Another 6 months have passed on the road and our motorhome gets to rest for half a year. We are making good progress with our goal to see all 46 National Parks in the lower 48 states, with the current tally standing at 27!
This time we prepared the RV very thoroughly, spending 4 days, washing, wiping, waxing and polishing the entire 38 feet of the rig. On the third day it rained, forcing us to do some areas again, but that was to be expected in the Mojave desert – NOT!
All in all it was a very eventful trip, somehow we managed to pack-in 34 points of interest in 25 weeks, next year we might take it a little slower…
So, watch this space, we’ll be back on March 6th, 2012!!!

We get asked very often which one of the National Parks is our favorite, and we always answer that we like them all in their own way. However, we now have a park that is our least favorite! Yosemite NP has become a victim of it’s own popularity. Accommodation in Yosemite Valley varies from three different campgrounds over a tent-cabin “city” to lodges and 5-star hotels, which all contributes to total overcrowding and commercialism that makes the area unrecognizable as a National Park. These conveniences entice visitors who normally wouldn’t set foot in a NP, let alone admire the natural beauty or, heavens forbid, step onto a hiking trail.
The atmosphere and clientele, one of which we had a run-in (for the first time ever in three years camping!!!), would be enough to put you off this park. Add the traffic, thick smoke in the evening from countless fires and campsites occupied by 10 – 20 people at a time, made us LEAVE a National Park early for the first time!
John Muir would turn in his grave if he had to witness this Zoo, what has become of this breathtakingly beautiful, unique and amazing area.

A well developed resort with Alpine flair, clear lake waters, right on the border to the Nevada casinos and attractions for every season, Lake Tahoe has a lot to offer. Although this being California, it comes at a price.
Gondola (cable car) ride up the mountain: $32 per person! If you want to get to the very top with the chairlift: an additional $8 per person! We took the combo ticket for $38 that includes a lunch voucher of $15. (chairlift not included)
At the chalet style pizza place near our very nice RV Resort: one pizza and one salad bar trip (between the two of us) and a Pepsi each: $ 31.
And most notable – access to the beach: $5 per person (we got a free pass from a couple that where just leaving)… Not since the French Rivera have either of us been to a place where you have to pay for the beach!!!

The most famous wine making region in California produces actually only 4% of all of California’s vino, but it has managed to make a name for itself for quality vintages of selected varieties.
Since one of us is a dedicated beer drinker and one a low consumer of alcohol, we went on the casual introduction tour, which promised a “non-snobby” and “no connoisseur” approach to wine tasting. We visited four wineries and at the first stop we met Ken, a grape grower of 30 years who spoke truly from our hearts.
He readily dismissed all the talk of the so called experts who can smell the most exotic aromas, rejected the validity of awards for wines (including his own) and outright ridiculed the prices of some bottles where you pay for the name and nothing else.
In the end, Ken repeatedly said, there is only one wine you are willing to pay a fair price for – the one you like!

The central coast of California has a huge variety of points of interests to offer, spanning from the spectacular coast of Big Sur, over the marine life of Monterey Bay to the amusements of Santa Cruz.
A deep channel in Monterey Bay funnels nutrients straight to the coast, providing food for Sea Otters, Sea Lions, Seals and even Humpback Whales, which can be seen year round. The mesmerizing Kelp forests are a habitat for countless species and the world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium is the only place that recreates this environment in a huge fish tank.
Being California, there are popular restaurants overlooking the ocean, hidden fish markets offering the freshest sea food and busy downtown areas where the tourists crowd together.
All in all – lots to see, do, … and eat!

One of the largest food festivals in the US attracts over 150,000 visitors and offers any type of meat, fish, vegetable and oil with the distinctive flavour of the herb. Prepared by the “Pyro-Chefs”, on a huge BBQ or straight out of the bottle, every single food item is delicious and a full frontal assault on your taste buds.
There are also dozens of stalls with nick-knacks, garlic trimming competitions and a garlic grab for the punters. You can watch a cooking demonstration, cool down in the “rain house” (outdoor air-conditioning) or pose for a silly photo in front of the mascot.
If you want to take the theme of this annual celebration to the next level, you can even wear a garlic hat and chat to the garlic braiding professionals.

After a few weeks in the National Parks of the North West, we are taking a little break in a very nice RV Resort in Redding, CA. Being back in California means crazy drivers, high prices, beautiful and pretentious people, but also elegant malls, exquisite shops and restaurants and, of course, days-on-end of glorious, cloudless sunshine. (Temperature in Centigrade)

One of the wonders of nature is this lake, which formed in the crater of a volcano, which has a volcano inside! It is only fed by rain and snow, but is kept at a very constant level by some porous rock, just at the right height up on the crater walls – like a bath tub with an overflow.
It is the deepest lake (1996 ft [608 m]) in the US and supposedly has the cleanest water in the world, so the ranger offers to fill your water bottle.
In July you get some Pine pollen floating on the surface, which makes snorkelling in the freezing water a pointless exercise – but hey, somebody has got to do it
On the first day of our visit the weather was grim and the fire ring at the campsite was buried under 4 ft (1.2 m) of snow. However, with a small spade and a little patience you can have a campfire in a make-shift igloo and the sun comes out the next morning.

