United States
Posted by Karen on June 22nd 2007
Written on the 2007 Alaska to Brazil expedition
So Far…
The United States of America: The land of fast food, slow drawls and where the ‘mullet’ hairstyle still lives on!
Our every move has been marked with cries of “OH! MY! GOD”! And “I ain’t never seen no rig like that before”, and from time to time “Does that thing go in the water” (clearly the boat motor strapped onto the balcony is causing a bit of confusion!)
Much of our time has been spent in The National Parks, and although very beautiful, some (but in no way all) are so strict in all their rules and regulations - it ‘almost’ takes all the fun out of it. What with ‘quiet time at 10pm’ and ‘camping no closer than 6 feet from your campfire, but no further than 20 feet’, getting told off every 5 minutes for doing ‘something’ wrong like: riding a bike ‘up’ a hill too fast!, wearing no shirt while walking on the trails, putting our tents in the wrong place (even when told to put them there) then having to move them… It’s all been rather restrictive! Still, rules are rules and when you see how packed out the places get, there’s obviously a reason for it – Although the reserves themselves are true pleasure to visit, it’s not without a faint sigh of relief we approach our last ‘United States National Park’.
So far in the States we have visited Seattle, where they have one of the biggest rock museums in the world and from there onto one of the highlights of the trip so far – ‘Yellowstone National Park’. Our time here was spent exploring the park, taking in all the geysers, the scenery and the wildlife. It is definitely one of the best America has to offer!
The Grand Teton National Park and Bryce Canyon were amazing as well, and although not as well know, they are definitely well worth exploring - simply stunning! Here, we got to spend a few relaxing days hiking, canoeing and thanks to the huge temperature increase – swimming! Although the cold weather was an experience (and we wouldn’t have wanted Alaska any other way), it certainly is wonderful to be back in the hot sun! With temperatures of around 35-40 degrees, it’s got more of a ‘holiday’ feel about it!
Now en route to Grand Canyon!
Until next time…
