Grand Canyon - Arizona

The much anticipated Grand Canyon was planned for the end of our road trip.  We stayed in Flagstaff, AZ and drove up to the South Rim of the canyon.

As mentioned in my pre-road trip blog post that I wanted to get a good panarama of natural sights along the trip, and the Grand Canyon was the place to do it.  Grand Canyon has trails along the rim where you can walk and get various views of the canyon.  There are also places where people can hike down to the base of the canyon, but for this trip we decided that the view from the top is the one we wanted.

View from Mather Point

We started at the Grand Canyon Visitors Center, walked over to Mather Point then to Yavapai Point and Geology Museum. At the Geology Museum there are hands on activities that show the geological history of the canyon and how it was formed. The museum also has park rangers who can tell you about the canyon and some of its interesting features.  Binoculars were available for visitors to use to look down into the canyon.

View of Canyon and Yavapai Point from Mather Point

 From Yavapai there is a walk called the Trail of Time that has samples of all of the layers of the canyon and information about it.  It was recommended by some people we met in our travels to go along that trail as it is very informational.  However, we didn't get a chance to go, so another time perhaps. 

 The park has a shuttle service that takes visitors between the various lookout points along the South Rim.  It runs on a regular schedule so it is easy for people to get around if walking between points is a challenge, or if you want to see more places in a limited time.

I saw lots of families walking around, and strolling along the trail.  Located at each of the visitor centers is information on how kids to become a Junior Ranger as part of the National Park Service experience.  While I am a bit old to be a Junior Ranger, I enjoyed seeing the rangers inspire the next generation. 

No matter where in the Grand Canyon I was, the views were always amazing.  If we stayed longer into the afternoon or early evening when angle of the sun is not directly overhead, the views are said to be even more awesome.  It only gives more reason to return another day.  Until then, I will just have to enjoy the views I captured from my trip.  Enjoy the pictures, Meet Me Outdoors.

Chloride, AZ - Middle of nowhere but...

After crossing that Hoover Dam Bypass to get into Arizona from Nevada we took a minor detour off US-93 to the small town of Chloride, AZ.  We stopped at the visitors center, that is located in the local restaurant, called Yesterdays to get a map to a rather unique site.  Down the road about 1.3 miles, with a bit of off road driving, or walking if you doubt your car will survive, are cool murals painted on boulders. These pics are a random sampling of the paintings. 

 I also took some pictures of the area around where the murals are located.  Some interesting plant life, mostly things like cacti and other native desert plants.  I even saw some time of small lizard, but it moved too fast for me to get a picture of it. Another awesome find was a couple darkling beetles.  They were found scurrying about between rocks, not in the same places.  Darkling beetles is a very common type of beetle that is found all over the world, with over 20,000 species.  They are easily recognizable because they are usually have black or brown coloring to them.  I was able to get a few pics before it ran away. I only picked one to post here.

Darkling Beetle

 It was nice to see that even small towns have an interesting things to see and do.  Next stop is see Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. Until next time, Meet Me Outdoors.

Driving through the middle of nowhere...

Many days of this road trip that I am on have been spent driving through the middle of nowhere. From Spokane, WA to Salt Lake City, UT have been filled with roads that go through mountains and trees and more mountains. Some areas we went by have lakes, rivers and even farms.

These are just to give an idea of some places we drove through. While I couldn't tell you where half these pictures are from it has been an interesting time driving through and seeing the beautiful sights.  We soon discovered that calling out every cow, horse, tree and mountain can be tiring after the first ten that you see.  However, a quieter game of road trip bingo is sometimes needed for the sanity of other riders.  Sometimes its just easier to pick up a camera and record what you see, of course taking time to just enjoy the sights and sounds is just as good.  The road trip continues, Meet Me Outdoors.

Craters of the Moon National Monument - Idaho

After a long drive through a corner of Montana we made our way back into Idaho for the journey south and stopped in a really awesome park called Craters of the Moon National Monument. It a place like no other I have been to.  An area that was once volcanically active many thousands of years ago is now covered in lava rock.

While very desert-like as you look around there is some plant life in very unusual forms. The lichen that grows on the lava rocks come in all sorts of textures and colors, from bright green to orange to bright yellow. 

I liked how you can see ripples lava rock showing the flow of lava from long ago.  It was very different in the way it has ripples rather than more chunky, rocky texture of other lava in the area. 

The boulder near the top of the frame looks like a frog sitting on a rock. It caught my eye as I was taking in the scenery, just had to take a picture to share.

   There was a ranger there that was going around to the visitors to let us know that a program was going to start soon about bats, since there are a few caves in the area and the bats live down there.  It was part of a Junior Ranger program, but she said that you didn't have to be a kid to join in the fun. We had a limited amount of time here since we still had to get to the next town to find lodging, but the time we did spend was lots of fun.  

