The parks, part 4

We went a bit out of our way south to see about some caves and some more "mountains." Due to poor timing we didn't actually descend into the caves. We had read that you could do a self-guided walk in the first major section, but that is apparently only true on very busy weekends, not weekday evenings. So we saw an exhibit of the caves, which was impressive and where we learned that it was called "mammoth" due to it being the longest cave system in the world, and that the end still has not been found. Cool. But no spelunking or photos.

Instead we had a lovely dinner where we received a recommendation for a short waterfalls hike on our way out of town the next day.

It was one of a few state parks that we ventured into on our trip--we mostly found these to be good (if fee driven) lunch spots. We didn't linger over the falls too much, even though I think Joe was ready to jump in at any moment--even our leisurely approach to the east didn't lessen the impact of being in high percentage humidity again.

Instead we headed towards the Great Smoky mtns. To be honest I was less interested in this park than many others because it seemed primarily focused on driving to restored homestead sites. And it was, but there were also bears. Bears.

Following the smokies, we did a bit of the Shenandoah, which was quite pretty, even outside of its fall glory. And then we descended into the city. I think the monuments in DC are considered national parks as well, but we didn't do any reminiscing at those.

The next day we used the vehicle to complete some errands that would have been otherwise cumbersome on foot and also revisited a couple of our favorite vineyards west of town.  And then we relinquished the vehicle and took to the metro to see how much we remembered of the museums and the mall.

Here I am again, in the city. I think I'm getting a handle on the whole urban commute again....

The parks, part 3

We did the Rockies in two parts. The first, driving the scenic byway through the park from one entrance to another as we made our way from UT. The second, through indulging in a short (but steep) hike to a lake.

It was dusk when we reached the southwestern entrance and we stopped alongside a series of parked cars and folks gawking at a meadow. They had spotted a sleeping moose. A camera wouldn't have done it justice, but it was beautiful to see a couple of ginormous antlers sticking out of the grass and the body heaving with sleeping breathing--it kind of reminded me of this movie scene (sans dino).

We didn't want to squander our light so we headed up the road, stopping to catch some grazing elk and then taking a quick (and cold) uphill journey to a viewpoint where we saw some marmosets hanging out.

You are being tracked

Some dudes

Marmoset

The road through the mountains

The best was the elk roadblock as we descended into the northeastern park entrance. Some of my favorite moments from the whole trip. I think it took a good 10 minutes to skirt out of there. Joe was driving at this point and he hung his head out the window to capture these fabulous shots--the next three are his favorite--just a buck chillin' across the road.

This one, however is my favorite.

We declined the elk burger in town that night (opting for buffalo instead) and enjoyed a proper beer.

The next morning we rose early and re-entered the park to hit a hiking trail. I love the national parks and I especially love that people from all over the world come to enjoy them, yet I never cease to be amazed at either (a) what is deemed a "hike" and/or (b) if a strenuous hike, what measures other folks have taken to be prepared. In this case we found ourselves amused by the cigarette and big gulp prep of a few folks at the trail head.

This was not a popular hike (at least from the direction we came from--likely due to the rapid and unforgiving elevation change in full sun), so we had the lake mostly to ourselves. Us and some dragonflies. oh yeah.

Then off we went for a long stretch of road, the end of which was filled with 'no vacancy.' So we covered a bit more ground and had severely diminished dinner choices.

The parks, part 2

This wasn't our longest day of driving, but it certainly had the most stops. This was also the day we finally steered into the rainstorm. The scenic route was lovely and we found ourselves wondering how certain places became demarcated as more beautiful than others...

Our endpoint for the evening was the entry point to Arches. Not for the last time on this trip would we find that hotel rooms were a hot commodity. I think we may have found the last place with vacancy as we rolled in that night.

After securing a room we had a look at the brewery in town. The alcohol laws in UT are about the most difficult to wrap your mind around of just about anywhere else in the US. We sampled some draft local brew to the tune of 3.2% I think (which wasn't a bad thing), but then were able to purchase bottles of different beer brewed by the same brewery and have them with dinner that were higher ABV. Funny stuff and unfortunately, nothing worth writing home about...

