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| Moab, Telluride, and Texas |
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Moab, Telluride, Albuquerque, Austin and San Antonio!
Hello Hello!
The last time we wrote we were waiting to head into Arches National Park in Utah. We left for the park around 9 am and it was already at least 90 degrees but that didn't stunt our excitement. When we got into the park we headed for the Delicate Arch Trailhead. The Delicate Arch is really what this park is famous for and whenever you look at pictures of Arches, it is the first thing that pops up. We started off on the trail and climbed up a huge rock and through winding desert paths. This trail was really cool because it was designed so the arch doesn't come into view until the very last possible second. It felt almost like a game, every corner we were like "I bet that's gonna be it!" It was so suspenseful! Finally we made it around the last corner and saw it. The book said this was one of nature's most amazing creations...they were right. Hundreds of people sat and stared at this 52 foot high natural arch just because it is so crazy to think that this was created purely by nature.
After the park we drove back into Moab and stopped in at the Moab Brewery. Conner tried one of their local beers and we split a smoked salmon salad which was delicious. Our plan was to leave Moab that day and head straight to Albuquerque, however, that plan instantly changed. When we were about to leave the brewery a man came up to us and asked us where we were from. We started talking and he asked if we were heading over to Telluride, Colorado. When we replied no, the next 10 minutes consisted of him going off about how we can't get this close and not go to Telluride, his favorite place in the world, it's so amazing and beautiful and we would be crazy not to go...and so on. It was hard not to be convinced so needless to say, we got in the car and headed to Telluride. When we were about 20 miles out of the town, Conner asked me if I had ever seen pictures of Telluride. I said no. He shook his head and said "you are going to be amazed." A few minutes later we drove into the town and I INSTANTLY fell in love. This, hands down, is the most beautiful town I have ever been in. The main road is lined with beautiful, old Victorian buildings (much like Ferndale) and if you look up and spin around 360 degrees, all you would see is huge mountains (14,000 ft) capped with snow and and, I swear, the greenest trees in the world and to top it off, tons of huge, beautiful waterfalls. So, my new life plan? Score the big bucks and buy a summer home in Telluride. The camping in the actual town was all taken up so we drove up the mountain to find another site. We landed on, by far the most beautiful campground that we have stayed in. Right on Priest Lake, we pitched our tent and faced our chairs towards the mountain peaks that lined our site, and the best part? It was free!
We spent a day in Telluride and the next morning we packed up our little car (who is now named Archy, btw) and headed for Albuquerque. I'm not going to lie to you, not too much to say about Albuquerque. It wasn't anything special in terms of scenery, but thanks to Guy Fieri, we are always able to find good food. We drove into town the first night we got there and went to Monte Carlo's Steakhouse. This was not any normal steakhouse. It was in a liquor store. This hole in the wall white building was your normal liquor store, but if you walked towards the back and behind the beer cooler there was a little door that said "Welcome, Restaurant." Walk through the door and you are in a classy, full serviced steakhouse. It was crazy, a secret restaurant. It was Greek influenced and amazing. After dinner, we walked through Old Town, which was pretty cool, except for the fact that everything was closing, but Conner was still able to buy some some Billy the Kid hot sauce.
We left Albuquerque the next morning and started our journey down to Austin, Texas. The drive was too long to make it the whole way in one day, so we stopped at a KOA in Abilene, Texas. It was 103 degrees and we knew (because of our camping experience in Death Valley) that sleeping that night was going to be horrible. The only thing keeping our hopes up was the fact that the KOA had a pool. Then we saw it. "POOL CLOSED." I think I cried a little bit. So we sat at our site, eating chili out of the can and waited to fall asleep.
