We're Off!!!!!

We are off.....sort of!
We will be leaving very early tomorrow morning for Gig Harbor. In the last post I mentioned our trip would be long and have some very scenic stops, now that the route is planned I can tell you the stops along the way.

We leave from our current town of Uvalde TX, and are heading to Big Bend tomorrow. Then north to Albuquerque, west to the North rim of the Grand Canyon, stopping at Petrified Forest NP and Sunset Crater NM. After exploring the North rim with hopefully a trip to Sublime Point, we head north to Cedar City Utah, with stops at Cedar Breaks NM and Bryce Canyon (my favorite park ever!!) We head west through Vegas to Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Next we go to Yosemite, possibly seeing an old friend, then off to Redwoods NP. Our last stops along the way north will be Crater Lake NP and Mt. St. Helens. Of course once we get to Gig Harbor, one of our first stops will be Hurricane Ridge of Olympic NP.

The boy and I were at Crater Lake and Mt. St. Helens last year in early June. Crater Lake was still beautifully covered with snow, and only a mile of the rim road open. Mt. St. Helens was fogged in, so we are hoping for an open road and a fogless morning!

I left my job in March of 08 to become a travel nurse, since then I have had some awesome jobs in some great places. Not to mention that I met my boy, got two corgis and got married. I wanted to see more places. Below is a list of all the cool places I have been since leaving Pennsylvania not so long ago. I accomplished much more than I thought possible. I now live in a fifth wheel (with a boy!) and two dogs!




Royal Gorge
Great Sand Dunes NP
Colorado NM
Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP
Arches NP
Canyonlands NP
Capitol Reef NP
Bryce Canyon NP
Natural Bridges NM
Mesa Verde NP
Zion NP
Lake Pueblo State Park
Garden of the Gods
Corral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument


Craters of the Moon National Volcanic Monument
Crater Lake NP
Mt. St. Helens NP
Mt. Rainier NP
North Cascades NP
Columbia River Gorge Rec. Area
Northwestern Paradise St. Park
Glacier NP
Yellowstone NP
Grand Tetons NP
Grand Coulee Dam
White Rim Trail in Canyonlands NP
Dewey Bridge Rec. Area
Calhan Paint Mines Int. Park
Great Salt Lake
Rocky Mt. NP

Lake Brownwood SP
The Alamo
San Antonio’s Riverwalk

Guadalupe Mt. NP
Carlsbad Caverns NP
White Sands NM
Three Rivers Petroglyph site
Valley of Fires SP, NM
Petrogylph NM
Bishop’s Castle
Capulin Volcano, NM

Crockett says......

"You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas"

The boy and I got up early and drove to San Antonio today. We went to the Alamo and wound our way around the Riverwalk. It was a very nice warm sunny day.

We got to the Alamo about 3 pm and waited a long time to get a photo of it without people standing in the way. We went inside, where no photos were allowed and viewed things like David Crockett's buckskin vest, book, and a legal note with his signature. There was also a log from his home in Tennessee. We both thought it would be bigger, but in fact it is a pretty small building.

We then went down to the Riverwalk, and ate some dinner, had some margaritas, had to walk awhile to clear our heads. Then headed back to the Alamo for some night photos.

I was doing some minor touch ups and tried a black and white, I like it!

North Cascades

Driving through North Cascades National Park, we experienced a foggy morning which gave way to some blue skies. The mountains are simply amazing. The snow of course added to the beautiful landscape. This was one park I thought I would never get to, so I was excited to see it. I can't help but think I am such a lucky person to get the chance to see all these great places. I am thrilled when I think about my future and seeing our national parks with my soon to be husband.

Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area -> SPS

While on our messed up Glacier trip, where we went everywhere else, we traveled the road through the National Scenic Area of the Columbia River Gorge on the border between Washington and Oregon. We decided to cross over to the Washington side of the gorge to take the "more scenic route" It was an incredibly windy day, that literally could blow you off your trail. The river was very impressive and the rock walls were beautiful. Another great incidental side trip that started out by Alan saying, "lets go there", followed by me saying,"okay!". Some people are so easy to travel with.

White Rim Blooms ->SPS

While in Canyonlands on White Rim trail we were lucky enough to see a ton of beautiful plants. All of the cacti were in full bloom with bright colors. I enjoyed yelling, "STOP" so I could take some roadside photos.

