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Excellent Adventure Road Trip
  • Tracy M
  • Tracy M

Excellent Adventure Road Trip

Keri and I will be renting a car & hitting all the National Parks we can from Austin to Seattle. Chris will be riding the CDT (Continental Divide Trail) & meeting up a few times along the way. We'll rejoin in Seattle at the end & fly back home! Read more
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  • Trip start
    July 1, 2016
  • Tracy MExcellent Adventure Road TripTracy M

    Rain, rain, go away!... etc.

    July 1, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Setting up a tent in the rain is sooo much fun! So is realizing the new tent you've only used once has multiple tiny holes in it. 😧...

    On the plus side, we were surprised to find out the KOA sells BBQ, which we enjoyed with some Dr. Pepper & rum, and the rain cooled down the temperature slightly, so maybe we will sleep a little better tonight.

    PS- there are rabbits EVERYWHERE!    Read more

  • Tracy MExcellent Adventure Road TripTracy M

    Carlsbad Caverns National Park

    July 2, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    "The Natural Entrance Trail is a steep 1¼-mile (2 km) descent, equivalent to about 79 stories, from the cave entrance to the Big Room. This approximate one-hour tour is recommended only for those in good physical condition."

    Holy crap! I need an "I survived the Carlsbad Natural Entrance Trail" sticker! We got there right before they opened, which was awesome, because we had the caverns almost to ourselves. When we were leaving, the place was packed!    Read more

  • Tracy MExcellent Adventure Road TripTracy M

    KOA Journey

    July 2, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Stopped for the night to break up the long drive between Carlsbad & Arches. Although this KOA is definitely slumming it compared to last night, it'll do for a few hours of sleep. The ground is less rocky here, which is nice, but the showers are old & claustrophobic feeling. There was a burn ban, so no fire for marshmallows, and it was too windy for our charcoal to stay lit, so we had lukewarm canned chili, sandwhiches, & cold s'mores for dinner. The manager seems very proud of his lava rocks & the nearby volcano, which he stopped by to talk to us about. There are also horses next door, so it smells a bit like rodeo here. But there is a nice view & free wifi, so I can post this without using my data.

    Update: 7:30 am- Flies love horses! We awoke to flies all over the outside of our tent. I added a pic of some of the horses. And God bless ear plugs because we were apparently near a frequently used train track. On a positive note, we found a hot plate & a sink back by the laundry room & Keri made some excellent breakfast tacos. ☺    Read more

  • Tracy MExcellent Adventure Road TripTracy M

    Idaho Springs, white water rafting

    July 5, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We stopped for beer & pizza at Beau Joe's & then headed over to AVA for some white water rafting. It rained a little on the drive in, but luckily didn't rain on us on the river. It was still a little overcast in some spots though, which made it a little more chilly. I got splashed in the face a few times in the first 10 min, which was FREEZING, but after that it was fun. Our guide was very entertaining- kind of a cross between a frat boy & a stoner. He reminded me a little of Zach Efron in Neighbors. We didn't get any pics because they were too expensive to buy & we didn't take our cameras on the river, but all in all, it was a good time.Read more

  • Tracy MExcellent Adventure Road TripTracy M

    At the Massey's in Breckenridge

    July 5, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    We finally met up with Chris & had dinner with him and the Masseys. We're "camping" in style tonight at the Massey's place. Sleeping on our mattresses still because they also have family in town, but It'll be nice to sleep in a house tonight. And huge bonus- I just got out of a wonderfully large double rainfall shower. ☺ Squeaky clean & ready for drive to the Teatons tomorrow! A huge thanks to Bethany & James for your hospitality!!Read more

  • Tracy MExcellent Adventure Road TripTracy M

    Grand Tetons National Park

    July 6, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Spent Wednesday evening & all day Thursday at the Tetons. This was my favorite so far, although I could do without the below freezing all night & morning and then shedding layers back down to a tank top & shorts by the afternoon! We went to a late night talk last night. This morning we got up early to wander around, and saw some bison, elk, antelope, chipmonks, & ground squirrels. We went on a 4 mile guided hike, then had lunch by Swan Lake. This evening we are planning to head back to a spot where we saw several dams this morning to watch some beavers. Then we're going to a nighttime astronomy talk. We'll hit Yellowstone tomorrow!

