Travel Tips & Adventures

Again, I wish all of my readers a happy new year!

I’ve been offline for a bit because I’ve been concentrating on getting Hiking for the Couch Potato out to the world!  If you take a look at http://hiking.forthecouchpotato.com, then come back for details, I’ll explain what image number 3 at the top of my new blog is about.

Okay, so  - did you go look at the other web site?

If you did, then let me share with you that the image is from Hawaii, Wailoa River State Park, a park on the Big Island.  This is a gorgeous place to meander that provides many vantage points for photography. A local park, there is no admission fee.  You can climb down to be near the water or see the falls from higher up.

It’s peaceful and we had almost no one else to bother us, unlike many more known sites in Hawaii, where everyone seems to be jockeying for a place to take photos.

I promised to tell you about the images on my new Website, Hiking for the Couch Potato – http://hiking.forthecouchpotato.com.

So, take a peek at the site and look at the second image near the top.  When you do, you’ll see an almost other-worldly location where the rocks have encircled a watery, breathtakingly beautiful lake.  If you look really carefully, you’ll even see a mountain with snow on it off in the distance.

Where is it?

The shot is of Granite Dells, just north of Prescott, Arizona at Watson Lake.  It’s a park, a picnic place and a fabulous place to hike.  There is a small entrance fee, but just sharing the view is worth it!

Take a look at our previous blog on this site that tells you more.  http://traveltipsandadventures.com/?p=1687

Enjoy!  We certainly have and we’ve been back several times.

If you’ve seen the new Hiking for the Couch Potato website – http://hiking.forthecouchpotato.com – you’ve seen some images at the top of the page.

I promised to identify the images at the top of our new website.

Image number 1 is:  ta – dah  – drum roll -

Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

A monolith that juts 235 feet high above the long stretch of beach in Cannon Beach, Oregon, Haystack Rock seems to follow you in any direction wherever you are on the beach.  Birds and other creatures – especially humans – find it almost magnetic, but it is a protected site.  See our longer blog for more information – http://traveltipsandadventures.com/?p=1134

Return next week and we’ll identify our #2 image.

We hope you’ll visit our Hiking for the Couch Potato website – and maybe even consider buying a book!  Especially for those of you who know someone who really needs to get off the couch and get some activity in their life.

Have a great week, everyone!

Sometimes the name says it all – Grand!  Grand Teton certainly is large and imposing, majestic and eye-catching.  We spent a few hours viewing the mountains as we drove through on our way to Yellowstone, plus we stopped at the very appealing Jenny Lake and the informative and attractive Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center.

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If you think you have seen everything worth seeing at Yellowstone National Park, well, you haven’t!  We have one more major sight to share – the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Actually, there are two different falls that visitors can get fairly close to.  And we do mean close! – The sound of the water rushing is almost deafening at one location!

After you have visited the other locations we’ve told you about, it is definitely worth a ride to the Canyon Village area, which is in the vicinity of the Canyons and the falls (Upper and Lower).

The walks at each location are fairly short and you might have to jostle for position in some locations to get a good photo, but do take the time to see the falls! (more…)

Traveling just north of Old Faithful, we whisked by the Upper, Midway and Lower Geyser Basins on our first day in Yellowstone.  We decided to return because we could see some amazing activity.

The next day, we weren’t disappointed. In a concentrated area at the Lower Geyser Basin, are some amazing, bubbling, perking evidence of very hot activity under the earth’s surface. The bubbling is in the Fountain Paint Pots and the nearby steaming is a series of geysers that are quite impressive.

A boardwalk takes you around the area and, as long as you stay on the boardwalk – which they require – you can see the activity and avoid the dangerous hot gases.

The first sight we saw was Silex Spring – a colorful pool with flowing water– but very lethal.  Hot steam and hydrogen sulfide are not especially great to inhale.

We walked around the Fountain Paint Pots, seeing something that could be out of MacBeth – “double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble.”  And, there was certainly a lot of bubbling going on.  Even though we were early in the season, we still were able to see some really active clay-like deposits that, according to the Parks Department’s pamphlet, were used by the Crow Indian tribe to paint their tepees.

RECIPE – For the Mudpots of Fountain Paint Pots

As we continued our walk on the boardwalk, we came to an area that had a half dozen geysers in varying states of activity.  It was a bit hard to tell which one was which, but the photo here – we believe is Morning Geyser, which put on a spectacular show.  Notice the yellowish deposits in the geyser not erupting in front.  The deposits, while colorful, are other evidence of the many chemicals the erupting earth bring s to the surface.

Geysers erupting in Fountain Paint Pot areas

Almost nearing the juncture of the boardwalk path with the entrance walkway, there are some “Lodgepole pines” that have become mired in the earth’s eruptions. It is a stark reminder of how destructive, yet beautful the earth can be.

