road trip across the USA Archives - Page 11 of 25

Day 193 – New Mexico North – Part 3

Day 193 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Cimarron Canyon State Park

After a quick stop in Red River, New Mexico for some one-day old donuts and coffee, VANilla weaved through the mountains and sped through the meadows to reach red granite cliffs Cimarron Canyon State Park. At mile marker 292, we found what would have been a seven mile roundtrip hike had we completed the entire walk along Clear Creek Canyon Trail. Instead we took about a two hour stroll along this Cimarron River tributary.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 192 – New Mexico North – Part 2

Day 192 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

El Santuario de Chimayo

At the suggestion of Kelly and Buck, I took the “High Road to Taos” from Santa Fe through several old Spanish towns. On the way to Taos, I stopped at El Santuario de Chimayo, a USA National Historic Landmark since 1970. The shrine is built on the site of what many believe to be a miracle associated with the crucifix of Nuestro Senor de Esquipulas.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 191 – Jemez Mountain Trail – Part 3

Day 191 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

My road trip took me toward Santa Fe today. I met up with some friends, Buck and Kelly, in the late afternoon yesterday and got to take advantage of the laundry room and an untimed shower! Later, we went to Terra for dinner and drinks at the bar while watching the third game of the NBA Finals. Our poor Mavericks lost by two points in the final four seconds…dang it!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 190 – Jemez Mountain Trail – Part 2

Day 190 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

After another night in New Mexico’s forest, I was bound and determined to get to Jemez Falls. The only way I knew how was to walk through the closed campgrounds or go to the East Fork Trailhead. I thought the walk through the campground would be shorter for Petey, so I chose that route which ended up being at least 1.5 miles on a paved road before we got to the short trail.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 189 – Jemez Mountain Trail

Day 189 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Echo Amphitheater

It turned out that a geocache was hidden just down the road from where I camped in Carson National Forest. I found it not too far from another makeshift campground which included a homemade toilet – a wooden box with a toilet seat covering the hole. After finding the cache, we took 84 south past farmland to Echo Amphitheater, a natural echo chamber carved into a sandstone cliff by wind and water.

Petey joined me on the short, paved walk to the cliff where I hollered GO MAVS and listened as the walls repeated my exclamation. This location in New Mexico is also a virtual cache, so I got to log another one!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 188 – New Mexico North

Day 188 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Today turned into more of a maintenance and travel day than a scenic drive day. By the time I finished using the free wi-fi at McDonald’s, fueled up VANilla, loaded up on groceries, and caught up with a few folks while I had good cell service in Durango, it was past noon, and I hadn’t begun driving to Angel Peak Scenic Area, my first stop on my scenic drive through the northern portion of New Mexico.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 177 – Bryce Canyon Country – Part 2

Day 177 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Bryce Canyon National Park

I spent the whole day in Bryce Canyon National Park, and it was fantastic. As I drove to the park, bright and early, the cloud covered sky sprinkled drops of rain. Just before the park entrance, I stopped at some forest land to let Petey water a few trees, and during our 5 minute stroll it started sleeting on us. I could see a few sections of blue sky beyond the black cloud, so I hoped for the best once I arrived at Bryce Point. As I continued a mile further, I saw a rain drop defy gravity and flutter upward in the wind…no, it was actually a snow flake. I saw only a smattering of snowflakes before I passed through some intermittent sprinkles and finally parked at Bryce Point where I prepared for a 5.5 mile hike.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 161 – Yosemite and Beyond – Part 2

Day 161 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Yosemite Valley has so much to offer. It is definitely the place that all visitors should stay when visiting the park. May I also suggest that tourists visit the park with their bike in tow during the week and during off peak times if possible, or at least not during the summer. I can’t imagine what the mobs of people or traffic would be like on a summer weekend. This weekend the weather was beautiful, but due to the heavy snow, many of the campgrounds were still closed, and the park was packed. I’m so glad I began my day early.

I was on the trail by 8:30. Given it takes an hour to get to the valley from the Wawona Campground, I felt like I got a good jump on the day. On our way to the trailhead, we made a short stop at Tunnel View which provides a panoramic picture of the valley including three of its famous landmarks: El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Fall. After admiring the view, I drove VANilla a few more miles into the valley, parked beneath some tall trees, pulled the shades, and left Petey to fend for himself for a few hours while I took a four mile roundtrip hike to the top of Vernal Fall.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 160 – Yosemite and Beyond

Day 160 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

I awoke at 6am, just before the ten teenage girls’ shrill laughs started back up this morning! I planned for an early rise, so I could get to a few of the hot spots before the crowds. Also, I knew at times I was going to have to leave Petey in VANilla, so I wanted to make sure it was cool for him.

After loading up VANilla and boiling some water for coffee and oatmeal, we made our way toward the valley around 7 am. I didn’t plan to be in the northwest corner of the park again, so I stopped off at the other end of Tuolumne Grove Road as we didn’t complete the eight mile roundtrip last night.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Day 159 – Travel Day

Day 159 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Last night, while I said I camped at the Turtle Bay Park, to be more specific, I camped in the Convention Center parking lot which shares the same main entry and exit point. Wal-Mart and K-mart did not allow overnight parking, so when I noticed three tractor trailers and two campers in the lot across from the Turtle Bay Park parking area, I figured it was a safe place for some shut eye.

The Circus Is In Town

I awoke this morning to a bunch of racket. I pulled my shade up to see what all the commotion was and literally the circus had come to town. Tractor trailers and campers filled the parking lot as workers were hammering down stakes to set up some of their tents behind the convention center. While it probably would have been interesting to talk with some of the folks, my first instinct was to get the heck out of there.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!