Author: linfordfisher

Day 27 (7/25). (Lin)

Today was a parents’ nightmare! Well, potentially, at least. We had a our most exciting and yet terrifying hiking day yet. We got another early start to the day (the kids are such amazing troopers about constantly getting less sleep than they want and getting up relatively early) – this time to ensure a parking spot at the Zion Visitor Center. The line for the canyon floor shuttle was fairly long, but we were on a shuttle in 20 minutes or so. Our destination was the Angel’s Landing trail – so intense and well-known that it is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a 5 mile round trip hike that has an elevation increase of 1,700 feet. The hike features amazing views and several series of steep switchbacks, the most famous and steep of 15 or so is called Walter’s Wiggles (after the guy that designed them).

What makes the Angel’s Landing trail famous is the last half mile – out a treacherous spine of rock with sharp dropoffs on either side 1600 feet down to the canyon floor that leads up to the highest point of the hike, Angel’s Landing (which juts out into the valley in a way that gives amazing views). There is a chain on posts installed almost the whole length of that last section since the footing is not secure and the dropoffs so sharp. We all did a short first section of that last half mile, and then Eden, Harrison, Helena, and I continued on while Jo and Elliot went back. But even we decided to stop after getting about one quarter of the way there. It is so treacherous, with such steep dropoffs, that I didn’t feel comfortable taking the younger two—and only being able to really look after one (pics below). But still, we stopped at a nice point and saw some hawks up close swooping overhead and had some amazing views down the valley floor from 1600 feet up. The hike down was hot, but was so incredibly beautiful.

We were hot and exhausted, so we took some time to wade in the Virgin River, which felt great. We took the shuttle to the Zion Lodge, where we got a late lunch and even snuck in a short nap under a huge Cottonwood tree. It was hot – 103 F or so. We decided to tackle one last hike to the Weeping Rock, where we also cooled off a bit with the water dripping down out of the rock.

Harrison and Helena needed a ranger talk to complete their Junior Ranger Program, so they headed to the Zion Museum with Jo while Eden, Elliot, and I got in a few last views at the Big Bend.

The drive out of Zion (to the northeast) was stunning. A series of long switchbacks took us through brilliantly red and granite formations, and a long tunnel took us to the eastern highlands of Zion, which were also amazing. We all found it interesting and curious that, suddenly, after exiting the park, the landscape returned to boring normal – vast grasslands with—eventually—a few beautiful mesas and canyons in the distance. The temperature dropped precipitously as we drove northeast from Zion to Bryce Canyon National Park (1.5 hrs) – from 105 to 67 F. Our hotel is just outside Bryce Canyon, which we will explore tomorrow.

I think Zion might be our favorite park so far, collectively speaking. It really is an amazing place, and I can totally see us returning when the kids are a bit older for some of the harder hikes (and to complete Angel’s Landing!). The towering canyon walls remind me a bit of Yosemite, but the colors are entirely different — far more reds, greens, whites, etc. So lovely.

(As always, click on the photos below for larger versions.)

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Day 26 (7/24). (Lin) We were out by 8 am from our hotel in Las Vegas – it is amazing how quiet the city is at that time. And yet, there were still hundreds of people in the huge hotel lobby gambling. Such a strange and crazy place. Harrison loved it (the strip, the look-alike buildings and monuments from around the world); Elliot hated it; the other kids seemed indifferent.

From Vegas we headed southeast to the Hoover Dam, which was definitely impressive. One stat the kids liked was that there is enough concrete in the Hoover Dam to pave a sidewalk the entire way around the earth at the equator. And, yes, we all had some dam fun with words – we’ve never fake/pun cursed so much in our lives. After browsing the visitor center, taking lots of photos outside, and crossing from Nevada into Arizona and back again, we hit the road and headed to Zion National Park.

No pun intended, my religious studies friends, but the road to Zion was unexpectedly gorgeous. At one point someone remarked that we basically had already arrived at the Grand Canyon! Soaring red and multi-colored canyons jutted out of the ground all around us for at least the hour prior to arriving at Zion. We felt at times that we had entered the Cars movie set – so much so that we blared the soundtrack. There might have been singing (it’s a blur, sir).

Zion itself is amazing, but in a different way than Yellowstone or Yosemite, two other family favorites. There are the soaring canyon walls, but they are beautifully red and multicolored with white peaks, compared to the relative uniformity of Yosemite granite. No sweeping Lamar Valleys here, but there is vegetation and wildlife – we saw several deer on our hike tonight, plus squirrels that think they own the place, lizards, and birds (something Elliot has suddenly become passionate about).

