Panic at the tent, great Grand Tetons, Wildlife galore, Stink fest and a Rockin dinner

August 15, 2007
Miles Driven 265

So this morning we woke up at 5:25. I know a little early for a birthday but actually we were about an hour late as we were schedule to be arriving at our float trip within twenty minutes at it was a bout an hour away. So we had to go to plan B and we didn’t really have a plan B. So we rolled with it, avoided a panic attack or two and let God dictate the day. And boy was it worth it.

We first took a slow scenic drive and stopped at some nice turnouts as the sun was rising to shine on the mountains. We caught one of the best signs yet. “Caution Bear Frequenting Area” Now this just cracks me up. What are you going to say? Hey Bear don’t I know you do you come here often. Is this a place you come a lot Mr. Bear. You look really familiar do you live near hear. Just a brilliant sign especially if you are looking to pick up a bear.

Basically spent the rest of the morning looking at great scenic turnoffs and checking out animals and the action around two of the bigger glacier lakes including Jenny Lake and Jackson Lake. When souvenir shopping and collecting one of four stamps I asked for a recommendation to an off the beaten place and got recommended leeks marina, which was awesome. We got to enjoy a great calzone lunch and relax on the marina overlooking the mountains. It was the life relaxing and just taking it the scenery. I really really like mountains. We then looked at our options and decided to start checking out Yellowstone since it was North of where we were.

So my first impressions of Yellowstone. It is a freaky, Weird, awesome, fascinating creepy world. Laura always tells me about this super volcano that exists which is creepy in its own right especially when you put yourself in the caldera of the volcano. Now it gets interesting. I have never been warned about the smell of Yellowstone. You would think I would know this do to the gaseous nature but it literally was taking my breath away to walk around this land filled with Geysers, hot springs, and thermo land mines. I gagged a couple of times and then I realized. This is a perfect place for a person like myself who just loves a nice high fiber diet. Who is going to call you out for you gas? It is a perfect sanctuary. To be honest it certainly is very parallel world to working with the severe profound children who are nonverbal. They generally aren’t going to ca2ll you out for you gas and if they do you are so proud of them that is worth it. We checked out lots of the geysers and there was even a place called the bacteria mat if that is to give you any idea what sort of land we were walking on and timed it perfectly to see old faithful erupt which is pretty darn neat.


And then we timed it perfectly to get back to camp squeeze in a shower and get dressed up tie and all for me and heels and all for Laura. The only day out of three weeks of camping that we actually cleaned up and Laura Took me to the Jenny lodge restaurant for my birthday dinner. What an awesome experience. I certainly love to be wined and dined it was five course meal a1nd just to them max I enjoyed it. The inside of the lodge was all wood and we sat on cowhide chairs and our salt and peppershakers were made of elk antlers. I started with escargot, followed by lobster bisque, then a nice salad, with a main entrée of pan seared duck breast served over coconut rice, with grilled mango salsa and a cilantro sauce, which were all superb and we finished it up with some nice desert. Laura had scallops which she thought were amazing and then had tow of the most interesting culinary treats of here life, sweet pea ice cream made with peas and mint and lavender caramel. We had a great view right outside the lodge of the grand tetons and had our waitress take our picture even though the mountains were hazy. Just a great great day but we were both exhausted and tomorrow we are at least trying to get on this sunrise float trip so we will be up at 4:30 tomorrow. So early to bed for us. Happy night to you and happy birthday to me.

Magma lava, Moose and a bear.

August 14, 2007
Miles driven 319


So this morning was spent trying to start to catch everyone up on the bog, chilling at the hotel and enjoying the4 continental breakfast and free cable. And by the way what kind of continental breakfast has biscuit and gravy.

We then stocked up on some sweat pants for Laura my least favorite store in the world Wal-Mart. It certainly dwarfs most stores but I get itchy with an instant desire to be removed from Wal Mart.

