How About Another National Park?

Good news for all of you who enjoyed the road trip blog: I've decided to keep this blog going as a travel one. This holiday weekend, Cara and I were able to add to your list of National Parks - and it did not disappoint.

We still have until June 2017 on the America the Beautiful pass, a pass that gets your car into any National Park fee-free. With that in mind and an invite from Cara's family to go camping just outside the Shenandoah National Park, we knew that we'd be visiting our eighth (!) National Park of the year this past weekend.

The campsite was a private one, and it wasn't anything to write home about. Let's pick up with the park.

It's actually somewhat comical that Cara and I originally thought about biking to the park - we stayed about five miles away from the park entrance - and the trail I had found online, the Dickey Ridge and Snead Farm trail, was only five miles into the park.

Ten miles on a bike doesn't sound too bad. The comedy, though, comes in when you realize that the elevation change from our campground to the Dickey Ridge trail is a roughly 2,000 feet increase.

That wasn't happening.

So, on Saturday of Labor Day weekend, we ended up driving in, and it was the right call because along with Cara and me, her parents, their dog, Juneau, and her aunt and uncle, and their dog, Titan, joined us in the park. The bad part was that we found out at the entrance that the Dickey Ridge trail was closed off to dogs because of a recent bear attack where a dog died.

That was OK, however, as we found another trail, part of the Mount Marshall Trail, about 15 miles into the park that would give us some nice views.

That was the plan, but we didn't get more than a mile in before needing to take a stop and admire the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley.

As the photos above show, the weather was perfect hiking weather. It was in the upper-60s with a light wind. The clouds would provide the occasional shade spot. But when you're hiking in a densely wooded area, shade is abundant. Still, it was a beautiful day.

Making Our Way Back Home

Well, we knew from the time we left San Francisco last Sunday that the rest of the trip was all about heading east and getting back home. Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and the Badlands were part of that trek east, but that still left a few more days (and stops) to get there.

The first of those stops was in the Minneopa State Park, which is located just east of Mankato, Minnesota. Like I mentioned in the previous post, this was a place chose solely because it was on the way home and about 6-7 hours away from the Badlands National Park.

After driving on a bunch of back roads at times through South Dakota and Minnesota, the state park and campground seem to come out of nowhere. Our site was located in the back part of the campground, and with all neighboring sites unoccupied, it made for a very private site.

Despite the happy smiles on the faces above, we weren't too happy about the mosquito village we seemed to invade. The fire proved necessary to help keep some of those pesky bugs away.

These Are the Baaaaaaaaadlands

Sleeping in this open campground in a field in the Badlands of South Dakota was pretty interesting. At some point in the night, Ethan and I awoke to the sound of something howling off in the distance. I think all of us eventually heard it, too.

They were coyotes and the pack was moving quickly because, a minute later, we heard them on the other side of the campground. It was both fascinating and frightening. I guess that's why they have you park around the campground and set up your tents inside the loop.

Still, it was a really cool place to spend the night. And this is what we woke up to in the morning:

There were also some prairie dogs moving around in the campground in the morning. Actually, there are prairie dogs everywhere in this park. They're definitely the cutest animal we saw this trip.

Yellowstone -> Bighorn -> Mount Rushmore -> Badlands

Although we've returned to Pennsylvania, there are still a few more posts that I'd like to get up about our trip. The first of those posts is about our trip out of Yellowstone and into Mount Rushmore.

On Wednesday morning, after a good night's rest after a long Yellowstone-filled day, our alarms went off around 6 am. It was the second straight day we'd had to set an alarm, but this was important.

The trip from Yellowstone National Park to Mount Rushmore was roughly seven hours. If you factor in stops, it could creep to eight hours. By getting up early, packed up, and on the move by 6:30, we were giving ourselves a chance to get to Mount Rushmore by about 2:30.

This was necessary because we'd scheduled an appointment to replace the windshield there with Safelite. Without service, though, we had no confirmation or exact time other than "in the afternoon" to meet with the repairman. We assumed if we got in by 3, we'd be OK.

