Damn, that Canyon is Grand! Can I get a Oooh-ahh!?

Heading into National Park #4 – the Grand Canyon – means that our $80 annual national parks pass has now pretty much paid for itself. A wise buy for anyone planning on visiting more than one park (the pass is good for up to 4 adults). (So far, the only free park was Redwood – otherwise, the entry fee has been $20 or $25 at each park.)
Anywho, I’m very tired right now, but I wanted to share some pics from our visit to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. It took us about 4 hours to drive from Zion to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon (the North Rim is only open between mid-May and October because snow prevents the roads from opening up), and we camped there for 3 days, 2 nights. GC has definitely been the busiest park so far, but that’s to be expected. As for weather, it was a grab bag. Sunny and blue skies, but the wind chill was a killer, and on both nights, the low was in the 30s! Sooo cooooldd!!

There’s so much more I want to say about the Grand Canyon…but for now, let’s just leave it at – it’s Grand. Fo’ sho. Go see it.

Here are a couple of my fave pics –

On the road to Zion

Wow is the word. It’s amazing how one country can hold such differences in landscape! We left Joshua Tree after just one night there (in retrospect, we should have stayed two! Next time!). Anywho, the road to Zion was a lonley stretch of highway, but nonetheless, amazing in terms of scenery. As soon as we got close to Zion, passing over the Virgin River (at 200 miles in length, according to our informative shuttle driver, it’s the 2nd longest undammed river in the West – the first is Yellowstone River), the blue skies suddenly filled with huge red and white monoliths. It’s breathtaking! One minute we’re cruising the highway through Las Vegas (I know, I know…I can’t believe we passed it up, either!), and the next minute we’re driving through canyons.

We made an executive decision to stay at Zion longer than originally thought. Our thinking was, “drive less, explore more.” Although Primetime had been performing really well, we didn’t want to push him. He loves the highway, but we thought he would appreciate the rest. And, it was a good move on our part to stick it out at Zion. We spent three nights there, and it allowed us to relax and really experience the park. Of course, we were sad to miss out on some of the other national parks nearby (Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands), but…we gotta save some stuff for our next trip, right!?
Anywho, Zion was good to us. We got to kick it at the campground at a more leisurely pace than usual, and we were able to do many of the short hikes. On day two, we decided to tackle Angels Landing Trail. Let me tell you, that hike kicked our arse! It was a five-mile trail that took us to a peak elevation of 5,785′ – not for those afraid of heights!

**Next stop – GRAND CANYON!!

A word on camping

While we may not be the most efficient or tidy campers out there, we’ve certainly picked the best time to give camping a go. Most of the parks we’ve visited haven’t been very busy, and the same goes for the campsites. From what we hear, it starts to get hella busy at the parks around Memorial Day weekend. In fact, the busiest parks we have visited were the two of the most popular parks in the United States – Grand Canyon (about 4 million visitors a year) and Zion (about 2.7 million a year).

We’ve camped in both basic campgrounds and RV parks. Our first stop in Roseburg, Oregon was at a RV park and it had electric and water hook ups. Next, at Redwood National Park, we got a $20 campsite by the river, flush toilets and showers; but, no electricity or water. In Joshua Tree, we paid $10 for a campsite that had a fire pit and picnic table, and a toilet (read: hole in the ground) across the way and no showers. During our stay at Zion, we hit up both a campground and RV park.

Camping is what camping is. And so far, it’s been fun and an experience. It takes a lot of teamwork and communication, and above all, as Chris Rock said once, “Sometimes you just gotta let shit slide!” I mean, there were nights when we were so tired that showering was arduous; there were mornings it was too cold to make a real brekkie; and, there were days (everyday!) we didn’t want to do dishes.

All in all, though, I guess those are the things that make camping.

Californication

More California for us on our adventure!

Our next stop – Venice Beach, California to see some family and friends, which is always an awesome thing! We rented some bikes and checked out the strip from Venice Beach, which includes the infamous “muscle beach,” to the Santa Monica Pier. We definitely have to get back out to the Southern California area soon to explore some more as there’s so much to see and do.

JP and Tristan

The last CA stop for us was Joshua Tree National Park. Umm, ok, incredible! Let me say it again, incredible. Both of us were in awe of the landscape – cactus, huge bolders, desert. Plus, we got to see some wildlife, a couple of rabbits and lizards. And at night, WOW, never before have my eyes seen so many stars! It was absolutely beautiful. If one is in need of awe, Joshua Tree is definitely a great source. We camped at Jumbo Rocks, which was a basic campsite – meaning, it just had a fire pit and a picnic table. Despite the lack of amenities, the landscape made up for it enormously!!

I know our pictures won’t do Joshua Tree justice, but check ’em out on Flickr anyway.