We then drove and stayed within the state of Idaho but it felt like we were in a completely different planet. We visited the Craters of The Moon National monument. Which was basically this barren land formed by lava rocks from over millions of years with the last eruption being about 2000 years ago. There were some really cool white flowers which were such a contrast on the lava rock and then just a completely different world with different hills and little valleys and craters. In one hole there was still some winter snow even though it was at least 90 degrees outside; evidently because lava rock is such an excellent insulator. I think I might design a whole product line including Lava. We also collected another stamp. I know you guys are all jealous.


While driving we saw this huge yellow sign that said and I kid you not
Warning to tourists
Do not laugh at the locals
This was one of the funniest things I have seen in a while. Great comedians those Idahoans.

We arrived at Grand Teton just after the visitor centers had closed and were greeted with some great views of the Tetons (mountains) and then of course we saw our welcome crew a Moose just chilling in the water. There really is nothing so cool as just seeing animals beyond birds, squirrels and chipmunks just chilling in the wild. Moose are real big. But this guy basically posed for pictures as he drank his evening water really cool stuff

We also saw a bear cub looking for some dinner on the grass along one of the roads. It was basically a bear butt but the Ranger beeped and asked us to move, as there was no pull off nearby to safely watch the bear cub from.

Got to camp with just enough sunlight to set up camp in record time and then treated ourselves to a meal at the hotel near our campground. I actually had some great Rocky Mountain trout washed down with Some Moose Drool. Nothing wrong with that.


One more random thought. / I commented on RV’s earlier but now I am going to comment on motorcyclists exploring the nationals parks. First off they are everywhere and I know I am closed-minded but I really didn’t peg the Motorcyclist as the die-hard Nature seeker. Second they are really safe usually and almost always have all the protective clothing on which is such a huge peeve of mine because states like Illinois don’t even have helmet laws which can be such a huge life saver. But anyway evidently via motorcycle or vespa is the way to see the parks.

Tomorrow’s my birthday and we have an early wakeup call for a float trip so I think I am going to stop blogging for now.

A long drive with no pics

August 13
Miles Driven:528
We had a really long driving today. So I don’t really have much to say as we got no stamps today so I will just share a few random thoughts as I have them.

Last night was freezing for sleep. Laura really struggled to get some sleep as she was shivering. It was 41 degrees when we woke up this morning so there is a good chance was even colder last night. Luckily she was able to get a couple hour nap while I drove and listened to Sirius NFL radio. Just a great station.

We took down camp extremely fast this morning and we were on the road by 6:30.

Saw a great flat top when stopped at Starbucks today. It was the white version of Kid from kid n’play’s hair. It was spectacular. Idaho is blessed with one of the best engineered hairstyles in the world.

RV’s : There are so many of these things on the road. I never really knew this world existed. There are a ton of RV rental companies. I don’t know how great this is but people seem to love it and they’ll give it to anybody particularly Europeans.

We did try to find a fossil national monument but were unsuccessful.

Loved having TV at the hotel, Fat March for some reason is a hilarious guilty pleasure.

It’s nice to not have to pack up your house for a day..

Had pizza loaded with veggies today pretty good for Idaho Pizza.
Off to Craters of the Moon and grand teton tomorrow and possibly another week without blogging so enjoy what we got.

A spectacular Day

August 12
Miles driven 248
Another chilly night but we got up early and packed up camp and headed out to what can only be described as a hidden paradise called Crater lake. . We drove through the redwoods as we left and got that classic sunlit fog through trees and another windy road. There are evidently a ton of these out here.

Crater lake is just magnificent. We couldn’t stop taking pictures. I was super excited from the get go. . When we showed up we saw that there was only gas station on the whole site so we stopped there first. It turned out that this was out of order as the whole park was without power. Luckily the whole park is designed to be experienced off the rim drive. The rim drive circles this Glacier Lake, which is the definition of pure blue. Its unique landscape was formed by some ancient volcanic activity.

