This past week I went on a vacation/road trip with my mom. We began the trip with a stint in VEGAS of all places. We went to see KA a Cirque Du Soleil show at the MGM Grand. It was a lot of fun and a very interesting performance, much different than Love which I got to see back in September. After the show, we walked the strip a bit and still loved the Bellagio's water show. There was also a really great moon above the Excalibur outside our hotel room window.
The next day, a beautiful day, we drove the 30 miles to Hoover Dam, which was really quite interesting in terms of the engineering that went into it. The day was really perfect and quite warm. We walked around and crossed the dam after we drove over it. We saw a pair of big horn sheep grazing alongside the dam underneath the high water mark. It was quite amazing how much water the dam could actually hold.
We didn't walk up on the bridge that gives you a far away view of the dam, but standing on top of it, leaning over the edge, definitely gave a person a feel for how big the dam was. After our visit to the dam, we headed back across Nevada where we stayed in the small cowboy-esque town of Pahrump. The next day we headed off into Death Valley, which was incredible.
We drove into the southern end of Death Valley National Park and headed north until the central part of the park. There was almost no-body in the southern part of the park. We even saw several coyotes. We stopped the car and they ran towards us, and after we drove past them they would chase after us. It was a little upsetting how unafraid of humans they were. This also shows how often people feed them, which (to get on my soapbox) is absolutely horrible. Because of this animals have a harder time finding food on their own and they die due to human related cause, like car-accidents, more frequently.
Anyways, the area was beautiful and the weather was in the 60s. There was snow in the mountains and the whole environment suggested that we weren't actually in the desert. We even saw several patches of water. It was pretty cool to be 200 feet below sea level and in such a unique environment.
Finally we began heading west again, missing the northern half of the park. But we did get to see sand dunes and did a short walk through a slot-canyon called Mosaic Canyon. Which can be seen below. The area was so diverse and we even got to camp out at 4,000 feet. The moon and stars were so bright that night I could see everything even inside my tent. The ground was pretty rocky though and as a result my tent did collapse around me once during the night... not my favorite experience, but it was worth it. We got to see beehive charcoal kilns and wild burros as well while in the park. It was a really phenomenal place, but I am definitely convinced that it was not somewhere I'd like to be during the middle of the summer.
The next day we drove through back-country California to Sequoia National Park. I'm pretty sure we drove the windiest roads that exist throughout the world, and I've been on horribly windy roads. It was to the point that I was beginning to feel a little sick, but again they were absolutely beautiful and worth it. We got to Sequoia National Park in the afternoon and drove the road up to the top.
Here we got to see the world's largest tree, seen below. It was, not surprisingly, a sequoia and it is the largest tree by mass in the entire world. The visitor center at the top was almost completely covered in snow and we had to trek through some snow-banks to reach the tree. It was beautiful. We caught sunset on the way down, and then connected to some more windy roads to Fresno, where we stayed that night.
After our stint in Fresno, we traveled straight to Yosemite National Park. Again we approached the park from the south and got to drive the relatively secluded southern portion. The picture below is taken along this stretch of road. I love trees so much and mountainous forests. I will always miss them when I am away.
The below picture is probably the most photographed picture in the entire park. You have El Capitan to the left, Half-Dome in the distance and Bridal Veil Falls to the right. This view is also known as tunnel-view. My mom and I decided to walk the 1,000 feet from the parking lot to Bridal Veil Falls. Unfortunately it was entirely a sheet of ice and people were sliding and falling all over the place. We made it to the falls although it probably took four times longer than ever necessary to walk that far. The falls was amazing and the creek rushed right by the overlook platform we slid our way to.
I was really amazed by the number of people that were there in the park, but one can understand why with views like this. I am glad that we were here this time of year though because the summer would have to be crazy and busy. After almost a full day in Yosemite we headed out and back north to go home.
The trip was awesome and I got to see some amazing places. I would like to go back to Sequoia and to Kings Canyon National Park as between the two of them there are over 800 miles of hiking trails including Mt. Whitney which is the tallest mountain in the continental 48 states. I'm very glad that my mom was able to take the time off to travel and to see all these really awesome places with me. I highly recommend them.
