The Singin’ Tourist in the SW USA (Days 6 and 7)
Before I went to sleep Friday night, I noticed that my edema was pretty bad. Despite my hope, when I awakened, it was much worse. I had no choice but to decide to cut out visiting any of the three Colorado national parks and making a direct route home. Unfortunately, the WiFi access for my GPS was extremely spotty, nor could I get a Mapquest map routing using my smartphone. Below are two maps. The first shows two routes. Route one (the darker blue line) indicates a 24-minute shorter route than number two (lighter blue). However, if I had been able to see both options at the time, I would have taken the second route because it would have placed me on Interstate 25, which would have allowed me to set the Silver Bullet’s cruise control and saved my right leg a lot of painful wear and tear. Instead, I…
The Singin’ Tourist in the SW USA (Day 5)
Another beautiful day! This map displays all four national parks I visited during the trip: Bryce Canyon (I), Capitol Reef (J), Canyonlands (K), and Arches (L). I entered the Canyonlands National Park on Friday morning. It seemed like every time I pulled out of one turnoff after taking pictures, I would pull off the road yet again at the next one to take more pictures of the different scenes. I was also very fortunate that I could take advantage of the accessible parking that regularly placed me close enough to sites to either get great pictures or to get out and have a fairly short walk to those views. I’m not going to try to describe what I saw with words. Rather, I’m going to let the pictures express their thousand words. Oh, one more thing, as usual, clicking on any of the pictures in the galleries should give you…
The Singin’ Tourist in the SW USA (Day 4)
Utah has five national parks. I’ve previously visited Zion National Park, so my game plan was to try to visit the remaining four parks during this trip. However, one thing had to be taken into account. Utah is a big state in area, and the roads between the parks were not exactly direct or were they going to be interstate highways. My best hope was to reach two per day with the goal of heading to Four Corners Monument by late Friday. My luck with weather continued to hold. That’s an understatement. Even the days that started chilly enough to need a jacket warmed enough as the day progressed to allow me to shed the jacket.That morning, though, I needed to start the day wearing both my scarf and wool cap for additional protection. As I often do, I chose a scenic route through Bryce Canyon National Park so I…
The Singin’ Tourist in the SW USA (Day 3)
I was finally in the position to strike the Grand Canyon Skywalk off my list. My mother and I had visited the : //singin1.wordpress.com/tag/grand-canyon/">Grand Canyon in 2012. Although the Grand Canyon is a national park, the Skywalk is not part of the park system. Therefore, my senior pass doesn't cover the fee to visit the site.
I arrived very early, nearly an hour before the entry opened. Once I got in, the gentleman at the checkout told me that I was eligible for a senior discount, which was great, then that my walker and other personal items would have to be stored before I was permitted onto the Skywalk. They would provide a walker for my use, but this also meant that I would not have my phone and its camera. As you can imagine, I objected to turning over my camera since I use it to take pictures of the sites I visit. I have not idea why this policy was in place, but I decided not to continue on. With great reluctance and disappointment, I turned back and left.I did get a few pictures of the surrounding area to share:
[gallery size="full" ids="2064,2065,2066,2067,2068,2069,2070,2071,2072"]: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/map3a.gif" alt="" width="338" height="333" />The eco-tourist in me tried not to think about all of the driving--or, more specifically, the gas I burned--and the physical wear-and-tear to reach this area without completing my goal. This is the chance I take, however, with a trip like this. At least it's all beautiful scenery, and the weather continued to be glorious.
My next destination was the first of four national parks in Utah. I based the order on the shortest route between each according to Mapquest. Based on that, my first stop would be Bryce Canyon National Park. The route, as would often happen between one park and the next, was not direct. I actually crossed back into Nevada and drove through Las Vegas a second time--this time giving me a daytime view of the city. Again, I was not tempted to stop and avail myself of its gambling facilities. As you can see from the map, I re-entered Arizona very briefly before actually entering Utah. Fortunately, about half of the route was on the interstate, so it took far less time than I expected. Yet I arrived late enough that I decided to get a few shots outside the park and settle for the night, saving my visit until the next morning. [gallery size="full" type="slideshow" ids="2078,2079,2080,2081,2082,2083,2084"]: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/loudmusic.webp" alt="" width="331" height="314" />Gas prices continue to run in the $6.00 per gallon range, making me yearn for the lower prices I've been used to paying.
