Estes Park, CO and Rocky Mountain National Park

On Memorial Day we drove through some beautiful scenery to get to Rocky Mountain NP. Rocky Mountain NP is actually located in a town called Estes Park. We had meet a guy from Colorado when we were in Canyonlands NP that told us Estes Park was pretty cool and it turned out nothing like we expected.
On the way to Estes Park we got to drive through a little bit of Boulder, CO (where the University of Colorado is) from what we saw it looked pretty neat. We then drove through some little mountains and then the road dropped us right into Estes Park. It was awesome, small town feel with cabin and lake homes. We were really lucky that it was Memorial Day because they had an art expo going on at their downtown park. So we headed more up into the mountains to get into Rocky Mountain NP to get to our campsite and get settled so we could go back into downtown Estes Park and check things out.
It was really nice inside Rocky Mountain NP, it reminded me of pictures I had seen of Yosemite in the winter. Lots of trees, different kinds of trees, all over the mountains. We got to our campsite and set up shop, then unhooked and headed back down to downtown Estes Park. We headed over to the art show, they had lots of local artists and then artists from all over the state and surrounding states. There was jewelry, pottery, wood carvings, photos, and paintings. Lots of really neat stuff and lots of really expensive stuff. Then we walked around the town, lots of tourist t-shirt shops, Indian trading posts, ice cream and candy shops, and restaurants. The town vibe was good, lots of things to do, etc.
We headed back to our campsite to make some BBQ hamburgers and sweet potato fries. (did you know what you think are sweet potatoes (the orange ones) are really yams...)
After we had BBQed it started to rain pretty bad and got pretty chilly. The next morning we got up to go for a hike and then we were going to head over to Loveland, where we were going to be staying for a few nights. We are going to use Loveland as a hub to check out Denver and all it's cities surrounding it.
We decided to take the Bear Cub Lake trail that heads back into the mountains to Bear Cub Lake. I do not know what my problem was that day but I was not thinking too well. For some reason or another I did not bring the trail map...
Well the trail was really nice, we got to see some beautiful sights (check the photos), we got to see a bunch of elk (apparently it was mating season) and lots of streams and mini-lakes. Well we were told that the trail was about 5 miles round trip and we got almost half way but without the map we were a little sketchy on how far to go before we should turn back because it looped into another trail that was like 11 miles long and we did not want to get stuck out there for the entire day. Let's just say that Joe and I were not in the best of moods this day and having no map did not help! When we got back to the start of the trail we looked at the map and realized that we missed the actual Bear Cub Lake by about .2 miles, but we still ended up doing a 4.5 mile hike!
After the hike we drove out of Rocky Mountain NP and back through Estes Park and took a scenic highway over to Loveland. We were pretty excited to get to Loveland because we were going to stay at an RV park for a couple days, so showers, hook-ups, and free wifi!!!
As it turns out while we were driving to Rocky Mountain NP I was checking Craigslist for Laker/Nugget tickets (they were playing game 4 in Denver, but prices were outrageous) and I found out that No Doubt was playing in Denver on Weds night. So I started searching for No Doubt tickets, found some, wrote some emails, and waited to hear from people.
When we left Rocky Mountain NP to go to Loveland I got a call from someone selling tickets, turns out he worked in Boulder, where we were heading the next day so we could pick them up. We got 17th row seats for not 17th row prices!!!! Talking with the gentlemen for a while about Boulder and the surrounding areas, turns out him and his wife moved to this area 11 years ago from Dallas. So we got to ask tons of questions and get real insight on the towns and what they have to offer. We were lucky, we were going to the concert and we got to talk with locals about the area!