Credit is given when credit is due, and Lauren surprised all, including herself, by getting up and helping pack up without coffee in less than 30 minutes.

The trip out of Yellowstone was quite peaceful and calming at 6:30 am (but maybe that had to do with the fact that every one of us was silent and coffee-deprived). Lewis Lake Campground was on the southern end of Yellowstone, so it took us nearly an hour to head north and then east to leave the park on the east entrance.

As we left, you could see the remnants of the 1988 Yellowstone fires, which burned nearly 800,000 acres and roughly 36% of the park. Anyways, the trip out, especially toward the east entrance, ran up, down, and along the mountains. It was extremely beautiful with the morning sunlight.

Eventually we got service and a phone call from Safelite, and our plan was working out. The repairman planned to meet us at Mount Rushmore around 3 or 4 pm.

Once out of the park, we didn't go far before wanting to stop again and take in the scenery. This time, we were in the Bighorn National Forest. The contrast of rock, green, and blue sky, made us all appreciate the beauty.

The drive through Bighorn National Forest, toward the end, takes you along mountains and views of the vast valley below.

Yellowstone is YUGE! (said in Donald Trump voice)

Tuesday started out very early. Alarms were set for 6 am, and we were on the road by 6:30.

Destination: Yellowstone National Park

Goal: get a first-come, first-serve campsite ASAP

Result: Accomplished.

By 7:30 am, we were in Yellowstone and had landed a campsite along Lewis Lake. The lake is the first major stop in Yellowstone if you come through the south entrance.

We had to wait for another set of travelers to pack up their site, so we spent some time eating breakfast and enjoying the beauty of the lake in the early morning. Once we had our site set up, we immediately set out for the park because we knew we had a big day ahead of us.

I think our travels started around 10. The plan was to do a loop from Old Faithful to Madison to Canyon Village before making our way back to our campsite. Some of that might not make a lot of sense to you if you haven't seen a map of the park or if you haven't visited it before, but it's a fairly popular loop.

It's also a very small section of the park, which from the title of this post suggests, is absolutely massive. We'd sometimes drive for 10-20 miles before making our next stop. I'll do my best to walk you through it.

The first stop was at the Kepler Cascades, a beautiful set of waterfalls.

Not So Grand Teton

After our interesting night sleep in Idaho, we weren’t in too big of a rush to get on the road. It was only a five and a half hour trip to the Grand Teton National Park with the plan to stay at Jenny Lake. This slow start in the morning would prove to be a big mistake.

Eventually we got on the road around 9 am. Driving through the western part of Idaho and into Wyoming didn’t seemed a lot like our trip as we left the Rockies a couple weeks prior. That all makes sense considering it’s the foothills of the western side of the Rockies. Wyoming was the 13th state on our trip.

We entered through the south entrance of Grand Teton National Park and planned to either set up camp at Jenny Lake immediately or do some hiking and sight-seeing through the park and camp at some other campsite.

The biggest thing I can remember from this park is the stunning backdrop of the Teton Mountains against green fields and blue lakes.

Time to Head East. Let's Start in Idaho.

So in case you were wondering, there isn't really any service or wifi between San Francisco and Yellowstone. That's why I'm a little behind.

Anyways, after saying our early morning goodbyes to Uncle Ron and Aunt Kay on Sunday, we took off for the Sawtooth National Forest in southern Idaho. We stayed in the Lower Penstemon Campground.

It took at least 10 hours to get to our campground, which is why we had to unfortunately leave so early.

The western part of California is scenic as you make your way through mountains. We went just north of Lake Tahoe on our way into Nevada. If there is ever a state that is extremely difficult to drive through because it's so boring, I think it might be Nevada. Nebraska is also in the running for that title.

Eventually the scenery started to change when we hit Idaho. We didn't go far enough north to see Boise, but we did see a bunch of small towns en route to our campground.

Sawtooth National Forest is aptly named. The mountains and rocks jut out of the ground in a zigzag formation that made it seem like they were teeth clamping down on the roadway (and our car).