There are two islands floating in this super deep lake that is 1900 feet deep and has had some living moss at 750 feet below surface showing how pure the water is. So we experienced this breathtaking beauty with tons of driftwood and windblown white pines surrounding the rim.

We then departed, survived the gas shortage and set up camp at the Diamond Lake national Recreation Area Campground, which was one of our favorite campgrounds by far. We were right on the lake as the sunset and the campground was very spread out so it felt like we had the lake to ourselves.

We got everything set up in daylight and cooked dinner and lunch for the following day and then we got to enjoy a great fire and spectacular stars. And what a night to experience star, as there was a meteor shower that was amazing at such an open area and so rural. All and all possibly the most perfect day yet with the perfect mix of relaxing and awe inspiring beauty

We have 9 days left and that is longer then most people’s vacation in its own right and we are just hitting our camping/vacationing rhythm.

Us and some really tall Trees

August 11

Miles driven 141
So today was a pretty great chill day woke up after a good night’s sleep and went into Crescent City for a breakfast recommended by one of our guide books and some great huevos rancheros. Then found our first visitor center for this park, which wasn’t even submerged in the park or amongst trees. It was in fact in my opinion a bit creepy. We got our stamp though and registered for the coolest part of our day the Tall Trees grove which they needed to give us a combination to access since they only allow 40 cars a day access to this part of the park.

We then drove as far south as the park is and checked out a different visitor center got some souvenirs and checked out the ocean. They have Elk up here like we have pigeon. It’s almost a shame because they almost become commonplace.

The Tall Tree Grove truly seemed like mission impossible as a locked gate guarded a 6-mile dirt road to the trailhead, which descended 700 feet over a span of a little over one mile. We were wondering if we were up to it after our treacherous trek a couple of days ago. But we put on the camelbacks and started down the trail. It was spectacular as we felt like we were the only two people in this huge forest with trees jutting 300-350 feet to the sky growing for at least 2000 years. An amazing site to behold. There were cool trees with goospens that had been hollowed out by fires, trees used as bridges. One of the neatest things was the trees sounded as though they were talking as the wind blew them. I think Laura found this more creepy than cool as these huge trees only have a root system that goes 6-8 feet into the ground.

After the tall trees grove we headed out on the coastal drive and found ourselves a great place for a picnic on hidden bluffs. It seemed like an Irish picnic as the weather was cold and very foggy but we ate some great California foods to make it a California picnic including figs, fresh Gouda and homemade bread and some soymilk. A very fun experience with some great views as provided underneath the fog to see the coastline.
The rest of the drive was great and we finished off with some Laundry, which is an important survival on this trip, and when we got back to camp Laura invented a new sandwich called the BOAT that is Bacon, Onion, Avocado and Tomato as we chilled by the fire. It was a really nice day and the seclusion of the campground was great.

Wanna Take you to Whiskeytown and the crookedest road in the world.

August 10

Miles driven 523
So a big drive today from Yosemite to Redwoods. I don’t have too much to say and not too many pictures as it was one of the more exhausting drives I have ever been on.

First leaving Yosemite was challenging as the roads were crowded with buses and trailers and were filled with lots of turns making cruise control kind of a nonoption.

We stopped at roadside fruit stand which was on the site of a Cheese factory and got some great products including fresh nectarines, strawberries, figs and tomatoes and then went into the factory and got two great things of Gouda including a cumin flavored one and a garden herb one. And then we got on a beautiful road but a road from hell called California 299
This road wove its way through deserts, mountains, and along rivers and through forests but invovlved so many turns for huge long stretches where I would turn one way for 5 seconds and then 5 seconds later make a u turn. They were back and forth putting the Healy pass in Ireland and Causeway street to shame. I guess when you want access to beautiful land you preserve it by building very windy roads.