Leaving Utah for Colorado

We left Canyonlands National Park and headed for Colorado. We decided to stop and stay at a Walmart in Grand Junction, CO and then stay at another Walmart in Vail, CO, because we could not get a spot in Rocky Mountain NP until Monday night (due to the Memorial Weekend Holiday).
On the way to Grand Junction we saw signs for the Dinosaur Museum and the Colorado National Monument. Joe was pretty excited about the Dinosaur Museum so we went and checked it out. Luckily enough we got a discount on our tickets since we are AAA members, AAA coming through! It was really interesting, they found a lot of dinosaur fossils in Colorado. They had a bunch of exhibits and a movie telling how and what they found. I took a bunch of pictures of the bones and exhibits, check them out!
After the Dinosaur museum we were really close to the Colorado National Monument so we decided to drive up there, but we were a little retarded and didn't look at our gas gauge and so we had to turn around, so we did not see very much. Of what we did get to see they had a balanced rock like at Arches NP, it almost looked the same just in different scenery.
Grand Junction was a little hardcore for Joe and I. We drove through town a little bit trying to find cheap gas and I am not too sure I liked what I saw. Yea they had beautiful mountains and scenery, but the town itself was a little sketchy. We saw hardcore hillbillies (ie: Confederate flag, lifted trucks, etc.) and we also saw some gangsters (like East L.A. gangsters). After our little drive through town we headed to the Walmart to see if we could find a movie theater (it is what we do when we have downtime in a town we do not really want to explore). We found one and decided to see the new Angels and Demons movie, it was pretty good, book was better, but sparked some good conversations between Joe and I.
We woke up the next morning and headed East towards Vail, Co. We thought there was going to be a Walmart there, so that is why we were heading there (and also it was on the way). The weather had been pretty grime for the past couple days and it really seemed like we were following the storm as we drove. I drove the beginning part of the trip to Vail. It was a beautiful drive, we got to follow the Colorado River a lot of the way and then another river, which I cannot remember the name of right now. We drove through some cool tunnels and then wayyyyyyy up into the Rocky Mountains. I was pretty proud of myself that I drove the truck and trailer through some of the Rocky Mountains (but the part that Joe drove was a lot harder).
We stopped in Vail to double check the map and figure out which city to head to since they did not have a Walmart (google maps on the iphone can be a little deceiving sometimes). We decided to stay at the Walmart in Evergreen because it would be just another 2 hours to get to Rocky Mountain NP from there.
Joe hopped into the driver's seat and drove the hardest part through the Rockies, we got up to 14,0000 elevation! We got to Evergreen and there was actually a McDonald's not in the Walmart so it had wifi!!! We also found a movie theater in town! So we went and saw Terminator Salvation, which was pretty awesome! Also because it was raining on and off we saw a rainbow!!!!
The next day we were heading to Rocky Mountain National Park!

Arches National Park, UT

Yesterday we did Arches NP. We were pretty stoked on it since it is one of the more famous NP's and the symbol of Utah. It took about an hour to drive from our campsite in Canyonlands to the front gate of Arches NP. We stopped at the visitor center, which had some awesome statues out front ( a Big Horn Sheep, "looky here, it's a Big Horn, quick staring contest you and me right now, you win you always do"). We of coursed ask the ranger which trails and overlooks to check out and then we watched a movie. It was actually about both Canyonlands and Arches, which was pretty cool to get all the info about the parks.
We drove out to our first trail, Windows trail, where we would get to see a couple of different arches in the rock that made it look like windows. As we were driving through the first part of the park we got to see a lot of their famous sights. We saw the "3 gossips", "balance rock", and "courthouse wall." We then got to Windows. It was about a 2 mile roundtrip trail with some awesome arches. The arches are made from pieces of the sandstone wall caving in the middle exposing a hole. What is crazy about all of the arches we have seen and stood under is that there is a crazy wind the blows through them from the valley below. Each arch was very different looking.
After Windows we went to Devils Garden, where we hiked out to Landscape Arch. Landscape Arch is the biggest arch in the park and also the most delicate these days. In 1991 about a 72 foot piece of the arch fell down making the arch thinner. They no longer let people hike right up to the arch, for hiker safety and to preserve the arch.
After Landscape arch, we had a little picnic in the truck, Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Peanut Butter Jelly Time. Then Joe hiked out to Sand Dune Arch (I took a little break, was saving my energy for the big hike to Delicate Arch) and stood on top (check out the photos).
We then went to the most famous arch, Delicate Arch, do not know why they call it that because it does not look delicate at all. We hiked up almost 2 miles, half of the trail being straight up the side a sandstone mountain. But once we got to the Delicate Arch it was totally worth it. It is HUGE! People also say it looks like cowboy chaps. We got some nice people to take our photo under it and then we took some photos of our own. It was really incredible. By the time we got back to the truck we were sooo tired and the weather was starting to turn bad.
We got back to our campsite and made a delicious meal of pancakes and bacon ( ode to our moms!) for dinner and zonked out!
We decided to stay in our campsite one more night to check out the town of Moab, get some free wifi and plan out our trip to Colorado!