In the morning, we got in the car as quickly as possible and went to Austin. I honestly don't know how people live in that kind of heat. I felt like my skin was going to just burn off. We were early for check in at our Motel 6, so we headed downtown. First stop? Bikinis Sports Bar. They were celebrating 5 years so we got 50 cent beers, mini burgers and wings. Perfect welcome to Austin. After lunch, we headed up the street to see the capital. Apparently, it's the tallest capital in the US. The heat started to get the best of us, so we headed to our hotel and went swimming. We obviously looked for a Diners, Drive ins and Dives place in Austin, so when we found out about Maria's Taco Express, we couldn't pass it up. It was SO good. The al pastor tacos were so good ( I actually just smiled to myself) I could eat them ever day for the rest of my life. We were so full after dinner we couldn't do anything but go back to the hotel and lay down, which then led to falling asleep. We had made a vow that when we weren't hiking, we would work out so we wouldn't get out of shape, so in the morning we drove down to the river and went for a run. I think I almost died. It was so hot and humid. For some reason, Conner was all pumped up and kept wanting to sprint...terrible. The only thing that kept me going was the fact that I knew I was going to eat a TON at Magnolia's Cafe (Guy Fieri's choice, weird). I must say, Guy has awesome taste, because everywhere we have eaten has been the best food ever. Magnolia's was packed and for good reason. I got an omelette, Con got Texas Benedict and we split their famous gingerbread pancakes. SO GOOD. Again, we were really full so we headed back to the hotel and hung out for a while. Around 6, we took the bus downtown and headed to a few bars. An Irish Pub was our first stop where we both sampled 3 different Texan beers. Next stop? Coyote Ugly Saloon. Enough Said. But what Austin is really known for is the live music. Every bar had live music playing, with most of them having one band downstairs and another upstairs. We sat and listened to some music on a rooftop and had a few drinks and then went to a bar called Chuggin Monkey. There, my friend from high school who has been living in Austin, met us and took us to a few more bars. It was super fun. They close down the two main streets to cars so people are just roaming the streets going in and out of bars.
The next morning we woke up and headed to Lockhart, Texas, home of some of the best BBQ in Texas. There were 4 choices of great BBQ places in Lockhart but when we saw the line out the door at Smitty's Market, we knew we had to go there. It was about 103 Degrees and we waited outside for about 20 minutes. Finally, we made it inside, which you would think would be a relief with air conditioning and everything. No. The pit room is where you order your ribs, brisket, sausage, etc, but it is also where they have the fires going to cook this fabulous meal. So little room, tons of people, fires everywhere, and 103 degrees equals, 120 degrees and smoke blowing in your face. After about ten minutes in that room, Conner, the amazing, wonderful boyfriend he is, told me to go into the eating area (which was air conditioned) and order our drinks and sides. I felt bad, but I was so hot I couldn't' resist the offer. 20 minutes later, he came in, drenched in sweat with a huge grin on his face. He was holding a big crumpled up piece of brown butcher paper that was filled with ribs, brisket and sausage. The best BBQ in Texas that we have ever had. Conner almost passed out waiting for the BBQ but he said it was totally worth it. Plus it was relatively cheap (half rack of ribs, 1 pound of brisket, and two sausage rings for $20)
When we were done gorging on BBQ, we headed to San Antonio, Texas. We stayed in a KOA and the first day we just sat at the pool all day. It was in the 100s again and we really didn't want to walk around. The next morning we got on the bus and headed into the city. We walked around the Riverwalk, which was lined with restaurants and little shops. Tour boats drove through the alley ways, it was almost like a dirtier Venice. San Antonio has a really strong Mexican influence and the markets really make you feel like you are in Mexico. We were so hot after a few hours of walking around so we went to the movie theater and saw Kung Fu Panda 2. After that we had lunch at Bourdos, which was voted the best place to eat on the Riverwalk. We ordered prickly pear margaritas which were amazing and refreshing. We also got their guacamole, that they make fresh at our table and ahh it was SO SO SO good. They said it was known as the best in Texas. And then to top it off we got an amazing tuna/grapefruit salad and we were very happy. We then headed back to the KOA and swam the rest of the night.
We are in New Orleans now but I'm going to save that for another entry. We couldn't ask for a better trip so far and can't wait to get to our week stay in Florida(thank you a thousand times to Grandma Laverne)!
