! I think its great! I am so excited for you!" (2.) "My wife was just talking to me about this. Are you out of your #&@$* mind?"
Now I am thinking, "Four depart, but only one returns."
But it will be good, right? I mean good things will happen, right? I mean in between the kids (8 and 10) trying to murder each other for eating the last Pop-Tart, my wife and I trying to navigate a too-large-for-any-sane-person recreational vehicle, and the filling up of an 80-gallon tank in an RV that gets five to eight miles a gallon in the day of $4.50 gasoline—for a month!
One saving grace—the dog and hamster remain behind.
For one minute let's pretend no one needs to remember the "flush the black water first then follow that with the grey water" rule. Focus on the positive. Let us concentrate on stunning vistas; long stretches of open road in the still not-quite-tamed West of my provincial east-coast suburban imagination. Yes, let us ruminate on that. You know what else ruminates? Buffalo, moose, elk—all manner of wildlife I expect to see roaming around just feet from our camp as my wife and I embrace by the fire, gazing at an impossible number of stars in the night sky while our children recollect the day's hike over s'mores and the babbling of black water being deposited into an underground holding tank.
OK. I promise you, this will not be a Pollyanna kind of blog. Everything will not go well. Things will fall apart. We will document it. It could get ugly. It might get mean, but it will be a learning experience. And, I suspect for all my buddies, damned entertaining.
So buckle up and make sure everything is locked down, we are getting ready to do this thing. The Good, the Bad, and the RV.
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