The Underdog: Canyonlands National Park, UT

When we first headed towards Arches NP we were not planning on going to Canyonlands NP because all the national parks in Utah were starting to look the same, especially when looking at pictures in a book. But when we got close to Arches, while heading to the RV park in Moab, UT we figured out that they were only 30 miles from each other. So when we were at the RV park in Moab we ran into a ranger that worked at both parks and told us it would be better to stay in Canyonlands and unhook and drive through both Canyonlands and Arches then to stay in Arches. We went with his advise and were super lucky!
On Wednesday morning we headed to Canyonlands NP, it was a pretty 25 mile drive up about 7000 feet elevation. We stopped at the visitor center to ask about campgrounds and hikes. The ranger told us they were just about to get the report on how many campsites were left, while we were waiting she pointed out on the map which trails to check out and which overlooks to stop at. We got the report that there were only 3 campsites left, so we booked it to the trailer and went over to the campground. We found a perfect spot and it was actually paved and level so we would be able to unhook!
Joe backed up into it beautifully (we are getting better with every try) and we successfully unhooked and then ate lunch. When we were filling out our campsite voucher ( at some NP's they do not have people working in the campsite,so you have to fill out this envelope and leave money, and we guess they check them later, scout's honor) we met a guy from Oklahoma, named Travis, who was driving cross country mountain biking. We swapped stories for a while and then decided to check out the park. We drove the scenic drive through the park, stopping at overlooks and vistas. Our camera and the weather (it was slightly overcast) could not do this park justice. The sights we saw were incredible and indescribable. We hiked three trails that day, getting to see some of the more famous (which they are not too famous because no one really stops at this park) sights of the park. We got to see a 1.5 mile wide crater that scientists have two theories for (either a meteorite or salt dome theory), the Mesa Arch, and also the White Rim. All were amazing and more evidence that this NP was the underdog. We talked to lots of people who said that this park was one of the least visited parks, which is so crazy because it is so close to Arches!
After all the hiking we were pretty beat and pretty stoked to go BBQ ( I forgot to mention that we went grocery shopping, so we were fully stocked again, and got kebabs!) While Joe was BBQing he noticed the sun going down and making some crazy lights on the canyon near us. There was actually an overlook point just down the road from our campsite so I headed down to take some photos, I got a couple but still do not due the sights I saw justice.
We ate our delicious kebabs and got ready to go to Arches NP the next day.

Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

After our fun-filled day we were sure ready to get to Bryce Canyon and set up camp. We were a little worried that we might not get a campsite, since they were first come first serve and it was already 4pm, but when we went through the entrance gate the ranger told us there were still spots. We went to Sunset Campground and found a spot, this by far was the hardest spot to get into...
Bryce has a shuttle service like Zion, but was not running until their summer season (we missed it by like 3 days). So we took about a 2 mile, round trip, walk to the visitor's center. We were told that we would not be able to access a lot of the park with the trailer attached, so we were going to have to unhook sometime during our visit. We watched another park movie telling us all about Bryce Canyon. Got back to the campsite, did some wienie roasting, s'more making, and planned out the next day. Our friends, Mitchell & Christy, were awesome and got us the national geographic state and national park books. They have totally been life-savers. Reading through the national park book about Bryce, it said one of the things you should definitely try to do is watch the sunrise at Bryce Point.
So we decided to hike down to Bryce point about 2miles one way and catch the sunrise. We would then go up to the day parking lot and unhook so we could drive through the rest of the park and get to see all the other sights. We were a little weary since we had not woken up before 8:30am the entire trip and now we were planning on getting up before sunrise at about 5am. But alas we woke up and made the hike down to Bryce Point. The sun had started to come up but it was really cloudy so we couldn't really see the sunrise. What we did see was a spectacular view of Bryce Ampitheatre, showing most of the canyon. You have to look at the pictures to see what I am talking about, it is really hard to explain the sights. We took a different trail back to the campsite then the way we came and got to see more lookouts and vistas. We took lots of pictures!
Once back to the campsite, we packed up and went to the parking lot to unhook. This was our first time unhooking, and it actually worked out really well. I did a little McGyver move and used lotion to make tire lines (we had no chalk) so that we knew where to line up the tires when we got back. We drove down through the park to the last lookout spot and then hit every lookout spot on the drive back up. Took about an hour and lots of photos but we got to see the whole park.
We hooked back up and then began our 5 hour drive to Moab, UT, where we were going to visit Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. It actually rained most of the drive to Moab, but stopped once we got into the city. Made it to our second RV park, with showers, laundry, and of course wifi.
Now I have caught you all up on what we have been doing, check out the photos, leave comments, and check us out on facebook.
Time to head on over to Canyonlands, then Arches, then COLORADO!