A Day in San Fran

Nobody had a problem sleeping last night. After a wonderful meal and a quick dip in the pool, all four of us passed out easily.

This morning, after waking up and eating breakfast and getting our caffeine kick, Uncle Ron drove us about 10 minutes to the Walnut Creek BART station. If you're ever worried about using public transportation in a big city, take a trip to the Bay Area. The transportation was extremely user-friendly and easy to figure out.

We ended up getting off at the Powell Street station, walked up the stairs, and were hit with the sights and sounds of a bustling downtown.

Quick Update: Video of Waves Crashing Along the Coast (Montana de Oro State Park)

Montana de Oro State Park from Jay Huerbin on Vimeo.

Nothing Better Than Camping and Driving Up the California Coast

There is going to come a time when we'll be asked what our favorite part about the road trip was, and we're going to disappoint because there isn't an answer. On the first leg of our trip, after we had camped in the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, we started discussing what we thought the best park had been that we've visited.

Whitewater rafting was an insane experience. Hiking the Rockies was so peaceful. Camping under the stars in Arches National Park was incredible. The sights and sounds of Bryce Canyon National Park were unforgettable. And getting to walk to a beautiful lookout in the Grand Canyon was a once-in-a-lifetime view.

But therein lies the problem. Everything about this trip - and on another degree, everything about this country - is that it is so very unique. Every national park and forest has created a different memory. Even our time in San Diego has made opened our eyes to something we thought we'd never get to do.

So the answer to that question now is the same as it will be in a little over a week when we return. We can't pick a favorite part because everything has been wonderful and unique.

That trend continued when we left Katie's apartment on Thursday, July 21, and had to navigate our way through Los Angeles traffic (successfully thanks to our lovely navigator, Cara!) to our campground in the Montana de Oro State Park, a coastal park just south of the Morro Bay area.

When I first found this campground, I picked it solely because I didn't think we could drive from San Diego to San Francisco in one day without overdoing it. A stay at this park, about halfway between the two cities, seemed like the perfect place to stop, camp, and then move on in the morning.

That was the attitude we all had after we left San Diego. The Islay Creek Campground, in our pre-arrival minds, was nothing special. We had talked to a couple California natives, and they had never even heard of the Montana de Oro State Park. And if natives hadn't heard of it, what good could it be?

Well, the view we saw of both the park and campsite changed all that.

So Long, San Diego!

Our vacation from our vacation continued on Wednesday, as the four of us got up, walked across the street to get coffees, and changed into our suits. It'd be another day on the beach.

We really enjoyed the atmosphere of Pacific Beach, so we packed up the Pathfinder with boogie boards and chairs and headed over there.

The Beach Is So Nice, We'll Do It Twice

We started our Tuesday off by getting some coffee and pastries across the street at a cute, little coffee shop called TEETER. It wouldn't be a road trip if I didn't get myself an Americano. Fortunately for Cara, there wasn't a whole lot of driving on winding back roads this time around. All four of us just chilled on the sidewalk seating and took in the smell the of the ocean.

After a quick stroll around the neighborhood, we decided to get ourselves ready for the beach. This time we'd head over to Pacific Beach (or PB as the locals say).

Somehow we ended up getting a fantastic free parking spot right on the beach. I guess we're just lucky like that.

We didn't have to walk far lay claim to a spot on the sand and just soak up the sun.

There isn't much to say about a day at the beach, but much like yesterday, it felt great to just relax. I don't remember who said it, but our time in San Diego on the beach has felt like a vacation from our vacation. We can't complain about that.

Life's A Beach in San Diego

On Monday morning, we woke up in a bed in a hotel in a town about three hours from San Diego. It wasn't a terrible experience as the showers felt great, but it wasn't quite where we thought we'd be that morning.

After a free breakfast, we packed up and got on our way to San Diego. Temperatures fluctuated from 70-100 degrees on our way. But by the time we got to San Diego, it was a pleasant and surprising 75 and sunny. It was just what we wanted after a few days in some incredible heat in Utah.

