Another rainy morning drive. We’ve left Indiana, drove through Ohio, are in Pennsylvania and will be spending the night in New York.
Today is our last full day driving. The kids are getting a little crazy in the vehicle so I started asking them questions about our trip:
Best food:
Isla: Navajo Tacos in New Mexico
Caleb: Rudy’s BBQ in Texas
Joel: Meme’s in Zion, Utah & Culvers
Tracy: Raspberry Macaroon at Disneyland and Supper at Ebenezier’s Barn and Dinner Show in Bryce Canyon, Utah
Best View:
Isla: Grand Canyon at the Geology Musuem, Arizona
Caleb: Moro Rock, Sequioa National Park, California
Joel: Mesa Arch in Island in the Sky in Canyonlands National Park, Utah
Tracy: Sunrise in the Fiery Furnance at Arches National Park in Utah
Favourite Hike:
Isla: Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park, Utah
Caleb: Balcony House, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
Joel: Canyon Overlook at Zion National Park, Utah
Tracy: Queens Garden and Navajo Loop in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
Favourite thing about USA:
Isla: The Junior Ranger programs
Caleb: National Parks
Joel: Seeing the things we’ve seen in the movies in real life. Listening to Dave Ramsey show and hearing the callers say they are from the places we’ve just driven through
Tracy: The selection in the grocery stores. Utah.
Least favourite thing about the USA:
Isla: The border
Caleb: The toll roads
Joel: The winds in Oklahoma
Tracy: The disregard for installing guard rails
Most surprising thing about the trip:
Isla: The Guardians of the Galaxy ride at Disneyland that dropped us free fall
Caleb: When the doors opened on the Star Wars ride and we got into buggies that flung us around while the bad guys tried to kill us in Disneyland
Joel: 1. How high of elevation we drive especially since there are no guardrails. 2. How courteous other drivers are in giving space, letting us in, etc but don’t wave. 3. That people drive less than the speed limit. 4. The number of vehicles in the ditch when it rains.
Tracy: How different the landscape is in Utah. How nice people are in Utah and California. How many stars there are.
Favourite drive:
Isla: The day we drove 15 hours
Caleb: scenic highway 12 in Utah
Joel: Downtown Hollywood
Tracy: Watching the long trains in Utah
Favourite Animal we saw:
Isla: Bear or Desert Big Horn Sheep
Caleb: California Condor
Joel: cows or the horses that like to stand on the top of a hill
Tracy: Male elk or bear or humpback whale
Favourite Moment of the Trip:
Isla: Disney
Caleb: when I found out we rented a side by side in Utah
Joel: Muir Woods watching Tracy with the Redwoods
Tracy: Talking to the trees in Sequioa National Park. Watching the kids do each Junior Ranger pledge always made me tear up – this was very surprising to me but it is just so beautiful hearing them pledge to honour, respect and protect the land and its stories.
Least favourite moment of the trip:
Isla: When Daddy puked on the loop de loop Ferris wheel at Disneyland
Caleb: When Isla slipped jumping from rock to rock along a walkway in the Grand Canyon and scraped up herself
Joel: When Caleb fell off the bike rack with the Starlink
Tracy: The side by side ride in Utah
Favourite campsite:
Isla: Ruby’s Inn Campground, Utah
Caleb: Azaela Campground in Kings Canyon National Park, California
Joel: Trailer RV park, Grand Canyon, Arizona
Tracy: Zion Canyon Campground, Utah
Least Favourite Campsite:
Isla: Marin RV Park outside San Francisco because I was scared someone was going to break in
Caleb: Indian Flat RV Park because of the bears
Joel: Lake Mead – Boulder City Campground in Nevada because of all the ants that infested our trailer
Tracy: Indian Flat RV Park outside of Yosemite because of the length restriction on the the road
Favourite State:
Isla: Utah. It was really pretty
Caleb: Utah. It was so cool
Joel: Colorado. I enjoyed the drive
Tracy: Utah by far. It has a magical beauty.