Zion National Park, UT 5/16-5/18

We were relaxed from Lake Powell, time to get it together and see Zion. I mentioned earlier that we had to take the long route to Zion because there is a tunnel on the East Entrance that was built in the 1930's and we did not know if we were going to fit.
The long way was about an extra hour, on a two-lane highway with not really a lot to see. There were a couple beautiful cliff formations and right at the end a windy road. We came into Zion from West to the main entrance, we got to drive through the town of Springdale which is just steps away from the park. Once in the park, we stopped in the visitor's center (it is kind of our go to thing now) to ask about hikes and what to do to get the most out of the park. We also asked about the tunnel because looking at the map, we were going to want to take the tunnel when we went to Bryce Canyon. We got our "rig" measured and we were small enough to pass through without an escort (really all they do is stop traffic so you can drive down the middle, but you have to pay a fee).
We headed to our campsite (which was just steps away from the visitor's center) and found our spot. Now I do not think I have gone into it that much, but Joe is pretty awesome at backing up considering that we always get the hardest spots (no pull throughs) and I am absolutely no help to him. I do not know what happpens, I lose all vocabulary and am unable to tell him left, right, back, etc. You also cannot really comprehend the skill it takes to back one of these up because they pretty much go opposite of the truck and do not correct fast enough. It is like trying to backup in a mirror upside down. Anyway we got into our spot around 4ish so we decided to take the shuttle (they have 2 free shuttles running through Zion, one to town and one to loop the park) into town and check things out, then we were going to make dinner and chill out since we had the next day and night to see the park.
The town was pretty cool, lots of "new age" shops, which I guess is really normal in the Southwest because of all the Native American influences. They had a bunch of hotels and a few restaurants, we went through the town in about an hour and we could tell we were getting pretty tired (the heat did not help, it was almost 100 degrees). Also I forgot to mention that the time changed, 1 hour ahead now that we are in Utah. When we got dropped off back in Zion, there was a photography exhibit and a market. We checked out the photo exhibit, the guy was incredible. His name is Michael Fatali, check out his website because I cannot explain what his photos looked like: www.fatali.com.
We headed back to our campsite, which was 10 feet away from the Virgin River, and tried to nap. (again it was way too hot for me) We just hung out that night, ate dinner, and took in the awesome nature sounds of the park.
The next morning we woke and had to move campsites, another fun time of backing the trailer up (Joe did awesome). Then we got ready and took the shuttle up Zion Canyon through the main part of the park. We stopped at the last spot, which is at the top of the canyon and took that nature trail to where the Narrows start. Unfortunately the Narrows were closed because the water current was still too fast for people to safely hike up them. But of course Joe had to cross the river and go up them just a little bit to get the picture of what we were missing out on and of course I followed. The water was pretty strong and pretty cold, but not too deep.
After the nature trail to the Narrows we stopped at a couple more shuttle stops to take some pictures of the large cliffs that surround Zion. Coming to Zion after going to the Grand Canyon was neat because you get a hole new perspective. At the Grand Canyon you are on top of the cliffs looking down into the canyon, at Zion you are at the bottom in the canyon looking up at the cliffs, pretty amazing stuff. We decided to hike the Emerald Pools. There are three; lower, middle, and upper. In my head I was thinking that we would just do the lower and middle, but once we got to the trail head of the upper it was not that much further to go all the way. All three of the stops were pretty cool, not that much water though ( I was hoping to go swimming again). We were lucky enough when we started at the trailhead that a hiker coming down told us which path was better because there was a sign showing that you could go left or right to start the trail since it was a loop. He was definitely right, if we would have gone the opposite way it would have been a little harder and way more tiring. Once at the bottom again, we grabbed a bite to eat and then headed over to the museum stop to watch a short film on the park. It was really interesting how it all came together and also showed the tunnel drive out (which made me feel a little better that we would be able to do it)
We got back to the campsite and went to the river to cool down for a bit. Then we had Sunday Funday at our campsite and got ready to head to Bryce Canyon the next day.
We left in morning and took the East Entrance tunnel out of the park. What a scenic drive, a totally different view of the park than what we had already seen. Things were going well, we got through the tunnel, were making great time to Bryce and then we had a little "bump" in the road. We got our first (and last) trailer flat. We had to pull over in not your most ideal spot (especially when there was a pull out another 1/4 mile up). But Joseph was amazing and changed the flat and got us safely back on the road ( I tried to help, but there was really nothing I could do). Check out the photos...
Set us back a little bit to Bryce but not too bad. We decided to stop at the town just north of Bryce to get the tire fixed. Cute little town called Panguitch, we got our tire fixed and had bite to eat. Now headed to Bryce.

