The National Parks Loop

First on the list out of Vegas was Giant Sequoia National Park, home to the giant Sequoia trees strangely enough. The route there brought us through the Mojave Desert and the searing heat that goes along with it. We originally had planned to go to Death Valley but it was just too hot so we knocked it off the list. The drive to Sequoia was a long one so we stopped off at a Sports Bar beside a lake in the middle of nowhere to watch the end of the Lakers Nuggets game 3 in the basketball. The Lakers were down by 8 going into the last quarter but pulled away and won it by 6 in the end. The fridges in the bar had broken so all beer was in ice in the sinks which was a bit similar to us as our A/C and generator had stopped working that day. Hopefully the problem is simple and related to both of them as neither of us fancy forking out too much money to get it

fixed. We parked up the road from the bar in a lay-by and went to sleep for the night after cooking some bolognese for dinner.

The following day had us arriving at Sequoia NP. It was Memorial Day which is the beginning of the Summer for Americans. It's a big weekend for them like the June Bank Holiday would be for us and the crowds were really out in force. The visitor centre was packed when we arrived there. We waited in line and found out where to go for an easy stroll through some massive trees - it was recommended to us to head us to General Sherman, the largest tree (by volume) in the world. We parked and got a shuttle up to the area, saw the massive tree and walked around for a bit. Now don't get me wrong, General Sherman is a massive tree and is impressive in it's own right but both of us agreed that we preferred the Redwood Forests of Northern California. Yosemite was on the bill for the following day so we hit the road to get a good bit of it done that evening to make the most of the day in Yosemite since so many people had recommended it back home. We drove to a town within 70 miles of the park entrance and stopped for dinner and ended up staying the night at the side of the road.

We slept in a little the following morning after the lawnmowers woke us at 7.30am but we were on the road and at Yosemite before noon. As with most of the other national parks, the entrance is often miles away from the visitor centre or the places you are there to see and Yosemite was no different. We went through the entrance, showed our pass and drove for another hour into Yosemite Valley. We went to the visitor centre and decided on the Upper Yosemite Fall Hike and while we were there we noticed that the campsites still had space. Now we had to go to campground reservations to book one of these places and we thought it would be a good idea as the plan was to do the hike and then watch the Lakers game in the Lodge afterwards. We headed to reservations but by the time we got there all the spaces had filled up and we were third on the waiting list. The catch was to claim a spot we had to be there at 3pm and we planned to be halfway up the hike by then so we nipped that idea in the butt. We drove back to the parking lot, laced up, got the shuttle bus to the visitor centre again and began the hike.

Now this hike is steep which hasn't been a problem so far, the thing was that te trail was full of ruts between rocks which meant it was really uneven and alot tougher on the legs. We got about 2 and a half miles up the loop to the first sighting of the upper falls that you get where we had a quick rest. We started up the rest of the trail when we passed some people coming down. They told us it was about an hour and a half to the top - at this stage it was already 5pm and the basketball was beginning at 6. Both os us were tired and hungry at this stage and continuing to the top meant we wouldn't get back until around 8 so we chose to turn around and head down. We had a quick wash and change in the RV and went to the bar to watch the game and relax. The bar had a really limited food menu so we got take-out from the cafeteria beside it and relaxed while eating and watching game 4 of the Lakers series. Denver ended up winning this one comfortably to tie the series at 2-2. We went back to the RV and hit the road since we wouldn't be able to sleep anywhere in the park. It ended up taking us about 4 hours to leave the park as the route brought us up over mountains and since there were loads of wild animals in the park we had to drive slowly as they could pop out of nowhere as a deer decided to do early on in the drive. We were quite low on fuel as we exited the park (at 10,000 feet elevation) and the gas station by the entrance was closed so we pulled into a lay-by and headed off to sleep.

The following morning we filled up with gas and headed on to our next planned destination - Lake Tahoe. We missed alot of spectacular scenery leaving the park under the cover of darkness the previous evening but we still had some amazing sights on our way to Tahoe, the first of which was Lake Mono. A Lake high in the mountains which has strange rock formations in the middle of it, many of which were under water until it started to be used as a fresh water source. To be honest I know no more about them and we saw them from the road but they cast a strange sight from the passenger seat. We continued on up and down the roads as the miles ticked by. We were well off the beaten track on this route and it showed in the towns we went through, alot of them seemed to be stuck in the 1980's. Alot of the roads went through open ranches so seeing cows by or on the road was not a strange sight so we had to be quite alert even though there was next to no traffic.

