The non party guys on the beach.

Created with PicSay on my DROID RAZR

Cancun Welcome Party

Chris, Chuck and Jessica on the Green Monster

Cancun friends

With the start of our yearly Cancun pilgrimage for fun in the sun and Thanksgiving, we attended the Sunday welcome  party on the Green Monster at the Royal Caribbean.  All the kids were missing Bailey,  Griffin, and Tommy.  While adults were missing Mike and Kim. 

Kathleen was here early this year, but the remainder of the Canadians arrived too late for the Welcome Party.  Guess we will have to have our own today.

Just a few pics of the party with the gang saying hi to the kids.  A view of the fuddy duddies sitting on the beach,  Christina and Jessica and then again joined by Chuck. He wanted to make the blog!  

Missing you guys back home

Final Tally; How Far We Hiked During our Travels

 

Maroon Bells National Forest, Aspen, Colorado

   9/11     .8 miles    2,095 steps
   9/12   2.4 miles    5,774 steps
   9/13   5.3 miles 12,453 steps
   9/14 13.1 miles 30,916 steps
   9/15   3.8 miles   9,004 steps
   9/16   8.4 miles 19,738 steps
   9/17   1.0 miles   2,743 steps
   9/18   1.0 miles   2,750 steps
   9/19   1.1 miles   2,796 steps
Total 349.6 miles 822,829 steps

The Reflecting Pool is DONE.

Having hikers withdrawal, we took a ride into DC to walk around and found that finally the reflecting pool is complete.  People should now be able to take some fantastic pictures between the Lincoln Memorial and the WWII memorial.

Heading Home

Heading home we have a long drive ahead of us, at least 31 hours from Aspen, Colorado. Our route home takes us on Interstate 70. For those using I 70 and traveling from Baltimore towards Mount Airy, I'm sure you have noticed the sign that says Denver 2,000 miles. Couldn't relate to that sign until today.

 

 The morning started off with a snow storm as we.drove over the mountains at Vail pass, the pass is at  10,603 feet  elevation.

Snow came down fast and furious with large puffy snowflakes sticking to the windshield and slush forming on the road.  Winter is coming way too early.

Having never towed the camper in the snow, it certainly was cause for concern, however, we made over the pass and descended into lower elevations where it was only raining with views of the snow on the mountains and trees at the higher elevations.

 After Denver, the Colorado landscape became flat and boring with flax colored grass for miles and miles.  Finally crossing into Kansas  we found some diversions.  



 Did you know....that Kansas has the second most oil wells, with Texas obviously being the leader in the field.  They are small wells that pump crude out of the Mississippi limestone formations that run into Kansas.  I thought they were pumping water, but Tony insisted they were oil wells and Google confirmed.   



Also, Kansas has a growing wind power community with the potential to lead the nation in wind powered energy.  Huge wind farms located near Salinas decorated the sky.



Kansas promotes the  8 wonders of Kansas.  There are many 8 wonders as indicated at this website ;http://www.kanwsassampler.org/8wonders/geographyresults.php.   We passed.by several of the wonders on the highway, St. Fidelis Church in Victoria, the Eisenhower Library and Museum in Abilene and a bonus, the OZ museum, surrender Dorothy. 

After a long day of driving we ended up in Topeka, Kansas.  We will get up tomorrow and do it all again.  Hopefully we will miss the storms we have been following alld day that are heading for Maryland.

Rocky Mountain National Park

The Aspens are turning in Rocky Mountain NP and Colorado.  How lucky are we to be here to see them!  This year the Aspen trees are turning early due to this year's drought.  Stressed trees turn earlier and drop their leaves soon thereafter, so timing is not something we could have planned.

Aspens form large groves of trees throughout the mountains.  They are "filler" trees.  They fill in spaces where avalanche, fire, disease or other gaps in the forest occur.  As a result they can be either non existent or be sprinkled throughout the mountainside.

Did you know that a grove of trees is usually just from one tree?  The tree spreads by underground runners and the entire grove is a "clone" of the original tree.  Their root systems are all interconnected.  As they are essentially the same tree, the grove is all the same color, turns at the same time and may be slightly different from the other groves on the mountain.