more to come, I promise.

Since we haven't been able to get wifi everywhere, keeping up on the blog has been kind of tough. But I promise I will finish tomorrow morning, but at least I got some more info and pics up...

Keep reading and keep commenting, Joe and I miss and love you all!!!

An unplanned stop: Lake Powell, UT 5/15

After all the excitement of Slide Rock we were pretty run down when heading to Zion. It was going to be about a 5 hour drive from Flagstaff, AZ, because we had to go the long way since we were not sure the truck and trailer were going to fit through the east entrance tunnel. About a little over half way to Zion we ran into Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, which is home to Lake Powell. I had seen some pictures of Lake Powell but did not know much about it. We were thinking of maybe trying to stay at another Walmart and not go straight to Zion because we were so tired but when we stopped for gas right near Lake Powell I asked the attendant if there were any cheap campgrounds in or around Lake Powell. He told us we should check out Lone Rock, said it might be like $15 but was just a sandy beach.
On the way to where we were told Lone Rock was we stopped at the Glen Canyon N.R.A. visitor center and asked a ranger, she told us yes we could camp at Lone Rock and showed us the way. We were totally shocked when we got there, we hit the jackpot. It only cost $10, there were water and dump facilities (just not personal ones you could stay hooked up to) and then you drove further down and literally parked 20 feet from the water. Once again I was in heaven because I got to swimming! (it was still freaking hot!) We got to veg out, make a bonfire, and chill out before heading to Zion, it was a great side track.
When you are not on a schedule you are not technically a day behind, Zion was not going anywhere, and I forgot to mention we didn't actually have a campground reserved until the next night, so Lake Powell was perfect!
No really now we are on our way to Zion!

Red Rock & Slide Rock state parks, AZ 5/14

After Kartchner Caverns, we went to Red Rock and Slide Rock Arizona state parks. Red Rock was a really pretty drive, we did not actually get out and hike. It was really hot that day and we were trying to get to two parks in one day. So we took the scenic drive through Red Rock, which was awesome. All of the rock was red (obviously by the name) but also the dirt was too. Along the scenic drive in and around the state park they have homes, I mean people get to live in this beautiful area! (not me... it was way too hot!) The first couple of photos in the red rock/slide rock slide show are of red rock.
From Red Rock to Slide Rock it was probably an hour, we took the scenic route and got to drive through Sedona, AZ. It totally reminded us of a San Luis Obispo town but in Arizona. We were pretty excited to get to Slide Rock, it had been really hot the past few days and it was making me crazy!
Once we got there we hiked about a 1/2 mile to pure bliss. It was a river that went through a canyon and had a nature-made water slide with the large boulders that were in the river. It was freaking awesome! We got to slide down this "nature slide" and also jump off a big cliff into a pool of fresh water. It was like a day at Raging Waters (that is a water park for all you non southern California folk).
Joe and I just swam, slid, jumped, and hiked around until the park closed at 6pm. It was a really nice break from all the driving and hiking we had been doing. From Slide Rock we took a REALLY scenic route (our first super windy road) up to Flagstaff, AZ. It was nice because we got there fairly early in the evening and we were able to catch our first out of state movie, Star Trek (I know super geeky, but actually good!)
Off to Zion National Park and our next state!