Since we arrived at Zion at approximately 4:30 pm (having lost an hour entering the mountain time zone), we decided to head straight for one of two really anticipated hikes: the Narrows canyon. Put simply, the Narrows is a long slot canyon that runs for 15-16 miles, has steep canyon walls on either side that go up 1,000 feet and more, and has a shallow river that runs through the entire width of the bottom. The only way to hike it is to walk through the water almost all the time. It was—wait for it—gorgeous. Seriously, though, the sun starting to go down a bit and was shining so prettily on the upper levels of the canyon walls. It had been such a hot day (111 F), so the cool water and canyon felt so great. The only thing that dampened the experience was the slight chance of a flashflood, which, while rare, would have been catastrophic. Overall, a really fun hike, even though we probably only did one-half to three-quarters of a mile in.

Since the 1990s, Zion has not allowed visitors to drive the canyon road. Instead, everyone takes a shuttle that has 9 stops at important and scenic places. We enjoyed the shuttle drive in and out again (the Narrows is at the north/far end of the canyon), with super high and beautifully colored canyon walls and peaks on both sides of us the entire time. It was hard to capture the beauty and grandeur.

Our hotel is just outside the park, but has a magnificent view of the southern end of Zion’s canyon. After a brief swim and a late dinner, we all admired the bazillions of stars and—much to our delight—the Milky Way, which was a first for most of us.

(Click on the pictures below to see a larger version of them or slideshow.)

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Day 25 (7/23). (Lin) Today was full of highs and lows. Specifically, the highest point in the contiguous 48 states (Mt. Whitney, 14,505 ft.), which we saw from a distance, and the lowest point in North America (Death Valley, 282 ft. below sea level), where we walked in 125 F blistering heat. It is ironic that these two spots are 150 miles or so apart from each other.

To get there, we opted to take the slightly more scenic drive to Death Valley instead of the main highway from LA to Las Vegas. The scenic route was diverse, and included tight turns along the river through the mountains as well as wide open straight roads once we crossed through southern section of the Sierras. We really wanted to catch a glimpse of Mt. Whitney, even if from afar, and sure enough, we were able to just as we were turning southeast to head towards Death Valley National Park (it was just jutting up from behind several other mountains).

Death Valley National Park is just huge (yuuuge?). It is the largest national park in the 48 contiguous states, and boy, did it feel like it. We drove and drove and drove once inside the park, with endless roads that just stretched on and on forever. But to get to Death Valley, you have to first climb over several mountain ranges. Poor Pickles (our van) was put to the test, with the air temps outside ranging from 105 – 125 F, and steep hills to climb, all with our AC cranking full blast. But our van performed flawlessly, much to our relief!

It’s hard to say exactly why Death Valley is so impressive. It is such a barren, windswept, super dray, incredibly hot place. It feels like nothing could survive there, but of course a few animals and plants do, as Helena and Harrison found out when they completed the Junior Ranger program (their third park to do so on this trip). We stopped at Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes (huge and lovely sand dunes), the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, Badwater Basin (ginormous salt flats, and where Death Valley reaches 282 feet below sea level), Artists’ Drive, and Zabriskie Point.

We all got out a few times, but the heat was so intense that not everyone did every time. It was odd – we found that when we were outside in the 125 F heat, we didn’t really sweat, even if we were walking around. But as soon as we got into the air conditioned van, we started sweating profusely for 5 minutes or so, since the intense dry heat no longer was there to evaporate our sweat, and yet our bodies still needed to sweat to cool down. We all drank a ton to compensate for the heat and water loss.

We were somewhat relieved to climb back out of Death Valley and hightail it towards Vegas. The road to Las Vegas was also long, straight, and beautiful. We stopped to finally get a few pictures with a Joshua Tree (especially important since we didn’t make it to Joshua Tree National Park).

We rolled into Las Vegas at 7 pm, and the kids were all agog. This place is just crazy and so over the top. We opted for delicious tacos off the strip, at Beer and Tacos (a place I had been to while at a conference here last year). Afterwards, we drove down the strip to our hotel, the Excalibur (the castle-looking one). Again, the kids couldn’t believe the humongous lobby that is entirely slots machines, blackjack and poker tables, etc. It is a bit of sensory overload, to be sure. We grabbed smoothies, went outside to look down the strip at night, and headed to bed. (Well, most of us!).