Love,
Katie and Conner
The last time we wrote we were waiting to head into Arches National Park in Utah. We left for the park around 9 am and it was already at least 90 degrees but that didn't stunt our excitement. When we got into the park we headed for the Delicate Arch Trailhead. The Delicate Arch is really what this park is famous for and whenever you look at pictures of Arches, it is the first thing that pops up. We started off on the trail and climbed up a huge rock and through winding desert paths. This trail was really cool because it was designed so the arch doesn't come into view until the very last possible second. It felt almost like a game, every corner we were like "I bet that's gonna be it!" It was so suspenseful! Finally we made it around the last corner and saw it. The book said this was one of nature's most amazing creations...they were right. Hundreds of people sat and stared at this 52 foot high natural arch just because it is so crazy to think that this was created purely by nature.
We left Albuquerque the next morning and started our journey down to Austin, Texas. The drive was too long to make it the whole way in one day, so we stopped at a KOA in Abilene, Texas. It was 103 degrees and we knew (because of our camping experience in Death Valley) that sleeping that night was going to be horrible. The only thing keeping our hopes up was the fact that the KOA had a pool. Then we saw it. "POOL CLOSED." I think I cried a little bit. So we sat at our site, eating chili out of the can and waited to fall asleep.
In the morning, we got in the car as quickly as possible and went to Austin. I honestly don't know how people live in that kind of heat. I felt like my skin was going to just burn off. We were early for check in at our Motel 6, so we headed downtown. First stop? Bikinis Sports Bar. They were celebrating 5 years so we got 50 cent beers, mini burgers and wings. Perfect welcome to Austin. After lunch, we headed up the street to see the capital. Apparently, it's the tallest capital in the US. The heat started to get the best of us, so we headed to our hotel and went swimming. We obviously looked for a Diners, Drive ins and Dives place in Austin, so when we found out about Maria's Taco Express, we couldn't pass it up. It was SO good. The al pastor tacos were so good ( I actually just smiled to myself) I could eat them ever day for the rest of my life. We were so full after dinner we couldn't do anything but go back to the hotel and lay down, which then led to falling asleep. We had made a vow that when we weren't hiking, we would work out so we wouldn't get out of shape, so in the morning we drove down to the river and went for a run. I think I almost died. It was so hot and humid. For some reason, Conner was all pumped up and kept wanting to sprint...terrible. The only thing that kept me going was the fact that I knew I was going to eat a TON at Magnolia's Cafe (Guy Fieri's choice, weird). I must say, Guy has awesome taste, because everywhere we have eaten has been the best food ever. Magnolia's was packed and for good reason. I got an omelette, Con got Texas Benedict and we split their famous gingerbread pancakes. SO GOOD. Again, we were really full so we headed back to the hotel and hung out for a while. Around 6, we took the bus downtown and headed to a few bars. An Irish Pub was our first stop where we both sampled 3 different Texan beers. Next stop? Coyote Ugly Saloon. Enough Said. But what Austin is really known for is the live music. Every bar had live music playing, with most of them having one band downstairs and another upstairs. We sat and listened to some music on a rooftop and had a few drinks and then went to a bar called Chuggin Monkey. There, my friend from high school who has been living in Austin, met us and took us to a few more bars. It was super fun. They close down the two main streets to cars so people are just roaming the streets going in and out of bars.