We drove through a place and snagged a stamp at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area which ad beautiful waters and looked like a great place to hike and play in the water but we didn’t have time for such fun so we just enjoyed the drive along the water framed by huge forests.
We got to Redwoods and still had to drive the road 101 which pretty much slices through it for a 50 mile stretch north to South. The drive was spectacular as the fog came in and out and was interspersed with fog and with intense shadows. I felt like a batter standing in the shadow as the pitcher pitched from bright sun. As we were driving we found two huge elk just chilling on the side of the road eating a dinner. They were completely unfazed by the cars pulled over to take their pictures. We continued on and got camp set up just before sunset, which was very nice. More exploring tomorrow.

A magnificent, horrible, Wonderful, Neverending hike

August 9
Mile Driven 38

Hiked 9.5

SO we woke up before 7 this morning as we had a scheduled bus ride to Glacier Point leaving at 8:30 and had to drive down to the valley to catch the bus.

As we arrived at the valley there were four mule deer just lying in the grass. All you could see of them were their massive horns, which is still a pretty spectacular site for a city boy.

We got on this bus and the ride up to Glacier point was awesome. Our bus driver was hilarious. He had a very sarcastic dark humor and delivered everything straight face with the same monotone. The views from the bus were breathtaking and made us wonder what we were in for. Glacier point is about 8000 feet above sea level and over looks, the Royal Arches, Half Dome and some of the bigger waterfalls of the park. We took our 2-liter camlebaks and decided we were ready to hike. Now everything that described this hike described it as a moderate intensity hike which involved 3500 feet descent over 8.5 miles. So to me it seemed like we would be able to do it nicely over that 4- 6 hour pace.

When we first set out it seemed like this perfect hike moderately intense and going down at a nice pace with spectacular views of the Yosemite Valley it was definitely some work but nothing too intense and we arrived at our first of three waterfalls and it was a great experience. The waterfall and overlook of the waterfall offered spectacular views and nature experiences but we realized we had only done about 2 to 3 miles of the hike and then the hike changed. We started to head up hill which we were both physically capable of doing but spent our legs as we did this for the next three miles and let me tell you at higher elevation compared to being at Death Valley just two days prior it really can wind you. So we thought we had to be almost at the waterfalls when we stopped and rested at a totally different perspective of Half Dome.

We had at least another mile or two to get to the top of Nevada Falls, which is what we earmarked for our picnic. We had a great picnic although the squirrels which had huge ghetto booty asses were very pesky and really came right up to you looking for a snack. So we knew that from here on out we were going downhill for the last 3.5 miles. There is three and half miles and there is 3 and half miles going straight down a “ granite staircase which is actually steep rocks completely uneven going pretty much a descent of at least 2500 feet. It was crazy never knowing when you would lose your balance and we were already exhausted from the last three miles, which had been straight up hill. Also did I mention we had run out of water as the sun beat down us in the peak of the day and thus had to beg for water as we descended as well. Thank you to all the good souls who were so helpful and generous. I know this probably sounds awful but the views were really wonderful and I love getting the heart pumping. I will have to agree with Laura that the view of the top of the waterfall is nothing spectacular compared to the bottom and across the valley. Laura busted her toe so our descent was incredibly slow so any PT geeks can appreciate our eccentric control working in overdrive. . We survived but barely and the bus back to our car was one of the best sites either of us saw in another beautiful spectacular day. I had a great picture of a rainbow formed at the bottom of a waterfall but was too exhausted to make sure my shutter was open all the way. Oops.
We sought out some showers to recover from our huge hike and finished with some stargazing and some beer. The stars here are unreal and quite a treat for a city boy. So another hard day of Vacationing at least I should sleep well.

Chillin in Yosemite after the Great Yosemite wall

August 8

Total Driving 35 miles

Woke up at had a slow morning and got everything organized
Chillier then Arches, Zion, the Grand Canyon and Death Valley so Laura was starving for some heart. And once she’s asleep she’s out. She literally knocked me off the air mattress three times onto the freezing ground. I think it was unintentional but who am I to know.