Since the landscape is so diverse and has an out of this world feel, astronauts from the Apollo missions trained at the park before going to the Moon.  They had to be trained on relaying their observations to the scientist back on Earth.  Imagine having to look out and have to describe what you see, from the shapes of rocks, big and small, to the way the horizon looks.  Do you think you can describe a scene for your friend to draw who isn't there to see it for themselves?  That's what the astronauts had to do when they went to the Moon. Try it on your next adventure, Meet Me Outdoors.

Spokane, WA

These last few days after Seattle have involved mostly driving and staying in places that are in very small towns, starting with the not so small town, more like a small city of Spokane, WA. 

Tour Train of Riverfront Park

From Seattle we took a train to Spokane, WA which is a place that actually a decent size city in the eastern part of Washington. While there we walked around the Riverfront Park.  The park has lots of fun family things to do. There is a carousel, tour train, and amusment park rides. Embracing our inner child, we went on the dragon coaster, which is one of those mini roller coasters for kids. It was a nice day out so there were lots of families around enjoying the last days of summer before the school year begins.    

Through out the park area there were some interesting sculptures.  This one under the bridge caught my eye, but the one we were in search for was the big red wagon. As you can see from the photo, it is a super-sized Radio-Flyer red wagon that kids can climb on and slide down the handle.  I joined the fun and slid down, too.  It was a great way to start the day before hitting the road with lots of driving.

Me going down the slide as kids watched

Besides the great time playing in the park, I made some interesting observations of the natural side to the park.  There were ducks and geese around in the water, but what caught my eye was the water itself.  Coming from a place where water tends to look murky at best in the harbor, I was rather surprised how clear the water was at the park. I could see all the way to the bottom. I had to take a picture of it because it was just that amazing.  Crazy I know, but I live in a city where you can't even see an inch below the surface, so this was out of the ordinary for me.  

From Spokane we picked up our rental car and started our big drive. I can safely say that I have seen places where there are more trees than people, and lots of wide open spaces. This final picture, was taken when we stopped at random to take pictures of the natural sights along the scenic road we were driving.

More to come as the adventure continues, Meet Me Outdoors.

Seattle, WA

 Seattle is a great walkable city, once you get past the idea of having to climb a few hills to get to places.  You know when people give the "When I was your age..." speech that usually ends with "going to school involved walking up hill both ways." Well I now understand how that could be possible. Going to dinner we went up one really big hill down a small one then up another big hill. So it resulted in being uphill both ways.  Food was well worth it, despite the climb.

Moonset in Seattle

Afterward, we went down to the waterfront to watch the sunset. Being on the West Coast, a sunset happens over the ocean, this is a nice change since one doesn't have to wake up really early to watch a sunrise over on the East Coast.  Since the moon was still relatively new, we also got to see a moonset not long after the sunset. I tried to take a picture of it since it was a nice clear night, but it may be hard to tell. In the picture with the Ferris wheel and ferry, the moon is faintly visible between the two in the sky. The other evening picture has the moon more visible as it sets, with a bird flying nearby. The phase of the moon shown is called a crescent.

Moonset with bird

We were able to catch the International Space Station as it moved across the night sky.  Pretty cool to watch, knowing that there are people up there in space and their spacecraft can be seen as a dot moving across the sky.  And, with my knowledge of the night sky we were able to locate a couple planets and various star pictures, like the big and little dipper.


This morning we decided to go check out the Farmers Market at Pike Place.  Witnessed fish flying over peoples heads, tried some amazing fresh peaches, and walked around seeing all the various stands at the market, tasting random foods along the way.  Since the peaches were just so good we had to go back and buy a few for the road, they made for a great snack on the train ride.

Gum Wall

A hidden feature, but well marketed as a site to see at the market (besides the fish tossing) is the Gum Wall.  As you may have guessed by its name, the Gum Wall is a wall completely covered with gum.  I only took pictures of part of it, because it is rather massive corner filled with gum.  I am sure no other wall has ever been as minty fresh as this one.  Yet I know that many of you reading this might share the same sentiment I have which is of how gross a wall of used chewing gum really is.

After the market we went on the ferry to Bainbridge Island. There we walked along the Waterfront Trail and through the shopping area in the center of town. You can spend a whole afternoon exploring what the island has to offer, unfortunately we had to make it back in time to catch our train to Spokane, WA which is our next quick stop that begins the driving portion of the road trip.

Me on the ferry returning from the island to Seattle

Until next time, Meet Me Outdoors.

Vancouver

Fountain in front of Lonsdale Quay Market

 First full day in Vancouver started off with SeaBus ride to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver.  The first picture is of the entrance to the Lonsdale Quay Market.  There are lots of great shops in the market: food shops, trinkets, even some toy shops. We, my travel buddy Kevin and I, got some apricots and apples from the fruit stand because they were both locally grown. The apple was from Okanagan... around 180 miles from the market, not bad for local.

The view from North Vancouver is rather nice even for a cloudy day.  On the first night we had walked around the convention center which is seen in the second picture on the lower left as the white sails. 