    Update: We saw 3 beavers at the dams and some bears & moose on the way to the astronomy talk.    Read more

  • Tracy MExcellent Adventure Road TripTracy M
    11

    Yellowstone National Park

    July 8, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Yellowstone is beautiful, & huge, & there is way too much to see in a day!! There are also way too many people trying to see it. As a guy we met at the astronomy talk last night put it, "Yellowstone is the Disneyland of National Parks." We got there early and saw Old Faithful erupt before the big crowds hit, but since it was still so cold out, most of the water turned to steam. Then we went to the Midway Geyser Basin and saw the Grand Prismatic, which was AMAZING! We tried to make it over to Mammoth Hot Springs, but by then there was too much traffic & it was at the other end of the park, so we cut across to the Canyon Area to see the falls & the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone". The we made a loop back around the park to the Biscuit Basin for a hike. On the way we saw geese, swans, bison, elk, and LOTS of stopped cars & people. We made it to Biscuit Basin, saw more cool geysers, & hiked the Mystic Falls Trail to an awesome waterfall flanked by hot springs! Then we called it a day, as the traffic was getting worse & rain clouds were moving in.Read more

  • Tracy MExcellent Adventure Road TripTracy M
    1

    Glacier National Park

    July 10, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We got here Saturday evening, set up camp, made a quick dinner, and then went for a quick drive through the park. Sunday morning we got up early and did the Hidden Lake Trail hike. There was still a lot of snow! It was a little slippery on the way back down, as it was warming up & the snow started getting slushy. Towards the end of the trail we came across a mountain goat & a marmot just hanging out and eating right in the middle of the trail! On the way back to camp, we saw 3 big horn sheep and a bear.

    We haven't had any phone or internet service since we passed through Helena, so we decided to have lunch in town to try to find service or free WiFi. We had lunch at a great place called Two Sisters Café. (Apparently the owners have a place in San Antonio). We highly recommend the Lemon-Huckleberry Bread Pudding and the Huckleberry Mountain (a brownie with Huckleberry ice cream!). Our waiter told us the only way to get phone service around here is with Verizon. Boo! But he offered us his phone to contact people & post on FB. He also recommend a hike in Many Glacier. We went out there to hike to Cracker Lake. Many Glacier was beautiful, but the trail to Cracker Lake was very narrow in many places & was also used by the horse tours, so it was all Muddy horse tracks & lots of manure 😕. We made it a mile or two in before turning back. Lucky we did, because it started raining on the way back & by the time we made it to the car, it was coming down pretty hard. I can't imagine slipping all the way along that muddy horse manure trail in the pouring rain!

    We went back to camp for a bit & had some dinner before heading back out. We hiked down to St. Mary's Falls, which was beautiful & so blue it looked fake! It started to drizzle on the hike back & as we started driving again it started raining again, so we called it a night.

    It stormed most of the night. We tried to sleep in a little to wait out the rain, but it kept up, so we got up around 7 & packed up in the rain. We drove through the end of the park we hadn't seen yet on the way out, although it was so foggy we didn't get to see much else. I did get a great pic of a pretty blue creek after the fog lifted though. We got service back as we left the park. Now we're off to Washington!    Read more

  • Tracy MExcellent Adventure Road TripTracy M
    1

    Chelan, Washington

    July 12, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    It was so nice to finally get a shower last night, even if it was a pay shower! We slept in until 7ish & as we were eating breakfast & getting ready for the day, Chris arrived early, after finishing his CDT ride yesterday afternoon. After we helped him unpack, the 3 of us headed into town to explore. We had a yummy lunch at the Fox and Quail Bistro & visited a fun little shop, & then stopped by a pub that also served goodies from a local bakery. Then we drove around to find the Chelan falls & visited a local park before stopping by a roadside wine/fruit shop near the orchards & vineyards to grab a bottle & so Chris could officially get a Washington apple. We headed back to camp just as it started to drizzle. The rain & crazy winds seem to have been chasing us this whole trip! Luckily, the rain passed us over quickly this time and was mostly just wind. We took a walk along the lake and climbed some rocks to get a nice spot to enjoy the view for a while. Then Chris inflated one of his spare inner tubes & attempted to float in the frigid water for awhile while we enjoyed his antics from the beach. Tonight is our last night of camping. Tomorrow we head to Seattle to sleep in an actual house & enjoy some nice sightseeing.Read more

  • Tracy MExcellent Adventure Road TripTracy M
    1

    One more long drive!

    July 13, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We stopped off for a fabulously fattening breakfast at the little roadside fruit shop/orchard we found yesterday before hitting the road. We shared an apple cinnamon roll that was as big as your head, an apricot scone, and a raspberry scone. We even made a new furry friend! Now we're taking our food comas an the road! We decided to make a slight detour for one more national park stop at the North Cascades on our way to Seattle.Read more

  • Tracy MExcellent Adventure Road TripTracy M
    1

    North Cascades National Park

    July 13, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Well, this definitely wasn't our favorite park. It was pretty, but small & unorganized. There was no entrance gate to get a map or brochure, so we just drove around until we found a trail that looked cool. We ended up hiking the Thunder Knob Trail. The beginning of it was very cool, shady, & mossy, but it just kept spiraling up and was very sunny & hot at the top. We finally found the tiny visitor's center & took a picture with the sign as we were leaving the park.Read more

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