We arrived at Lake Tahoe in the mid afternoon. Or at least South Lake Tahoe anyway. This massive picturesque lake has many towns dotted around the lake and we seemed to be at one of the biggest ones. We had some food by the water and wanted to do something for the evening so we went to one of the built up marinas. Here we found a place that rents jetskis and I didn't need much persuading. We signed our lives away about 17 times and after a quick demonstration we were let loose on the water for an hour. We drove at 5 mph through the coloured buoys until we were in deeper water and then I squeezed the throttle to see what she had. It was great craic, again being out of season it was quiet so we had next to no traffic to deal with on the water. The longer we were out there the more confidence I got and near the end we were zipping over the water at over 40mph. We returned and gave back the kill cord and asked the rental guy for a nice place to get a small bite to eat and watch the basketball. He recommended a bar/restaurant called "The Beacon" in Camp Robinson so we headed there. As we went in there was a racoon going through the bins outside. We sat at the bar and watched the second half of the game as the sunset over the water out on the deck. We chatted with the really friendly bar man, had some wings and a burger and watched LeBron James get two free throws with 0.5s left in the game to bring it to overtime. Dwight Howard excelled in overtime and the Orlando Magic took a 3-1 series lead in the best of 7 Eastern Conference finals. We finished off our drinks and asked the barman if he reckoned we could stay where we had parked. He said he had seen people stay there for 2 nights in the middle of Summer so he thought we wouldn't have a problem. That was enough for us and stay there we did. We have been watching the Wire since we arrived on the iPod and we were all set to watch the last episode of the last series but it didn't transfer onto the iPod properly so we were left in suspense.

The following day we checked into an RV park early, picking up some food in Safeway along the way. I got there to see the last 20 minutes of the Champions League final which seemed to have been wrapped up at that stage. By all accounts Barcelona completely outplayed Man Utd so they can have no real complaints. We had a lazy enough day as the weather wasn't great so we just got our photos in order and spent some time on Skype back home. We had our usual RV park BBQ and went down the road to a pizza restaurant to watch the Lakers game. The owner was a big Lakers fan (now that we are back in California there are more of them again) so he spent most of the game chatting with us, stepping away every now and then to cook a pizza. It was a

really close game with the score tied at the end of each of the three quarters but the Lakers pulled away in the 4th quarter to win it comfortably enough and take a 3-2 series lead. We strolled back the RV and hit the hay.

We had 600 miles to our next destination so we got up and left the RV park around 11. We held off on filling up with gas until we crossed into Nevada where fuel is considerably cheaper. California seems to have the most expensive fuel in the states so the less we had to buy there the happier our wallets were. We filled up and stuck Ita in cruise control and watched the coutryside drift by as the mileometer ticked up and up. The journey started with rain, wind, hail, sleet and a bit of snow but dried up as we continued south and the altitude decreased. We stopped in a small town for gas and parked in the car park were Emer cooked dinner. I took over driving and hadn't gone two minutes down the road when I was pulled over for speeding. I was doing 45 in a 25 zone. Now as far as I know the rule in America is that you are fined $10 for every mph you are over the limit. I was fully expecting a big fat ticket as he took my licence back to his vehicle. As he walked back up his hands were empty except for my licence and he issued me with a warning. Must have been the Irish accent or something but I wasn't bothered, I stuck Ita back in drive and drove out of the town at 23 mph. We continued on to the next National Park, seeing our first piece of tumbleweed bounce across the road in front of us. We continued on into the darkness, driving under one of the meanest looking clouds I have seen on Extra Terrestrial Road and out of it's windy clutches until we got to a shell just outside of the town of Alamo. Alot of trucks had stopped here for the night so we did too.