The next morning we woke up and headed to Lockhart, Texas, home of some of the best BBQ in Texas. There were 4 choices of great BBQ places in Lockhart but when we saw the line out the door at Smitty's Market, we knew we had to go there. It was about 103 Degrees and we waited outside for about 20 minutes. Finally, we made it inside, which you would think would be a relief with air conditioning and everything. No. The pit room is where you order your ribs, brisket, sausage, etc, but it is also where they have the fires going to cook this fabulous meal. So little room, tons of people, fires everywhere, and 103 degrees equals, 120 degrees and smoke blowing in your face. After about ten minutes in that room, Conner, the amazing, wonderful boyfriend he is, told me to go into the eating area (which was air conditioned) and order our drinks and sides. I felt bad, but I was so hot I couldn't' resist the offer. 20 minutes later, he came in, drenched in sweat with a huge grin on his face. He was holding a big crumpled up piece of brown butcher paper that was filled with ribs, brisket and sausage. The best BBQ in Texas that we have ever had. Conner almost passed out waiting for the BBQ but he said it was totally worth it. Plus it was relatively cheap (half rack of ribs, 1 pound of brisket, and two sausage rings for $20)
Love,
Katie and Conner
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Winding Our Way Through Zion, Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon
Hello Everybody!
The last time we wrote to you, we had just left Death Valley and were staying the night in Vegas. Don't get too excited, we didn't go out but we DID go to one of Guy Fieri's favorite spots in Vegas. Four Kegs is a little whole in the wall bar/ restaurant that is famous for their Stromboli (I don't even know if I am spelling that right). For those of you who don't know what stromboli is (because I didn't prior to eating one) it is basically a giant folded up pizza. It was so good, it was all Conner could talk about for the next 48 hours.
Because we have been to three amazing places and there is so much to say about each of them, I'm just going to split this post up into sections, so warning, this is going to be a long one. Also, we have so many pictures that we have to leave them uploading over night, we just figured we would update you beforehand.
ZION NATIONAL PARK, UTAH
There are no words that can describe how incredibly massive and beautiful the rock formations are in Zion. I am almost hesitant to put up our pictures because, while Conner took beautiful photos, they are no compaison to the real thing. When we were waiting in line to get into the park, neither of us really knew what to expect. In fact, we had never heard much about Zion so we were in for a huge surprise when we finally made it in. Both of us went silent as we drove along this winding road engulfed by these GIGANTIC rocks. They towered over us and I have never felt so tiny. There weren't any campsites open in the park, so we were told to head about a mile east outside of the park. I was a little bummed at first because I was hoping to stay in Zion, however, when we started driving out the east end of the park, my thoughts changed. The drive was beautiful, leading us up and around the park and giving us amazing views of the rocks. It took us about 20 minutes to get out of the park and I don't think either of us actually said anything the whole time, we were so amazed.
We got settled at camp and decided to head back to the park to do some hiking. We had heard about the Emerald Pools so we hopped on a shuttle that took us to the trailhead. It was a short, easy hike that first led us to the lower pools. When we got to the pool, it looked almost enchanted, with two little water falls falling from above us into this pretty little pool. It was gorgeous so we decided to hike to the upper pools. This was awesome, it looked like it was straight out of a movie. A big pool surrounded by huge, straight up cliffs and rocks all around it. Pretty awesome start to the park.
We went to bed early because we were going on our first backpacking trip the next day up to the West Rim of the park. We were hoping to get to the shuttle by 6:30 am and were really surprised when we looked at our clocks and it was almost 8 when we finally got on. It wasn't until yesterday ( 2 days after) that we realized Utah was an hour ahead of us..opps! When we were waiting for the shuttle a girl asked us where we were going. We told her we were heading up to camp and she replied by telling us we look "very professional and hardcore." This was quite possibly the best compliment ever because we both know we are exactly the opposite of that.
So we set off onto our first big hike. We had no idea just how "big" this hike was goign to be. About 5 minutes into our hike, we look up and see a vertical cliff. No joke, straight up vertical at least 1,500 ft high. These were our first switchbacks and later we learned were only about 1/8 into our hike. Extremely hard, or so we thought. We made it up and while the rest of the hikers veered off to do the more popular trail (Angels Landing) we kept going up the West Rim...and by up, I mean UP. Finally, we stopped and had a granola bar. This was by far the most amazing granola bar in the entire world (direct quote, by the way, from Conner). We kept going and while this hike was strenuous, the views were unbelievable beautiful. After about six hours of hiking, we made it to our campspot. We pitched our tent and instantly fell asleep. When we woke up, we had no concept of time so we decided it was time for dinner, the long awaited baked beans and ramen!! After dinner, Conner decided he needed dessert. When you think dessert, what comes to your mind? Ice cream? Cookies? Cake? That's what the normal person would think. Conner thought grasshopper. It was actually pretty hilarious watching him crawl through the grass trying to catch a grasshopper. When he did, he put the poor guy in a frying pan, added some oil and hot sauce and ate him. I'll just leave it at that.