Benson, AZ: Kartchner Caverns 5/13

After Tombstone we stayed at our first RV park… not bad but their showers were closed for the summer, so that kind of sucked. We improvised by using the shower in the trailer, think of your home shower and then down size it by a million, that is the tiny space we showered in! But hey at least it was a shower!
The next day we went to Kartchner Caverns State Park. I cannot even explain to you what we saw, it was incredible. So the story goes like this, in 1974 there were these two college buddies who went out looking for a cave. They had some good information that there was a sink hole somewhere in the hills near the city of Benson, AZ. So after multiple excursions to find this sink hole it wasn’t until they almost fell into it on the hike back to car that they found it. They went into the sink hole, there they found a small 6 inch hole but no signs of life behind the hole. Time went by and then they decided to go back (who knows why). This time when they went back there actually was air coming out of the 6 inch hole and it smelled like bat guano! (apparently bat guano is a good sign that there is a cave because bats live in caves…) They opened the 6 inch hole to about 12 inches and started to go through the hole (I do not know about you people but I think that this is a crazy idea!) once they got through the hole they were absolutely stunned, they were standing in a cave, a huge cave. They explored for a while and realized that NO ONE knew they were down there. They got a friend that they could trust to keep this huge secret and went back to explore further. What they ended up finding was the first cave, which they named the “Big Room” and two other rooms, “the Throne Room” and “Rotunda Room.” They kept this a secret for 14 years so they could figure out how to conserve this living cave and make it open to the public for education. Let’s just say they did it perfect, you can go into the caves and they are all still living, existing with barely any change. We couldn’t go into the “big room” because it was bat baby season, and the big room had about 500 pregnant bats! Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside (apparently there had been an incident with old people shoving each other to get the perfect shot!) but we took some photos in the museum and of the postcards we got so you can see just a glimpse of what we saw.
We took a tram up to the cave entrance (they built a new entrance, it is not the sink hole they originally came in through) and then had to go through huge steel doors which keep air and bacteria out. You then get misted down to get some particles and bacteria off of you so you do not disturb the cave too much. We were not allowed to touch anything, actually our guide told us a story about a women who coughed out a cough drop and they found it a week later the size of a golf ball due to the 90% humidity. We went into the Rotunda room first, they have everything lit up in a particular way to see certain parts of the cave and keep others undisturbed. We got to see the way the guys who discovered the cave went and then we got to go into the Throne room. The Throne room was my favorite, they had these formations on the walls and ceilings that looked like BACON!!! We also got to see the one of tallest columns in the world (where stalagmites and stalactites come together), Kubla Khan. It was so beautiful.
The museum part was really neat to get the whole story on how the cave was found and how they kept it a secret. There was a part where you could try to get through the openings in the rock like the cave discoverers did, it was hard (check the photos). All in all absolutely amazing.

Tombstone: "The Town too Tough to Die"

From Joshua Tree we drove 7 hours to Benson, AZ. Benson is 23 miles north of the famous town of Tombstone, AZ. We didn't get to Benson until midnight so we stopped and spent the night at our first Walmart. It was pretty cool, you just had to stay at the back edges of the parking lot. The Walmart was open 24hours, which made me feel pretty safe, plus there were a bazillion security cameras around the parking lot...

Unfortunately we didn't learn from parking at Joshua Tree that you need to park your RV facing the West so that when the sun comes up it is not blazing in your window, waking you up and making you sweat to death. Good thing about it was that we did wake up early and got our day started. We picked up a few groceries from the Walmart and then headed down Arizona Hwy 80 to Tombstone. Joe was pretty excited, especially cause his cousin Jason would be so jealous (just kidding J!) Me on the other hand, I didn't know too much about the history of Tombstone nor have seen any of the movies made about it, so I was more excited for Joe than myself.
We arrived and headed straight for the visitors center to make sure we caught all that Tombstone had to offer. We ended up talking to a cool "good 'ol boy" and he pointed us to some pretty neat things to see. They have the main st. (Allen St.) closed to auto traffic so you can walk all around and check out the old buildings and new businesses that are there. We went to Bird Cage Theatre, which is supposedly the most haunted place in the USA (great we all know how much I love haunted stuff...) Got the run down from the museum caretaker: apparently it was the one-stop shop back in the 1800's. You could get a drink, play poker, get a haircut, and a woman. The woman that worked at Bird Cage cost you about $25/ night, down the street in the "red light" district the women cost you about $0.25/ night... She also said that everyone who has and does work there has some sort of encounter with paranorma at least once a week.(not a job I will be researching) We then checked out Big Nose Kate's saloon, she was Doc Holiday's girlfriend, we caught photos of some beautiful stained glass and had time to grab a beer (hmm...how do we always find time?) We were lucky enough to catch the Historic Gunfight showing at the OK Corrall. It was pretty sweet, the guy who played Morgan Earp was hilarious, he made lots of the tourists uncomfortable with his witty banter (including me). After the gunfight we checked out the mini-movie on the history of Tombstone. We also got to check out the newspaper museum and get a copy of the paper made from the presses they used back when Wyatt Earp was alive (my GRC professors would be so proud!)
After this fun-filled day we drove back to the city of Benson and hooked-up in our first RV park of the trip (hence the WiFi).
Tomorrow we are headed to Kartchner Caverns State Park.

