* Michelle Thoughts, Other Travels, Videos

Redwoods and the Oregon Coast

Thanks for tuning in to our adventures! This is the final video blog post of our month-long road trip. After Yosemite, we had one of our longer driving days to get to the Redwoods. We decided to spend only one night in the Redwoods area so we could meet up with my (Michelle’s) family. It has been family tradition since the 1950’s for my Mom’s side to camp at Honeyman State Park in Florence, Oregon. I grew up going there every summer with all the cousins but now many of them have gone separate ways. So this time was a very small gathering of the clan. As you’ll see in the video, Jedd was very excited to end the trip catching two fish back to back since his other catches the week beforehand were too small to keep.

We are now in the Portland and Salem areas enjoying more time with family. What does the rest of the summer hold for us? Well, we’ve been pretty successful lining up house-sitting and work-exchange-for-rent (but we can always do more- let us know), so we continue to be nomadic. We’re excited to do some more traveling as well, with a trip to celebrate Mère’s (Michelle’s grandma’s) 90th birthday in New Orleans and then help Jedd’s great aunt get ready to move from Florida in September. Jedd is working about 3/4 time with Relevant Studios while I am basically doing odd jobs around other people’s houses. We expect to have more information from Peace Corps at the end of the summer, whether that be a final placement or more waiting.


See more from our road trip here (videos included):
Epic Road Trip Day One: 4 States in 2 Days
Yellowstone  Jackson  Exploring Utah   Bryce and Zion
Grand Canyon  Las Vegas National Park
Sequoia and King’s Canyon  Yosemite!
A Snapshot of Our Trip So Far
Away We Go! Our National Parks Road Trip Itinerary

 

* Michelle Thoughts, Other Travels, Videos

Yosemite!

Many say Yosemite is one of the most beautiful places in the country, so we decided to spend five nights there. After an arduous hike, the view from the top of Yosemite Falls was well worth the climb. Another hike took us to an unforgettable waterfall at Hetch Hetchy Resevoir in a section of the park that has fewer visitors and allowed us to escape the weekend crowds. One of Jedd’s college friends, Tyler, was able to fly out to meet us to experience this leg of the epic road trip together. We’re appreciative that he made the effort to join us! As in many of the other parks, we also took advantage of the Ranger programs, which always provides deeper insight to our experience (and usually good laughs from the cute things enthusiastic children contribute to the talks).


See more from our road trip here (videos included):
Epic Road Trip Day One: 4 States in 2 Days
Yellowstone  Jackson  Exploring Utah   Bryce and Zion
Grand Canyon  Las Vegas National Park
Sequoia and King’s Canyon  Redwoods and the Oregon Coast
A Snapshot of Our Trip So Far
Away We Go! Our National Parks Road Trip Itinerary

 

* Michelle Thoughts, Other Travels, Videos

Bryce and Zion

(Added late:) Bryce and Zion were certainly two of the most spectacular parks we’ve seen- so unique and intriguing. We loved our hikes on the Navajo/Queen’s Trail (Bryce) and Angel’s Landing (Zion).

Our next stop was the Grand Canyon, followed by Las Vegas of all places, and then Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Parks. Although Las Vegas was nowhere to be found on our list of places to see, we stayed there a weekend because it was on the way and my parents and brother were able to come meet us there to see some fantastic Cirque du Soleil shows. Though definitely not a National Park, Vegas is a spectacle all it’s own and will likely warrant another video post. (By the way, I probably won’t be able to finish any more videos until we’re in “civilization” again- another week or more. Stay tuned!)


See more from our road trip here (videos included):
Epic Road Trip Day One: 4 States in 2 Days
Yellowstone  Jackson  Exploring Utah 
Grand Canyon  Las Vegas National Park
Sequoia and King’s Canyon  Yosemite!
Redwoods and the Oregon Coast
A Snapshot of Our Trip So Far
Away We Go! Our National Parks Road Trip Itinerary