Enjoying Our Dash

We have seen so many beautiful mountains as we have been traveling in the northwest part of the country. It is very cool to be driving down a highway or a back road and these beautiful mountains present themselves. One of the first ones that we saw after leaving Crater Lake was Mt. Hood. From town we were treated to this view. Next we were off to Olympic National Park. It is an amazing park. It is actually three parks in one. There are areas where you can see beautiful mountains, other areas offer a view of a rains forest with beautiful trees covered in moss. The last area is the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Here you can explore the longest undeveloped coastline in the contiguous United States. You can also visit Cape Flattery, the westernmost point of the lower 48 states. Our first stop was out to Hurricane Ridge to see some beautiful views of Mount Olympus. We also had a chance to check out the beautiful Lake Crescent. The water was so clear and just beautiful. I had a chan...

We had a blast exploring the very large Yosemite Park. We spent three day exploring this park. Yosemite Valley is a spot that a lot of visitors go. Here you can find all sorts of accommodations from camping areas to the Yosemite Lodge, as well as a restaurant and store. There is a shuttle that runs in this area, so you park once and ride the shuttle to all of the trails in this area. The Valley is where you can see Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. On the way into the valley, you are treated to a beautiful view of the Bridalveil waterfall, from afar. We also got our first glimpse of Half Dome. This is a feature that we would see several more times from different directions. Just before we arrived in the Valley, we had a chance to see Bridalveil Fall up close. Bridalveil Fall Below you can see Yosemite Valley from above, El Capitan and Upper Yosemite Falls. Yosemite Valley from above El Capitan Upper Yosemite Falls Here are some more views of Half Dome. The first picture is from ...

We have seen two National Parks that have a volcanic past. The first one was Lassen Volcanic National Park in Mineral, California. Despite the fact that the temperatures were in the mid 70 to lower 80s, this parks still had snow! Lots of snow! In fact, the scenic route through the park, had only been completely cleared of snow about 15 days before we arrived, on July 4th! We stopped at the Lassen Peak trailhead parking area to check out the snow. Cole had a blast. It was his first time in the snow. This park offered many diverse features. From boiling mud pots to half frozen lakes, to views of the Lassen Volcanic peak. We also visited Crater Lake National Park in Crater Lake, Oregon. Here, the lake takes the place of the volcano peak. The water was so blue it was amazing! Crater Lake is deepest lake (1943 ft) in the United States. Fed by rain and snow (but no rivers or streams), the lake is considered to be the cleanest large body of water in the world. The lake rests inside a ca...