Another Aspen fact I learned today, the Aspens on the eastern side of the Continental Divide turn earlier than on the western side.

When the bright sun lights up the yellow gold leaves in the afternoon, they appear to glow.  The sun bounces off the white bark and the wind rustles the leaves and  almost makes music.  I can see why Coloradans loves their Aspens.  The Aspens are to Colorado as the cherry blossoms are to Washington.  

Two nights ago there was a snow dusting on Longs Peak in the park.  Longs Peak is the highest 14,000+ mountain in the park.  Overnight temperatures are right above freezing, we will be ready for Florida when we get back!  

How Far Have We Hiked....

 

Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe

9/2    1.7 miles    4,005 steps
9/3    3.4 miles    8,175 steps
9/4   15.0 miles  35,261 steps
9/5     5.0 miles  11,781 steps
9/6   15.2 miles  35,750 steps
9/7     3.5 miles    8,288 steps
9/8     8.7 miles  20,670 steps
9/9   10.2 miles  23,964 steps
9/10 20.1 miles  47,213 steps

Total Hiked 311 miles and 731,095 steps

Crater Lake - August 27-29th

Our detour to Mount St. Helens resulted in us arriving to our Crater Lake campground a day late.  We couldn't make the campground by the 8 PM curfew.  Did you know that campground curfews are worse than any parent curfew for their teenager?  Usually you must check-in by 10 PM, which is understandable to be considerate to your neighbor, but 8 PM, it’s not even dark by then!  However, it was a good excuse to stay in a hotel, have dinner out and get the laundry done.  Oh and the best part, the luxury of a private bath!

We had dinner at a quaint restaurant, Manning's Café, in Oakridge, OR.  You could have breakfast, lunch or dinner all day - your choice.  It appeared to be popular with the locals, good food and good prices.   We came in shortly before closing, but our server and kitchen staff were very friendly and didn't rush us at all.  In addition to a wonderful omelet dinner, with homemade bread and great hash brown potatoes, they had the most incredible homemade pies we had seen on the trip. Reviews on Yelp rated their pies as the best, so really breaking our diet, we had pie.  They had a great selection of delectable pies and we couldn't decide between the 1 hour old banana cream strawberry pie or the marionberry pie, so we got both!  At $3.50 for a huge slice, we ate one and saved one for the next day’s dessert. 

The next day as we neared our campground, the air was filled with smoke. Evidently smoke from the Lassen NP fire was being blown in our direction.  Luckily the campground was clear of smoke, but the areas surrounding Crater Lake still had remnants of hazy smoke.

 

Crater Lake National Park  http://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm  is located in Oregon.  The lake is 1,943 feet deep, the deepest lake in the United States.  It is between 4.5 and 6 miles wide, as its not a perfect circle.   The edges of the lake are the remains of the cauldera of Mt. Mazama.

The park has many things to offer.  We hiked a few trails, one was to a waterfall,

 

 


another was to formations called The Pinnacles; fossilized fumaroles formed when gas was forced through the volcanic ash during an eruption. 

 

We also drove the crater rim road, 33 miles in circumference through pumice deserts, forests and steep rock walls.  Of course the main event at the park is the beautiful "deep blue" crater lake.  

 
Crater Lake was formed when Mount Mazama, a 12,000 foot volcano blew its top off in an eruption 7,700 years ago.  Unlike Mount St. Helens which blew the side off the volcano in an avalanche, Mt Mazama formed a huge circular crater that after many more eruptions became dormant and filled with water.  It took over 700 years to fill to its current level and it was totally from rain and snow.  The current level is maintained through evaporation and seepage.  What makes Crater Lake so unique is that because it did not fill to the top and overflow, the water has not eroded the crater wall and the water stays within the boundaries of the crater, forming a beautiful lake.  Only a few lakes are like this in the world, as most are filled by other water sources.  As no natural streams and sediment enter the water, the lake stays crystal clear making it the clearest water in the United States down to 140 feet deep.  It is also one of the of the bluest lakes I have ever seen. 