We then drove down to the Yosemite valley with a stop down at the bridal veil falls which Laura was anticipating being a dud and boy was she right just kind of a trinkle coming down kind ridiculous after waterfalls in Zion during torrential rain. And then we checked out the visitor center and collected another couple of stamps. We are just racking them up watch out world here we come. And then it was time to see the Yosemite Falls, which is supposed to be the tallest waterfall in the US, and it was such a dud as it was more like Yosemite Walls as opposed to Yosemite falls we will have to come back in the winter. We then checked out the Ansel Adams photography gallery after a nice short hike to check out a bridge with a great view of half dome and the valley. Ansel Adams had some nice stuff but we have some great pictures so far on this trip.
We had a really nice picnic in front of El Capitan which is about a 3600 foot straight granite face wall that people actually climb and sleep in little slings because it takes so long to climb.

Then it was time for one of my favorite parts of camping CAMP NAP said in Jim Gaffigan’s hot pocket voice. And a relaxing dinner followed with a campfire and just spectacular stars. The stars here blow away the stars everywhere else. It really is quite the sight.

Random thoughts about
Bear bin: They are hard-core about their bears here. They want all food locked up. All hygiene products locked up and are big on speed to make sure you don’t hit any bears. It’s really intense certainly something to think about at night when you are sleeping.
Lacier Port a Potties cleaning: A septic tank broke so we are using port a potties. They are better than pit toilets but I saw a lady clean them today and she didn’t wear gloves I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit. How could you clean those foul things without gloves?

Sunrise with the Europeans, Golf, and Arrival at Yosemite Park

August 7

Total Driving 365 Miles

So I woke up of course before the crack of dawn, I have this great hotel room, the first real bed I have slept in for over a week, first time with air conditioning and I wake up at 5:20. I said to myself if I wake up early enough then God wants me to see the sunrise. SO I did. I drove about 4 miles to a place called Zabriske point, which was sort of similar to the Artist’s palette, and again I got to truly experience it with the Europeans. There were at least 20 Europeans out there watching this sunrise, which was pretty cool as it lit up this multicolored hill. I randomly walked in front of this guy’s video as he had it on the ground on a bag trying to capture the sunrise just another reason for the American’s to be hated. By the time I got back it was almost 7 and of course Laura’s idea of vacation and my idea of vacation don’t always sync up.

I decided I would go golfing at the lowest golf course in the world at the hottest time of the year. Now first off for you to truly enjoy how hilarious this is. I don’t golf. I really think it has probably been about 3 years since I have golfed. And to make it better the only stipulation was that there was video and camera documentation. So half the time I as setting up the camera and then running to pose for a picture as I was setting the camera up on the course. It was a lot of fun. very relaxing. I have certainly been way too competitive and awful usually when I have golfed so it was nice to just relax and play and it was pretty course especially considering it was a dessert. I didn’t really keep score.

We then enjoyed another great swimming trip in the natural spring fed pool, Laura laughed her ass off at my golf documentation and we had breakfast and got going towards Yosemite. We snagged another passport stamp and at the National Historic Site which was a Manzanar Japanese entrainment Camp and then grabbed Lunch.

This is where it gets interesting we really wanted to see the Devil’s postpile which was supposedly on the way to Yosemite So on our way we passed through this town called Mammoth lakes which really seems like a great town for hiking, biking, skiing, snowshoeing and all sorts of outdoorsy activities with some cute restaurants and bars too. But anyways while almost there Laura realized that our reserved camp was about an hour and a half outside of Yosemite each day so that it would be quite challenging on us and so we tried to call about reservations for an actual campsite in Yosemite which of course were all full. So we decided we’d still play a little camp roulette and see if we could get a first come first served campsite. Unfortunately our planned stop the Devil’s post pile was a bit of a dud as the only way they were allowing people between 7Am-7: 30PM was via shuttle and it was an expected 2- 3 hour commitment so we bailed on that and headed towards Yosemite. We got to Yosemite in time to sneak in a stamp for the Tulomean meadows sectionThe two campgrounds that we knew we could get were 3- 4 miles off the main road and pretty close to back road camping where you are boiling water so we decided to try for the one that claimed they had flush toilets and tap water and we literally grabbed the last camp site available. Which was great. We had to drive a road constructed drive after setting up camp in to the valley for ice and some other supplies but we survived and were utterly exhausted by the end of it. So that was it I would probably call golfing a surprising unexpected highlight.