Just a 'lil bump in the road... Back on track to Joshua Tree National Park

So we had a minor bump in the road with the trailer brakes and both Joseph and I are glad that we went back to Hanford to get everything double checked. On Mother's day we left to resume our road trip and headed down to Joshua tree. Now I have to admit I was a little mad at the Garmin (GPS) when we first started using it because it was taking us weird ways and not on major highways, but the route it had us go to Joshua Tree from Hanford was pretty awesome. We drove down Hwy 58, which was beautiful, especially around Tehachipi. When we got closer to Joshua Tree we drove through this crazy town where Southern California Logistics Airport is located. Has anyone every seen this thing? It was straight out of a sci-fi movie, both Joe and I were like WTF?!? When we finally got to Joshua Tree it was pretty late, but it was a full moon that night so we had plenty of light driving through the park. We found the road to the campsite and even in the dark we were totally blown away. They have the campsites nestled near these huge rock formations. We tried (and when I say we, I mean Joseph) to back into one of the spots but it was just not going well. (let's just say I need help with hand gestures, etc. for assisting in backing up a trailer) So we moved on further down the road and found THE perfect spot (check it out in the photos, AMAZING). We settled in, put our landing gear down and went to sleep (that's what 8 hours of driving will do to ya!) We woke up the next morning to the beautiful BLAZING HOT sun and decided to walk around the campsite and check things out. We had read a sign to beware of bees and as we were walking around (and even in the trailer) we could hear this crazy buzzing noise, but it wasn't bees, it was gigantic flies! Oh man did they drive me CCCCRRRRAAAAZZZZYYYYY! After we took in the sights of our campground we drove down one of the main roads that runs North to South through the park. It took about an hour and we got to see most of what Joshua Tree had to offer. We stopped at the south visitor center to get suggestions about a good hike and talked to a wonderful ranger who gave us lots of insight on more national parks. We then hiked a 3 mile round trip trail through some crazy desert terrain and lots of amazing rock formations (again check out the photos). After the hike we ate some lunch, packed up the trailer, and headed for Arizona! Next stop Tombstone!

1st Stop...Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

After a month of being home between our two families, getting the truck and trailer ready, stocking, cleaning, and saying good-bye to family and friends, we were finally on our way to our first stop! We decided to head down to Palm Springs and check out their Aerial Tramway and then head over to Joshua Tree on the way out of California.
We took the turn off for Tramway Rd. and had to drive a windy semi-steep road up to the parking lot and visitor center of the Tramway. We bought our tickets (even got a AAA discount!), took in some spectacular views, and then got on the Tram. The Tram is like a big bubble you get to stand in and the floor rotates 360 degrees so you constantly have an amazing view and are never standing in a bad spot. On the way up, I won't lie that I was pretty nervous, heights are not really my thing and even though the Tramway is Swiss made, I do not always have full faith in machines. It is about a 20 minute ride up the mountain, and about a mile long. Joseph and I could see the truck and trailer parked all by it's lonesome as we were heading up. Once you get to the top you are in Mt. San Jacinto State Park. It was beautiful, one of the best parts is that it is about 30 degrees cooler at the top of the mountain then down in the heart of Palm Springs.
We decided to take a 1.75 mile hike around the state park to catch some views and get in some much needed exercise! As we first head down the trail it looked like the wind was blowing a lot of pollen around but as we got further down the trail and we got hit by more of this "pollen" we realized it was ladybugs! Tons and tons of ladybugs were flying around right into you, it was pretty awesome. We ran into our lovable nature friend and my sister's favorite, squirrels! Joseph got some great pictures of this squirrel that had found something delicious to eat. We got some really cool shots of different rock formations and trees that had fallen down. When we got finished with the hike we went up to The Peaks restaurant and bar to check out the view and get our first drink of the trip! After that we caught the next tram back down the hill. Going down in the Tram was a lot cooler than going up, but there were still some parts that were kind of sketchy. Along the mile of cable there are towers that the Tram must pass over, where the tram levels out and then back on the cable again. The feeling is insane, your stomach goes up into your throat and then back down to the floor and everyone in the Tram goes "Wooooooaaaahhhhh".
We got back down and headed back to the trailer to make our way to Joshua Tree, but we ran into some trouble...
As we were heading down the hill, which was a two-lane semi-steep road with a 25mph limit, we ran into some brake trouble. We over-heated the brakes as we were going down which sent a red flag up about the trailer brakes and so on. We called Joe's brother who owns the truck and trailer and decided it would be best to go back to Hanford and get everything checked out before we got too far across America.
Got back, got everything checked, fixed, and all set to go. We are now planning a new route to head to Arizona and should be heading off tonight! Stay tuned for more of our adventure!!!!