I’m really excited about this next leg of the trip: Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, etc. It will be hot, but really fun.

(Click on the pictures for larger versions or to see them all in a slideshow.)

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Day 24 (7/22) (Lin) This morning we filled our bellies with the healthiest breakfast known to humankind: Nutella buns. Indescribably gooey and unhealthy. (Thanks, Kristina!) After saying our goodbyes, we headed north through the Central Valley of California and then up into the Sierra Nevada mountain range to Sequoia National Park (which is right beside King’s Canyon National Park, but we didn’t have time to see it). This was our second time driving through the Central Valley on this trip, and we enjoyed seeing (and tasting!) first hand the fruit basket of the U.S. Miles and miles of fruit, almond, and olive trees, the rich greenness standing out in stark relief with the bleached yellow grasses that naturally grow in the valley.

At the lowest point in the valley we were at 450 feet above sea level; Sequoia is 7,000 feet above sea level, so we had quite a climb into the Sierras. After entering the park, we climbed steadily and steeply for an hour on what was likely the curviest road with the sharpest hairpin turns we’ve seen yet (which is saying something, given everywhere we’ve been so far). Jo was driving, as usual, which was good, because I inexplicably was virtually incapacitated with nausea and vertigo. Very unusual for me (Nutella for breakfast, perhaps? Or altitude illness, but I’ve never had it before..), but thankfully it got better once we were walking around the big trees. The temps dropped 10-15 degrees with the higher altitude.

As we reached the highlands, we started seeing huge sequoia trees all over. Our first stop was the General Sherman Tree, which is the largest tree by volume in the world: 275 feet high and 109 feet in circumference (~36 feet wide). We quickly learned the difference between sequoias and redwoods: the former are found inland and are fatter; redwoods are found on the coast and are slightly taller and skinnier.

Although the Sherman Tree was huge and amazing, our favorite section was the Tall Trees Trail, a .6 mile trail around a large meadow. It is really hard to capture the hugeness and grandeur of these trees, and how small you feel standing at the gigantic bases of them. We all felt like we were under their spell: so tall and silent, and yet living witnesses to between 2,000 and 3,000 years of history. Totally cool. We also enjoyed seeing the huge root systems of fallen sequoia trees — some of them 20-30 feet high. One of them on the Tall Trees Trail was hollowed out enough that we all could crawl through the trunk a ways.

Our final stop in the park was a tunnel carved out of a fallen sequoia tree that we could drive through. (Apparently parks stopped allowing people to drive through living trees a while back, so this is the next best option.) After that, it was a repeat of the harrowing one hour drive back down into the valley – super beautiful in the late afternoon light, but still a little nuts. Signs suggested using lower gears to save the brakes (which we have been doing in other locations, too — a bit funny for a minivan somehow!).

We drove two hours south of Sequoia to Bakersfield, CA, to put us in a better position to reach Death Valley and Las Vegas in good time tomorrow. Bring on the heat!

(You can click on individual photos to see them larger or as a slide show.)

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Day 23 (7/21) (Lin) Today is easy to summarize: Waterpark! It was 100 degrees today, so the timing was good. We’ve been debating whether or not to go to Disneyland (2 hours away) or Six Flags (10 mins away). The kids aren’t that into Disney (or the idea of Disney), or the long drive, and only Eden would truly enjoy the rides at Six Flags, so we opted for Hurricane Harbor instead (thereby saving some money and time on the road). We all had a blast.

This evening after a scrumptious Kristina dinner we all sat around and watched the end of the RNC and Trump’s speech. I’d really like that hour back.

Tomorrow we leave this lovely paradise and continue the second half of our National Parks speed dating tour! Off to Sequoia National Park in the morning.

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Day 22 (7/20). (Jo) Today we got off to another slow start, as we wanted to, in order to allow the traffic to clear up a bit heading into Los Angeles. We packed a lot into our day and I got to show the rest of the family a number of places I’ve been on my solo trips to LA. Our first stop was Griffith Park, where we hiked a mile trail (one way) up a steep dirt path to the observatory. It was a little longer and a lot hotter than some of us were bargaining for! But the observatory itself is a beautiful building, and it was nice and cool on the inside on a hot day. It was especially neat to be visiting on the anniversary of when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon on July 20, 1969.