Our first stop was in the North Park neighborhood (or NP as the locals say) to meet Katie's boyfriend, Nick, and get keys to her apartment because she was working. Nick was extremely friendly and gave some suggestions for lunch.

We ended up getting to Katie's apartment around 12:30 and met her roommate, Rachel, who is also very nice.

We unloaded our gear, threw laundry into the washer, and began to plan our day. There wasn't much planning needed as Katie and Nick had something set up for us in the evening, but we did need to figure something out for the next 3-4 hours.

It wasn't hard to figure out what to do because Katie lives about three houses away from the beach in Ocean Beach (or a OB as the locals day).

A Grand Canyon Exploration, a Zion Detour, and oh-so-close to San Diego

Before heading to bed on Saturday night, Cara and I took a short walk around the Demotte Campground. With barely, if any, light pollution, the clarity of the moon and stars was incredible. We couldn't help but stop and look up every few steps.

The stargazing didn't stop when we got into our tent, but it did eventually subside in time for a solid night's rest.

Waking up the next morning, we packed up our site and drove off for the Grand Canyon National Park. The North Rim gets roughly 10% of the travelers to the national park, so we knew it was going be quite a different experience away from a very touristy one.

That was evident the minute we entered the park and saw a herd of more than 80 bison in the one field.

3 National Parks (well, almost). 2 States. 1 Day.

On Saturday morning, we got up with the sun, ate a quick breakfast, and broke down the camp site. We wanted to make sure that we'd have enough time to do the Delicate Arch hike before it got too hot in the park. Getting an early head start would also give us the chance to detour to Bryce Canyon National Park before heading to the Grand Canyon. Here's a view of the sun coming over the horizon at our site in the Devil's Garden campground:

The Delicate Arch trailhead is about halfway through the Arches National Park. It was already in the 80s by the time we got there, so it was a good thing we had filled up our hydration backpacks.

Arches National Park will Blow Your Mind

Now that we've made it to California (but not San Diego, unfortunately, due to a ridiculous accident on the main highway that slowed us down), I can get you all caught up on our road trip around America.

On Thursday, July 15, we got up, ate, and packed up our vehicle at Annmarie and Jim's place in Black Hawk, CO, and took off for the Arches National Park, which is located just outside Moab, Utah.

If the eastern edge of the Rockies (like Boulder) were incredible, the western half was just as scenic. Along the way, there are tons of small ski towns that are stunning. It reminds you a lot like something you might see in the Alps or The Sound of Music.

Thanks to a tip from Annmarie, we took the scenic route into Moab, which was well worth it. The route had us basically follow the Colorado River to Arches National Park. We made frequent stops on the way to Moab just to take some pictures. The scenery in Utah was, as somebody kept saying, mind blowing! It's truly like you're on a whole other world. It's very hard to believe that this is part of the United States until you actually experience it. And even then, you might not believe it.

Here's a quick photo from one of our stops at a place called Sandy Beach along the Colorado River. It had river access, so we could dip our toes in the river in the 100 degree heat. The photo is of some rafters on the river and was taken just before we headed down to the beach.

By the time we got to the park, Cara had done a pretty good job of scouting out our stops. We were fortunate enough to get a campsite in the park! The campground is located at the very end of the park (about 18 miles in), so we decided that making frequent stops on our drive to the campground was the best way to experience the park. We'd do mini-hikes around the park and save the Delicate Arch hike for the next morning.

Our first stop was a magnificent example of the power (and skill) of Mother Nature as we stopped at the Balanced Rock. Wind and rain erosion made this fascinating monument, and wind and rain erosion will eventually destroy it. We all felt fortunate to see it.

Living Up and Loving Colorado

It's a good thing we decided to spend more than one night in Colorado because yesterday was packed with stuff to do.

It started off after breakfast, leaving Black Hawk and driving about a half hour to Idaho Springs to go white water rafting. The drive alone was so breathtaking that we all had an idea that we were in for something special. On our way to Idaho Springs, we drove through Black Hawk and Central City, cute little towns nestled in the Rockies. Idaho Springs was much the same.

