A slightly delayed Oz TR....

[PrincessInOz]

...
Our aim was 14 National Parks of the West in 14 days.................

An $80 annual National Parks pass was purchased as the $20 entrance fee per car per park, made it a sensible decision considering the amount of parks we were planning to hit. Day 2 and on towards Utah.....

And what a BARGAIN the annual NP pass is! Especially when you hit that many parks.

a decision to forgo Canyon de Chelly......Joining what would become our constant companion right up into Montana, the 191 N, we ended up well into Utah before we arrived late afternoon into the town of Monticello UT. ......the birthplace of Richard Dean Anderson from MacGyver......isn't your life now complete with that pearl of wisdom????.....yeah didn't think so.

Not sure if you've ever been to Canyon de Chelly...It's not as spectacular as the NP in Utah. I wouldn't rush out of my way to head back that way again.

My life is, indeed, now complete....especially now that I know that Monticello is the birthplace of RDA of MacGyver and StarGate SG1 fame

The mad uncle decided to take a short stroll to find Landscape Arch which turned into an hour long trek through Devil's garden without sunscreen or water on a 100F day.....give Arches a miss and do Islands in the sky at Canyonlands.

I'm surprised that the mad uncle made it back to the car! Water is a must when you go walking in that part of the world.

Grand Teton National Park, but the first National Park in the US, Yellowstone.
Minimums of $160 for a bog standard room was being quoted before we managed to jag $100 for a staff accommodation room at the Antler Inn.
We headed out to the Grand Tetons that afternoon which is basically a series of mountains all over 12000 foot high about 20 miles out of town. Some wonderful scenery abounds, along with some select wildlife (a stray bison, occasional elk and deer) as we took some shots of the sun setting behind the Tetons. By the time we got back to town, a burger dinner at "Billy's Hamburgers" beckoned for less than a tenner. A wander around the saloon style boardwalks around Jackson and those Millers got another workout as we watched the world go by outside the Antler Inn.

Grand Teton is a NP I must get to. I keep trying to talk DH into Jackson, Wyoming and re-visiting Yellowstone...no luck yet.



Your TR is GREAT! Thanks for taking the time to put it down in type. Waiting (patiently) for the rest of the 10 NP update.

 

[GrazingGoat1966]

Day 6 was one of the highlights of the entire trip. Firstly a stop at the local Chevy dealer who also services Kia's, a quick computer check of the car to confirm that it was the loose petrol cap that had caused our grief, a press of the reset button on said computer and we were on our way right up to within 25 mile of the Canadian Border and to Glacier National Park. The petrol had headed North along with us, to prices of around $3.60 a gallon as we approached St Mary which is the eastern entrance to the Going to the Sun road which is the only road through the park. We had a $22 reservation at the NPS St Mary's Campground. The ranger at the gate explained all the do's and dont's.....secure your food in the car, leave NOTHING out that will attract bears (even down to bottled water), and with the information that yes in fact there have been a few bears in the campground in the last few days ".....oh but don't worry all they are after is a feed of huckleberries", we headed for campsite 45 which yep you guessed it was right next to the campgrounds largest patch of........huckleberries. Unbefrigginbelievable!!! After re-writing the will out on a spare napkin in the car, we set up our tent, worked out how far the car seats recline in case we had to head for the car in the middle of the night, and decided to try and see as much of the park in the 3 hours plus of sunlight that we had left. A drive to the Many Peaks section of the park and we started to fully appreciate exactly how special thi splace was. It is utterly magnificent. Spectacular beyond belief. Everywhere you look, there is a vista worthy of a canvas on the wall. It really does put every other park in the West in the shade. If you are ever in a position to check this place out, THEN DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR. Trust me on this one. The mad uncle decided to catch a ranger talk at 730 at the visitors centre, so I dropped him off and decided to get as far as I could on the Going to the Sun road before I had to turn around and pick him up after the hour's talk. 20 miles. a ton of great vistas and it was time to head back to the visitors centre. Unfortunately the uncle didn't hear correctly as the talk was at another part of the park that night and after an hour of shivering his backside off in the carpark, we headed for dinner and thawing out. The temp hit 4C that night so it was not only freezing in the tent, but combined with sleeping with one eye open and ears on high beam in case of nearby huckleberry consumption, and a shocking nights sleep was had by one and all.

 

[Jade+3]

You are giving me so many ideas of places I would like to visit one day.

I had to laugh about the huckleberries. I think I would have stayed in the car.

 

[GrazingGoat1966]

Day 7 and we headed for one of the great drives in North America. The going to the Sun Road is 51 miles of sheer majesty. Waterfalls, mountains, lakes, islands, roadworks, delays....the GTTSR has it all. 4 hours later and we had traversed the entire length, and we headed east with the memory card chock a block full of new images and the mind even fuller of memories. A quick 2 hour burst through Northern Idaho, and before you know it, you are in Washington State. We headed south through the large city of Spokane, before a quick right turn and we were heading West on the 2. Wheat country suddenly appeared out of nowhere and we decided to stop at the next town where accommodation appeared. Through Davenport where said accom was scarce, then through Creston where there was not a motel room to be had anywhere.....not because they were full, but because they were non existent. 30 mile further up the 2W and we arrived in the town of Wilbur Washington, population 850 including the surrounding farms and a $69 room at the Willows motel. This was classic small town USA, flowerpots outside the door, a welcoming host and the typical diner over the road. Yep you guessed it....ESPN, Millers and bed. Great day!!