After that, we walked around, played twenty questions, a game of two person charades and then decided we were bored. We didn't bring anything to do so what did we do? We packed up our tent and backpacks and headed down the trail. We felt pretty silly, but I justified it as, we did sleep in the tent and we did cook a meal, we just did it in lighting speed. So with our newborn energy, we began our long journey down. Literally all we talked about for the first two hours down the trail was food. By the end, our feet felt like they were going to fall off and we were dead tired from our 12 hour hike, but it was an awesome experience and unreal beautiful.
All in all, Zion is incredibly breathtaking and everyone should go there.
GRAND CANYON NATION PARK, ARIZONA
The same night we came down from our hike, we got in the car and headed for the Grand Canyon, it was already about 9:00pm so we stopped in Kenab, a popular town for people to stay heading to the Grand Canyon. We used the rest of the money on our gift card and stayed in a Best Western. By the way, I'm pretty sure we chose the two worst Best Westerns in the country. At 11:00pm we finally got checked in and then proceeded to drive all over the town in search of fast food. We landed on Wendy's ( somewhere I have never been, this trip is all about new experiences, right?) and gorged ourselves in greasy fast food. Nothing could have tasted better after that hike. Next morning, we woke up and made our way to the Grand Canyon. We stayed in a nice campgound just outside the North Rim of the park. We were both excited to go into the park because this is something we have heard about our whole lives and it was crazy knowing we were actually going to see it. It's pretty amazing because for 12 miles after you enter the park you just drive through this grassy area with trees and nothing special around it. But when we got to the lodge and went to our first lookout, I can't even explain it (literally, I just sat at the computer for 3 minutes trying to come up with a word to describe it). Let's just say there is a reason it is called the GRAND canyon. We drove around to all the major look out points and each one was even more impressive than the last. Beautiful, unreal, unbelievable, and enormous. After eating dinner at our campsite we headed back to the lodge for some drinks. This was awesome. The whole dining area of the lodge overlooks the canyon and outside they have a bunch of wooden, reclining chairs looking right over it. We sat in our chairs with a couple of tequilla sunrises and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was awesome. The sun started to set and it became even more beautiful. Best happy hour ever.
BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK, UTAH
This morning we left our camp at the Grand Canyon and headed back into Utah to see Bryce Canyon. After Zion and Grand Canyon, we really didn't think it could get much better. That was until we got to Bryce. I'm not going to say this was the most amazing or beautiful park because I would be contradicting myself, as so far, all of the parks have been unreal, however, I will say this is by far the most unique. Thousands of huge, jagged, sandstone pillars standing up hundreds of feet into the sky. It was awesome. We hiked down into the canyon, ending up in an area called Queen's Garden, which was a bunch of these crazy finger-like towers all packed closely together with one bigger one (the Queen) in the middle. Conner went crazy with the pictures here and I don't blame him. Every step was an awesome photo, photographers paradise. I'm not going to say much more, I'll just let the pictures explain.
We were told that you can pretty much get a good feel of what the park is about by doing this hike and we agreed. So we drove to Moab just outside of Arches National Park in Utah. We are now in a little motel and are hanging out until we venture into the park tomorrow.
So that has been our last couple days! Hopefully you got through the whole thing and we will talk to you all soon!!
Love,
Katie and Conner
The last time we wrote to you, we had just left Death Valley and were staying the night in Vegas. Don't get too excited, we didn't go out but we DID go to one of Guy Fieri's favorite spots in Vegas. Four Kegs is a little whole in the wall bar/ restaurant that is famous for their Stromboli (I don't even know if I am spelling that right). For those of you who don't know what stromboli is (because I didn't prior to eating one) it is basically a giant folded up pizza. It was so good, it was all Conner could talk about for the next 48 hours.
