April 19, 2014 Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Today, we headed into Utah. After an early lunch at Dairy Queen, we continued on towards Zion Nation Park. There is a shuttle bus that takes you around the park (April through October) and since the parking lot area is small there is also a shuttle bus that picks you up at different places in Springdale. We parked along the side of the road and did not have to wait long for a shuttle to pick us up. The shuttle then dropped us off at the pedestrian entrance to Zion NP. Our first stop was the visitor center to get my passport book stamped. We when loaded onto the shuttle bus and took it to the last stop of the park “Temple of Sinawava”. Along the way the bus gave descriptions of each stop – names of rock formations, trails, etc.

Riverside Walk - entrance to The Narrows Trail

We hiked the Riverside Walk at the Temple of Sinawava site. It was by far the busiest of all the hikes that we took. The Riverside Walk trail leads you to the start of The Narrows Trail. We did not hike The Narrows Trail – mostly because we did not have water shoes with us (the trail is in the river part of the way). The Narrows Trail is a highly recommended trail, per my research. Our next stop was the “Weeping Rock”. It was a short but steep hike up to the Weeping Rock. The rock itself was not that impressive, but it did offer a nice view of the park. Hopping back onto the bus, we headed to the “Zion Lodge” drop point.  From there we hiked the “Lower Emerald Pool” trail. The trail was not too difficult but in my opinion, I would not recommend the hike, there really was not a lot to see. Continuing back towards the visitor center, the buses were getting more and more crowded – the park probably had a few more visitors than normal since it was a “fee free weekend” at all NP sites. Normally the cost is $25/vehicle or $12/pedestrian.

Lower Emerald Pool

The next shuttle stop, we decided to visit was the “Court of the Patriarchs”. Again the trail was very short, but steep. From the end of the trail one was rewarded with a very nice view of the patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We hopped on the bus one last time and since it was so packed we got off at the next stop “Canyon Junction” and hiked the “Pa’rus” trail to the Zion Human History Museum. The museum had a nice video. We then continued the on the trail back to the Zion Canyon Visitor Center. The trail was okay – there were nice views, but in general it was not very shaded. All in all I think we got to see pretty much everything that we had planned to see.

Pa'rus Trail

After leaving the park we headed to our next accommodation – Cedar Breaks Lodge in Brian Head, Utah. The Lodge was nice. We had dinner there since there was not really anywhere else to eat in the area. The prices were a little high, but the food was good. Brian Head is mostly a ski town, with a lot of different ski slopes. A local said that it never gets too busy – so if you are interested in skiing you might want to check it out.

April 18, 2014 Death Valley National Park

Since we had the time change to our advantage, we headed out early and drove to Death Valley National Park ($20/vehicle, valid for 7 days – or you could you the annual pass). We stopped at a grocery store along the way to pick up some food for lunch since research mentioned the lack of locations for food, as well as, gasoline. The roads in were quite desolate – with more cattle in the roadway than cars. There were very long stretches of roadway with absolutely nothing. Temperatures reached 100 degrees at some parts of the park, but there was still snow on the mountain tops.

Zabriskie Point

There are many different areas to visit at Death Valley NP. We visited quite a few, but there are some places we did not have time to see. The first stop was a drive (2.7 miles) through the “Twenty Mule Team Canyon”. The rocks were neat, but we probably should have skipped to visit a different area of the park. Near that stop was a pull-out that provided an overview of “Zabriskie Point”. The view was very nice and definitely with a stop. We made a stop at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center & Museum to get my passport book stamped and headed towards “Badwater Basin”. Badwater was neat, but not totally what I had expected. I had hoped to see vast areas of salt flats. Perhaps, if we had walked farther into the area we would have come across what I was looking for. Badwater is 282 feet below sea level – the lowest place in North America and one of the lowest places in the world.

Devil's Golf Course

Driving back towards the visitor center, we stopped at “Devil’s Golf Course”. It was an interesting location - lots of jagged and sharp formations of rock salt. It was a short drive in off the main road – worth the visit. We had planned to drive the 9-mile loop road “Artist Drive” but research said it was better to stop there in the afternoon, so we thought we would stop there on the way back to Las Vegas if time permitted (did not make it). There was also a highly recommended hike “Golden Canyon” that we did not have time for. Another point of interest that we didn’t get to check out was Dante’s View – which is on a mountain top and provides an expansive view of the park.

Scotty's Castle

We had reservations for “Scotty’s Castle” tour. I seriously doubted it was worth the drive, but once we finally arrived I was impressed. The castle was probably about an hour away from the visitor center. There was road construction and that made the drive longer than normal. There is not as much stuff to do near Scotty’s Castle. We did visit “Ubehebe Crater”, which was just okay. There are trails both around and down into the crater. Another cool stop in that area is “The Racetrack”. We did not have time to visit the site – apparently it takes about 2 hours to get to the area from Scotty’s Castle. “The Racetrack” is a science phenomenon –large rocks appear to move all by themselves leaving a trail behind them.