 

[GrazingGoat1966]

....and on the 8th day, God rested but we kept on driving from Wilbur towards the North Cascades National Park. On the way we passed over the Grand Coulie Dam which irrigates the nation's largest apple growing region. The drive in from the east of North Cascades is underwhelming to say the least and it is only when you get to Lake Diablo, that you could make a small case for this area to justify it's National Park status. Seriously feel free to give this one a big miss as it is nothing special. From there we headed straight for Seattle. Arriving at the North end of the 5South, we decided to book a couple of tickets to do the Boeing Tour the next morning. We found an Extended Stay apartment for $110 for the night, which included a fully stocked kitchen (utensil wise) and probably the roomiest accom we found on the roadtrip. A myriad of food choices were present at the shopping complex right next to the hotel, and after an evening of mexican we settled in for some much needed kip in preparation for our Boeing tour the next morning.

 

[GrazingGoat1966]

Day 9 and we arrived at Boeing nice and early for our 930am tour. A leisurely wander through the display area before a short film and hopping on the buses for the factory tour. This is really impressive. The world's biggest building (98 hectares under one roof), 29000 employees working 3 shifts, 26 restaurant serving 17000 meals a day....the figures are truly mind boggling. Put this on your must do list if you are ever in Seattle.
After the Boeing tour, we headed south towards Mt Rainier National Park. We made a deliberate decision to give Olympic National Park a miss for no other reason than it is one huge park that would have taken a day and a half just to drive around. Mt Rainier was a bit like North Cascades the day before in that the drive in from the North was a tad underwhelming, but a few waterfalls, a snow covered peak and some late afternoon sun penetrating through the undergrowth, led to some lovely vistas in this worthy park.
From there we headed straight towards the Oregon Coast for what promised to be some magnificent scenery. Hitting the coast around the Northern Oregon town of Seaside, there was barely a hotel room to be found. Eventually we found the Windjammer hotel in Gearhart for $110 for the night. Good little room, close by food and a drive down the coast planned for the next day......it promised much!!

 

[GrazingGoat1966]

.....and delivered in different ways. Day 10 and we found the Oregon Coast completely and utterly clouded in. So much for summer on the Oregon Coast!! Even the hopeful utterings of the wise old one...."well it might clear later" failed to lift the cloud and mood. Coupled with the fact that the entire population of Oregon had headed for the coast and by the time we turned inland at the small town of Florence, our 130 mile trip had taken 6 hours instead of 3-4 and put us miles behind where we had hoped to be. We still had 150 miles of bitumen ahead of us before we hit Crater Lake National Park but boy oh boy was it worth it. A 1900 foot deep pure freshwater lake in the middle of an extinct volcano in the southern part of Oregon it is the most brilliant shade of blue, even on a relatively overcast afternoon. It only takes about an hour to drive around, but it is well and truly worth it. Don't think twice on this one, you won't be disappointed.

A short drive south and we boarded in Klamath Falls for the night. $60 at an Oregon 8 motel and a separate kitchen and separate bedroom....you cant complain. The fact that they hadn't redecorated since 1977.....well who cares!!

 

[GrazingGoat1966]

And to Day 11 as the KIA departed Klamath Falls in Oregon and headedsouth into California as we made tracks to Lake Tahoe via Lassen Volcanic National Park. This park's most unique features are only accesible via hiking in the South East corner of the park where roads don't venture and as I stated in an earlier post, hiking wasn't high on our list of priorities so Lassen Volcanic turned out to be a crock....and after seeing some photos of some of the geological formations on the hike, I can happily say we missed bugger all.
We arrived in Lake tahoe coming from the West. As we usually stay in the casinos at the south end of the lake, it was a two hour drive around an extremely busy Tahoe area before we arrived at the Horizon hotel which had served us well in the past, but unfortunately wont again in the future. $80 for the room wasn't bad but the fact that they wanted an extra $10.95 for internet access was a joke. They have also removed all gaming tables from the floor leaving only one armed bandits. Any atmosphere disappeared along with the tables. Tahoe itself is obviously suffering the effects of the recession that the states have apparently gotten out of......yeah right. The country is still struggling and anyone who thinks otherwise is obviously snacking on those special cookies that prevail in the seedier parts of Amsterdam. Adding to our nights entertainment in Tahoe was Bob Dylan performing in the back carpark of the hotel right next door. Pity that Bob sounds like a frog drowning in cement these days. Poor mongrel couldn't hold a note in a bucket but 3000 people forking out $80 a head means that Bob will continue to inflict his "unique" singing voice on the public for a while longer. A buffet for $14.95 was a good way to end our day in one of the prettier lakes in the US.

