Here is the summary of a few days spent exploring Mau’i. (you’re welcome!) We stayed at an apartment in Kihei, a nice central location with a beach. First, we started with a visit to Haleakala National Park. Driving our rental Jeep, we made our way towards the summit. It looked like the day was going to be rained out; however, once we reached a certain...
Since it was so close to Zion, we decided to make a day trip to Bryce Canyon. My first impression is that this felt like visiting 1/2 of the Grand Canyon; however, still a very beautiful place to see. This location is known for having the largest concentration of Hoodoos on the planet. A hoodoo (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney, or earth pyramid) is a tall...
I have wanted to visit Zion for more than 10 years when it was recommended to me by a co-worker. I got close in 2015 but bypassed and went to Moab and then Arizona. We spent the night at a hotel in Park City, Utah. The drive to this National Park took about 90 minutes. The parking was quite challenging, even for a weekday. We parked about 3 miles into the town, paid...
Once again, I awoke early to continue my drive. My next destination was to visit Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. This involved a long drive across Oregon that took most of the day. Eventually, I started seeing Mt. Rainier and Mt. Jefferson on the horizon. Here was an interesting stop… I arrived at Crater Lake around 5 pm. This natural formation is even...
I started my day in the city of Kalispell, MT. I had driven the previous day for about 8 hours to get here so I could have more time in Glacier National Park. While I had grandiose plans to camp this trip, colder temperatures, a lack of planning, and just general laziness had me staying at hotels. I headed for the West Entrance of the park… I stopped...
I started out early, enjoying the drive from Salt Lake City into the mountains. My goal was to head up to Jackson, Wyoming to find Grand Teton, National Park. My first rest stop, east of SLC, I found people feeding Cheetos to squirrels and groundhogs. Outside of this distraction, I found the surrounding red rocks to be beautiful. I made my way into Wyoming, then...
I woke up at 5AM to start my next 200-mile drive to Great Basin NP. It was an easy drive and around 10am I arrived at the visitor center. I took a tour of Lehman Caves. This place, while not as grand as Mammoth Cave Kentucky, has a really cool geology and some really impressive stalactite and stalagmite growths. Next, I took a drive up Mt Wheeler’s scenic road. This...
I’ve lived in Californa for almost 3 years and have wanted to visit Joshua Tree National Park ever since I got here. I finally found some time over the weekend to take a fun road trip with the girlfriend. It is about an hour and a half drive from Irvine. The national park pass I purchased last year at the Grand Canyon got us into the park for free. This place...
Imagine the length of a football field. Next, image a tree as long as that field. Stand the tree upright and you’ve got the monster redwood trees of Northern California. I’d been arguing with myself for a few weeks about driving further north from San Francisco. It’s once thing to do a 7 hour drive there and another thing to do 4 more hours north of...
Arriving back at the visitor center, I returned to my Car. I needed to start heading towards Glendale, AZ. Luckily, that same route would let me see a few more canyon spots including Navajo Point and Desert View Tower. Leaving the park I drove into the Navajo reservation. I didn’t plan it, but ended up on the same roads I had driven 2 years ago. A new lesson I...