From a music standpoint, I was giving myself a steady dose of D'lair's Replays. I really like the songs on the list, and the music kept me in a pretty good mood despite the way the morning had gone.A Bit of Business, A Bit of Fun
This “how many national parks can I visit in a week” trip has been on my radar for quite a while. I finally have a shot of actually doing it! The trip is now part business and part pleasure. I am scheduled to give a lecture on the development of concert spirituals during the Harlem Renaissance as part of the African American Art Song Alliance conference at University of California, Irvine. I’m also planning to put the word out about the two books that I’ve written in the five years since the last conference and hope I can drum up some interest in them. After the conference, if all goes as planned, the marathon vacation begins. I have reserved a space on a boat to go whale watching in the Pacific and the usual Hollywood tour, plus I’m hoping to catch up with a couple of friends out there. I…
Seven National Parks in Ten Days–Can It Be Done?
I’m not sure exactly when I became a fan of national parks, but I am one. I couldn’t wait to be able to get my senior pass, but now I have it I want to put it to good use. I had visited both Rocky Mountain NP and Zion NP with my mother in 2012, but I knew I’d missed four parks in Utah. What I didn’t know was that I’d missed three parks in Colorado, too. My original plan was to visit the Utah parks, the Four Corners Monument, which is on Native territory and had been closed due to COVID until recently, and the Glass Skywalk at the Grand Canyon. However, in the development of the trip, I discovered that the distance to the Skywalk is far greater than I had originally thought. With the current gas prices (average $4.50/gal. as I write this, I have to take…
A New Normal? Prepping to Get Back on the Road
Sorry it’s been so long since I last posted. Real life has been REAL for everyone! I’ve limited most of my interactions to virtual events, but I do owe a post or two about the trip to the NATS workshop in Tennessee in October 2021, so I’ll try to get to it after I finish my latest updates to my second book manuscript. In the meantime, I’m going to make another attempt to return to Utah (see http://singin1.com/utah-ho/). Crossing fingers that I can pull it off. The Four Corners have re-opened to the public, so that’s on the itinerary, too. Two things more. One, gas price are really up there ($4.20/gal here as of this post). I’m hoping they will be lower in the southwest. And, I’ve made updates to my travel playlist, including creating one of my favorite pop tunes that are replayed sometimes for hours or even days.…
Afterthoughts about Goin’ West 2014
This is the map of my 16-day, Goin’ West 2014 trip: This surpassed my previously longest car trip from Grinnell to Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, by a whole 17 miles!! I stuck pretty closely to my original route, with some new additions–especially Little Bighorn National Park and North Cascades National Highway–and only two major deletions. After the magnificence of Yellowstone, I didn’t feel the need to deviate 250 miles from my westward trip to see Glacier National Park in Montana, although I’d heard many wonderful things about it. I also didn’t cross into Canada to visit Vancouver. The trip included visits to seven national parks: Little Bighorn (Montana), Yellowstone (Wyoming), North Cascade, Olympic, and Mount Rainier (Washington State), Redwood, and Yosemite (California). The parks were fantastic and more than worth the cost of the annual season pass. My favorites were Redwood and Yosemite, but none disappointed. There were other parks…
Day 15: RB and the Need for Speed
Interstate 80 runs from San Francisco to Teaneck, New Jersey. This highway will be very prominent in my now two-day dash to get home. The short drive from Carson City to Reno brought me to a casino in town. I’m not a gambler–I hate to lose and can think of fewer, more ridiculous ways to lose money than sticking it into a slot machine. However, in honor of my mother, I walked into Atlantis with a $20 bill and my car keys, figuring it would take me about 30 minutes to lose it in the quarter slots. To say I didn’t know what I was doing would be an understatement. With three presses of a button, my money was gone!! The customer service person explained that the button I was pressing was the max bet, so I was wagering $6.00 on every push! No, I didn’t get more money. As…
A “Rest” Day
With all that’s planned during this week, we decided to get into Salt Lake City and relax and prep. Took plenty of pictures along the way, though, of the look of the Rockies in Wyoming and Utah. First time either of us have visited Utah, so we’re looking forward to see as much of it as we can. One thing that I continue to notice is that, while we are still journeying through the Rocky Mountains, the look of the terrain changes. The color and structure of the rocks look different in Utah from Wyoming and from Colorado.