Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Tennesee

I put so much time and energy into planning my first three weeks that now I'm a little worn out. The second half of my trip will be more focused on getting from point A to point B rather than hanging out in one place for days at a time. One thing I realized today that I had not thought of was the time difference. In Vegas I will be on Pacific time and I will be traveling East so I will be losing time as I go. Kyle thoughtfully suggested I go to the Pacific Ocean to "save time". I know by this point I will be sick and tired of living out of my car and traveling so that's why I've decided to stop and see some friends along the way.

We last left off at the Grand Canyon. I will be leaving there and checking out some national monuments around Flagstaff Arizona, most notably Petrified Forest National Park. Apparently it's not so much a forest as it is a barren wastleland filled with dead trees but it's a national park so I will go. Then I'm heading over to my friend Meris' ranch in New Mexico. I've been once before when they first moved there but I am excited to see Meris and her family now that they've been ranch owners for a couple years. I will be stopping by White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico as well. Jess highly recommends Carlsbad and I'm planning on being there at night when the bats descend. Then I am hauling across West Texas for a day and ending up in San Antonio. I am pretty excited to see the Missions and the Riverwalk. Then I will drive north to Austin and meet up with Melissa, another friend from the ranch. It will be good to see her in her town because we've only ever hung out at the ranch.

I'm leaving Texas July 27th and heading towards Arkansas. There is a Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas but I won't make the same mistake of going to a hot spring in high summer again. I'll cruise through Little Rock where you can apparently see the namesake "Little Rock". Next I'll be in Tennesee and I am very excited for this. I appreciate the stark landscapes of the West but there's something about the dense forests, hills, and flora of the East that I absolutely love and have sorely missed in the last two years. I'll spend a day in Memphis and Nashville, soaking up the country culture before heading over to Great Smoky Mountains National Park where I know I'll spend a couple days.

RoadsideAmerica.com has been a helpful resource as it has led me to the following sites: World's Biggest Cowboy Boots (Texas, duh), World's Largest Caterpillar (also Texas) and the half and half post office in Texarkana (see pic above).

I've been so focused on planning for this summer but now I'm going to shift my focus to planning Kyle's visit. This will be his first time out West and I want to pack in as much as possible. I am still juggling ideas but most of my destinations depend on whether the snow has melted or not. Memorial Day in the Rockies can be brutal. See below
Actually, that's a good picture. You can see the road...

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I've heard from people that they haven't been able to comment. I finally figured out that it was my template that wasn't allowing it. I've removed the pretty template and reverted to a plain blog so feel free to comment away!!

Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona

Wow, planning is hard. I'm trying to keep myself to a timeline so I don't show up in New York on Labor Day but there is so much stuff to see, I keep finding myself inching further and further west. As much as I would like to see the Pacific Ocean, I must head east. I'm not too sure I've left myself time for things like, setting up my tent, eating, showering, doing laundry and other mundane things. My previous roadtrips have consisted of driving all night, sleeping a couple hours and hitting the road before sunrise. I'm not sure how long I can maintain that pace. Anyway, we last left off at Glacier National Park.

After leaving Glacier I'm going to drive down to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in Idaho. These mountains look gorgeous and I hope to get out and hike at least one trail. Two scenic byways take me thru this area and I'll take one over to Craters of the Moon National Monument. I am most excited to explore their lava tube caves. One of the smaller caves is the picture below. I'm camping there and driving to Twin Falls, Idaho where I'll check out some waterfalls (duh).

Then it's off to the City of Rocks backcountry byway, Golden Spike National Historic Site and the Great Salt Lake. I'm camping on Antelope Island which is in the Great Salt Lake (hopefully not submerged). I've heard the lake is hot, dirty, buggy, smelly and gross but it's a tourist trap and I'm going in (not my head, the salt is not kind to bodies so I've heard. I grew up a freshwater species). I'm going to swing through Salt Lake City but I'm not into Mormons or the Winter Olympics so I'll just do a drive by (I've heard big cities have lots of those).



Then I'm heading down to the Capitol Reef national park. There is a backcountry trail that leads through the park, through Grand Staircase Escalante and over towards Bryce Canyon and it's supposed to be one of the most scenic roads in the U.S. This area is notorious for slot canyons and frankly I won't be hiking any because flash floods scare the crap out of me. Grand Staircase Escalante is very inhospitable and apparently is one of the most remote regions in the U.S. As I don't want to descend into Woman vs. Wild, I have decided to do just one hike. I picked Calf Creek Falls because they look STUNNING (see top pic above)! I'm pumped to jump right in because it's a long, hot hike. From there I am driving over to Bryce Canyon and on to Zion National Park. I'll spend one night at Bryce and two nights in Zion because I want to make sure I see everything. Next up LAS VEGAS!

I'm meeting my friend Jess at the Grand Canyon so I decided to kill some time and hit Las Vegas. I got a dirt cheap hotel room at the Excalibur which is right in the heart of the Strip so I can just park there and walk everywhere and not worry about parking or public transportation. I actually found a hotel for $10 but it was north of the Strip and apparently the name gets literal in that area. Yes, I will gamble and no I will not enjoy it but as least I can say I did it. There's tons of free stuff to see and do so I'm not worried about losing too much money. The average high in Las Vegas in July is 106 degrees (average!). If I don't pass my audition to be a showgirl, I'll leave Friday morning July 17th. I'll hit the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead and be at the Grand Canyon, eagerly awaiting a recognizable face. Heaven knows I probably won't be recognizable by that point...

The Bungalow

The tent I just bought. I think I'm going to call her The Bungalow. I had a hard time finding the right tent but I think it'll do really good considering I will be living in it for over a month. Stay tuned, the second week itinerary is almost complete. 2 words: VEGAS BABY!!

Official departure date and the first week!

June 29, 2009 is the official start of my roadtrip across America
I should say that I am planning my trip around all the beautiful national parks, monuments, forests and other federally protected sites in the U.S. The America the Beautiful pass is the best $80 I've ever spent. Also, my parents are driving out and taking Max back since he's too old to be on the road for a month. Luckily, I'm the perfect age ;)

Well I've got my first week and a half planned out. I'll leave Denver and drive up to Jackson Hole. The next day I'll spend in Grand Teton National Park. I'll camp there and head up to Yellowstone for the next 4 days. I originally booked for 2 days but there's so much to do and see there that I decided to stay longer. The picture above is the Morning Glory pool which I saw on a my Dad's old viewfinder when I was little and have always wanted to go there. I will then trek up to Glacier National Park through Bozeman, Butte and Helena, Montana with a quick stop at Lewis and Clark Caverns state park. After a good nights rest, I'll keep going and cross the Canadian border and spend a day at the Waterton National Park in Canada. I'll come back to the U.S., grab some sleep, and shuttle across Glacier. Glacier actually has an awesome shuttle service that's free so you don't have to fight the crowds and you save gas. I'm really excited about this stop because this park will cease to exist in my lifetime (according to scientists). After that I'll drive south thru Idaho and swing through the Sawtooth area and then go by the Craters of the Moon National Monument. Whew, I'm going to need a break before I start planning for Utah. Utah has a lot to see and I will need to do some strategizing to make sure I hit everything. I'm pretty excited about floating in the Great Salt Lake. Please let me know if you have any suggestions about what to see (and not to see).