After learning some spacey facts and grabbing a bite to eat, we headed back down the trail and were off to Hollywood Boulevard to see the stars. A few favorite stars (in the sidewalk) included Julie Andrews, Harrison Ford, Daniel Radcliffe, and Matt Damon. Our least favorite was Donald Trump’s star, and unfortunately the little wall that someone had built around it was no longer there. We still have our fingers crossed that someday one of these stars will have Kristina’s name on it!

Afterward, we headed toward the Getty with a few detours along the way, including Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive to see the swanky shops and the hotel that was featured in the movie Pretty Woman. We also took a quick drive through the UCLA campus, which was very nice.

At the Getty, the kids enjoyed the tram ride, and then we soaked in the amazing architecture, the views of the city and the Pacific, the gardens, and the artwork. The Impressionists are always a family favorite.

From the Getty, we headed to Santa Monica and enjoyed time on the sand and swimming in the Pacific. It was the fourth significant body of water we’ve been in on this trip (Lake Michigan, Great Salt Lake, Lake Tahoe, and the Pacific). After sunset, we headed up onto the pier for dinner and a couple of rides for the kids. The last time we were on the Santa Monica Pier as a family was in 2006, when Eden was four and Elliot was two. The pier is still the same (except for all the people now clogging the walkways by playing Pokemon Go), but our family has grown and changed a lot since then.

We realized today that the kids have been in the three largest cities in the US in the past month: NYC (before the trip), Chicago, and now Los Angeles.

We’ve also been trying to spot all 50 state license plates on vehicles as we’ve been traveling, but we are still missing that elusive Hawaii plate…

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Day 21 (7/19). (Lin) A much-welcomed chill day here in the greater Los Angeles area. After almost three weeks of rushing from one site to the next, it was great to sleep in, run some errands, lounge in the swimming pool, and eat fantastic food prepared by Kristina Kuzmic (including Nutella crepes for breakfast and crazy good skirt steak for dinner, plus Nutella creme brûlée for dessert — which we all had fun caramelizing). Kids especially enjoyed a day just to relax and be goofy.

I calculated that we have put 5,368 miles on our Odyssey since leaving home, which called for an oil and fluids change and check. Van looks great, the technician said. Fingers crossed. I’m sure we will put on almost that number of miles heading back.

It’s fascinating to essentially be in the northern suburbs of LA — some of the neighborhoods are only a decade old and go right up the sides of the hills. Everything is so neat, orderly, but super spread out. By Rhode Island standards, I had to drive a long way for my various errands (I’m talking 15 whole minutes, RI peeps!). Weather wise, it has been hot, dry, and sunny.

Huge dilemma: to Disney or not to Disney? Only time will tell.

Day 20 (7/18) (Lin) We left Los Gatos this morning at 9 am and headed south towards Carmel-by-the-Sea in order to take the coastal route (Rt. 1) to Los Angeles. Our first stop was the 17 Mile Road, which we only did the coastal portion of, and featured beautiful beaches, rocky waterscapes, old and majestic cypress trees, and nice houses, all intertwined amongst the famed Pebble Beach Golf Course. At a few public beaches, the kids loved climbing around on the rocks and (separately) seeing harbor seals playing in the water and sunning themselves on rocks.

From Carmel we headed south through Point Lobos State Reserve and stopped briefly at a beach for the kids to run around a bit. Just south of there, we entered Big Sur more properly, and we were captivated by the stunning rocky vistas that seemed to be around every corner for hours on end. I think we (and Jo especially, who has done the majority of the driving on this trip!) got tired of turns and bends after a while, and we had to limit our stops for photos, since there were so many places to pull off. Seeing (and crossing) the iconic Bixby Bridge was fun, of course.

We decided to try to get off the beaten path just a bit, however, and drove back a narrow one-lane winding road to Pfeiffer Beach, a sprawling beach at the bottom of looming cliffs and with a large rock formation that sort of split the beach. The rock formation had two neat holes/arches in them that the water crashed through. It was windy and surprisingly chilly, but the kids messed around in the sand and in the shallow water for a while. On the road again, we stopped much farther down to see a whole beach of elephant seals sunning themselves. The kids enjoyed their loud, er, belch-like sounds, and the way they jostled each other around. Just north of Santa Barbara we stopped for dinner (In-N-Out, what else?) as we entered hill country and left the coast. We were treated to a soft pink, orange, and purple sunset with an almost full moonrise.

We arrived at our friends’ house—the Kuzmic-Croccos—in Valencia (just north of LA) around 10. A long but fun day. As I told the kids, the journey was part of the destination today.