The following day we continued towards Zion National Park. Before long we were back on the Interstate system, I-15 taking us north into Utah and we left it again when Sat Nav told us to. We drove on into Springdale, the closest town to Zion National Park. The Park run a shuttle service from the town and provide free parking so that the park doesn't get congested. It's a really good system and we were brought right up to the visitor centre. Here we chose the riverside walk after a little bit of ranger advice. We took the internal park shuttle bus all the way down to the end of the canyon and walked the easy paved trail. At the end there were alot of people putting on waterproofs and others drying off. You can continue the hike through the river all the way to where the canyon walls meet but we had no intention of doing that. The heavens opened as we were getting the shuttle back, we ran through the downpour to the town shuttle and back to our RV. We had left the windows and vents open when we were away as it was warm when we left so there was a bit of drying to do. The Lakers were playing so we found a Sports Bar and Grill and settled in at the bar to enjoy the game. I was wearing my Kobe Bryant jersey so I made both friends and enemies the second I walked in the door. The Lakers ran out easy winners as we had burgers, hot dogs and wings to take the Western Conference 4-2 and qualify for the NBA finals. During the evening we discovered that Utah state stipulates that you cannot purchase alcohol unless you are buying food - we were starving so it didn't really bother us but the amount of people ordering nachos or wings or some other cheap appetiser was funny to see. That night we found a dark spot in the car park of the bar and headed off to sleep.

The following day I was reading the Zion brochure over breakfast and remembered people telling me about the Angels Landing hike and how amazing it. We discussed it and decided to stay in Zion for another day as this would allow us to do the hike and then see Star Trek in the IMAX theater in Springdale. So we packed our bag and caught the shuttles to bring us to the start of the hike. And what a hike it was!!! The first mile and a half or so is really steep and it brings you up the canyon wall to a series of really tight switchbacks. When you finish these you come out at the top of the canyon and you are treated to an incredible view down the length of the canyon. This is where the fun part of the hike begins, there is still about a mile or so to the top of Angels landing. However, the route involves climbing up steep rock inclines and crossing over narrow passages a few feet wide with a 1000 ft drop either side and a chain to hold onto. I really hope the photos give you a sense of how amazing a section it was to hike. The weather was starting to turn nasty so we raced to the top and as soon we got there we heard thunder over the hills so we didn't hang around to see if there was lightning with it. The climb down was alot tougher but it was better to appreciate/be terrified by the view. We raced down the hill to the end and were amazed to see we did the whole thing in 2 hours - the brouchure says to keep 3-4 hours for the whole hike. We had showers in the RV and went to the same place for dinner as the night before and to watch the Lakers. While here we found out more about the strange alcohol laws in Utah. The barman told us that it is a Mormon state and they don't believe in alcohol. Not only can you not drink unless you are eating, all domestic beers are 3.2% alcohol (ours are usually 4.5%-5%). This includes beers sold in off licences and the like. Even though the Mormons are in the minority in the State, they make the decisions and they have decided that alcohol is evil and must be heavily controlled. We left before the game was over to go to the cinema.

The IMAX they had was massive, the screen as tall as a 6 story building. Star Trek had been out a couple of weeks at this stage but they only started showing it the evening before so there were decent crowds at it. We got there sort of early to get good seats but nearly all of them were good. We bought coke and popcorn and settled in for the film. A film we both thoroughly enjoyed. It's directed by JJ Abrams (the guy responsible for Lost) who has also directed Mission Impossible 3. The special effects and action are incredible and were certainly made better seeing it in the IMAX. We parked across the road and had a well earned sleep after our long day.

We got up early to hit the road to the next National Park of this leg of our trip - Bryce Canyon. The route we needed to travel brought us through the mile long tunnel through the rock of Zion Canyon. The first million dollar mile built in the States, completed in the 1920's, the tunnel hasn't been upgraded since then. Any vehicle over 8 foot wide or 13 foot high requires an escort through which basically means the rangers close the two way traffic for a time and you drive through the middle of the tunnel. We had to pay to do this, Ita didn't apprecriate being called fat but we reassured her and drove up to the entrance of the tunnel. The route was closed for oversized traffic coming towards us so we had to hang around for a few minutes behind a couple of Harley's but pretty soon we were sent on our way. The second we entered the tunnel it was clear why traffic needed to be stopped for large vehicles. It hasn't been enlarged since it was built in the 30's so we needed to drive in the middle of the road to prevent our roof scraping off the sides and top of the tunnel. When we emerged at the other end of the mile long tunnel the queue of traffic to enter the park was very long indeed. We got a few looks from people in cars giving out to us for closing the tunnel but it didn't bother us and we continued on. We stopped at a viewpoint to take a few more photos before we left the park and then we were on our merry way.

