The Adventures of Gypsy-Jackie

Today we toured Zion and Bryce National Parks and traveled closer to the Grand Canyon (going there tomorrow).  It was a busy day and we're both a little tired.  Zion doesn't allow people to drive very far in the park, but they have free shuttles instead.  The shuttles were great and had information about the parks playing. Zion The Great White Throne...I think that's what it's called. Mary, these were the best flowers I could find for you today.  Cactus flowers! The Three Patriarchs Mindy taking a selfie while I'm eating apple slices. View overlooking the Virgin River near the Lodge Wish these pictures did this vista justice. The Virgin River - Flash flood warning was low today.   Rocks that caught our attention on the way to Bryce. There was too much traffic to catch a picture at Zion.   But we got this one! Bryce Canyon was massive and almost hard to take in. Bryce Cany...

Not much to report for Day 16.  We drove out of Death Valley, skirted Las Vegas, lunched at St. George, UT and finished the day sunning by the pool in Hurricane, UT.  Tomorrow is Zion! I loved all the stickers people have put on this sign. We weren't able to pull over for the Utah sign... but we got Nevada I told Mindy to pull over because I finally got some cell signal, looked up and saw this.  I guess alien's need cell signal too. Can you say tourist trap? This is as close as we got to Vegas and I'm OK with that! The drive from Vegas to St. George, UT was something!   Road chiseled through canyons with amazing rock formations!   Oh and there was pie once we got there :) On the way to St. George. UT.

We made it! First stop at a sand dune.  It almost looks like I'm photo shopped into this picture.  Nope, I was there...and sweating!  It only got up to 103 the day we were there.  So glad we didn't see anywhere near the high of 134! 282 feet below sea level. The sign said the hike to this natural arch was .3 miles.  No problem!   It didn't say it was all up hill in 103 degree heat!   I walked close enough to get this picture and turned around.   Your welcome! Mindy made me. Picture taken in The Devil's Golf Course in Death Valley.   Someone had a strange sense of humor! Devil's Golf Course.   The signs told people to be careful because falling on these  salt formations could cause cuts and broken bones.  Yikes! The hotel, Oasis in Death Valley, actually looked like an Oasis. Drive down 20 mule team canyon.   I assume this...

I totally forgot to mention yesterday... Mount Whitney is the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States and the Sierra Nevada mountain range, with an elevation of 14,505 feet.  Not that we drove to the top, but still pretty cool when you consider that...Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the lowest elevation in North America, at 282 feet below sea level.  Our hotel clerk pointed out that both of these are in the same county.  Pretty amazing country out here.  Ok, so lousy cell signal and no wifi.  I'll post Death Valley pics later.  But rest assured, we survived Death Valley!!😁

We traveled through Yosemite on highway 120 from east to west.  Beautiful drive and not nearly as death defying as some of the roads we've been on.  Seriously, we have been taking switchbacks at 10 miles per hour with no guard rails.  It was some scary stuff...but now the roads seem positively tame! Tenaya Lake in Yosemite   Tenaya Lake   Ellis Lake  Good bye Yosemite!  You are amazing!   Wish I was years younger so I could  enjoy all the hikes to see the really cool vistas! The drive from Yosemite to Lone Pine, CA  We drove from Lone Pine up into Mt. Whitney to Whitney Portal.   It was only about an hour, and a pretty easy drive, but the views were amazing!! Mary, these are the best flower pictures I could find for you today. Half way up to Mt. Whitney.  Mt. Whitney  Foot hills of Mt. Whitney, these we so cool!  OK, look at these next photos car...

We traveled 2 1/2 hours to the south entrance of Yosemite today. From there we were able to take a free shuttle into the Sequoia Grove. Other than that we got a tire fixed, did some laundry and called it a day.  Tonight feels kind of weird because we have the next two days planned and hotels already booked. Tomorrow we're traveling across Yosemite, then heading south towards Death Valley.  I'm super excited to say that we are spending a night in Death Valley National Park!  I have no idea why, but that has always been on my bucket list. View when having coffee on the deck this morning. This guy came out to see me.   We found a bench with the perfect angle to stare at the Sequoias. Massive trees. The Monarch Tree Monarch root ball While the sequoias are impressive, the redwoods have them beat in my opinion. The redwoods were the only thing growing in that forest.  However in the sequoia forest there wer...