This was right after we almost drove into lightening. It was drizzly, but much like many afternoon storms, passed quickly. The rain served to change the color of the rock somewhat and we really enjoyed trying to take photos that made the bridges look closer to an illusion than a proper land form.

see if you can spot the natural bridge...

 

So, it was early the next morning that we set out into the park--hoping to avoid the worst of the crowds (insert laughter here). The arches are truly beautiful and I was excited that we could walk right up to them and climb around instead of having them roped off. It was a stunning environment, but we had to pick and choose where and how to spend our time, so after a glance at the more than full parking lot for the hike to the most famous arch, we opted for a viewpoint hike instead. We spent more time down in the 'windows' area, which I absolutely fell in love with.

After a few pictures Joe said I blended in with my summer tanned skin tone--this is my glamor shot...

Chameleon

see the speck? It's Joe.

We drove from here all the way through the Rocky Mtn park in one day--I can't say how glad I am that we arrived at the park entrance just before dusk. There was a ton of activity and even though it was overcast, we saw some absolutely beautiful rays as the sun was eclipsed by the mountains.

Blogs were too new (with the exception of the longstanding presence of Rooftop) for me to have one on our last cross country trip, but if I had, I would have posted pictures from our trip to Yellowstone and expressed the disappointment that we felt at hours and miles of biking the back country and not seeing much activity from the parks residents (I know, right, put on a show for the tourists...sigh... sorry).

It was quite another bit to go from 90 degrees and full sun type weather to 50 degrees or so in an alpine tundra environment.

The parks, part 1

As I mentioned in the first post of the trip, we were going to try to see some national parks on our way across. We spent more time in some than in others, but I think we made the annual pass work for us as we managed to visit 11 parks/national monuments on our way through twice as many states. We also took the 'scenic route' whenever possible, which meant slower and different drives. We found our way to Bryce via Capitol Reef.

The first and most lengthy and luxurious stop was Bryce Canyon, where we splurged for a night in a cabin that was mere feet from the rim of the amphitheater. This afforded us the opportunity to do a more lengthy hike on the first day, a shorter hike on our way out the second day and to stay up for the sunset and rise early for the sunrise. It was a beautiful way to enjoy the park on a short timeline and to relax after 2 days of driving. We spent a lot of time playing around with the camera settings and took well over 200 photos, but these I like the best:

 

This is a shaky video of 'wall street' down on the floor of the amphitheater and possibly my favorite part of this hike...except for the Japanese family that chased me down the steps at the end ; )

 

Waiting for sunset. We had hiked from sunset point to sunrise point through the floor of the canyon and then enjoyed a sumptuous meal in the lodge...then we waited for sunset. I have to admit, I was originally considering the points as a place to view the sun part of the set and rise and then I realized that I was a complete idiot and it was about the rock formations, the color, the play of the sun on the sandstone. So I dismissed the points of interest and we instead favored a bench in between the two.
 

Waiting for sunset

Storm and a rainbow at sunset

 

Sunset was beautiful and it was incredible to watch the amphitheater change, we enjoyed being up 'late' and it made it almost painful to rise with the sun the next day, but I am so glad that we did, because it was a completely different view (and I think I favored this one). 

 

silhouettes in the sunrise

 

One of the most beautiful parts of our travels from Oregon through to Colorado was the rain bands that we often saw from a distance and mostly skirted around. Spectacular bolts of lightning miles and miles away lit the the gray skies on our periphery as we drove in full sun. We actually only got rained on once on our way out of Bryce on our way to the Natural Bridges. In that case we could hear the thunder for the first time and lightening struck almost too close. We saw a bolt strike in close proximity and both of us took a breath to begin to count the space between the light and the thunder and were halted by the earth shattering boom of it about a tenth of a second later. We passed a tree that was slightly smoking and determined that the strike had probably been only 100-200 feet from our traveling vehicle. Frightening. But after a few minutes, exciting. 