 

Crater Lake’s rim elevation varies from 7,000 to 8,000 feet, the water level is about 6,200 feet.  While not as severe a drop as the Grand Canyon, I did feel like we were on the outside looking in and couldn’t really experience the lake to its full extent from the rim.  We found tours of the lake by boat and one of the tours was to Wizard Island, one of the two cinder cones that were still protruding from the lake. 

 As all advance reservations were booked, we had to get to the park in the morning to see if we could get one of the few remaining seats for the following day.  Luckily we were able to get two seats and the next day we set out for Wizard Island.

The boat ride to Wizard Island required that you hike down a mile to the docks at water level, approximately 700 feet below the rim.  You also had to hike back up at the end of the day, in addition, the hike to the top of Wizard Island was also a little over a mile and 700 feet elevation and you had a limited time to get up and make it back to the boat, especially if you didn’t want to be left behind.  I really thought the hiking would be the most challenging, but it turns out the boat ride was.  The water is approximately 50 degrees and it was windy that day.  As the wind blew across the crater, it whipped up the waves and consequently the spray and everyone was half soaked by the time we reached the Island.  The park ranger narrating the boat ride said he had never seen it that rough!

 

Wizard Island is a remaining cinder cone of ah-ah lava and cinders.  The ah-ah lava is rough chunks of rock and very difficult to hike on, but once on the hike up the crater, it became easier.  The view from the top was incredible and we had a nice lunch on the top of the cinder cone.

 

View into the cindercone's crater at the top of Wizard Island

 We also made some new friends.  They especially liked Tony.

I think the feeling was mutual!

We made the hike up to the top of the cinder cone and back down in plenty of time to catch the boat.  Luckily water on the trip back was not so rough.  Tony and I made a speedy ascent and went to the Crater Lake Inn to watch the sunset.  Unfortunately, the sun was already below the crater rim and clouds had moved in, so after a long day, we set off for our campground.  What a pleasant surprise when the sun broke through the clouds over the mountains and gave us a great evening show.

 

 

 

Yosemite National Park

Only have time for a quick post.  Very limited internet and we are getting ready to hike down from Glacier Point into Yosemite Valley.  Hope to get to the back side of Half Dome if not the base before we have to head down.

However, getting back to my bear fetish.  Evidently the bears in Yosemite and Sequoia have a very special talent that they pass down to their young, generation to generation.  It must be a learned trait, because its not an issue with bears in other parts of the country.  In Yosemite you can't leave food, drink, chapstick, trash or anything else in your car that has a fragrance or else this will happen.

Must be a smart bear!

Detour again!!!

When we returned to Reno on Sunday, I picked up a flyer that had information about Reno's Balloon Festival, Sept. 7 - 9.   We were leaving Tahoe and going to Yosemite on the 7th, but the call of 100 hot air balloons launching 90 minutes from our campground was too tempting.   So at 4 AM this morning we jumped in the car and headed to Reno for the 6:45 AM launch.   We arrived in plenty of time to watch a beautiful sunrise and the balloonists prepare their balloons for launch. 

 We had journeyed to Albuquerque NM fifteen years ago for their Balloonfest.  It was so much fun that we went every morning before dawn to watch the ballloons take off.  Back then I had no idea that the event was over by 8 AM!  I also did not have an automatic camera or a video camera, this time would be much more fun.

  I came prepared with 2 digital cameras, two lenses, one video camera and my trusty cell phone, I was prepared for a photographer's paradise!!!

 

Tony and I watched all the balloons take off.  You could meander through the fields so you could get up close as they were inflating and launching the balloons.


 We had enough sense to arrange a meeting location, because we both went separate ways.  By 8 AM the launch was over, we both arrived at our predetermined location and we were on our way back to Tahoe to pack up and get on the road again.  By 10:30 we pulled up stakes and are Yosemite bound.

Ps.  For those of you who are worried about the outbreak of the Hantavirus they have had in Yosemite, we are not staying in the park campground.  It's mainly a problem in the tent cabins due to mice droppings. 

36 Hours in Maryland and On The Road Again!

We had a great time while we were home.  Crissy picked us up at 1:30 AM on Saturday morning, we slept in, went speed shopping at the outlets for new hiking pants and a long sleeve shirt for me and new work clothes for Crissy, went to celebrate my GREAT Uncle Tony's birthday, took care of Ya Ya's current honeydo list, grabbed  some sleep and off to the airport  this morning.