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Mini Road Trip: Pescadero, CA

So here we go! About two years ago Joe's brother and sister-in-law, Danny and Denise, got us a one night stay at this turn of the century barn loft in Pescadero, CA. Now I know what you are thinking... where the heck is Pescadero? It is about 14 miles south of Half Moon Bay on California Highway 1. At first we were going to use this as our "Test Drive" for the RV and for bringing our dog, Cash. But unfortunately we figured out that we are not going to be able to bring Cash on the trip, so we decided to just take the car and make it a two day getaway.
We decided to hit up the Gilroy outlets on the way to Pescadero to do some last minute shopping for the trip. We had a little hiccup on the way from Gilroy to Pescadero... My sister and brother-in-law, got us a Garmin GPS for Christmas to help us find our way across America. Well I got "shortest route" and "shortest time" confused when planning our route. So as we headed West to Pescadero we were lead on this tiny one lane road through the mountains... let's just say it was a learning experience and both Joe and I are glad not have been in the trailer (one road actually just physically stopped but not on the GPS).
When we got to the Pescadero Creekside Barn it was pretty awesome. My first reaction was it was a little too romantic, I mean come on they were playing smooth music when we arrived. We decided to eat dinner at the restaurant right next store, Duarte's. It was delicious! Everything was artichoke themed, yum! It was a good end of the day.
The next day we decided to walk around the town a little bit and check out the local scene. The town is just 700 people large. We heard that there was a goat farm and you could go goat cheese tasting, yes! We wanted to get some hiking in first, so we headed toward the beach. We hiked around the Pescadero Marsh for little bit but most of the trails were really overgrown. When we got to the coast we noticed that Half Moon Bay was just 14 miles north on Hwy 1. We drove down Main st., Half Moon Bay and checked out the town. Really cute local Ma & Pa shops, Joe noticed a large Portuguese Hall and mural, which led us to believe that they had a large Portuguese population. Then we saw a poster for their Portuguese Celebration (those are the festivals where Joe cooks soupage for hours in 60-80 gallons pots). On the ride back to Pescadero we stopped at a vista point so Joe could take some pictures of the coast. We found a trail that headed down the cliff and we wanted to see if it would head all the way to the beach below. It actually did there was just a little trail at the end where we had to scale down the cliff on a rope! Joe headed straight for it and I hesitated, but it was well worth it. When we got to the bottom it was a beautiful, empty beach.
We headed back to town to do some goat cheese tasting! All through the town we kept seeing these wooden cut-outs of a little girl pulling a goat and she was pointing. Well she was pointing the way to the goat farm. The farm had about 300 goats, they even had a lama(he did not want me to take his photo!). We tried many different kinds of goat cheeses; chive, peppercorn, dill, cranberry, chevre, they even had ricotta goat cheese! We ended up buying the chive goat cheese.
After our fun filled day we headed back to the barn and packed the car to head back to Hanford.
We should be leaving in the RV tomorrow to head out on our Road Trip! First stop... Palm Springs, CA.