Bryce and Zion are close enough so we made it there before lunchtime and had some lunch in the overflow car park by the visitors centre. I had read about the Peekaboo loop trail in a couple of books and really wanted to do it so we laced up and got the free shuttle down to the start of the trail. It leaves you back a bit from the canyon edge so you get to walk up and experience the view without getting any peaks beforehand. And it is an amazing view. The best way I can describe it is like an outside cave. The way wind, ice and water have carved the rocks is incredible and the formations remaining resemble stalagmites. We walked the strenuous 6 km hike down, in and around the various stunning formations (I filled a 2GB memory card on this hike alone) and even passed a rattlesnake on the way back. The heat and yesterdays hike really caught up with us and we were shattered by the time we got back to the RV. We decided a stay at an RV park was in order to relax and recover. Sat Nav told us that there was a rest area about 30 miles from the RV park so we headed there with the intention of sleeping and getting a decent rest at the park. The route to this place was through some of the most left behind towns I have ever seen. Deer and cattle roamed the roads at will so there was lots of sudden braking. The worst thing about it was the lack of gas stations - we didn't see one the whole way to the interstate and it was another 60 miles once we joined the interstate until we passed one. We just about made it to it, we were putting Ita in neutral on any downhill sections of the last few miles we were so low. Made it we did (Thanks to Emers amazing driving) though so we filled up and headed on to the rest area.

We made it to the RV park around midday the following day but we continued into the town of Moab to do some shopping for food. Moab is a town fun of adventure lovers - downhill biking, white water rafting, climbing, absailing, dune buggys and many other adventure sports are all catered for. We did the complete opposite, chilling out in the shade, having a BBQ and chatting with family on Skype before the next National Park - Arches. We were up and out of the RV park at 11 the next morning as they seemed strict on check out time. We made the short drive to Arches and went all the way to the end where we liked the Double Arch Trail. It was a really fun trail - the first section was a path that brought you to a few arch formations but about halfway to Double Arch it turns into a very primitive trail. We didn't realise how primitive it was until the trail disappeared and we were scrambling across rocks and following stacks of stones which led the way through the desert. We passed people every now and then which confirmed we were on the right route. It was so much fun heading to a pile of rocks and then searching for the next one to lead the way. The formation made the hike completely worth it when we reached it - a massive rock arch had a smaller one below it. We walked through and sat in the shade to have a snack while we looked back through the arch over the desert spread out in front of us. We hiked back to the RV and drove to other formations to have a look at them but did no more real hiking. We did some more driving and stayed in another rest area.

Another day of driving beckoned so we were on the road in the morning. I-15 was the interstate for this portion of the journey. This road conveniently went right through Salt Lake City, capital of the Mormon state of Utah. Right in the middle of Salt Lake City is Temple Square which is effectively the Vatican of the Morman faith. The grounds are open to the public so we broke up our journey by paying it a visit. It's a walled area with numerous buildings including the Temple (which is closed to the public) and the Tabernacle, which is where the world famous (apparantly) Morman choir practice and perform. We strolled around the immaculately kept grounds where there were many Mormons walking around with leaflets and other stuff. We weren't there long enough to get talking to them which may or may not have been a good thing. We hit the road again north which brought us into the state of Idaho, parallel to the Rocky Mountain range to our right. Our eventual destination was to be Yellowstone and we stopped at the side of the road in a small town about an hour shy of the west entrance. I forgot to mention the amount of tunderstorms we have been driving through over the past few days - this evening was the 4th day in a row we saw fork lightning around us.

The next morning brought us into Montana and Yellowstone - the oldest and largest of all the National Parks. It's the one you always hear of and it was one I was especially looking forward to. And it didn't let us down - we were barely in the park 5 minutes and we saw a bald eagle in its nest perched on the top of a lightning burnt tree. A few more miles down the road and a Buffalo was walking down the middle of the road like he owned it. And then we reached the Geysers!! Iceland and New Zealand are probably more famous for their Geysers but Yellowstone National Park has over half of the worlds geysers within it's grounds. They are incredible, some just have small bubbles coming to the surface, others bubble and erupt but all of them create the most incredible colours around their edges. The smell of the steam eminating is quite rancid due to the high sulphur (for the kids - sulphur smells like rotten eggs, really gross) content but ther alien look to the landscape makes it all worthwhile. We also saw bubbling mud pits before we headed to the largest of all the geysers - Old Faithful. It erupts about every 90 minutes with the eruption spitting water over 100 feet in the air. When we got there it had just erupted so we decided to grab a shower in the Lodge right beside the Geyser. We had a thorough clean and came out and sat down on one of the benches around the Geyser and waited for the show to begin. A storm closed in over us as we waited and the National Weather Service issued a thunderstorm warning which had the park rangers out advising people to seek shelter. Nobody was moving so I think they were thankful when Old Faithful lived up to it's name and began erupting. The crowd were happy and we all headed to our vehicles or indoors. We took a quick detour through Hayden Valley in an attempt to see some Bears but the ensuing rain had them all under cover. We drove out of the park, over the Continental Divide (it's on a summit and contains a lake - water on one side flows to the Atlantic and on the other it flows to the Pacific) and on towards the town of Cody in Wyoming.