Because we have been to three amazing places and there is so much to say about each of them, I'm just going to split this post up into sections, so warning, this is going to be a long one. Also, we have so many pictures that we have to leave them uploading over night, we just figured we would update you beforehand.
ZION NATIONAL PARK, UTAH
There are no words that can describe how incredibly massive and beautiful the rock formations are in Zion. I am almost hesitant to put up our pictures because, while Conner took beautiful photos, they are no compaison to the real thing. When we were waiting in line to get into the park, neither of us really knew what to expect. In fact, we had never heard much about Zion so we were in for a huge surprise when we finally made it in. Both of us went silent as we drove along this winding road engulfed by these GIGANTIC rocks. They towered over us and I have never felt so tiny. There weren't any campsites open in the park, so we were told to head about a mile east outside of the park. I was a little bummed at first because I was hoping to stay in Zion, however, when we started driving out the east end of the park, my thoughts changed. The drive was beautiful, leading us up and around the park and giving us amazing views of the rocks. It took us about 20 minutes to get out of the park and I don't think either of us actually said anything the whole time, we were so amazed.
We got settled at camp and decided to head back to the park to do some hiking. We had heard about the Emerald Pools so we hopped on a shuttle that took us to the trailhead. It was a short, easy hike that first led us to the lower pools. When we got to the pool, it looked almost enchanted, with two little water falls falling from above us into this pretty little pool. It was gorgeous so we decided to hike to the upper pools. This was awesome, it looked like it was straight out of a movie. A big pool surrounded by huge, straight up cliffs and rocks all around it. Pretty awesome start to the park.
After that, we walked around, played twenty questions, a game of two person charades and then decided we were bored. We didn't bring anything to do so what did we do? We packed up our tent and backpacks and headed down the trail. We felt pretty silly, but I justified it as, we did sleep in the tent and we did cook a meal, we just did it in lighting speed. So with our newborn energy, we began our long journey down. Literally all we talked about for the first two hours down the trail was food. By the end, our feet felt like they were going to fall off and we were dead tired from our 12 hour hike, but it was an awesome experience and unreal beautiful.
All in all, Zion is incredibly breathtaking and everyone should go there.
GRAND CANYON NATION PARK, ARIZONA
BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK, UTAH
We were told that you can pretty much get a good feel of what the park is about by doing this hike and we agreed. So we drove to Moab just outside of Arches National Park in Utah. We are now in a little motel and are hanging out until we venture into the park tomorrow.
So that has been our last couple days! Hopefully you got through the whole thing and we will talk to you all soon!!
Love,
Katie and Conner
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Pictures!
So here are all the pictures from the last few days! The album should appear when you click the link, if it doesn't, let us know.
Hope you enjoyed reading, there will be many more to come :)
PICTURES:
Hope you enjoyed reading, there will be many more to come :)
PICTURES:
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| Death Valley and Surrounding Desert |
SLO through Death Valley
Hello!!
I can't believe it has only been 3 days into our trip, there is already so much to tell! Just to make it easier, Katie is writing this one so when referring to "I", it's me, Katie :)
So we left on Monday the 6th around 1 pm and headed for San Luis. It took us a while to get everything packed in the car as we have everything you can imagine, from cooking supplies to a can of bear repellent. When we got to SLO, Tanner, Conner's brother, was still at work so we met him at his house. I think it is very necessary to share with you all Tanner's directions to his house because it was a great start to our trip...."GO through the driveway with the closed gate and park near the mobile home. If you've seen a cemetery on the right, you've gone too far. Once you park there will be a path through the trees behind you a wood bridge and gate, once you go through the gate take the first path to your left, there will be two bikes outside the cottage." Surprisingly, these were extremely accurate, except he forgot to mention that the gate has a giant sign that says "GUARD DOGS. DO NOT ENTER." The cottage was amazing and thank you Tanner for letting us stay.
