Happy New Year everyone. We had an awesome new years in Yosemite. We will have to go back so we get a chance to do some of the hikes to the top. Since our time was limited we just did everything there was to do on the valley. The waterfalls were amazing. We took a short walk to mirror lake where we got the see the reflections of the rock cliffs in the water. It was very entertaining to watch all of the photographers scramble around the mirror lake and each other trying to get the perfect shot while the sun was setting. The park turned into a zoo on saturday with people from fresno driving up for the day to play in the snow. We decided to head over to Kings canyon and sequoia national park. We arrived to the camp ground in kings canyon littered with "snow players." Snow players are people from fresno who drive up for the day, picnic in the campgrounds, leave all their trash out, dirty up the bathrooms, and scream and yell in spanish. Luckily they were leaving as we pulled in although we had to clean up there mess so we could camp. The next day we saw some of the biggest giant sequoia trees ever. Some were over 2,000 years old, up to 40 foot in diameter at the base and some over 200feet high. We also went for a snowshoe hike with a ranger and tracked animals in the snow. Sara and I had way too much fun romping around in snowshoes. We tracked squirrels, raccoons, humans, toddlers, snowshoers, and even a mountain lion that was hunting a human snowshoer. (not really). After all this fun we headed out of the south end of the park down the gnarliest mountain road ever. So gnarly that cars over 22 feet are not allowed down it. The storm trooper and adventure drop measure about 36ft. We decided to take the road anyways because I (chris) was the driver of the year for 2009. We navigated it perfect and left mini-van driving fresno residents on the side of the road throwing snow at their smoking breaks. Our next stop was the valley of death. So far we have logged over 4,400 miles! The drive to death valley was super cool, tons of rock, sand, and joshua trees. Our first night there was a campground notice that the international space station would be visible shortly after sunset. Sure enough we saw that sucker move across the sky for about 2 minutes. The stars were so amazing. There was absolutely no sky glow or pollution. The next day we set out and went below sea level. We first played in the sand dunes and let allie run around. Then we headed to bad water ( salt flats that are -282ft below sea level). We ran around there and Sara tried to eat some salt from the ground. We then headed to the artists drive. A very scenic one-way road through super colorful mountains. It was another road that vehicles over 25ft were prohibited. We went anyways with the adventure drop. Once again I navigated it perfectly and am well on my way for being nominated driver of the year 2010. after all that fun death valley stuff we headed to LAS VEGAS BABY! I think we have the only tear drop camper to drive the strip! More people were taking pictures of our rig than new york new york. After the strip we headed north on I-15 and stopped at a casino and hit the slots. Sara left +$3.00 and I left -$2.00. But it was fun. We then continued our trip to Zion national park in utah. Zion was another cool place that we need about 4 more days to see properly. We drove up along the virgin river and the canyon walls got narrower and narrower. We went as far the road went and then hiked up only about a mile, had we gone further we would have made it to where the canyon walls narrow to less than 20ft and the river is a trickle. We saw all we could see and headed on to Bryce national park which was only an hour from Zion. Bryce is known for its hoodoo. Its a type of rock formation where erosion leaves behind natural bridges and hundreds of little spires. We hiked around there and saw what we could. To do it justice we would have needed snowshoes and yaktraxs to hike down the icy trails. We are now head to Park City To hang out with some friends, snowboard, kite snowboard, cross country ski, sled, tube, and eat at Sara' favorite restaurant Teriyaki. Until next time Cheers!