While we were in San Francisco a friend of Jack's (Garrett) recommended we go to a rodeo if we passed through here so we took his advice and went to the Cody Rodeo whcih is held for 90 nights in June, July and August. We had a quick dinner in the car park before buying our tickets and heading in. It was quiet enough as it was a weekday in early June but it was great craic to see it happen. We saw bucking Broncos, various lasoo events, kids on small bulls, barrel racing and the main event - bull riding. The aim is to stay on for 8 seconds but not one of the ridres managed this (one got trapped in the gate between the gate and the bull and was knocked out which was a bit scary). It was a really good event and is what Cody believe they are famous for. Again, we hit the road for a while and parked in a rest area on the interstate, I-90 this time.

Our run of National Parks was coming to an end but there were a few left in the Black Hills of South Dakota that we planned to visit before the spring south to Tennessee. First up was actually a monument - Devil's Tower. We drove for the whole day and made it here around 6pm. It's basically just a rock outcrop exposed by tectonic activity. Looks a bit out of place jutting out of the hill but it's nothing spectacular really after what we have seen so far on this trip. Jewel Cave was next on the agenda so we drove towards that so we could go to it early in the morning. As we drove there another lightning storm took place, this was the first one when it was dark though. It was incredible having the night sky lit up by the various forks all around us. Nature's power at it's greatest. We stopped by the side of the road in the last town before Jewel Cave and headed off to bed.

We got to Jewel Cave the following morning and went to the visitor centre to purchase tickets for some tours. Unfortunately the lantern tour hadn't begun yet so we couldn't do that one (basically a ranger led tour with only the lanterns which people carry to light the way) but we bought tickets for the two that were available - the Discovery Tour and the Scenic Tour. The discovery tour was a 20 minute tour of one room and was utterly forgettable but the scenic tour was alot more enjoyable. It was an hour and a half long and went about a mile into the cave (the second largest cave system in the world). Here we saw alot of the features that give Jewel Cave it's name but not any frost which is probably too delicate to display to the public. There was some on display in the cabinet in the visitor centre so that was something. We hopped in the RV and headed to our second of the last three National Parks and probably one of the most famous, Mount Rushmore. Along the way we passed by the Crazy Horse Monument which is currently being constructed and is due to be finished by 2050!! We got to Mount Rushmore, paid for the private parking (which we had no choice about, grrr) and strolled up to see the Presidents faces.

However, fog had rolled in and were obscuring the view from the terrace. We strolled along the path under them in the hope of catching a glimpse but they were obscured there too. We were going to have some food and wait for the fog to pass and as we turned to go for a food a cheer erupted from the terrace to signal that the fog had blown away. We had a look, took some

photos and then headed to the final park as the evening was closing in. We made it to Badlands as the sun was starting to set so we just drove through this park and admired it from the RV, and the odd view point that I hopped out at to take photos. It's an amazing landscape that has been formed, quite similar to Bryce Canyon but carved out of mud instead. As water has created Canyons in the soil, the various minerals in the soil have been exposed to the air creating a multi coloured landscape. We left the park as it was getting dark and started the long drive towards Tennesse for the weekend.

We found a rest area on I-90 on the Sat Nav and headed there. Along the way there was a truck overtaking us. I dipped my headlights as he was passing us and when he was nearly past us he put on his main beams. Up ahead was a deer standing right in it's path but he had no time to react. He jammed on the brakes but what followed was inevitable, the deer never stood a chance against an articulated truck at that speed. It was a bit horrific to see but both of us were thankful it was the truck and not us because I'm not sure how Ita would have fared. We made it to the rest area and rested our weary bodies after the productive day in preperation of a couple of long days on the road.