It's getting hot in here

August 6

Total Driving: 438 Miles

So early rising today. I woke up with a pretty bad headache, which definitely slowed me down. Got back to bed for some sleep and then we packed up camp quickly to get on the road. We really were fast, kind of getting in a camping rhythm.

On the rode we saw the Hoover dam. What a let down. Laura and I both were pretty excited about coming up on it and it just seemed like a big wall. Now don’t get me wrong I know it is very effective and useful but it just didn’t do that much for me.
We snagged two stamps though for the Old Spanish trail (I don’t even know what that is) and for Lake Mead national Recreation Area.

We then drove quite a bit, stopped for some Starbucks and then headed to a town called Shoshone. We stopped at a diner called the Crowbar café and Saloon. We both got some great burgers, which really set us up for some desert exploration.


Death Valley was just another thing in a long line of things we had not seen before in this country. There were a lot of different salt collections because at times it has lakes or rivers which are dried up particularly in the summer and so the There are some awesome salt collections including the Devil’s golf course which is very neat.

We then went on this great drive called the Artists drive and saw the Artist’s palette. Just spectacular colors Formed by different lava and sediment, iron oxides, copper and different minerals, which are so spectacular in the colors, it forms. Truly like God had the artist in mind when creating it.

We then finally got to the all important visitor center with 15 minutes to spare to get the passport stamp. . Hot dignity it was time to go swim in the natural spring fed/chemical free pool. Very great experience. And it was like the best European Speedo People watching experience of my life3. Who comes to Death Valley in the summer, Super buff European Families and these two hearty Midwest quite the contrast

We settled in for some pizza and Air Conditioning and bed enjoyment after some great showers and even watched some TV. Just a great experience. Wish we had a little more hotel experience built in but so far everything has been great might as well run with it.

Hardcore Sunrise, Sunset. It’s how we do it

August 5

Total miles driven : 69 Miles

So that’s right you might not recognize us but we are the couple that wakes up for sunrises in the Grand Canyon. While we were driving we had a little Prairie Mouse who kept trying to climb by my windshield wipers. I tried to rescue him I really did but he kept hiding every time I looked for him. Hopefully I won’t be driving with a cooking prairie mouse tomorrow. The Sunset was great and we watched it from Moran point. We were there with only one other guy who kept pacing back and forth like we had ruined his solitude spot. We then did the rest of the watchtower and decided it was a great time for the Grand Canyon to be photographed and saw a cool watchtower built to blend in with a place like the Grand Canyon.

Then we made a very wise choice and went back to bed. If you are going to watch the Sunrise at 5:40 then you should probably go to bed when it is done.

We woke up and were having breakfast and saw a huge male deer with giant horns. He was tough to capture on film but was not like the deer we have at home. I already told you about the deer that could gore you well it turns out that they had to put 15 deer to sleep this year because people stupidly kept feeding them and thus they got sick and weren’t able to get food into their system as trash got caught in their digestive systems. They also are not afraid of humans so will come right up to them and kick, bite, headbutt. They are some crazy deer.

We headed into Tusayan again and this time went and saw the Grand Canyon Imax movie, which was great, and Laura got her first piece of jewelry on the trip. Hopefully that does not open the floodgates.

