Preview: Right now

So as I sit here in Kansas City with my crappy wifi and terrible upload speed, I thought maybe I should just preview every day that's happened so far instead of putting up the whole thing a week or more late. So I just put a pic or two up from each day of the trip, and I'll put the full day up when I have a good wifi connection and the time. St. Louis is next... Cheers!

Preview: Kansas City... BBQ AND a fair? How much more American can we get...

We get to Kansas City around lunchtime, and head directly for Oklahoma Joe's BBQ... Anthony Bourdain say's it's one of his 13 places to eat before you die, and if he thinks it's the best BBQ in the world, I'll be damned if I'm not going to take his word for it... it's a BBQ joint literally inside a gas station, and even though we were there around 2-3pm, there was still a huge line. These were the best ribs I've ever had, and the pulled pork + the sauce were probably the best combo of the two I've ever had as well...

How can we top this amazingly American experience? By going to a county fair in Kansas of course!! This is us getting fried Twinkies, Snickers, and Oreos at the Wynadotte County Fair :D

Preview: I actually like Denver

We spent the greater part of the next day in Denver, where we did things like try to get rattlesnake at Buckhorn's Exchange which they were out, and take the brewery tour (and sample everything) at Great Divide... delicious, delicious beers... also I really need to get rid of my moustache!

We head toward Kansas in the evening, where we have the 2cd rollover of the time counter in the car... that's 200 hours in the car folks!

Preview: From Desert to the Rockies... also, never camp in the desert...

We camp in the Moab Desert at a camp ground right next to a canyon and the Colorado River... which a great location, camping in the desert sucks. It's hot, there are a ton of bugs, mice, etc., etc.... blargh... We spent the morning viewing the rest of Arches NP... here is a pic of the double arch...

We were so miserable from the terrible night in the desert that we did not hike and left for Colorado probably faster than we would have ... however, the Rockies provided a much needed change from the heat and scenery of the desert... here is a picture from our drive through Rocky Mountain National Park...

We spent this evening in Boulder, Colorado, ending with a trip to Avery Brewing Company :)

Preview: Canyonlands to Arches - Grand Canyon? Who Needs it...

After Bryce, we travel to the Moab Desert to visit a pair of classic national parks... the first, Canyonlands National Park... It's like the Grand Canyon, and in fact part of it was carved by the Colorado River... but it's got a much different character to it... no less beautiful however...

Because of the heat, and the fact that we couldn't get water anywhere in the park, we did very little hiking at Canyonlands... we decided to go "next door" to Arches National Park, where we did a short hike to see the famous Delicate Arch at sunset...

This day also marked a full month on the road!

Preview: Bryce Canyon, a city in the canyon...

We visit Bryce Canyon National Park next, a remarkably beautiful place... the stone structures carved out of the canyon by water make you imagine that they once could have been statues or walls, cities and cathedrals... every view was breathtaking....

Preview: Zion day 2 - It's pretty narrow in here...

The next morning, we explore Zion more fully, including hiking a few miles along the Zion Narrows... this was one of the most unique hikes I have ever done, we literally hiked in the river, with the huge canyons flanking us... this was an incredible experience... we saw a bit more of Zion and then headed toward Bryce Canyon for the sunset...

Preview: Headin' Toward Zion

The next morning, Brendan departs, and now we are down to two...it was short but fun Brendan, till next time! We slowly head toward Zion National Park, after recovering in the morning from a late night out... we set up camp in the valley, beneath yet another set of amazing and unique mountains...

Preview: Death Valley, or "Is it warm out here or is it just me"

The next morning, we head to Death Valley. The temperature was at 116F according to the car... it's desolate, hot, dangerous, and quite beautiful...

And we arrive in Las Vegas for the evening... we stayed in Fremont, which has a much different feel than the strip. Here's us buffet'ing it up, whut whut!

Preview: Yosemite Part 3 - Did we really just climb that thing??

Day 3 at Yosemite was highlighted by us climbing this rock/mountain... Lembert Dome... we climbed up this thing from the LEFT side of this picture... >_<

Yosemite part 2 - Not Falling Down Those Falls...

<== On a beautiful morning over Yosemite, we move campgrounds into the valley...

