Best and Worst: Trip-End Roundup

This is the spot where I catalog the best and the worst, the most and the least. Basically, this is where I put my trip into numbers. I'm home, and now I can really reflect on the trip. I started this tradition years ago with a Europe trip, so now it must be done with all major trips.

Best and Worst of the Western US 2016:

# of Days on the Road: 17
# of Unique Species Spotted in the Wild: (15) beavers, fox, moose, elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, grizzly bear, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, prairie dogs, bison, pronghorn antelope, skunks, wild horses, wild burrows

# of Casino Players' Cards Requested: 10

# of Nights Spent Camping: 12

# of Miles Driven: 4,156

# of States Visited: 10

# of Pennies Flattened: 8

# of National Parks Visited: 10

# of National Monuments Visited: 9

# of Hailstorms Driven Through: 1

Creepiest Motel: Clown Motel in Tonopah, NV

Most Luxurious Hotel: Monte Carlo in Las Vegas, NV
Worst Hotel: National 9 in Cortez, Colorado

Best Scenery: Yellowstone National Park

Worst Scenery: Northern Nevada

Strangest Sight: Area 51 Alien Center in Nevada AND inside Tonopah Station in Nevada

Best Ghost Town: Rhyolite, Nevada

Worst Ghost Town: Coaldale, Nevada

Clearest Night Sky: middle of Nevada
Hottest Weather: Nevada

Best Food: buffet at Monte Carlo
Worst Food: sandwiches again

Best Hike: Lower Geyser Basin trail in Yellowstone











Worst Hike: to Lovelock Cave in Nevada
Best Subterranean Experience: Wind Cave National Park

Best Selfie: me with a dinosaur

Scariest Moment: Drive up steep switchbacks to Canyonlands National Park
Cheesiest Tourist Trap: Area 51 Alien Center in Nevada
Biggest Revelation: South Dakota is cool.

Last Day

8/14/16

Dear H-,

How is your weekend going? I hope you are getting to do something fun.

My vacation is almost over. Right now, I am staying with some friends in a cabin in a town called Oakhurst in California. Oakhurst is south of Yosemite National Park. I've stayed the last two nights in this cabin, and today I will be making the last part of my journey home.

While here, I've been able to spend time with old friends. I've made a few new friends as well. There are 16 people staying in this cabin, so you can imagine how crowded it is!

Yesterday, all of us went to Bass Lake.  Most of the people in my group went swimming in the lake, but I didn't! I don't like cold water, so instead, I wrote letters to my students!

After hanging out at the lake, we all came back to the cabin where pretty much everyone went down to a waterfall that is near the cabin. Unfortunately, I had tried to hike down to the waterfall the previous day, but I had fallen and scraped up my toe pretty bad. I was not feeling so good about hiking down again, ,so I stayed at the cabin and watched the Olympics. My afternoon was great! It was quiet and comfortable in the cabin. 

Now, it is the morning of the last day of my trip. Everyone is getting ready to go. Today, all I have to do is make it from here to the Bay Area. It's been a great trip!

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow for session.

Your teacher,

Elaina

P.S. On the way home, I made one last stop at the quirky Casa de Fruta. It's a hotel, restaurant, fruit stand, gas station ,candy store, tourist train, carousel, antique farming equipment location, and more, all in one stop. 

Devil's Postpile and Yosemite

8/13/2016

Dear I-,

How are you? I got your letter. I haven't played Pokemon Go, mostly because my little brothers really liked Pokemon when it first became popular years ago. I wasn't interested in POkemon then because they were. Now, I guess that old idea is still stuck in my head! It sounds like you've been having a good time in Tokyo.

Last night, I stayed in a city called Tonopah, Nevada. This town was a gold mining town in the early 1900s. This morning, I got the chance to explore the town. I walked through the cemetery that was used from 1901-1911. I also walked in the downtown area and even checked out some really old mining equipment.

Tonopah cemetery

downtown Tonopah, Nevada

 I dropped off a couple of letters for my students at the old post office downtown then got back on the road. My next destination was Devil's Postpile in Mammoth Lakes, California.