 

[GrazingGoat1966]

Departing Tahoe nice and early got Day 12 underway by 8am. Roadworks dominated substantial sections of the first 30 mile out of Tahoe. But 2 and a half hours later we passed through Lee Vining at the Eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park. Passed the town of Walker an hour short of Yosemite which was the proud holder of the most expensive "gas" we found on the entire roadtrip. $4.55 a gallon, almost $2 a gallon more than the cheapest petrol we found. But coming through the Tioga Pass into Yosemite is a wonderfully picturesque drive which peaks at over 9000 feet. 55 miles later and you are on the valley floor and heading for the village. A couple of hours wandering and taking shuttles around led to some picturesque viewpoints and terrific video and photo ops. Waterfalls werent running except for BridalVeil falls (barely), but some wildlife was visible and the traffic was bearable. Left there about 4pm and we decided to head as far east as we could get in order to cross the Nevada desert in search of Utah. We drove as far as the town of Tonopah which is deadset in the middle of bloody nowhere....you should google it seriously. We found the cheapest room we found anywhere ($39.00 + change) which included a flat screen TV and continental breakfast at the Clown Motel (yes I kid you not). Diner with the world's biggest Chicken Fried steak and a couple of Millers finest and life was all good.....considering we felt like we were at the end of the earth.

 

[GrazingGoat1966]

Day 13 and with our continental breakfast at the Clown under our belt, we filled up at a welcome sub $3.00 petro and headed further into the middle of nowhere. An hour or 2 out of Tonopah, and we headed onto the "Extra-Terrestrial Highway", a 99 mile stretch of nothing. Coupled with the previous desolate stretch, there is 165 miles between gas stations and other services. And there 70 mile from anywhere in the middle of the desert, was some clown on his pushbike heading back towards Tonopah. Lance Bloody Armstrong has a lot to answer for!! Couple that with a caravan parked on a concrete pad in the middle of a furnace like valley, again miles from anywhere, and the kook element is alive and well in the good old USA.
Noon arrival in Cedar City and we headed for an afternoon at the hoodoo spire wonderland of Bryce Canyon NP. This place is really quite special. A must do on anyone's national park's list. After 3 hours of driving, videoing, photographing and enjoying Bryce and it's surrounds, the wisee old man decided that because we were so close (about 25 mile) we should try and make Grosvenor Arch at Grand Staircase Escalante National Park, the newest NP in the system. Note to all. Make sure you read the fine print that says that ALL roads inside GSE are UNPAVED. Yes lets just say that less than a mile into the park heading for Grosvenor Arch, we decided that this was in fact bull**it, and there was no way the Kia's undercarriage was going to be left in the middle of Utah. Easily our quickest trip into a National park, but somehow our most adventurous.
An $80 cabin at Harolds Inn approx 25 mile out of Bryce was a very homely final stop for our roadtrip which was concluding the next day. Those Miller's, a pizza and some of the most ordinary spaghetti marinara I've ever had the misfortune to consume brought a jam packed day to an end.

 

[GrazingGoat1966]

Leaving Harold's Inn nice and early and Day 14, the final chapter, was underway. Zion National Park was the last pitstop on our Caravan of Discovery. Closer inspection of the map obtained from Bryce the day before, and we decided to take a detour around park delay points from the east due to roadworks. Added an hour to the trip but we decided it was better to be safe rather than sorry. Upon arrival at Zion we headed into the park, unfortunately took a wrong turn and ended up heading for the east exit/entrance that we had just driven 135 miles to avoid. Doh!! After 3 sets of roadworks and 2 tunnels we found an extremely tight turnaround where we performed an expert 3 point turn and headed back from where we came. Eventually arriving back at the shuttle buses an hour and a half behind time, it is nonetheless a relaxed 90 minute round tripinto the park. Zion is a wonderfully grand park, made even more so by the fact that you are driving along the floor of the canyon, rather on the rim like the Grand, Canyonlands, Bryce etc etc. This adds to the feeling of grandeur in the park. A 2pm departure and we were on our way back to homebase arriving around 615pm. A balmy 114F met us as we arrived back to a grateful 3 year old daughter and wife who I missed like crazy for 2 weeks.

The national Park system is a jewel that everyone who visits the US owes to themselves to try and experience at least once. Even if it's only one park that you manage to visit, it is a worthwhile thing to do. The average American doesn't realise how fortunate they are to have such "easy" access to so many varied parks in a relatively "small" area. As us Aussies don't have that same opportunity here in our own country, try and make the most of it next time you visit the home of the Mouse.

Thanks for your interest in our Trip Reports. It's been fun.

 

[PrincessInOz]

GrazingGoat - You little Ripper! Well done on the 14 parks in 14 days. Thanks for putting your thoughts down. It brought back a lot of fantastic memories for me...