So, long hiatus from writing. It’s strange to write about vacationing in America, but for the sake of my own future nostalgia, here we are.

Turning 40

About a week after getting back from Belize, I celebrated my 40th birthday. Friends from Europe joined friends and family from the US in a beautiful collision of my various worlds. It was such a joy to see everyone together, it’s impossible not to stop and take stock and realize just how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life. Except for maybe Dylan who told everyone he met that I pooped in my wetsuit when the sharks got close to us in Belize. Dyl’s on the shit list.

National Parks

After the bday party, Vera and I started on a whirlwind tour of the national parks west of the Rockies. In order: Yosemite, Sequoia/Kings, (Vegas), Zion, Grand Canyon, Bryce, (Escalante), Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, (Salt Lake City), Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Glacier, (Seattle), Olympic, Crater Lake, and Redwoods.

We often get the question of favorites, and it’s impossible to say. Grand Canyon literally brought tears to V’s eyes, I had my moment wandering alone through groves of thousand-year-old giant Sequoia trees, and the scenery in all the other national parks is so unique and spectacular it’s senseless to try to compare. We’ve seen bald eagles, big horn sheep, mountain goats, elk, moose, black bears far too close for comfort, and the cutest of them all, the tiny little pika. Needless to say, it was a great trip.

Yosemite

Sequoia & Kings Canyon

Zion

Grand Canyon

Bryce

Escalante

Not a national park, but a quick layover providing access to some very narrow, extremely cool slot canyons (Peakaboo and Spooky).

Capitol Reef

Canyonlands

Arches

Grand Tetons

The Grand Tetons was definitely the most adventurous park for us. We’d been hiking pretty much every day since we left, but this was the first time we went proper backpacking, and Vera’s first time ever. With a 24km, 1300m climbing first day, it was no easy introduction, but when we made camp about 12 hours after we started, the mood was still good, if not a little anxious given the potential for bears.

The bear anxiety proved to be well founded the next day, as we came across a mom and two cubs walking towards us on the path…and then later a lone juvenile male also walking the path in our direction. We (and a few others thankfully) kept backing up, and they kept coming. I had our bear spray at the ready, but thankfully they climbed far enough off the path to let us sneak by. We were probably less than 10 meters away, which is way too close for comfort, even if you know black bears are generally harmless.

But we survived and it was beautiful, so now we’re looking forward to the next opportunity.

While we were in the area, we also went white water rafting. Though a bit tamer than I’ve done previously, it was a great intro for V who was going for the first time. She was so excited, she decided to say high to one of the rapids face first!

Yellowstone

Glacier

On our way to Glacier we also stopped off Sun Canyon and went horseback riding. V loves horses but I’m terrified of them, so this was gonna be fun at least for her. My horse, Eddy, was a gentle soul though, and I enjoyed it as well.

Seattle

After Glacier we headed over to Seattle and stayed with family for a few days. After having been in the heat, in tents, on hikes, and on long drives so consistently for a month, it was delightful to be able to relax and do nothing in good company. We did get out to a String Cheese Incident concert which was hilarious, so many hippies and so much tie-dye. And also so much fun.

Olympic

Our tent didn’t fully survive the 12 hours of rain, so we woke up with wet feet and very little desire to spend hours hiking through the drizzle. So we went to the beach section of the park and then booked it south to our new favorite motel chain (EconoLodge!) to escape the rain.

Seaside

Again, not a national park but a pleasant interlude, we loved the beach town vibes, the sun, and the warmth.

Crater Lake

Unfortunately, our plans to camp close to the lake and ride around it the next day werw foiled by smoke. Soooo much smoke. And one of the fires contributing to the problem was only a couple kilometers from our camp site, so good sense got the better of us and we drove through the park and continued south out of the smoke. Disappointing, because Crater Lake is spectacular.

Redwoods

We had originally planned to go to Lassen from Crater Lake, but the park was completely closed due to the fires, so we adjusted and instead followed the coast down to Redwoods State and National Parks. Was also awesome, as redwoods are slightly taller than their sequoia cousins and the tallest trees in the world, reaching up to nearly 120m.

Santa Cruz

After Redwoods we met up with some close friends and spent a few days in Santa Cruz, which, despite the disappointment of no surf, was still lovely. The coast in that region is rich in nutrients and thus a stop on the migration route of Sooty Shearwaters. It’s not uncommon to see hundreds of thousands of them in a single evening, which we did, along with pelicans and sea lions which were also feasting. All that was missing was David Attenborough.

Some statistics

• Total road trip duration: 41 days
• Total distance traveled: ~ 11,200 km
• # National Parks visited: 15

What’s next

Despite being on the road for 6 weeks, our US trip is still not over. Between now (August 11th) and August 27th, we will visit Chicago, Philadelphia, Hartford, and Boston. I’m looking forward to slowing things down a little, but I would be equally happy to slow things down a lot and just kick it in Tahoe for a few weeks, or go back to Italy for a while. I’m (still) spent. Woe is me :)