One of the highlights in the park are the flower meadows in the aptly named “Paradise” area. Unfortunately, due to near record snowfalls of 900 inches (23m) – the record is 1100 inches (28m) – the fields were still under 11 feet (3.4m) of snow and you wont see any blooms until mid August. The bonus, however, was that we got to go for a snow shoe hike with the Ranger in July, something you might not expect to do.
There is also a brand new visitor centre with excellent displays on geology, telling all about the volcano and glaciers, so even casual tourists become interested. On a sunny Saturday it gets very busy but you can still enjoy the wildlife, such as the striking Stellar Jay or the whistling Marmots. Mr. Beaver is more difficult to encounter, but traces of his efforts can be seen anywhere near the water.

In the 1960’s, the small town of Leavenworth, WA was looking for a way to reinvent itself and boost the tourist industry. Someone had the idea of transforming the place into a Bavarian village, complete with timber-framed buildings, May-pole, wine cellars, restaurants with harmonica music, a huge selection of imported German beers and an open air theatre with an excellent production of “The Sound of Music”. There are speciality shops for nutcrackers in any disguise and “Steins” with smart and not so smart inscriptions.
Ok, it’s all fake, it’s a little tacky and some of the details are simply wrong. However, it is a terrific break from the wilderness of National Parks and the food and drink are as genuine as you can get!
The nearby KOA campground is one of the nicest we have ever seen and offers a free shuttle down town, free coffee and fire wood, a pan cake breakfast and a coffee stall that can give Starbucks a run for it’s money.

In the South of the park lies Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, again, due to the presence of private residences and commercial businesses, it cannot be part of the actual National Park.
If you want to set foot in the actual NP area, you need to get to Stehekin, a 85 people community which can only be reached by ferry, which we took up-lake, or seaplane, which we took coming back. You then get on the shuttle bus to the trail head and hike about 2 miles to the border of the National Park itself. However, you can claim to be one of the people who have visited North Cascades NP and actually set foot in it!
The area is also famous for it’s waterfalls, most notably Rainbow Falls which was in full flow due to the late snow melt. Seeing a picture does not convey the scale of these cascades until you notice the tiny figure at the bottom getting soaked to snap that perfect shot.

This is the 23rd National Park we have visited, which brings us half way to our goal to see all 46 parks of the lower 48 states.
There are temperate rain forests with 100ft tall, ancient spruce trees, lush lowland environments, the Pacific coast and spectacular mountain ranges with Mount Olympus.
The campgrounds are located in enchanted woodlands, making it a little tricky to park the RV, but also providing a stunning backdrop for the campfire evening.
Winter was still lingering in June and the remaining snow drifts on Hurricane Ridge were evidence of a harsh past season and we also got our share of the 144 inches (426cm) of annual rainfall. Forests devastated, and unmanaged, after the 2002 hurricane, footprints of mountain lions and uninterrupted views all the way to Canada are a sure sign that this “declared” wilderness is just that.

Moab is the outdoor capital of the West with any type of sport, activity and tour available. On the edge of Arches NP and next to the Colorado River is an ideal location for rafting, off-roading, climbing and many other past times.
We visited during Memorial Day weekend, which turns the town into a frenzy of activity with every camp site, parking space and drive way taken up by motorhomes and trailers.
Our river guide was Danny, a medical student and definitely the outdoor type…
Rafting the Colorado River lets you experience this stream and the Utah landscape in a unique and immediate way and you can have more fun in one day than a week of some other holiday or vacation.

This is the only National Park in the US that protects man made structures, in particular over 4500 archaeological sites, about 600 of which are cliff dwellings, telling the story of the Ancestral Puebloans.
Due to the sheer number of archaeological sites, hiking is very limited in the park, so visitors do not “stumble” upon artefacts or historic dwellings. However, the most important sites can be visited with a Ranger as your guide, who will tell a lot of the facts and also some of the assumptions and guesses, which have to be made due to the lack of a written record.
Getting to a cliff dwelling on the side of a canyon wall involves climbing ladders and crawling through rock crevices. Once you see the view these ancient people woke up to, you realise that they picked some prime real estate!

Durango is the self proclaimed world capital of steam trains and with six fully working locomotives, a machine shop that can manufacture all and every spare part and a line that actually makes money, it probably is! (see www.durangotrain.com)
The 3 1/2 hour journey takes you through some of the most scenic parts of the San Juan Mountains along the Animas River, and climbing from 6500ft (2000m) to 9300ft (2800m) you can experience spring and winter in one day. We travelled in the Silver Vista car, an open and glass roofed panorama car, providing the best views of the track ahead, the gorges below and the canyon walls above!
Durango has the usual tourist amenities and excellent food is available in any of the local micro-breweries, like the Steamworks Brewing Company, where you get the famous Steamworks Original Cajun Boil, served straight onto the table, no plates required. Evening entertainment takes the form of line dancing, where only tourists wear sneakers…
Silverton, your destination on the steam train, is a little tacky but the fake facades are fun and the piano player tickles the ivories when the train is in town.
We camped at the United Campground, directly in Durango with free Trolley bus to downtown, and best of all, the train runs directly through it! We were lucky enough to get a space with prime view of the trains every morning out and back in the afternoon, not to mention the huffing and puffing and the all important whistle! (See video below)

All in all, Durango was one of the top highlights of our journey so far!!!