And begin a hike to two waterfalls... ==>

<== The trail is about 5 miles, and goes up in elevation 2000ft!

The granite mountains keep watch over us... ==>

<== And before long we get a glimpse of the first waterfall... Vernal Waterfall...

It's beautiful... ==>

<== And got us soaked!

The view from the top is amazing... totally worth the long hike and tons of stairs... ==>

 <== A view from the top of the falls...

And us right there... ==>

<== Brendan just chillaxin' for a while up here...

A view of the river right before the falls... the water runs over a huge flat slab of granite and is mesmerizing... it's called the Silver Apron I believe...sadly, I think this is the spot where these people got swept into the falls literally the day after we were there...

<== We took care to not go into the water...

But we probably took more risks than we should have (or would have a day later...) ==>

<== As we move on toward the next falls, the mountains remain omnipresent...

And we move on... ==>

<== The Nevada Fall awaits...

The hike's even steeper to the top of this one! ==>

<== This fall is way more powerful...

And makes you feel small... ==>

<== It was a long hike, but it was worth it...

One last look at the mountain... ==>

<== And a few mossy creeks escort us out...

We were all pretty pooped after this hike, and back at camp we decide to rough it... city style... ==>

<== An industrious Brendan decides to make some omelets...

The chef at work... ==>

<== Yes, this is a campfire 3 egg omelet with chicken apple sausage, cheese, avocado, and salsa verde.... best thing we've eaten at a campfire by orders of magnitude...

We got too much firewood so I made a huge fire... a great end to a great hike... ==>

Ps. I know we've been a little liberal with the walking close to cliffs and stuff (it will get worse tomorrow, so sorry to all the parents), but at least we didn't do stuff like this... this kid is walking into a pool literally 30 feet away from one of the highest waterfalls in North America... and a bunch of them were playing in that pool!

Yosimite Part 1 - Could There Be Any More Tourists?

<== And finally, we arrive at Yosemite National Park... in a bit of Fox News style photo-journalistic manipulation, this picture was actually taken on our last day as we left the park, but Tom forgot to stop at the sign on the way in so here it is!

Our first stop is to see the sequoias at the Mariposa Grove... ==>

<== These trees are not as tall as the coastal redwoods we saw earlier, but they are way more massive...

This bad boy here is the Grizzy Giant... it's supposed to be 1500ish years old... ==>

<== The big branch on the tree is 2 meters in diameter... it's actually wider than all the other non-sequoia trees in Yosemite... ridiculous!

We walk through another giant... ==>

<== Next we head to Glacier Point, where we are greeted with a view that literally stopped me in my tracks... this is a view of part of the Yosemite Valley... you can see all the amazing geological formations and waterfalls...

It's incredible... ==>












<== A zoom in on the Vernal and Nevada waterfalls, which we will hike later...

Brendan's holding up the Half Dome... there's a hike that actually takes you up to the top of that, but we didn't have the 12 hours or the energy to even attempt it... ==>









<== There's a great view of Yosemite Falls here as well... one of the tallest waterfalls in the world...

The only problem with this place is how crowded it is... I think everyone in California is here! ==>

<== We head down toward the valley, but not without taking more pictures of the amazing rock formations...

And at last, we are greeted with the classic Yosemite Valley scene... you exit a tunnel and suddenly this is in front of you... it's one of the most photographed places on earth apparently... ==>

<== The view is so magnificent you need to just sit down and take it all in...

Driving through the valley, the granite mountains just tower over you... El Capitan seems to always just be over your shoulder ... ==>

<== We take a short hike to Bridalveil Fall... and get soaked in the process...

As the sun starts to go down, we head toward our camp ground. The shadows make it seem like there's a huge hole in this rock... ==>










<== They didn't have any firewood at the general store near our campsite, so they told us to pick up our own from the forest... we got a crap ton...

Success! Roasting delicious snausages and tortillas with cheese and salsa... boy is that mustache lookin' groady... only mild apathy and curiosity are keepin' it going... ==>

<== And cans of baked beans... hooray camping! We went star watching after this, but it was too dark to take pictures with our terrible cameras. The star watching here was quite good... but still, too many cars!