At the edge of the Quay is this look out tower.  For those of you who know me well, you would know that I would never in my right mind climb to the top of that thing... and you are still correct. I got to the top floor of the building it was attached to while Kevin climbed up more to get more pictures of the city and harbor.  Directly behind me from this picture of the lookout platforms is a large crane that blocked most of the view but with creative image selection we got some good pics.

They were setting up for a concert in the park area near the fountain as part of Summer Fest.  We didn't get to stay for the concert because were planning to go meet some friends across town and had to catch the SeaBus back. 

Fountain from above

This is a view of the fountain from where I was on the top floor of the market.  From ground level you can see details of the mosaic but from above the whole under water theme becomes more apparent. We used the fountain for a picnic bench while eating the apples and apricots and enjoying the view of the city between the crane.  It was a great way to start the day in the morning.  We saw lots of families walking about and enjoying scenery as well.

Walking along the harbor we came across various garden patches like this one on the right. Many have some historical connection in relation to unity among nations.  The plaque below the statue shows flags of both Canada and South Korea for this particular.

One of my favorite stops walking along the water has these carved Greeting Figures of the Squamish Nation.  They were at the entrance of a pavilion greeting visitors to the Trans Canada Trail.  The next few pictures show them from various angles.  Each of the carvings have a lot of great character.  The plaque on the first picture explains what each carving represents. This pavilion is located in the west of the Lonsdale Quay where we got off the SeaBus.

Black Squirrel

After leaving the Lonsdale Quay we took the SeaBus back and with a series of trains we arrived at Central Park in Burnaby, Vancouver.  This is where I saw my first black squirrel! Of course it didn't feel like posing for a picture, so you can see it running away in the picture here on the right.  I think I counted three by the time we got left the park. There were also gray squirrels at the park but those I can see any day.

Over all it was a great day in Vancouver, lots more pics that didn't make the cut but I may post them at a later time.  Next stop Seattle... Meet Me Outdoors.

Going on a Road Trip

The summer is winding down and I have decided to go on a road trip to the western United States and part of Canada.  This is a bit of a different kind of road trip than I have done in the past were the destination was usually the point of the trip more than the journey itself.  For this it trip is all about the adventure.  What we will see along the way and how different it may be from where we started.  I will try my best to record this trek by way of pictures and anecdotes.  Share some road trip games played, show the sights, and interesting detours.

For this particular trip my travel buddy and I are starting up in Vancouver, BC Canada, by way of various trains and cars we will some how end up in Phoenix, Arizona two weeks later.  While there is lots of driving involved we do plan to hike some of the great parks that are out west to take a break from sitting in a car for long periods of time.  Both of us are not real mountain climbers but do enjoy taking in the views along the way, likely taking the easy trail or viewing from afar. 

Things I am looking forward to:

• Being out in fresh air away from the city
• Being away from city lights to be able to see a clear sky at night to look for stars and planets
• Seeing more trees than people
• Seeing new interesting wildlife 
• Hoping not to encounter a bear in the wild
• Getting a decent panorama image of natural sights - Grand Canyon especially
• Learn something new about life out west
• Much, much more...

Stay tuned, Meet Me Outdoors.

Follow Your Curiosity

Early Monday morning around 1am, I stayed up intently watching NASA TV as the newest rover, named Curiosity, land on Mars beginning its 2 year mission.  I remembered that Mars is still visible in the evening sky so when I did the SciCast for the Maryland Science Center I mentioned the mission and where to find Mars this month in the sky.   Listen to the August '12 SciCast to learn more.

Here is the transcript from the SciCast:

Early morning on August 6^th, at 1:31 am Eastern Daylight Time, the newest Mars rover landed safely on the Martian surface.  Mars Science Laboratory, or Curiosity, is a large car-sized rover now located inside Gale Crater where it will begin a 2-year mission. The goal of the mission is to assess whether the landing site ever had, or still has, environmental conditions favorable to microbial life. 

To find Mars in the evening sky this month look toward the south western part of the sky and you will see 3 bright objects near the horizon. The star Spica, of the constellation Virgo, is the lowest twinkling bright object. About 3 finger widths above Spica, is the planet Saturn which has a yellow color and will appear as a non-twinkling point of light. Making its way between Saturn and Spica is the planet Mars, which also appears as a non-twinkling pink point of light. 

One way to confirm that you found this threesome is to look for the Big Dipper in the northwest, follow the arch of the handle to the bright red star Archturus then spike down to Spica.  Above Spica are the two planets. At the beginning of the month these 3 will appear as a triangle with Saturn as the top point, Mars on the right and Spica on the left.  On August 13^th and 14^th Mars will have moved in between Saturn and Spica forming a line.  After the 14^th of August, Mars continues to move more to the southwest creating a mirrored version of the triangle from the beginning of the month. 

 

Go outside and look up. What can you find in the night sky? This weekend August 12-13 is the peak for the Perseid Meteor Shower, look to the north eastern sky after midnight to see this event.  Later in the month, the Moon will be near Saturn and Spica on August 21st, and near Mars 22nd.  Spend the next clear night star gazing and enjoy the view, Meet Me Outdoors.