It took a bit more than 2 1/2 hours, but I finally arrived at the shuttle bus stop. The only way to see Devil's Postpile is to take a bus to get there. The problems were that the bus ticket booth had a long line AND the nearest parking spot to the bus stop was 1/2 mile away. I was surprised by how many people were there already!

After waiting in a very long bus line and riding on the bus for 30 minutes, I arrived at the Devil's Postpile trail. I hiked the trail and arrived at the Devil's Postpile National Monument.

Earlier in my trip, I saw Devils Tower, a national monument with clusters of geometric tubes clumped together that rise out of the ground.

Devil's Postpile is a similar, unusual rock formation. This formation was created by lava around a hundred thousand (100,000) years ago. I took a bunch of photos and finished the hiking trail back to the shuttle bus. 

My next stop was Yosemite National Park. I've been there quite a few times, but this time, I entered the park from a different direction. I was able to see a part of the park I've never seen before. 

mule deer in Yosemite

along Tioga Pass

Unfortunately, I didn't get to stop very many times since I had to meet some friends at a cabin in Oakhurst, California for a camping trip. This camping trip is the very last part of my trip.  

I look forward to seeing you this week.

Your teacher,

Elaina

Weird Nevada

8/12/16

Dear NH,

How are you doing? When will you be leaving on your trip? You might even leave for your road trip before you get this letter.

Yesterday was such a crazy day. I started out in Las Vegas, Nevada. I had been to Las Vegas four times already, so I already knew a lot of things about that city.

I stayed at a giant resort hotel called Monte Carlo. This hotel had something like 25 floors, a wave pool, and a lazy river.

After eating a giant breakfast in one of the hotel restaurants, I spent some time in the pools. It was already really hot outside, so being in the pool was kind of nice.

Finally, it was time to go. I still had to get across Nevada and head toward Mammoth Lakes, California. I started on my way.

I wasn't planning on stopping on the way, but I encountered some really interesting places. First, there was a place called Area 51 Alien Center. This place was a combination gas station, diner, convenience store, alien enthusiast site, fireworks stand, AND spot for setting off fireworks! How crazy it was! I took a couple of photos and bought a pin with an alien on it as a souvenir.

I continued on the road northwest across Nevada. I next stopped in a ghost town called Rhyolite. This city is actually a part of Death Valley National Park. Most of the park is in California, and Rhyolite is the only part in Nevada. I had been to Rhyolite once before, but that was years ago, so I wanted to stop by again.

When I arrived, I found several buildings in ruins. (These buildings have been in ruins for years.) I walked around some of these buildings and found a lot of pieces of rusted metal, old drink cans and parts from a machine. Some of the metal pieces were probably even from old mining equipment since Rhyolite used to be a mining town.

One really interesting thing I found was a grave for a woman named Mona Belle. Next to her grave, I saw many trinkets: beaded necklaces, drink bottles, high-heeled shoes with messages written on them, and old silk flowers. There are several tall tales associated with Mona Belle. One story is that she got into a fight with her husband. She shot him first and hurt him. Then he shot her and killed her. Now, people leave small trinkets for her in tribute. I left a bottle of nail polish!

The other really interesting thing I found was a real mine shaft. It was blocked off, so you couldn't go all the way inside, but you could go in the entrance area and look inside.

There was even a really old cemetery down a dirt road nearby. Most of the graves were marked by pieces of wood. Some were marked by stones, and some were not marked at all. Rhyolite was such a good stop, but I had to continue.

Not far out of Rhyolite, I stopped again. This time, I stopped because I saw wild donkeys. There was a whole herd of them. Some were eating. Others were crossing the road. I took tons of pictures and moved on. However, I saw more donkeys, so I stopped again. This time, there were baby donkeys! They were so cute!

I finally pulled myself away from the donkeys to continue my journey. By this time, it was late enough for dinner. It was decided that the next stop would be in a town called Tonopah. Tonopah, Nevada was a strange city. It was prosperous around 1900 because gold was found in the area. Of course, the gold "dried up" and the town went bust. Now, the town still exists, but it's not as big or as successful. I went inside a casino/hotel called Tonopah Station for dinner. The inside of the building was full of unusual antiques. There was a giant, taxidermied bear with a sign that said his name was James. There was also an old doll propped up next to a doll-sized sink. A doll-sized toilet was next to her, too! There were mannequins in Victorian clothes and old signs from now-defunct (closed) businesses. The place was like a museum!