 

 

 

 

The newest National Park in the US was designated in 2004 and is unique in the world insofar that you can visit sand dunes, desert, wetlands and mountains all in one day.
As usual, we camped directly in the park and hiked to the visitor centre and to Medano Creek, which completely disappeared into the sand when we were there, because of low snow melt runoff. At the dunes view point the best pictures could only be taken from a tree top…
The day we climbed the highest dune 750ft (229m), we had to fight high winds and the resulting sand storms. It was hard work crawling up the steep sand slopes and finding the best route along the ridges, however, the sense of achievement at the top was worth all the effort!

After over two years we meet our old friend again, the Rio Grande. On our very first RV trip with the rented Winnebago, we drove along this mighty river from the southern tip of Texas to Big Bend NP.

Here in New Mexico, we are just visiting this bridge, a fine example of steel engineering, spanning this nearly 700ft (213m) deep canyon. We are on our way North into Colorado, it’s a sunny day and the river is buzzing with rafts and kayaks.

Simone drove the bus over the bridge, the picture is one possible choice for our “Traveller’s Business Cards”.

After weeks of steep canyons, red rock formations and cliff dwelling we are taking a little break to enjoy the lifestyle in Santa Fe.
Here you find some stunning Adobe architecture, countless art galleries, Navajo Turquoise jewellery and varied museums dedicated to local artists, such as the brilliant Georgina O’Keefe.
We ate some of the best Mexican food in the many local, independent restaurants and had excellent Margaritas in the Plaza Cafe where you can watch a wedding procession go by.
On a trip to Los Alamos we learned a lot about the nuclear age and the latest super computers and in Albuquerque we watched some line dancing to music from some trusted 45s!

Even super wide angle lenses, panorama montages and dramatic evening light fail to convey the sheer depth and grandeur of the meandering San Juan River.
You can camp right at the edge of the canyon for free, but you also get no facilities whatsoever. Being on the Colorado Plateau, temperatures can drop quickly and absolutely plummet during the night. In a modern motorhome you just flick a switch and get really cosy very quickly. Camping in a modified pick-up truck when the thermometer is well below freezing is probably not for everyone…

Some of the most striking images found on posters, in old John Wayne movies and in advertising come from Monument Valley, which is located in the Navajo Reservation on the border of Arizona and Utah. We arrived during the windy season, which meant unpleasant sand storms but also even more dramatic photos.
We went on a desert hike in the evening, explored the back country by ourselves and took the “extended” tour, which gives access to areas closed to the public, unless accompanied by a Navajo Tour Guide.
One of the native Indians poses as Marlboro Man, allowing you to snap one of the classics, but here, we reveal in Penn & Teller fashion the scene when you step back a little.
All in all, Monument Valley should be a National Park and benefit from the protection and facilities we are accustomed to from the National Park Service. However, being located on a Reservation makes it a little more commercialised and less educational, but still an absolute MUST SEE when coming to the Western USA!

Heading North, we stopped at the Painted Desert overlook for lunch “with a view”. You can find similar colourings in the northern part of the Petrified Forest NP, AZ, even though these here are no less spectacular.
The night we spent on the Hopi Reservation where we ate local foods, including blue tacos, and in the morning we visited the Cultural Centre.
The bordering Navajo Reservation is protected as the Navajo National Monument (more cliff dwellings) and the campground offers breathtaking views of Betatakin Canyon. Entry and camping free, even though it is restricted to RVs under 28ft (it was a bit of a squeeze, but we found one site big enough for us!).

By pure coincidence, a few miles down the road from Sunset Crater, you’ll find Meteor Crater, even though the two could not be more different in origin, time and appearance.
This 550ft (168m) deep, rather large hole in the ground was created about 50000 years ago, when an object from the sky struck the earth. Due to the climate in this region, it is the best preserved impact crater on the planet.
Not quite that long ago it was a popular stopping point on America’s Mother Road, Route 66, which we travelled in part during our first RV trip. Here, the devastating effect of Interstate 40, which replaced the iconic drive, is very apparent. The rusting cars are used as target practice and the crumbling concrete is only crossed by tumble weed.

This is a volcanic crater which, recent evidence indicates, erupted sometime between 1040 and 1100. Unfortunately, the crater and even the rim is closed to visitors to protect the fragile cinder surface. There is a lava flow trail with informative stopping points and stunning views of the surrounding mountains, which are all volcanic in origin, most notably the snow covered San Francisco Volcanic Field.
On our way back we stopped for Diesel and pumped with the Big Boys. The standard pumps had a height restriction of 12ft 9in (382cm) and the manual of our RV states the minimum clearance as 12ft 7in (377cm) – I’d rather not risk it….