We are now Reno bound.  Our vehicles are waiting for us at the Ramada in Reno and after a night in Reno we start back on the road staying at Camp Richardson at Lake Tahoe.  Very cute area that we have frequented on previous trips to that area.  They have a great ice cream shop, I hope its still open.  It's also  very close to Emerald Bay, so maybe we can make it there for a sunrise or sunset.  Emerald Bay is one of my favorite places and I think one of the most beautiful areas around Lake Tahoe.

Fwd: [New post] Olympic NP: Hurricane Ridge Blows Me Away

Christina's 3rd post on our Olympic NP trip is below.  If reading on the web page, you may need to scroll to the right to see her post. 

 

We had a great visit and I feel that we have come full circle.  My father's family was originally from Greece, home to the first Olympics and Mount Olympus.  We left home at the beginning of the Olympics to travel all the way across the country to see Olympic National Park and the west coast's Mount Olympus, the highest mountain on Hurricane Ridge.

From Crissy's Blog: www.packedsuitcase.com:

Olympic NP: Hurricane Ridge Blows Me Away
 

After driving over 5 hours yesterday to visit Olympic's beaches and the Hoh Rainforest, we stuck closer to our campsite for our third and final day. But in Olympic, we didn't need to drive far to experience some magnificent scenery.

We started by taking the 17 mile road from Port Angeles up, up, up! to the Hurricane Ridge visitor's center. Hurricane Ridge has an elevation of about 5,200 feet. Since it's located along the top of a mountain, if the weather is clear there has the potential to be really incredible views of the Olympic Mountains, the nearby Straight of Juan de Fuca, and the city of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.

The catch is that it often is foggy and decidedly not clear. Luckily, we couldn't have had better weather during our visit. It was clear without a cloud in the sky! We did a few small hikes and I was so impressed with the views, the alpine mountains and the meadows filled with wildflowers. And, despite the name, it wasn't breezy in the slightest!


A view of peak after peak of mountains... and the slightly scary road to the summit!




Dad and I posing with an alpine backdrop.



Wildflowers on the way back to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor's Center.




Dad had a "Sound of Music" moment...  



After we visited Hurricane Ridge, we drove back down to Port Angeles for lunch along the waterfront. It was a beautiful city, with so many colorful flowers in planters scattered throughout!


A park in Port Angeles, with vibrant and colorful planters. Love!


After lunch, it was time for one final trek into Olympic. Our destination? Soleduck Falls.

 

 
The stunning view from Soleduck Falls.

Well our whirlwind 36 hour trip back east is coming to a close.  We head back to Reno tomorrow for another 3 weeks of traveling.  However, it was well worth the trip to visit with family and friends and wish Uncle Tony and Gabrielle a happy birthday.  As usual Tommy and Vicky had a wonderful event. 

Uncle Tony doesn't look 90 and Gabrielle doesn't look 15!  Its nice not to look your age.  Happy Birthday to you both!

Lassen National Park, Bumpass Hell

Named after R. V. Bumpass who while giving a tour and telling people to be careful, promptly fell through the thin crust and was severly burned by the hot water and steam.  This is one of the main geothermal features at Lassen NP.
Just make sure that you pay attention to the signs and stay on the trails and boardwalks.  It's a 2 mile hike back to your car if you were to fall in and there are no ambulances nearby. 

How Far Have We Hiked???? Over a half a million steps!

 

Feet over geothermal mud pots at Bumpass's Hell, Lassen National Park

 

8/25     6.6 miles 15,506 steps
8/26     2.9 miles 6,937 steps
8/27     7.1 miles 16,757 steps
8/28     7.4 miles  17,504 steps
8/29     4.5 miles 10,621 steps

8/30   10.6 miles  24,984 steps

 

Total 228.2 miles 535,988 steps

 

8/31 Fly home for Uncle Tony's 90th birthday and Gabrielle's big 15! Southwest connecting

flight is running late, poor Christina, she's picking us up at the airport!