After dinner, I needed a place to stay since it was dark. I looked no further than a place called Clown Motel. This was one creepy motel. Inside the motel lobby are hundreds of clown figurines. On each room door, there is a funny-looking clown ready to greet you. The creepiest part is that the motel is next door to a cemetery! This cemetery is the final resting place of miners, gold prospectors, and townspeople who died between 1901 and 1911. I bravely entered the cemetery after I got my things settled in my room. I was a bit too scared to go very far into the cemetery. I'm not usually scared of cemeteries, but I guess they are more unnerving at night.

That was my interesting day! I hope you are having interesting days too, and I look forward to hearing from you about your trip.

Your teacher,

Elaina

Stormy Weather in Zion

8/11/16

Dear NS-,

How is Tokyo? I know you won't get this until you return, but know that I am thinking about you and Iris and hoping that you both are having a great time.

Yesterday, I continued my trip by seeing even more national parks. When I left California I expected to see at least three, but as of now, I've visited eight national parks just on this trip. Additionally, I've visited a large number of national monuments.

I started early in the morning by driving through Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Utah. This was not my main destination for the day, so I only stopped off at a few vista points and the visitor center. Grand Staircase is a place with really interesting land formations. Here, the land shifted a long time ago. The shifting created land that looks like stairs.

After stopping in Grand Staircase Escalante, I waited until I got to Bryce National Park to stop again. Bryce is famous for rock formations called hoodoos. A hoodoo is a column of rock, normally red in color. Some people say hoodoos look like ghosts or goblins. I thought they looked like the Terra Cotta soldiers in China. The Terra Cotta soldiers are statues of soldiers created a very long time ago. There are dozens of these soldier statues. There were dozens, maybe even hundreds, of these hoodoo rock formations in Bryce Canyon. Here's a fun fact: Bryce Canyon isn't a canyon.

After visiting Bryce Canyon, the plan was to visit Zion National Park. Zion is about an hour and a half from Bryce Canyon, so it was logical for the next destination. Unfortunately, a really bad storm rolled in when I was on my way. I went straight through the storm. There was a lot of thunder and lightning, hard rain, and heavy hail. Plus, the temperature inside the storm was in the 50s, at least 20 degrees lower than it had been outside the storm. Sometimes, the storm was so bad you couldn't even see to drive, so you had to pull off the road and wait.

When I arrived at Zion National Park, famous for a very beautiful section of the park called the Narrows, the park was closed! Apparently, the storm had caused flooding, and the road through the park was impassable. I was forced to turn back and backtrack about 20 minutes to a junction in the road where I could choose a alternate path.

The alternate route was long and inconvenient, taking me out of Utah, into Arizona, and back into Utah again. There was nothing I could do about the situation, so I looked online to see if there were any interesting places to stop in Arizona.

Interestingly enough, there was a place called Pipe Spring National Monument on the way. Pipe Spring was a Mormon fort built on Native American lands. It was named for the cool freshwater springs that come through the ground in that spot. Today, the monument is completely surrounded by a Native American reservation.

This Mormon fort was never completed as a fort. The threat from the Native Americans who lived there first faded, and the Mormon people were able to use this place as a hideout for their extra wives. Do you remember how we talked about it being okay for a man to have multiple wives in some cultures? In the 1800s, having many wives was normal and accepted if you were a member of the Mormon church. Today, the practice is illegal in the United States. It still happens sometimes, but it is illegal. Back when the Mormon men were hiding their extra wives at Pipe Spring, the United States was putting pressure on the Mormon church to stop the practice of having multiple wives. That's why they needed a hideout. The unexpected stop turned out to be a great one, and I learned a lot!

After visiting Pipe Spring, I had to drive back through the same storm to get back into Utah. I should mention that it was much cooler in Arizona than normal. Usually, it is 100 degrees or more in the summer. This day, it was in the 70s. Inside the storm, it was in the 50s.