This past week I went on a vacation/road trip with my mom. We began the trip with a stint in VEGAS of all places. We went to see KA a Cirque Du Soleil show at the MGM Grand. It was a lot of fun and a very interesting performance, much different than Love which I got to see back in September. After the show, we walked the strip a bit and still loved the Bellagio's water show. There was also a really great moon above the Excalibur outside our hotel room window.
The next day, a beautiful day, we drove the 30 miles to Hoover Dam, which was really quite interesting in terms of the engineering that went into it. The day was really perfect and quite warm. We walked around and crossed the dam after we drove over it. We saw a pair of big horn sheep grazing alongside the dam underneath the high water mark. It was quite amazing how much water the dam could actually hold.
We didn't walk up on the bridge that gives you a far away view of the dam, but standing on top of it, leaning over the edge, definitely gave a person a feel for how big the dam was. After our visit to the dam, we headed back across Nevada where we stayed in the small cowboy-esque town of Pahrump. The next day we headed off into Death Valley, which was incredible.
We drove into the southern end of Death Valley National Park and headed north until the central part of the park. There was almost no-body in the southern part of the park. We even saw several coyotes. We stopped the car and they ran towards us, and after we drove past them they would chase after us. It was a little upsetting how unafraid of humans they were. This also shows how often people feed them, which (to get on my soapbox) is absolutely horrible. Because of this animals have a harder time finding food on their own and they die due to human related cause, like car-accidents, more frequently.
Anyways, the area was beautiful and the weather was in the 60s. There was snow in the mountains and the whole environment suggested that we weren't actually in the desert. We even saw several patches of water. It was pretty cool to be 200 feet below sea level and in such a unique environment.
Finally we began heading west again, missing the northern half of the park. But we did get to see sand dunes and did a short walk through a slot-canyon called Mosaic Canyon. Which can be seen below. The area was so diverse and we even got to camp out at 4,000 feet. The moon and stars were so bright that night I could see everything even inside my tent. The ground was pretty rocky though and as a result my tent did collapse around me once during the night... not my favorite experience, but it was worth it. We got to see beehive charcoal kilns and wild burros as well while in the park. It was a really phenomenal place, but I am definitely convinced that it was not somewhere I'd like to be during the middle of the summer.
The next day we drove through back-country California to Sequoia National Park. I'm pretty sure we drove the windiest roads that exist throughout the world, and I've been on horribly windy roads. It was to the point that I was beginning to feel a little sick, but again they were absolutely beautiful and worth it. We got to Sequoia National Park in the afternoon and drove the road up to the top.
Here we got to see the world's largest tree, seen below. It was, not surprisingly, a sequoia and it is the largest tree by mass in the entire world. The visitor center at the top was almost completely covered in snow and we had to trek through some snow-banks to reach the tree. It was beautiful. We caught sunset on the way down, and then connected to some more windy roads to Fresno, where we stayed that night.
After our stint in Fresno, we traveled straight to Yosemite National Park. Again we approached the park from the south and got to drive the relatively secluded southern portion. The picture below is taken along this stretch of road. I love trees so much and mountainous forests. I will always miss them when I am away.
The below picture is probably the most photographed picture in the entire park. You have El Capitan to the left, Half-Dome in the distance and Bridal Veil Falls to the right. This view is also known as tunnel-view. My mom and I decided to walk the 1,000 feet from the parking lot to Bridal Veil Falls. Unfortunately it was entirely a sheet of ice and people were sliding and falling all over the place. We made it to the falls although it probably took four times longer than ever necessary to walk that far. The falls was amazing and the creek rushed right by the overlook platform we slid our way to.
I was really amazed by the number of people that were there in the park, but one can understand why with views like this. I am glad that we were here this time of year though because the summer would have to be crazy and busy. After almost a full day in Yosemite we headed out and back north to go home.
The trip was awesome and I got to see some amazing places. I would like to go back to Sequoia and to Kings Canyon National Park as between the two of them there are over 800 miles of hiking trails including Mt. Whitney which is the tallest mountain in the continental 48 states. I'm very glad that my mom was able to take the time off to travel and to see all these really awesome places with me. I highly recommend them. 
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