Back to the castle. The castle tour is $15/adult. There are also Underground Tours. Tickets can be reserved online, by phone or in person. I booked online a few days before our visit. We were able to change our tour to the earlier time since there were spaced left in that tour. There is not a lot to do at the castle beyond the tour – you can visit the garage, the solar building… The tour lasted about 50 minutes and was very interesting. You learn all about the history and hear some neat stories. The owner of the castle (not Scotty!) was rather interesting. The castle had all sorts of technology for its time – electricity, solar power. Scotty’s story was interesting also. My favorite part of the castle, besides the awesome architecture, was the sounds of the organ. I made a short video to share with you, but apparently it is to big to upload. 

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

The next stop we checked out was the “Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes” near the “Stove Pipe Wells” portion of the NP. It was really windy in that area, but we stopped and walked around a bit. After leaving the sand dunes we continued our journey back to Las Vegas. We did make one more stop in Death Valley – “Harmony Borax Works”. There was a Twenty Mule Wagon on display and the ruins of the borax sorting machinery. Another stop we made was at Salt Creek. There is a short boardwalk trail that runs along the creek. The creek is the only home to pupfish. The fish go dormant when the stream dries up.

April 17, 2014 Las Vegas, NV

And we are off on another adventure…  This trip is another busy one with lots of locations on the must see list. We used Las Vegas as our base point. The flight was smooth. The biggest complaint was the car rental – the line was so long. Mike waited almost an hour and a half to get the car. We rented from Dollar. It appeared that there was a shortage of cars for more than just Dollar. I happened to sit by the Enterprise Rental and they were out of cars. Dollar was borrowing cars from other companies. We ended up getting a Ford Escape – it was all-wheel drive with Eco-boost (figured we would get better gas mileage with the Eco-boost – we had up to 30 mph, but averaged probably around 27 mph for the entire trip). We stayed at Cancun Resort for the first two nights of the trip.

2014 Planning...

It is that time of the year again – where to go…what to see…

Last year we did not make it to all the places that we thought that we would go and this year will probably be the same, but a girl can wish, right?

So far we have one trip mostly booked - Las Vegas/Southwestern Utah. There are a lot of great National Parks to visit in that area. Expect a full report in May/June.

Hawaii is looking like it will happen this fall. It appears that we will be staying on Maui and The Big Island.

Other hopeful trips for the year include: a long weekend trip to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and maybe Boston since there are a lot of NPS sites there.

Road trip to Virginia! - Day 5 & 6

November 11, 2013

Colonial Williamsburg, VA

Colonial Williamsburg’s Revolutionary City was our destination for the day. Tickets for adults were $41.95. There is free parking at the welcome center and a free shuttle service that drops you off at different parts of the city. Admission to the city also includes entrance to three art museums. The program guide changes weekly and only certain buildings are open each day so be sure to get the map and program guide when getting your ticket. We opted to walk to the city, which was not more than 10 minutes from the visitor center. There was a 40 minute video at the visitor center. It was a decent video, but dragged on a little.

We took the guided tours of the Governor’s Palace, Wetherburn’s Tavern, and the Capitol. Each tour lasted about 30 minutes. There were very short waits at each. Large groups go in at once. I would imagine in peak season the wait would have been much longer. We checked out the other buildings that were open as well as the art museums. The art museums are open after the other buildings close, so we checked them out last. Personally, in my option, the cost of admission is not really worth what you get to see.  It should be noted that multi-day passes are only about $8 more than single day passes, so that might be a good option if you wanted to check out the buildings that are closed one day but, open the next. 

Antietam National Battlefield

November 12, 2013

We packed up and headed out early to get home before it was too late in the evening, but I had planned one last site visit for the return trip -Antietam National Battlefield – the bloodiest one-day battle of the American Civil War.  Fees are charged ($4/person age 16 and over, or $6/family, or free with the America the Beautiful pass). There is a 26-minute orientation film for viewing- it played on the hour and half hour. Also available is an 8.5 mile driving tour with 11 stops. We checked out the video and the displays at the visitor center before venturing out to the driving tour. It was a really chilly and windy day; luckily, we could read the site signs from the car at most stops. Allow 2-3 hours for the visit.

Road trip to Virginia! - Days 3 & 4

November 9, 2013

Petersburg NB - Tunnel to the Crater

Petersburg National Battlefield ($5/car entrance fee valid for 7 days at the Eastern Front Visitor Center – free at other sites). We started the visit with watching the 17 minute video offered at the Eastern Front Visitor Center. We also viewed the displays set up at the visitor center. This park relives the nine and a half month siege that took place between June 1864 and April 1865. The siege finally came to an end six days after General Grant cut off the supply lines to Petersburg. The Eastern Front battlefield driving tour (4 miles long) starts at the visitor center and loops through the site on a one way road. There are 13 sites and three visitor centers along the 33 mile driving route. We only toured the Eastern Front. By far the most interesting thing about this battle, in my opinion, was the “The Crater”.  A Pennsylvanian Union troop, with their mining background, dug a tunnel and then packed it with explosives and ignited it right under a part of the Confederate line. The attempt to break the Confederate line failed and all in all 5,500 men did not make it out of the Battle of the Crater. We were at the park for about 2 hours to see the Eastern Front area.

The Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site is located in Jackson Ward National Historic Landmark District in Richmond. The Jackson Ward area was one of the most prosperous black communities in the US back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Maggie Walker living in this neighborhood was a natural fit.  Maggie Walker was the first woman bank president.  Her other notable accomplishments included serving as the leader of the Independent Order of St. Luke (a benevolent society that aided African Americans in illness, old age, and death), starting a newspaper and chartering a bank.

There is a 12-minute video at the visitor center that is geared towards children, but should be viewed prior to taking a tour. There are a limited number of displays at the visitor center. Guided house tours are available starting at the visitor center and last about an hour.  The Maggie Walker story is rather interesting, definitely worth checking out! Oh and just an FYI – the home has 28 rooms!

Richmond National Battlefield Park - Tredegar Iron Works

Next on the docket was the Richmond National Battlefield Park which has a few visitor centers. It is recommended that visitors visit the Civil War Visitor Center at Tredegar Iron Works. The visitor center is three stories and has various displays and a 22-minute video. There is free parking down the street from the visitor center otherwise there is $3/hour parking right next to the site. There is another museum adjacent to the NP site, the American Civil War Center (there is an entrance fee). There is an 80-mile driving tour that takes you thought the battlefield - we opted not to spend that much time driving around.

A view from Belle Isle

There is a nice park across from Tredegar Iron Works and also an island called Belle Isle that is nice. Belle Isle was site of a Prison Camp. There is information regarding the prison camp on plaques on the island.

We also visited the Chimborazo Medical Museum. There is a 17-minute long film and medical displays. The hospital was over forty acres in size and could house over 3000 patients at once. It was one of the largest and best equipped Confederacy Hospital’s.

It was still daylight so we also checked out the Cold Harbor Battlefield. There were two electric maps that displayed troop movement and a very short driving tour loop. 

November 10, 2013

The day started with a visit to Fort Monroe National Monument, which is a relatively new NP site. It is a bit confusing on where to go upon arriving to the old military base which opened in the 1830’s and closed in 2011. The Casement Museum is the place to start your visit. There is a lot to see at the museum and then of course there are the fort grounds to check out. Fort Monroe is the largest stone fort ever built in the US and was named after President James Monroe. There is free admission to this NP. There is a Fort Monroe Walking Tour flier available in the Casement Museum. The walking tour takes about an hour and a half.

US Army Transportation Museum

Nothing else was planned for the remainder of the day, but we came across the United States Army Transportation Museum. The museum is located on Fort Eustis, so you will have to go through security to get in. Admission to the museum is free. The museum building is 50,000 square feet and there are four outdoor parks also. There is a short video (maybe 10-15 minutes) explaining what you would be seeing as you walked though army transportation history starting with the Revolutionary War and currently ending at Operation Iraqi Freedom. It took us about 2 hours to make our way through the video and displays.

We made a stop at the Williamsburg Winery. Mike did the tasting ($6 and you keep the glass) and got to sample 10 different types of wine, his favorite being the 2008 Gabriel Archer Reserve. Per Mike, the wine on the East Coast does not compare to the wine in Napa - Napa's wine is much better.

Road trip to Virginia! - Day 1 & 2

November 7, 2013

Hooray – time for another road trip! This adventure took us back to Williamsburg, VA.  We left after work and made it to Monroeville, PA for the night. We stayed at the Holiday Inn – it was a nice hotel. The room had nice decor, was clean, and had a very comfortable bed. The staff was also friendly. I received my welcome gift (bottle of water and some cookies) as being a hotel rewards member.

November 8, 2013

Manassas National Battlefield

On the road again…our first stop for the day was the Manassas National Battlefield Park (free admission). We started the visit with viewing the displays set up at the Henry Hill Visitor Center. There is a forty-five minute video available; however, we had missed the starting time. The video discusses the first and second battles of Manassas. There was a walking tour that discussed the second battle and we were able to join the tour. The tour lasted around an hour and it just happened to start at the first stop of the driving tour – Brawner Farm. There is also a walking tour of the first battle of Manassas at the Henry Hill Visitor Center, but the times did not work out for our visit. The most interesting thing that was learned was that one of the Generals had their troops march 55 miles in just two days during the second battle of Bull Run! The driving tour was 18 miles long and had stops at key locations of the Second Manassas Battlefield.

Prince William Forest Park Trail

Prince William Forest Park was our next destination.  The park is about 35 miles south of Washington DC. There are hiking trails and camping offered at this National Park Site. Prince William Forest Park has the largest Piedmont forest in the NPS.  The visitor center had a very limited amount of displays, which talked about how the park was used by the Office of Strategic Services (forerunner to the CIA) as a training camp for spies during World War II. We had time to take a hike during our visit, it was nice but the trail we took did not really offer much that you could not find elsewhere.  There is also a nine mile scenic drive loop, which we drove on for a little ways.

Our drive continued to our final destination – Williamsburg, VA.