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Day 19 (7/17). (Lin) We finally officially completed the coast to coast leg of this trip – we touched the Pacific! More on that soon. Today was a nice change of pace in many ways. We all slept in, and the kids got up and watched TV with our friends’ kids while eating breakfast. Score. On recommendation from Lisa, we stopped by Philz, the local coffee and pastry joint, and got delicious dark roast coffee, donuts, and croissants. We attended the church that our friend, Dave, is the pastor of, helped pack 400 lunches for homeless people in San Jose, and then headed into San Francisco.

Somehow we missed the memo that San Francisco is cold and foggy in the summer time. All day long. Middle of July. When we left Los Gatos, it was in the low 80s, clear and sunny. Our first planned stop in San Francisco was at Twin Peaks, usually a lovely way to see the city and bay from up high. On the way in, however, the clouds and fog begin building up and the temp dropped sharply. By the time we unloaded at the top of the lookout, the temp had dropped 25 degrees at least, and it was super windy, and you couldn’t see more than 20 feet from the overlook. Hello, San Fran! We scrounged some long sleeves out of our Thule carrier and spent the rest of the day simply freezing and mismatched with hoodies and sweatshirts over church clothes.

Nonetheless, we had a good time in the city. We briefly drove through Golden Gate Park stopped at Baker Beach, on the west side of the Golden Gate Bridge. We all got to stick our feet in the Pacific Ocean for the first time, which means we can officially check the coast to coast thing off of our bucket list for this trip. The water was cold, but the waves were fun, and the Golden Gate Bridge was in the background.

From there, we fought traffic and went to the Golden Gate Bridge welcome center and looked around a bit. We followed the trail down to Point Fort under the bridge. It was super windy and cold, but also fun. From there we drove to Lombard Street (the curviest street in America), which was so backed up Jo and the kids walked down it.

From there it was to Fishermen’s Wharf, where we met some other friends (formerly from Boston) for dinner at Fishermen’s Grotto. Dinner on the second floor overlooking the downtown was lovely, and included a whole crab, crab cakes, clam chowder, and fish and chips. Dessert was incredible hot chocolate (and liquid chocolate) at Ghirardelli Square.

On the way out of the city, we drove down Lombard Street, since the traffic had lessened considerably. Of course, as we drove south the skies cleared and the temperature rose again. So fascinating.

(Click on photos to see larger versions.)

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Day 18 (10/16). (Lin) A mostly travel day today. We got up early again to beat the crowds at Yosemite, which definitely paid off. We hiked the Lower Yosemite Falls trail, which gave nice views of the Upper and Lower Falls. The kids played on the rocks and in the water, which was freezing cold. From there we drove to the Bridalveil Falls trail, which was another easy and short one. We enjoyed watching the wind shift the waterfalls to the right and left, and then allow it to come straight down.

On the way out of Yosemite, we saw the long lines of cars waiting to park and even get into the park itself – an indication of how busy it gets on the weekend, I suppose. We were glad to be heading out!

The drive west towards San Francisco was interesting, with diverse landscapes. The more mountainous hills gave way to rolling hills of dry yellow grasses, almost like the African safari. And then we hit the central valley, with all of its artificially watered massive fields of every kind of fruit trees and vegetables imaginable, as well as almond trees and cornfields. We stopped at two different farm stands for cheap and immediately fresh fruit – including cute little avocados, cherries, apricots, figs, and strawberries.

Along the way, we kept passing wineries, so I finally picked one out ahead of us on Google maps, Creekview Vineyards, and it turned out to be serendipitously wonderful. What was supposed to be a short 15-minute tasting turned into almost an hour stop, as the owner gave our kids a bag and shears and told them to go pick as much fruit in the large fruit tree and bush section as they wanted. Meanwhile, I sat there tasting wine after wine and eating the delectable cheeses, crackers, and specialty meats that the wine club members shared. Mmm. After a while, the kids came back with a bag full of plums, apples, peaches, etc., and we had to hit the road. Highly recommend Creekview if you are in the area!

We arrived at our friends’ house—the Watermulders—in Los Gatos around 5 and headed to their friend’s house for a swim and dinner, which the kids were happy for after a half day of driving. So fun to hang and relax with old friends. Tomorrow we can truly sleep in for the first time in a while.

(Pics are best viewed by clicking on the first one and scrolling through the slideshow.)

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