The entire walk around the Fountain Paint Pots Trail and the geysers in the vicinity can easily be seen in less than an hour.  It is great to stay longer and watch the changes.

Next week: We’ll travel to Yellowstone’s Falls  – the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  We’ll explore from several vantage points.

Continuing our visit to Yellowstone National Park…

While we waited for Old Faithful to perform, we wandered over to Old Faithful Inn, an old dowager of a National Park’s hotel.  The fascinating thing about the Inn is that it was built from stones, wood and other materials that were primarily brought from within a 5-mile radius, according to a tour guide we heard in the massive five-story lobby.  The lobby has large, rustic logs that have been burnished by time.  Nearby stairways are mini-sculptural wood pieces that look like antlers.  The lobby’s giant fireplace is also most impressive.

The main part of the hotel, built in 1904, has a dining room, also massive.  There are newer wings as well.  If you decide you’d like to stay in the Inn, plan to book ‘way far ahead!  The rates, unless you are willing to do without an in-room bathroom ($96), range from that low to a $500 price tag for a suite.  There are no modern amenities – no phones, TVs, air conditioning and Internet hook-ups, etc.  You are meant to get your entertainment from nature while at Yellowstone and, if you look around, you won’t be disappointed.

There are two other hotel properties nearby, but since we were afraid we’d miss Old Faithful’s performance, we didn’t stop to see them.

http://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/

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Yellowstone, the first National Park in what later became a National Park System, is an incredible place to explore.  Sometimes, just driving can give you amazing views of the wildlife and natural wonders available.  The 2.2 million acres of Yellowstone are located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with some of its land spilling into Idaho and Montana.

Yellowstone National Park southern entrance

Getting there

Entering Yellowstone from the south via Grand Tetons (more on that park another week) we drove in on Route 89/191/297.  We had paid for a park pass at Grand Teton that was good for both parks for seven days.  ($25 in our case, an annual pass is $50)

In late May, as we headed past Lewis Lake, the water was still frozen and it was still cold outside, as evidenced by our need to use the car’s defroster.  According to the map, the road on which we entered was actually closed until mid-May.  Apparently, only the two east and one north entrances are open year round.

First stop: Old Faithful and more

Everyone has heard about Old Faithful, (more…)

Just when you thought you’d never see another blog from Travel Tips and Adventures…well, here we are again!

Some other business activities have been keeping me busy – which I’ll share with you all soon. We also had the infamous “technical difficulties.”

In the meanwhile, we’ve been traveling and will, over the weeks to come, be offering our accounts of our visits to Yellowstone National Park, Southern Idaho and travel eats and accommodations along the way.

We’re getting very close to having traveled to every state in the United States – especially my husband – and on this particular trip, we were in five different states – Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.

In the Western United States, spaces seem more spacious.  Although places may look close on a map, you can drive for many miles before seeing another town or any humans. Other than car occupants, what we saw more of than anything in our travels were buffalo – or bison – at Yellowstone National Park.

We also saw one lone buffalo that had strayed out of Yellowstone and was munching placidly on grass in the small resort town, West Yellowstone, adjacent to the Park.  The buffalo was now legendary, as he had been in West Yellowstone for a week.  Turning up behind a restaurant, behind someone’s home and in various other parts of town, no one seemed too concerned about their new inhabitant.  The theory seemed to be, “let it be.”

Tune in next week and we’ll share more about our trip to the 2.2 million acres!! (we didn’t get to all of them, but many amazing locations) of Yellowstone National Park.

And the travel winner is…

(Okay, we have not been blogging recently.  Our internet connection was very iffy, but now we seem to have resolved those issues.)

After reviewing travel options for our nine-day excursion, we have decided to choose -   ta da da da dah da!-

IDAHO!

Our choice of Idaho was for the following reasons:

1. We have never been there.
2. They sent us information very quickly – we like responsiveness!
3. We know images can be enhanced, but the stunning views of mountains and lakes were irresistible.
4. After living in the Arizona desert, an abundance of lakes, waterfalls and rivers will be a welcome change.
5. The scenic byways sound entrancing and the diversity of climates is always a great idea if you want to see a lot in very little time.
6. Boise sounds like our idea of a great city to visit.  A university town, that always seems to add something special to the life of a community.   “A vibrant downtown bordered by a 25-mile greenbelt and seven grand parks, line the city’s waterfront.” (Although there is a punctuation/grammatical error there, we get the point.)
7. My husband wants to get some golfing in.  Idaho has an abundance of that.
8. Towns with names like “Bliss,” “Eden” and “Cascade” are so evocative we can’t resist.
9. We once met a Coeur d’Alene resident who couldn’t say enough great things about the city.  We want to see Coeur d’Alene – scenery, culture and golf – sounds almost too good to be true!

10.  After looking randomly at the Idaho Web site, I was hooked! www.visitidaho.org

More to come as we refine our travel adventure!