We had an awesome time at the internet café we were at yesterday and I got to update my blog and we got our pictures backed up on snapfish. Laura enjoyed a couple of virgin Pina Coladas which is a little random because who goes to the grand Canyon and says mmmmmm Pina Coladas. We would give you the link but you would need like 10 hours to view them all as they are unfiltered.

Went back to camp and Laura cooked dinner (Mac and Cheese with Chicken). I think I mentioned this before but we decided we needed a break from bratwurst every night, imagine that. I grilled up some carrots, which turned out great as well, and it all occurred in the daylight.

Now it get s crazy we went on the Hermits bus route and got dropped off and went hiking along the rim trail and caught a spectacular sunset. It was really nice because bus kept recommending this one spot to watch the sunset and they were right but since we hiked there we were able to find a secluded spot where we felt as though we were the only two people watching it set.
Finished and got some ice at the general store and another great fire. Laura has truly honed her fire building skills. I mean there is no lighter fluid and I don’t fear for my life like when my brother in law builds a fire but yet I still find it quite enjoyable.

How far have we driven

I know you’re all curious so here are the mileage details from our current trips
July 27 525 miles
July 28 617 miles
July 29 94 miles
July 30 75 miles
July 31 506 miles
August 1 418 Miles
August 2 99 miles
August 3 263 miles
August 4 57 miles

Total So far 2654 miles

I know it seems like it has been a lot but it has been great. Mountainous driving and on the edge of a canyon is a little tough.

GPS is a wonderful gadget.

Also love Sirius satellite radio. Woo Hoo Howard Stern
Really Really excited about the Bears and Bulls this year.

Chiling at the Grand Canyon

August 4
Another nice non-travel day. Woke up at a reasonable time and had a great camp granola breakfast and great French press beverage.

And then we got another stamp you know your jealous, you want our passport. “You should hear the song that goes along with this in my head”. I am sashaying and everything.

Obviously one of the Seven Wonders of the World for a reason and obviously the crown jewel of the national park system as their visitor center just dwarfs everything we have been to so far. We caught our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon at around 8:50 AM and it was already really crowded. I must say the most random hilarious aspect was the random man drinking a Budweiser in a cozy as he looked at the Grand Canyon. Can you say, “I have a problem.”? Maybe he was just hung over. The Grand Canyon is really spectacular and like nothing I’ve ever seen but is really hazy and foggy and tough to truly capture the depths of it on camera.

Well it started to get hot and as you can tell from our previous itineraries we really haven’t had a lot of time to chill. Did some grocery shopping at the Grand Canyon General Store and then it was time for some laundry. I must say we were both thankful for some clean underwear.

We then had a delightful camp nap. Which are always spectacular.

A nice lunch followed that and then we headed into town. We wanted some internet access so we can make sure all of our bills actually got paid and found an awful internet café. We luckily followed that up with a great find of a place that just opened. I got a great Grand Canyon shirt there with this quote “ Bring a compass, It’s awkward when you have to eat your friends.” And we were able to get online there.

Then we tried this really novel idea of cooking dinner, eating and cleaning up during daylight and allowing ourselves some time to relax and actually do something after dinner.

We tried to catch sunrise from some viewpoints along desert view drive and first stopped at Grandview point, which was incredibly crowded. Along the way we saw three male deer with big horns. We must say the Arizona deer are a little weird, as you don’t usually see three male deer chilling unless they are at the local deer saloon. Speaking of I can’t remember which National park we were in when I heard this quote from a video warning to leave nature alone “ A hungry deer will gore you to death if he sees you as a source of food.” We then tried to hustle to a less crowded view call Moran View but just missed the true sunset but still got some very cool pictures.
We then had great campfire and enjoyed some wine capping a spectacular vacation day of recharging our batteries and enjoying an amazing Grand Canyon

Floating down the Colorado River and Setting up Camp at night

August 3
I woke up at 4:50 AM and was up. There was no going back to bed. So I started off on a walk, eventually got on a shuttle to go see the sunrise over the Court of the Patriarchs. It was a pretty awesome experience. I have found that most people in the National parks are so happy and very friendly. There are so many awesome places. It’s not a bad thing to experience something like that completely alone.