Funny enough, because of the way the roads are, I had to go through Arizona AGAIN to get to Nevada where I stayed for the night.

I know this was a very long letter, but yesterday was so interesting and so eventful! I really look forward to hearing about your adventures from your trip to Tokyo when you get back.

Your teacher,

Elaina

Zion

 8/11/16

Dear B-,

I tried really hard to go to this park, Zion National Park, but the weather wasn't cooperating. There was a really big storm with hail, thunder, and lightening. The rain came down so fast that the park flooded. Since the road into the park had water on it, the park closed down, and I wasn't able to get past the gate. Since I made it past the park boundary, I'm going to count it as going there!

Your teacher,

Ms. Elaina

Capitol Reef

8/10/16

Dear A-,

I went to all 5 national parks in Utah on my trip. Capitol Reef National Park is one of the parks I visited. This park is famous for a giant wrinkle in the earth that is 100 miles long.

I might see you before this card arrives at your house! I'll see you soon.

Your teacher,

Ms. Elaina

Capitol Reef National Park

8/10/16

Dear I-,

I haven't heard from you in awhile, so I hope things are going well. You should be in Tokyo right now so I also hope you are having a great time.

Yesterday, I had a 3-park day. I started the day in Arches National Park which is famous for its rock formations. Next, I went to Canyonlands National Park which is famous for its canyons. The third park I visited was Capitol Reef National Park. All three of these national parks are in Utah, but they are definitely very different.

Capitol Reef is famous for its "wrinkle" in the earth. Basically, the land in the park looks like it has a 100-mile long, giant wrinkle. Look for pictures of Capitol Reef on the computer if you can.

Other sights at this park include an old one-room schoolhouse from over 100 years ago and petroglyphs. Petroglyphs are pictures carved into stone. It is an art form used by ancient peoples. The petroglyphs at Capitol Reef are actually new for petroglyphs; they are only 200 years old. There were images of bighorn sheep which were once plentiful around here. Some of the other images were people, but these people looked kind of like aliens! I'll have to show you some pictures when I see you next for session.

schoolhouse

petroglyphs

I look forward to hearing from you.

Your teacher,

Elaina

Utah National Parks

8/9/16

Dear H-,

I heard you got home from your trip. How was it? Did you see any animals on the safari? Going to Kenya sounds like such an interesting trip.

Last night, I arrived in Arches National Park. This park is in Utah and is famous for its rock formations that look like arches. I didn't arrive until after 6 PM, so I had to hurry a bit to see some of the views.

It's kind of amazing to look around you and see towering red arches and spires made from rock. There are two very famous rock formations in the park. First, there is a formation called Balanced Rock. This is a rock that looks like it is balanced on another rock formation, kind of like this:

 

The crazy part is that this rock doesn't fall over. The other very famous rock formation is called Delicate Arch. It looks kind of like this:

A picture of this arch can even be seen on Utah license plates.

Fortunately, I had a little time to explore the park this morning. I was able to see more rock arches and even more rock formations.

My next stop today was Canyonlands National Park. Since I am traveling in a 4-wheel drive vehicle, I took a back road to get into the park. A 4-wheel drive vehicle is a car or a truck that has the drive mechanism working on all four tires at the same time. A regular car, like mine, has 2-wheel drive. Basically, 4-wheel drive means you can drive more easily on rocks, dirt, and on rough terrain ("terrain" means "ground").

The back road I used to get into Canyonlands was very bumpy in places and very steep in others. Sometimes, it was harrowing (very scary) to look out the window and see straight down a cliff!

As you can probably imagine, traveling on a rocky dirt road is very slow. I think the whole trip took about 4 1/2 hours to get to the park. On the drive, I saw petroglyphs (carvings in rock walls made by many, many years ago) and dinosaur tracks.

petroglyphs

petroglyphs

dinosaur tracks

My favorite part of this difficult drive was seeing a mother and two baby bighorn sheep.

I felt really relieved when I finally got to the park entrance and could look down into the canyon I had just traveled up.

I look forward to sharing more of my trip with you Monday when I see you for session.

Your teacher,

Elaina