Upon leaving Bryce we stopped and did a short walk through the fairyland area just outside the park fee station, it was another smaller amphitheater and we had it to ourselves, which is saying something...Our next major stop was Moab and Arches, but we took a very long route to get there which took us on a mostly driving tour of Grand Escalante, Natural Bridges (viewpoints), and Canyonlands, while we skirted around Glen Canyon. 

Old stomping grounds

Same same but different at the vineyard and winery.

the future is in plastics...

On a daily basis I try not to allow my phone to think for me, and on this trip it's been even easier as we've gone in and out of cell service. On this, the last evening in a hotel, I have been thinking about travel, nature and technology. The difference between this trip and our last cross-country trip has been incredible--and I think, we owe it to mobile apps. Before extolling a few virtues though, I do want to point out that we purchased a brand new US Atlas and have been primarily relying on it for wayfinding...it's awesome.

That said, being able to access real-time traffic information, gas prices, area restaurants and find hotels en route has made a huge difference.

I am especially appreciative today as we sit in a climate-controlled suite away from the noise of the highway sipping a wine-barrel aged sour beer purchased from a brewpub a few miles back. 

Roadblocks

So, it has been nine years since we last crossed the country by car and now, at a midpoint (Kansas feels very very very big right now), I can say that some things about cross-country travel have changed, while others remain woefully the same.

Since we're not moving our entire household this time around (it's just me, my bike and my clothes--I sent the books ahead), we have the luxury of taking things slow and not being fussed by cats in the car or specific day/arrival times. This has turned out to be important a few times already. I am excited to share all of the beauty that the national parks have painted into my memory, but (per usual) there are a number of photos to digest beforehand. Instead I digress, to consider the journey--rather than the destination(s).

We're taking the scenic route. Quite literally and purposefully.

On our first day of travel, we took a longer route, which diverted us away from the thunderstorm initiated wildfires of the high desert and down into a new area of open range that was new to us. As with all summer adventures involving paved road, you can expect construction, roadblocks and detours.

Eastern Oregon range land has always held a special place in my heart because you can expect (similar to myriad of other places in the world) to be stopped in favor of cattle crossing. Hanging out with cows and their wranglers is a great way to take a break from the car.

Upon our arrival in Idaho, we hit our first construction site (or so we thought)--a sign promised up to 30 minutes of waiting for access to the one-lane passage. After 90 minutes we thought we were being thoroughly abused by the Dept. of Transportation. It turned out, however, that there was a major accident at the construction site. Three hours later we followed a pilot car past the two semi-trucks that had been painstakingly cleared from the road.

Last night, we had flashbacks to our first cross-country trip together where, despite long hours of driving and a strong desire to sleep, we had to keep moving through the northern route to find a vacancy in the land of the motorcycle rally. It is the same time period, but we're on a middle route, which finds us, not in the company of harley enthusiasts, but a very large meeting of the national guard. I think we got the last room within a 90-minute radius. And so this morning, we slept in. I am now catching up with the world over wi-fi and a cup of coffee...getting ready to put this flat expanse of land behind us.

Here we go again...

So I accepted a visiting position. On the other side of the country...which if you consider it, is really par for the course. With the exception of our sojourns in CA and OR all of my moves have been across the country.

In style--luxury rental

Thus begins my 8th trip across the USA. And somehow we have managed to find a different route and plan a trip that brings us to places we haven't yet been. This is my and Joe's 3rd trip together and this time, we're taking it slow and doing it in style (I get some of my expenses covered on this trip...).

So we're hitting the national parks--basically anything that gets thrown in our way on the middle route that we feel comfortable spending less than a day exploring.

Yesterday we began. It was beautiful. East and then South. We hit an amazingly bad (but everybody okay--pictures forthcoming) accident on our way into NV. Which meant 3 hours watching a couple of semi trucks being cleared from the 2 lane road and an amazing thunderstorm ricocheting around us. We also played some backgammon and chatted with the folks around us.

But today was the real treat. We're staying in the park and the lodge has wifi so I will share a pano from our hike today:

Bryce Canyon Amphitheater