Travel – Page 3 – The Pursuit of Life

May 7, 2016 / 2 Comments

The Grand Canyon – Bright Angel Trail and Campgrounds

Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon

We made it!

There are few things in life that feel as good as the first stretch the morning after a particularly invigorating yoga class. What does not feel so good is the wake up stretch the morning after climbing from the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the top – ouch! But to say that the hike is worth it is a gross understatement. It is more than worth it. After a night down at the Bright Angel Campground (see the post here about our hike down the South Kaibab Trail to the campground at the bottom of the Grand Canyon!), we were headed back up to climb out of the canyon.

May 6, 2016 / 1 Comment

Life on the Road | April Digest

The Wave at Coyote Buttes, Northern Arizona

Another month on the road! Here is the tally of facts and figures for our roadtrip as of May 3rd (a few days over the month mark!):

May 1, 2016 / 2 Comments

The Grand Canyon – South Kaibab Trail and Exploring the Inner Canyons

South Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir

South Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon

April 29, 2016 / 0 Comments

Grand Canyon – Hermit Trail

Hermit Trail, Grand Canyon

“In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world. … Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Grand Canyon

April 19, 2016 / 4 Comments

EASTERN SIERRAS, CALIFORNIA

Also known as that time I took my in-laws to a nudist colony.

Ancient Bristle Cone Pine Forest

Ryan is obsessed with the Eastern Sierras. He’s been a couple of times on fishing/camping trips with his buddies, and he raves about it every time he returns. So when Ryan’s parents were coming to join us on our adventure for a couple of weeks, he really wanted to take them to the Eastern Sierras for part of the trip. We drove our little caravan of campers up from Joshua Tree to the Eastern Sierras, which is an area of central California that falls on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains, close to Yosemite and Sequoia National Park but on the other side of the range. It is a beautiful, remote part of the state where the mountains fall straight down into a beautiful open valley. It’s difficult to get to, which is why it remains relatively unspoiled and off the beaten path – perfect for us!

April 11, 2016 / 8 Comments

So how did we decide on a 6 month road trip anyway?!

Excellent question. If you’ve decided to take some time off from work to do something different for a bit, how do you begin to decide what to do? For us it was a long time of what ifs and how abouts and that sounds interestings. One hears from time to time about those people who just quit their jobs, sell their belongings, and travel the world. Actually one often reads about them in a magazine or newspaper or blog. I certainly have – in fact I usually print those stories out and put them on my desk amidst the stacks and stacks and stacks of papers, intending to read up on these fascinating people if only I could find the time.

And then about a year ago, I said to Ryan – no, really, why not?! And that started a semi-serious conversation about whether we could actually take some time off.

April 9, 2016 / 6 Comments

Stats from the Trip – March Update

Better late than never, we have closed out the first month of the trip! Keeping track of a few key statistics each month, here is where we ended up as of March 31st:

Miles Driven: 2,702 miles

April 6, 2016 / 0 Comments

CAMPSITE REVIEW | BLACK ROCK CANYON, JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

In addition to chronicling our adventures, I thought I’d make this blog a bit useful as well. And so this begins a series of campsite reviews for the places that we are camping. We’ll start with Black Rock Canyon Campgrounds, in Joshua Tree National Park, California.

Of course for a review to be useful, it’s got to be conducted along some sort of metric, it needs to be accompanied by photos and it needs to be personal. I’ll only review campsites that we stayed in for 2 days or more, so that in fairness we stayed long enough to get a general sense of the place.

April 6, 2016 / 0 Comments

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK – Part II

Not to be outdone in funky-ness or prickly-ness by the Joshua Trees, the Cholla Cholla Cacti are really something to see in Joshua Tree National Park. We stopped by the Cholla Cholla Cactus Garden on our drive to the south of the Park and I have to say that it is one of the strangest places that I’ve ever been. All of a sudden there is a huge collection of these relatively short, skinny, spiky cacti – they are few and far between anywhere else in the Park so far as I can tell, but they grow in abundance in this one spot. Again – this is one bizarre national park! This cactus garden is another favorite spot of mine here in Joshua Tree.

April 3, 2016 / 3 Comments

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK – Part I

March 2016 - Joshua Tree, California - 2 of 2

I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues. – Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

Joshua Tree National Park – what a strange place! Rumor has it Dr. Seuss was inspired to write The Lorax by Joshua Tree, and that comes as no surprise after having visited. It is an arid park full of funky, twisty, spiky, lonely trees, interspersed with huge piles of cartoonish boulders.

The Pursuit of Life

Category: Travel (page 3 of 5)