Arizona: The Grand Canyon.

It was pretty grand.

It's as if you're standing in front of a huge painting. When it's day time the shadows on the cliffs are very light so there's no depth. At night, the sunset is pretty and finally casts shadows on the cliffs and gives them depth.

We saw Condors flying, too, which was awesome.

On the way to Roswell, NM we took a half hour detour to see THE CRATER that (supposedly) killed the dinosaurs.  Pretty nifty.

Up next is Roswell, NM and then Texas. Stay tuned!

California Pt. 2: San Francisco.

San Francisco was a blast.  We originally were going to get a hostel for a week but they were completely booked so we ended up getting a hotel right next door for a week and it was pretty much the same price.

We ate some really great food, visited many neighborhoods and met a few locals.  Our favorite districts were Hayes Valley and Lower Haight.  We visited Fisherman's Wharf where most of the touristy stuff was and took a boat out to see Alcatraz and a close up view of the Golden Gate Bridge.  

(Golden Gate Bridge)

(Alcatraz)

(City view from the boat)

(Seagull flying right above us on the boat)

The Weather in San Francisco is AMAZING! The temperature was in the high 60's or Lower 70's the entire time.  At night people wore scarves and coats.  During the winter months the average temperature usually never drops below the 40's.  It was really, really nice.

Traveling throughout the city was rather easy what with the MUNI and BART available.  $1.50 for rides and it takes you pretty much wherever you need.  If you can't get somewhere, cabs are available.  The city streets are at extreme angles (there's one we were near that felt like a 90°angle while walking up it) and the cab drivers go down them as fast as they can--completely fearless.  I, on the other hand, was scared for my life, haha. It felt like a rollercoaster. 

After a 13 hour drive, we're in Arizona and have visited the Grand Canyon.  Right now we're waiting for the sun to go down to get some sunset shots and long exposures. Hopefully some star trails. 

California Pt. 1: Avenue of Giants.

Driving on US 101 a few hours away from Portland we finally saw the Pacific Ocean! We pulled over (a bunch of cars were doing so) and walked on the beach. The water was cold, but still nice. We’ve finally made it to the edge of western civilization.

Our first stop in California was to see the Great Redwood Forest. Driving through the forest was just awesome. The trees are HUGE and jet straight up into the sky. For as big as the trees are they seem extremely fake while walking in the forest. There is absolutely no disturbance at the ground in which they stand (no roots popping up, etc) so it makes them look like movie props or something.

We drove through a tree that was 5,000 years old. Only 1/4th of it is still alive and it still makes leaves and cones. Pretty awesome stuff.
We camped in a campground where our tent was next to a huge Redwood. Little kids in the campsite were playing in Redwood trunks. The campsite was probably the coolest and most serene I’ve been to what with those gentle giants surrounding us.

(ELK!)

As of right now we’re in San Francisco where we’ll be spending the next week. Stay tuned!

Portland, Oregon.

No sales tax in Portland! That’s probably the best thing that city has to offer. I would have definitely enjoyed it more if I had more money to spend.

Portland does have some good food. People (foodies) travel to Portland all the time just to eat.


What I don’t like about Portland:
1. Portland is “hipster central”. Meaning, if you love to drink PBR, wear ironic mustaches and nothing but American Apparel, you’ll love Portland.
2. The city itself is visually sort of boring. Sure there’s cute neighborhoods but there’s really nothing historic or cool to look at. The city is laid out so it’s pretty much connecting neighborhoods rather than neighborhoods surrounding a city.
3. The summers are HOT in Portland. They’re Ohio hot.

What I did like about Portland:
1. Good food.
2. The neighborhoods are nice (ie. Pearl District.)

(I did see some Salvador Dali works which was awesome. Here's one of them. Anyone have an extra $13,000 so I can purchase this? Haha.)


(This is a toy horse that was on the sidewalk. A little unexpected.)

Next up, California here we come!

Seattle: The Emerald City.

After departing from Yellowstone (which was sort of sad since it was so enjoyable) we set off to Seattle. We stayed with some friends in Capitol Hill.

Seattle is called the “emerald city” because of how green it is. Trees and shrubbery are everywhere. Plants overhang highways and even store logos have a certain pistachio green in them (which is a very popular color right now).

We spent the Fourth of July there on someone’s rooftop that overlooked the entire city and river. The fireworks were an extremely impressive sight what with the atmosphere, nice weather and cityscape behind them.


What I like about Seattle:
1. The weather. It doesn’t get too hot or too cold.
2. The neighborhoods. It seems like there’s always something to do and something different to see.
3. Mostly everything is within walking distance. If not, public transportation is available. Try not to drive, finding parking is very difficult.
4. Interesting shops and restaurants.
5. The city view at night is very pretty.
6. From what I can tell, the people are pretty friendly.

(The famous Troll. To get an idea on size, the car is a real VW Beetle)

On our last day in Seattle we all took a trip up to Vancouver. We only spent 4 or so hours there so we couldn’t get a god idea on how we felt about that city but it does seem cool. We ate at this little hotdog stand called Japadogs (Anthony Bourdain went there on his show No Reservations and that’s how we got the idea) where they made hotdogs with teriyaki sauce and other Japanese elements. They were delicious. Go try one if you’re ever in Vancouver.

Next up on the trip will be Portland, Oregon.

Wyoming: Yellowstone National Park.

Wow, oh, wow! We just spent two days and two nights at Yellowstone National Park. We bought a tent at one of their General Stores and camped out in a site called Canyon Village.

(Here's our tent and picnic table. There was a fire pit as well where we made smores)

Yellowstone is absolutely huge. To any given place there's about 15 (or more) miles of road in between. The park consists of absolutely gorgeous landscapes and wildlife galore. We were able to see Bison, Elk, Bears (Grizzly and Black), Antelope, a Fox and a Coyote. The landscapes consisted of mountains, waterfalls, canyons, geysers, mud pots and hot springs.

(A hot spring. The water is up to 180°. The water itself is a pretty blue color.)

(Bubbling mud. The mud was white so it may be hard to see the bubbles.)


(More spewing mud.)

(Geysers)


OLD FAITHFUL


(Just a few landscape photos.)


(A black bear! You'll have to click the image to see it bigger)

These photos don't even come close to doing justice for the park. Everything is just so amazing and picturesque in Yellowstone.

For anyone who wants to go, be sure to make reservations even if you're just staying in a campsite rather than a lodge/hotel. We were lucky getting two nights in a row without a reservation but many people aren't that lucky. There's just so many people wanting to get a spot that a reservation is necessary. Also, pack lots of blankets. The nights got down to 30° and we woke up freezing!

Right now we're in Spokane Washington about 4 hours away from Seattle where we'll be spending the Fourth of July.

PS. We totally saw a Bald Eagle in Montana on our drive here. It was a pretty cool sight.