Bears, OH MY!

We also had a few bear encounters on our trip earlier this summer. The first streaked across the road in the middle of the day when we were headed to Glacier NP. The second was at dusk while we were leaving Mt. Rainier NP. He was just hanging out in the road and strolled around the roadside.
We didn't get to see any mountain goats, but the critters we saw were pretty awesome.

SPS: Critters and tracks

For a late SPS post today, I am posting photos of critters found along white rim trail in Canyonlands NP. We spent two days on a dirt road averaging less than 10 mph.

This little guy graciously stood still long enough for me to photograph him. I had a grand time chasing lizards for the entire two days of the trip.

Alan and I saw this huge bird flying around the canyon, I tried to get a photo, but then it swooped away towards a rock formation further down the trail. We kept an eye out for him, but could not see him again. Once we neared the last spot of sighting, I stopped the jeep, and we looked again. I didn't see him until Alan pointed out that he was flying right towards us. This is the shot I got.

We were the only ones to see this guy and his buddy. They crossed the road right in front of us, and I of course started pointing...and Alan grabbed my camera and took this photo...they were on his side of the jeep. Then they were off into the rocks. I doubt anyone else saw this huge guy.

Finally, on the road to the back way into Canyonlands, Alan pointed out these. Yep, my very first sighting of dinosaur tracks.

Mt. Rainier NP

After it started snowing in Glacier NP, we headed west to Crater Lake. Once there, we decided to head up to Washington and see Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Rainer. It was typical coastal weather for that area, very cloudy and overcast. Mt. St. Helens was a pretty much complete washout as once we got to the lookout, we were unable to see anything due to the complete cloud cover. We could not hang out for hours waiting for the clouds to clear, so we left for Mt. Rainier. On the way down the mountain we got to see Mt. St. Helens without cloud cover. We had high hopes for a clear Mt. Rainer. We were disappointed at first. Upon entering the park, we could only see parts of the mountain, and lots of clouds. It was upsetting, however we decided to head to the western part of the park anyways. Once we headed west, the skies opened up and we finally got a clear view of Mt. Rainier. Of course, the photos do not due it justice, it is a very majestic mountain!

Underworld ice cavern

As I promised in my SPS post, I am now posting photos of the ice in the lava tubes from Craters of the Moon NM. The tubes have no sunlight and are as dark as a cave, I was really excited that the photos actually turned out as awesome as they did. As you can tell, the ground is really rough and having to crawl across rocks is hard enough and even more so with ice covering all of them.

Another world

Ice on the floor of the Lava tube, I still have a big lump from when I fell just getting into the tube.

Lava flow field, it really is a strange landscape.

The path through the lava flow to the lave tubes. It is not that easy to walk on, when trying to pass other people.

On our recent screwed up Glacier trip, we stopped by Craters of the Moon National
Volcanic Monument in Idaho. It is a small national park, with a ton of interesting landscapes. There were cinder cones, incredibly large lava flows, and lava tubes. You can explore the lava tubes if you have flashlights that are pretty powerful, and if you can brave the ice in the tubes. I fell before even entering the tube. The ice in the tubes will be the subject of my next post. Stay tuned! Totally worth it to go and at least drive the seven mile one way loop, even if you do not hike any of the trails.

In search of goats

Alan and I went on a little off roading trip to the top of a mountain last weekend. It was pretty amazing with some great views, and a variety of wildflowers. I, of course, have more photos to share, but these are some general trip photos. The road to the top, his jeep, which works better than mine on off road adventures, some wildflowers, and a little critter found at the top of the mountain that kept chirping at us. We heard from hikers, that mountain goats were spotted in the area, and we saw evidence of shedding goat fur, but no sightings by us. Sad:(

Panoramic Park Photos

On the most recent road trip, I took a several panoramic photos and have enjoyed them immensely. These are some of my favorites. The first and third ones are of the Grand Tetons. The second is of Two Medicine Lake in Glacier National Park. The first one was taken not too long after sunrise, and the other two were sunrise photos. It is so hard to get up so early when it is cold and there is snow on the tent, but totally worth it. I have more to share, I just took way too many photos!