We got to our white water rafting place, Liquid Descent, a little before our 11 am start. We knew it was going to be a good time when you see the guides blasting music, dancing, bumping volleyball, and looking like they absolutely love their life. And who could blame them? They get to go rafting down Clear Creek multiple times a day and epitomize the saying, "work should be something you enjoy."

After a few introductory pieces of information and a crash course (no pun intended) on safety, we boarded a bus, drove about 15 minutes and unloaded at a site along Clear Creek. It was then that everybody was grouped together. Fortunately for us, there was only one solo rider and he was placed with another four-person group. That meant the four of us got to ride down together and we'd be the only ones in the raft, along with our guide, of course.

We met Syd, our guide, who was hilarious. She gave us a few tips as well as her commands, we practiced on dry land, and then loaded ourselves into the raft in the water. The water, by the way, was a comfortable 40 degrees as it is all snow melt from the Rockies.

Getting to the Rockies

We can go ahead and get this out of the way: Nebraska is boring. Tons of corn on a flat ground. I think we went over a hill once or twice and ran into some construction, so that was exciting.

It took about six hours, but we eventually crossed into Colorado. It was an immediate difference as it seemed like we started to make a slight incline as we approached the Rockies. Eastern Colorado is beautiful with a lot of different ranches and open space that isn't like Nebraska.

On our way to Boulder, everybody was hoping to be the first to see the Rockies. I think somebody thought they saw them about two hours out, but it was merely just a cloud. That happened a lot. However, by about an hour outside Boulder, we could make out the mountains in the distance. They weren't really snow-covered anymore, which is to be expected in July, but they are massive. We couldn't believe how they just kept getting bigger and bigger as we approached Boulder.

As we got close to Boulder, Ethan hopped on his phone to find something to do when we got there. Avery Brewing was doing a free tour at 4 pm (mountain time) and we were scheduled to arrive at 3:50. So, despite looking like we just drove for eight hours straight, we pulled up to the brewery, and made it in time for the tour.

OMAHA (said in Peyton Manning voice)

We must have been exhausted because we all got a solid eight hours of sleep last night in the Indiana Dunes. It took awhile, but the humidity and heat eventually subsided for a comfortable night sleep in the tent.

After a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats, we headed to a marsh trail about a mile back from Lake Michigan. It was a nice two-mile hike. We didn't see anything new bird-wise, at least I didn't, but there were tons of great blue herons and egrets. I mean, there were six or seven herons flying all at once. It was quite a sight!

After the hike, we got back, sweaty, of course, and decided to take quick showers before heading to Nebraska.

Indiana Dunes State Park

After picking up the rental vehicle, a nice Nissan Pathfinder with only 8,000 miles, Sunday night at the State College Airport, the Runk's met at our place and the SUV got packed late Sunday night.

We picked up the Runk's around 7:15 am and headed out. We took 322 to Interstate 80. We were on 80 for well over 320 miles.

Along the way, we reached the highest elevation on Interstate 80 east of the Mississippi (it was somewhere near Clearfield, PA). Interstate 80 took us through Pennsylvania (obviously), Ohio, and into Indiana. Both Ohio and Indiana were toll roads.

After getting off in Indiana, we were only 25 minutes away from the Indiana Dunes State Park. We're not camping in the actual state park, but pretty darn close.

The Pathfinder pulled in around 4 pm (central time) for a total drive time of just under nine hours. That's not bad considering about four stops along the way. Driving with the Runk's was a lot of fun. We played an alphabet driving game, and despite a furious comeback by me, Cara ended up winning. I'll get her next time!

After setting up camp (quickly by the way now that we're pros), we cooked up some pre-made dinner of spaghetti (thanks, Lauren!) on our neat, little camping stove.



Food was just what we needed before heading to the beach of Lake Michigan. It's so beautiful! I'll try to attach at least one photo, but you can expect more from all of us once we hit some free wifi.