Cuyahoga Valley National Park is nestled between Cleveland and Akron, following 22 miles of the Cuyahoga River. While this park did not blow me away in terms of the scenery or wildlife (it reminded me a lot of my local state and city parks), it certainly deserves our respect. It’s part in our American history is bigger than the river itself, but what is most impressive to me is how it came to be a National Park. The local residents…
After Zion National Park, Mike and I headed to the Grand Canyon! We were meeting our friends there the next day, so we spent the evening at the North Rim to see the canyon from the less viewed side. It was wonderful to relax on the beautiful lodge deck with a delicious Grand Canyon beer. We also met an amazing Park Ranger that majored in geology that typically works on the South Rim side, but was visiting this side with…
Dear Diary, We’ve been in Maine forever now. Apparently Dad is waiting for yet another van part. But I don’t mind! This place is great. There is plenty of room for me, I get so many pets, and I can play outside all the time! There is a great big Newfoundland named Ella that is okay… she gets mad at me when I try to eat her food. Just cause she’s all big, she thinks she can be the boss,…
We weren’t exactly sure if we’d make it to Zion National Park since we had reservations in the Grand Canyon at Phantom Ranch. However, we had a couple days left before we needed to be there, so we ended up getting to see the highlights at this amazing place. I definitely want to check it out again to do back country camping and hike much further. We arrived around 4pm through the east entrance. Considering the later time,…
Another Utah park means more rock formations! With 2 million visitors every year, Bryce Canyon, is one of the most popular parks in the country. It is known for it’s “hoo doos” which were really beautiful. These are created by canyon walls or “fins” that erode into windows or arches, and finally, collapse into hoo doos! The water also plays a part here with it’s freeze-thaw cycles; it goes from freezing temps to water overnight over 200 days a year,…
Dear Diary, We’re back the big red kennel! I have no idea where we’re going but my humans keep singing “On the road again, going places we’ve never been,” so that’s exciting… minus their singing voices. They are NOT good at singing. When we were home this summer, a few people pointed out I had gained weight. How terribly rude of them, amirite? Mom and Dad sadly agreed and decided to put me ON A DIET. While…
After Arches, we headed to the next Utah National Park; Capitol Reef, which is in the city of Fruita. Besides beautiful rock formations (like every park in Utah) this park is also an important Mormon pioneer historical site. We arrived around sunset again (I told you, we’re on a good groove of sunsets and mornings at the parks!) and we drove the Scenic Drive. This was simply stunning – the rock formations here are more layered with various colors…
Mike and I were in a pretty good rhythm at this point – visit a park in the morning, drive or do something indoors during the day, and then visit a park in the late afternoon and evening. This helps avoid the heat and the summer crowds. After Canyonlands, we headed to Moab which is where Arches National Park is located too. As we drove by in the afternoon, it was pretty obvious that Arches is one of the most…