Anyways, that night we went to dinner and a bar called Frog and Peach. When we got back, Tanner had the pleasure of shaving Conner's head. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Gave him a mullet and some balding in the back first. In the morning we had breakfast a nice local cafe on the water in Los Osos and then began our journey to Death Valley.
We didn't realize how far Death Valley actually was from SLO, so when we found out it was 8 hours instead of four, we decided we might need to stop along the way. We found a little campground called Walker Pass probably about 50 miles outside of Bakersfield. At that point we were really starting to get into desert land so it was really pretty.
We finally made it to Death Valley on Wednesday morning and right away we were both in awe. It was really cool to see the elevation signs decreasing from 5,000 all the way to sea level and below. When we first got there, it was pretty hot, probably 90 degrees, but we knew that was nothing compared to what we would experience later in the day. We did our first hike through Mosaic Canyon, which was a hike through a dried up river. It was pretty amazing. This narrow path was just surrounded by huge red and yellow rock walls, a lot actually made out of limestone. Neither of us had ever experienced the desert before and it really does have it's own unique beauty to it. When we finished the hike we got some lunch down at the main lodging and recreation area, Furnace Creek. We realized, after spending about an hour in Death Valley, that the fact that we spoke English and were actually from the US, made us the minority. Our new game became to guess where everyone was from.
Later, it started getting SUPER hot so we went swimming at the lodge after finding our own little camp spot near by. The campground was pretty empty, not many people visit there in the summer compared to winter, I don't blame them, the heat is almost unbearable. After the pool, around 5 we headed to the sand dunes, something both of us were super excited about. I think this was top 3, if not THE coolest thing I have ever done. It was, what seemed like, an endless land of sand dunes. I felt like I was in Aladdin :) It was super hot but I convinced Conner that we should hike up one of the taller sand dunes so we could see the sunset. Probably the most tiring work out either of us have ever had but I would sprint up that thing a million times just to see that view. Conner did an amazing job with taking pictures so hopefully you will be able to understand how awesome it was. Only regret is not bring a giant piece of cardboard to slide down on. Wow this is getting long...
Okay, that night we made an extravagant meal of cold soup and scrambled eggs and then tried to go to bed but had to instantly get out of the tent because it was so hot. We thought once the sun went down, it would cool down, we were greatly mistaken. Conner found our little hand fans and I filled up a spray bottle with water and the next two hours consisted of us spraying ourselves with water until we fell asleep.
We got up around 5:30 and drove to Badwater, which is the lowest elevation in the western hemisphere at about 280 or so feet below sea level. It was basically just an ocean of dried salt and it was surrounded by mountains. Pretty cool walking on salt. We did one more little hike through the Golden Canyon and then went up to Zabriski Point for a famous view of the valley. Breathtaking is all I can say.
So now, we are in Vegas. We are staying in a Best Western (thanks to my parents) about a half a mile from the strip. I had never seen Vegas before. The buildings are huge, with New York New York, Mandalay Bay and Caesar's Palace, it is exactly like the movies! So how did we spend our first few hours in this crazy city that never sleeps!? We were too early for check in so we sat in the parking lot of the Best Western and made tuna sandwiches, which, by the way, are incredibly hard to make when your can opener does not work. We are LIVING LARGE people!
SO that is it for now, sorry this turned out to be a novel, but I'm just so excited I want to tell you everything!
We have A LOT of pictures, but of course our album thing is being really slow so we can't post all of them yet, but here are a few and more will come later!
Miss you all!!