Favourite thing to listen to while driving:
Isla: Michael J Fox Book
Caleb: TFL podcast
Joel: Dave Ramsey Satellite radio
Tracy: Prime Country Satellite radio
Most interesting person we met:
Isla: The street dancers in Sam Francisco
Caleb: The retired hockey player on our Balcony house tour. He wanted me to push him out of the tunnel if he got stuck.
Joel: James. On the ferry to San Francisco. He was an animated sharer of strongly held opinions on the world and politics.
Tracy: The cable car brake driver in Sam Francisco – he was rough, funny, fantastic at his job, warm and understood my love of photos. I hugged him goodbye.
Nicest person you met:
Isla: The BC couple we sat with at Ebenezier’s Barn and Grill Show.
Caleb: Jimmy. My fisherman friend from Lake Mead.
Joel: The three rangers at Lake Mead Recreation Area.
Tracy: Preston from Dixie’s Lower Antelope Canyon. He had a lovely and solid way of explaining the Navajo culture past and present.
Best Smell:
Isla: Bacon when we came outside of the trailer yesterday at Cracker Barrel
Caleb: Ponderosa Pine
Joel: Walking into Rudy’s BBQ
Tracy: The vanilla smell of the Ponderosa Pine while hugging them in Bryce Canyon
Worst Smell:
Isla: Driving through Texas and the cow poop
Caleb: Heavy tar smell when they were paving the road
Joel: The septic smell at one of the earlier campgrounds
Tracy: Docking at Alcatraz- all the bird poop. Some guys heavy cologne when hiking past them.
Most unexpected things:
– the Break A Wave Rodeo on Pismo beach
– We didn’t watch any Netflix/movie/tv show or anything once (except the kids watched some Gilmore Girls and downloaded movies)
-how bright the Milky Way is in Utah
– how big the Hoover Dam is
– how magical the red rocks of Utah are at sunset and sunrise
-how magical the Lower Antelope Canyon is
What was the most super touristy thing we did that was surprisingly awesome:
Isla: watching the sea lions
Caleb: Disneyland
Joel: The cable cars in San Francisco
Tracy: Eating the Turkey Leg in Disneyland
Was there something we did that didn’t meet your expectations?
Isla: Eating at Big Es
Caleb: Eating at Big Es
Joel: Eating at Big Es outside the Grand Canyon
Tracy: Whale watching – Newfoundland whale watching was pure magic and so so good that it was too hard to match. This whale watching was very expensive and not as impressive.
One thing that would have improved this trip:
Isla: if Caleb and I argued less in the truck
Caleb: lower fuel prices
Joel: less Dave Ramsey reruns on Sirius Xm radio
Tracy: if the Canadian Dollar was stronger. More time in Arches and Bryce Canyon.
What we missed most about home (other than people and the animals):
Isla: my bed and rock collection
Caleb: being at the camp, working
Joel: Having two shower heads
Tracy: Quiet… clarity of thought, my bedroom, my shower, making food in a full and stocked kitchen
Where do you want to go on your next vacation?
Isla: Jamaica
Caleb: Newfoundland with Grandma and Grandfather
Joel: I’m thinking a Sandals Resort… or the East Coast USA
Tracy: Somewhere flat and boring and warm… or a loop out to BC and back home through the North western states.
Would you take such a long trip again:
Isla: for sure yes
Caleb: yah. Except it was sad being away from my family.
Joel: yes
Tracy: most likely … it’s a long time to be away from our family and real life. Looking back I should have scheduled more “down time” but I have no idea what I would have not done in order to have that extra down time.
If you could go back to one moment and do it again right now:
Isla: Swimming at Pismo
Caleb: Fishing at Lake Mead
Joel: Driving scenic highway 12
Tracy: Sunset hike into Bryce Canyon or the Congress Trail in Sequioa National Park or Guardians of the Galaxy ride at Disney California Adventure
