2011-06-04--06: Barbados

After a full days travel we arrived to Almond Beach Club in the evening. A nice all-inclusive resort on Barbados west coast. When we arrived we were advised to go to directly to the restaurant for dinner - dresscode long pants for men!

We only spent a day on the beach and around the pool improving the sun tan and drinking cool drinks.

We had agreed to meet our friend Kaj and his girlfriend Leila in St Martin on the afternoon of the 6th, so we got back to the airport after only two nights and a day at Almond Beach.















Some more pictures from Barbados: Barbados

2011-06-01--03: Grand Teton to Denver, Colorado.

We exited Yellowstone through the south entrance, and headed towards Grand Teton National Park on the beautiful road called John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway.

The view of the Teton Range is amazing and even here we find a lot of wild bison and elk. This was really a place we would like to spend more time, but we had to go on as we need to be in Denver and return the car in just two days.

We passed  through a beautiful area called Flaming Gorge, passed through huge basins and climbed steep mountains. A lot of scenic views - different and fascinating!

Our next stop was planned to Dinosaur National Monument, but we found out that the exhibition was closed so we just continued after a brief stop in Vernal, Utah, where we found a shop with nice fossils and rocks, and an owner that had time to explain the different things.

We spent the night in a nice ski resort called Steamboat Springs, in a camping close to the river. Although the water in the river ran wild, the walls of sandbags at the riverside kept the camp ground dry.

The next stop was planned to Rocky Mountains National Park, and the plan was to drive through the park and end up close to Denver. Unfortunately the road we had planned to drive was closed due to snow, so we just spent a couple of hours in the park before we continued towards Denver. Driving up to the entrance of the park we passed a lake with these birds - a pelican was not what we expected to see here!

Just outside Denver we saw some signs about Buffalo Bill´s grave and museum, so we turned off the highway and found a nice little museum with a fantastic view.

New for us was that we probably can thank Mr William F Cody for all the buffolos we have seen during the trip.

We spent the last night in our RV in Golden, a small city just east of Denver.  

The last day in USA we spent in downtown Denver. We really liked this city and its lively centre. Having pianos all over the place is a fantastic idea - people sit down a play, and others just sit around and enjoy.

We also enjoyed the best meal since we came to US.












Some more pictures from this part of the trip: Grand Teton to Denver

2011-05-29--31: Yellowstone National Park

We arrived to a snowy Yellowstone, and it really surprised us that it could be winter as late as the last days of May. The staff of the park worked hard to keep the roads open, so all guests could see most of the park.

We spent almost three full days exploring all the things you can see in this fantastic park. Most of all we enjoyed the wild life. We saw a lot of buffalos, elk and moose.

Often we got a good close look at the buffalos, as they didn´t have any fear of cars or people. The gently walked around on the roads.

We even saw this beautiful bird - the bald eagle, national emblem of USA!

Yellowstone National Park is a huge area in nortwest Wyoming, comprising of lakes, canyons, rivers and mountains. Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-altitude lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervulcano on the continent.

The caldera is considered an active volcano. It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years.

Half of the world's geothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism. In many places you see steam coming out of the ground, boiling water in small ponds, bubbling stinky mud holes and other strange things.
















There is so much to see in Yellowstone, and we would love to come back another time when there is no snow.

We have selected some pictures that you can find by clicking this link: Yellowstone 

Link to official Yellowstone web page: Yellowstone National Park

2011-05-26--28: Driving from California to Yellowstone West, Montana

It is a rather long drive from the west coast of California, to Yellowstone Park. Maybe we have been spoiled by fantastic scenic drives for too long, and maybe that´s why we found part of the last couple of days driving sometimes a bit boring.
We will be back with some text around the highlights, and there were highlights!

We put toghter some pictures for you in this link:  Avenue of the Gigants to Rexburg, Idaho

2011-05-23--25: Napa Valley, Highway 1 and Avenue of the Gigants

We do not have time to update the blogg with text right now, but will probably be able to do it in the next couple of days.
There are some pictures if you click this link: Napa Valley to Avenue of the Gigants

201105-21--22: San Francisco

We choose a camping close to San Francisco, as we didn´t want to drive around in the crowded city with a big RV. One of the services of the camping was a full day sight seeing to San Francisco, so we signed up for the trip as soon as we registered. The trip was really good, and we learnt a lot about the history  of the city and we got to see a lot. First stop was Golden Gate Bridge.

We then continued through Golden Gate Park - the largest man-made park in the world. Next stop was Pier 39 and Fisherman´s Warf. Kind of touristic, but nice.










 

We had a very good seafood meal at Bubba Gump (yes - it has a Forest Gump theme), with wonderful view over San Francisco Bay.

Fresh crab, shrimps and fish - can it be better?

After lunch we headed towards China Town - a rather large community in San Francisco, and drove through areas with the architecture that gives San Francisco it´s charm.

We didn´t get the chance to go with the cable cars, but there are still 3 lines operating the steep hills of the city.


More pics from San Francisco: San Francisco

2011-05-19--20: Yosemite National Park, California.

We pulled into a camping close to the south entrance of Yosemite, and spent the night there. When we checked in we had a chat with the people that worked at the camping. We got the information that the park had been closed all day due to the weather conditions, but with some luck the weather would be warmer the next day and the park open.
We were delighted to see a blue sky in the morning, and even more happy to find the park and most roads open.

We spent two full days, and a night in the park and loved every minute of it! It is sooo beautiful!! We would have loved to stay for longer time for hiking.

Also in Yosemite there are gigantic sequoia trees. In Mariposa Grove you can find the most majestic.This one, that Anne gives a hug, is not one of the biggest - but big enough to impress.

Bears are common in Yosemite. We woke up during the night - a lot of noise created by bears trying to get into trashbins. We also heard a couple of shots during the night, but were assured that it was rubber bullets aimed to sting and scare away bears from the camping areas.

More pictures (although they do not do justice) from beautiful Yosemite: Yosemite


Official link to Yosemite National Park: Yosemite National Park