I can't believe it has only been 3 days into our trip, there is already so much to tell! Just to make it easier, Katie is writing this one so when referring to "I", it's me, Katie :)
So we left on Monday the 6th around 1 pm and headed for San Luis. It took us a while to get everything packed in the car as we have everything you can imagine, from cooking supplies to a can of bear repellent. When we got to SLO, Tanner, Conner's brother, was still at work so we met him at his house. I think it is very necessary to share with you all Tanner's directions to his house because it was a great start to our trip...."GO through the driveway with the closed gate and park near the mobile home. If you've seen a cemetery on the right, you've gone too far. Once you park there will be a path through the trees behind you a wood bridge and gate, once you go through the gate take the first path to your left, there will be two bikes outside the cottage." Surprisingly, these were extremely accurate, except he forgot to mention that the gate has a giant sign that says "GUARD DOGS. DO NOT ENTER." The cottage was amazing and thank you Tanner for letting us stay.
Anyways, that night we went to dinner and a bar called Frog and Peach. When we got back, Tanner had the pleasure of shaving Conner's head. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Gave him a mullet and some balding in the back first. In the morning we had breakfast a nice local cafe on the water in Los Osos and then began our journey to Death Valley.
We didn't realize how far Death Valley actually was from SLO, so when we found out it was 8 hours instead of four, we decided we might need to stop along the way. We found a little campground called Walker Pass probably about 50 miles outside of Bakersfield. At that point we were really starting to get into desert land so it was really pretty.
We finally made it to Death Valley on Wednesday morning and right away we were both in awe. It was really cool to see the elevation signs decreasing from 5,000 all the way to sea level and below. When we first got there, it was pretty hot, probably 90 degrees, but we knew that was nothing compared to what we would experience later in the day. We did our first hike through Mosaic Canyon, which was a hike through a dried up river. It was pretty amazing. This narrow path was just surrounded by huge red and yellow rock walls, a lot actually made out of limestone. Neither of us had ever experienced the desert before and it really does have it's own unique beauty to it. When we finished the hike we got some lunch down at the main lodging and recreation area, Furnace Creek. We realized, after spending about an hour in Death Valley, that the fact that we spoke English and were actually from the US, made us the minority. Our new game became to guess where everyone was from.
Later, it started getting SUPER hot so we went swimming at the lodge after finding our own little camp spot near by. The campground was pretty empty, not many people visit there in the summer compared to winter, I don't blame them, the heat is almost unbearable. After the pool, around 5 we headed to the sand dunes, something both of us were super excited about. I think this was top 3, if not THE coolest thing I have ever done. It was, what seemed like, an endless land of sand dunes. I felt like I was in Aladdin :) It was super hot but I convinced Conner that we should hike up one of the taller sand dunes so we could see the sunset. Probably the most tiring work out either of us have ever had but I would sprint up that thing a million times just to see that view. Conner did an amazing job with taking pictures so hopefully you will be able to understand how awesome it was. Only regret is not bring a giant piece of cardboard to slide down on. Wow this is getting long...
Okay, that night we made an extravagant meal of cold soup and scrambled eggs and then tried to go to bed but had to instantly get out of the tent because it was so hot. We thought once the sun went down, it would cool down, we were greatly mistaken. Conner found our little hand fans and I filled up a spray bottle with water and the next two hours consisted of us spraying ourselves with water until we fell asleep.
We got up around 5:30 and drove to Badwater, which is the lowest elevation in the western hemisphere at about 280 or so feet below sea level. It was basically just an ocean of dried salt and it was surrounded by mountains. Pretty cool walking on salt. We did one more little hike through the Golden Canyon and then went up to Zabriski Point for a famous view of the valley. Breathtaking is all I can say.
So now, we are in Vegas. We are staying in a Best Western (thanks to my parents) about a half a mile from the strip. I had never seen Vegas before. The buildings are huge, with New York New York, Mandalay Bay and Caesar's Palace, it is exactly like the movies! So how did we spend our first few hours in this crazy city that never sleeps!? We were too early for check in so we sat in the parking lot of the Best Western and made tuna sandwiches, which, by the way, are incredibly hard to make when your can opener does not work. We are LIVING LARGE people!
SO that is it for now, sorry this turned out to be a novel, but I'm just so excited I want to tell you everything!
We have A LOT of pictures, but of course our album thing is being really slow so we can't post all of them yet, but here are a few and more will come later!
Miss you all!!
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