Enjoying Our Dash

Our next stop was Glacier. This is one of the nations most popular parks.  One of the big draws is the ‘Going to the Sun’ road.  Traveling this road is so popular, it requires an additional reservation to get on it.  This road takes you from the very popular town of  West Glacier and the Apgar Visitors Center to the St. Mary’s entrance at the east side.  It is a very narrow road with the usual switchbacks to climb the mountains. This road provides some amazing views. Even Cole thought the views were awesome! The lakes were just as beautiful as the mountains and the glaciers. There is so much more to see at this beautiful park.  It was very crowded when we visited.  So much so, it was impossible to find a parking space at the Logan Pass Visitors Center on Going To The Sun Road.  Lesson learned.  If you go, go early!

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 ...