We then packed up camp at a nice leisurely pace and headed down Mt Caramel-Zion Highway which I must say is so much more enjoyable when it is not incredibly pouring rain on you. There are some great views including a thing called the checkerboard mesa. We were cruising looking to get to our scheduled float trip on time at 12:30 for a 1:00 departure. We showed up at what we thought was 12:25 and there was nobody else there and they informed us we were an hour early. It turns out Arizona doesn’t abide by Daylight Savings time so at the moment they are on West coast time as opposed to Mountain time. We enjoyed our lunch and then took off for a great adventure.

We first took a bus with a hilarious bus driver and when I say hilarious I mean unintentional comedy. He could not stop raving about a scenic view we were going to pass by near Denny’s and was talking about 15 churches located in Page and how they have a golf course and a Chinese restaurant and great store called Wal mart.

We went into a huge tunnel leading up to the Glen canyon Dam and had to put our bags into a white pickup for homeland security purposes. The tunnel was cool because it was built from opposite sides and they met in the middle on an incline and were only an inch and a half off when they met. The float trip was on a pontoon boat with about 20 people. It was overcast which made for a great temperature. The actual Colorado River was 47 degrees after being separated by the dam and wasn't full of rapids but made for an awesome perspective looking up at the Canyon from the bottom. If we had enough time one day it would be just great to do a 8 day trip down the Grand Canyon. This was the only half day or one day trip without incorporating a helicopter ride to get out of the Grand Canyon. Our trip was pretty much through spectacular areas of the Glen Canyon and then part of mile one of the Grand Canyon.
When we left we discovered that the Grand Canyon is in the middle of nowhere. We tried to get to our camp as quickly as possible and along the way in the desert saw a great full double rainbow. But besides that there was barely anywhere to stop. We got to camp at 8:50, sun set around 7:30. So we set up camp in the pitch dark. Pretty impressive and we did it quick enough to still get to the Bright Angel lodge in the grand Canyon village and grab an actual restaurant meal. . And best of all we are here for three nights, which will give us a bit of a break from the constant packing up and go.

Sleeping by the River and Exploring Zion in a day

August 2
Woke up on Zion and realized had a great night sleep by sleeping next to the river. It really is a great sound.

We had a bit of a lazy morning and then went to the visitors center and collected another great stamp since we missed it the night before by getting in too late. And we took the shuttle as far as it would go. It took us to the first of four small hikes.
It was the river side trail which ends in another trail which leads down the river called the narrows in the canyon. It was closed due to flash flooding warnings which was not surprising after the rain we drove through last night to get here.

Then we saw a couple of other great viewpoints off the shuttle and set off on some cool walks to see the weeping rock which is a wall of sandstone basically dripping water 4000 years old and another trail to the emerald pools which had some great waterfalls as a result of the rain from last night. We also saw three different peaks called the court of the patriarchs named Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by a Methodist minister. We then had a bit of a lazy afternoon, and took a great scenic drive through a much less populated area of Zion called the Kolob Canyons which were just as spectacular but much less crowded and we were able to drive ourselves. We then stopped at a place for great bread and blogged and ds’ed a bit after one of the most glorious parts of our trip a great 8 minute shower paid for in 8 minute increments, It was spectacular. We then had a nice dinner and chilled before heading off too bed.

Zion was a great campground though, both of our favorites so far,

Random PT story we were walking on one of the trails this morning and I saw a heavyset older woman with a straight cane with the stool in kind of a tripod form which I swear must have covered only 10 % o0f her ass. I was prepared to watch her sit down to watch the engineering marvel and of course she fell down. Laura and I spring into action and help her to her feet but just a warning that as a PT I absolutely hate these things
Tomorrow we are off to the Grand Canyon, Exploring the Colorado River from below on a float trip first and then on to our campground.