Tetons

We visited Grand Teton National Park. It is just South of Yellowstone. Several people had mentioned it as one of their favorites. It was a fantastic place.

Most mountains have foothills. The Tetons just rise up from a plain. There are seven peaks. The area has many lakes and wonderful hiking trails. One day, we did a hike around part of Jenny Lake then took a boat ride back. We spent another day riding horses. We also rented kayaks one afternoon.

The parks have surprised us. We stayed at the Colter Bay campground. While we camped in the woods and were visited by deer and other animals, there are lodges, restaurants, and even a marina within the park. The restaurant at Signal Mountain was excellent and had a great view of a lake.

While we only spent a few days here, this is a place we would definitely want to return. More pictures.

Cherry Hill

Cherry Hill Campground in Kayesville, UT was the kid's favorite stop so far. Here are their reviews.

The water slides were fun! They had a pirate water playground, a medieval dragon water slide, a gold rush water slide and the greatest put-put course ever! The dragon water slide had really dark tunnels that misted you. the gold rush slide had gold walls and several basins. The put-put course had lots of tunnels, castles and secret passageways. Cherry Hill was fun! Andres

I like Cherry Hill. The water slides are really fun. Two are dragons. One is the Grand Canyon. there are pools and put-put. Cherry Hill is in Utah. If you are going to go on a vacation, go to Cherry Hill. Elena.

We had a great time at Cherry Hill. In addition to the water slides and miniature golf, I highly recommend the razzleberry pie. Erling

More pictures.

Las Vegas

We were in Boulder City, NV. Since our tour of the dam was canceled, we had a bit of free time. So, we decided to take a quick drive over to Las Vegas. It seemed like a daytime drive down the strip might be interesting - just looking at all the wild themed buildings. Elena had found a brochure for M&M World so we had a kid-friendly destination. We parked at the MGM Grand and walked to M&M World. It is a four story store of nothing but M&M stuff. I guess I can't write any more since what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Erling

Hoover Dam

With the Grand Canyon, we saw one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It was only fitting that our next stop would be one of the seven modern wonders of the world - the Hoover Dam.

This is truly an engineering wonder that has transformed the Southwestern United States, providing electricity and water to millions. Of course, a beautiful canyon was lost in its making.

We stayed in Boulder City, NV the town that was created for the construction crew to live while the dam was being built. It was hot - 112 degrees. It is hard to imagine the crew working long days in the heat for very low wages. But, it was the Great Depression and people were eager for work.

We were looking forward to taking a tour through the dam and power plant. Unfortunately, as our tour was about to start, they canceled tours for the day. The excuse was that one of the two elevators was not working so it would not be safe for tourists. At least we got to see the dam close up.

More pictures.

Erling

Grand Canyon

I have wanted to visit Grand Canyon National Park for quite a long time. After two long and weary days of driving through Colorado and New Mexico, we finally arrived at the park. Thus far, we had traveled well over 4,000 miles and I was keeping my fingers crossed that this destination would be worth every mile.

We finally arrived at the park in the evening and decided to go to the South rim of the canyon to see the sunset. We walked through a forest of Ponderosa Pine to get to the rim. As we walked, I quietly thought to myself "Will the canyon 'wow' me as I have anticipated? When we reached the rim, the canyon more than 'wowed' me. It stopped me dead in my tracks and mesmerized me. I was wide-eyed and speechless as I viewed the vast landscape before me.

From the rim we were pleasantly surprised to see a California Condor. It is a somewhat odd looking bird with a very impressive wingspan. Near extinction until recently, it is a rare sight to see the Condor. This was my lucky day!

The next morning I woke up early to watch the sunrise over the canyon. I watched the canyon's palette of colors slowly change with the rising sun. That morning, in the grandest of canyons, the world stood absolutely still. It was a slice of heaven on earth.

I have thought of many words to describe the canyon's beauty and have taken numerous pictures to try to capture it. There are no words that truly describe its beauty nor pictures that can capture its enormity.

Was it worth every mile we traveled? Without a doubt - yes!

Now, if I can just see a moose and get my cowgirl hat...

Thanks for following.

Judy

More pictures available.

Glen Canyon Raft Trip

Judy is going to write about the Grand Canyon. What an awesome place. Look for her post soon.

While we were there, we took a day trip on the Colorado River near the Glen Canyon Dam. It was a very long, but very wonderful day. The raft trip was several hours on smooth water. It was hot - way over 100 degrees. The water was cold, 47 degrees, and clear. We used towels soaked in the water to stay cool.

The views of the canyon are spectacular. We had two stops along the way. At one of them, we hiked a short trail to see ancient petroglyphs. You really notice the heat once you are off the water.

Our guide stopped and played a few songs on the guitar which was nice. At one point, he let Andres drive the boat.

A great day in an amazing place.

More pictures are available.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Had a great time visiting Rocky Mountain National Park. The weather was a bit cold and wet - but it can't be sunny every day. This was our first national park campground and had no power, water, cell connectivity, or any other convenience. It worked out just fine.

We did the drive to the highest elevation - over 12,000 feet, stopped by the continental divide, and a few visitors centers. We saw a great program on coyotes and another on squirrels. We are all learning quite a bit from the ranger talks.

A special part of this stop was that Erling's friend Rob stopped by for a cookout. Rob, Robyn, and their son Ryan drove a long way for a visit. It was great fun. Elena and Ryan became instant friends. We hadn't seen them since their wedding. Thanks Rob.

The Rocky mountains are pretty amazing. Glad we had the chance to stop. You can find more images of this stop.

Erling