Day Two: Panguitch, UT

Day 2: Panguitch, UT

Today was just a drive day from Elko to Panguitch so nothing super exciting. Seemed to take forever driving though. Tomorrow is the ride through Bryce Canyon so I`m super stoked about that.


TTFN,

Ashley
(no photo above bed :/ )

Day One: Elko,NV

Welcome back to the start of another grand adventure.

Today as normal was just a driving day. We left at 7am with only one little mishap (someone forgot the cooler). We arrived safely in Elko, NV at 4pm.

So this is a short post as will be tomorrows. Sunday though that one is going to be awesome. Sadly I was an idiot and forgot my mom`s Go-Pro so no footage of the Bryce Horseback Ride :/ I will however take tons of photos.

Without further ado I say farewell.

Ashley

NYC Adventure Day 2

Today we walked over to Applebee's for breakfast. Our plan was to visit Time Square and Central Park.

We walked down to Time Square and it was crazy busy. So loud and very city like.

We then walked to Bryant Park and checked out the market/vendors that were there. The smells were amazing.

From Bryant park we jumped on the Sightseeing bus to go to Central Park. After almost 1.5hrs on the bus we arrived at the Park.
It was lightly raining but we grabbed hot dogs and ate then
jumped on a carriage and did the small loop around the park.












We ended up grabbing a taxi to take us back to the hotel because by this time we had walked over 5miles through out the day.

Got back to the hotel around 4 and ordered food to be delivered around 730. Overall it was a successful day.

We fly out at 2pm from JFK to get to California. Fingers crossed the weather is clear and flights go as planned.

TTFN,
Ashley

NYC Adventure Day 1

Today we picked up our bus tickets and NYC passes for the weekend. Then grabbed some breakfast at a cafe and took off for 9/11 Memorial and Ellis Island.

The 9/11 museum was sombering. The history that I was alive for but didn't fully remember. Walt talked about what he was doing when it occurred. Took a few photos but really you have to go to get the full affect.

After that we jumped back on the tour bus and took off for The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The ferry ride was quick and breezy which was nice. Just stayed on and took picture of Lady Liberty. Ellis island was interesting but a little disappointing. Due to hurricane Sandy in 2012 they lost A/C, power and tons of other things, so most of the artifacts have been removed for safe keeping until the A/C is fixed for temperate regulation. It was hot in there today, can only imagine what it felt like for the 1,000s coming through years ago.



After our tourist adventures we hailed a taxi (Im becoming a pro at it) and came back to the hotel to nap a little before dinner.

Dinner was at Ninja New York. It was delicious. The service was amazing and I highly recommend it. They do jump scares through out your meal but they are so funny. Good way to keep you laying attention and making conversation.

Facts we learned while on bus tour:

     80% of a building has to be covered in advertisement to be in Times Square

      SoHo use to be a mercantile district now it's just used for clothing shops since nothing is made in NYC        anymore. Most buildings are cast iron.

Now we are back at the hotel with a tentative game plan for tomorrow.

Look out Cakeroons and Central Park here we come.

FIT BIT STEP COUNT:
11,519
4.5miles

TTFN,
Ashley

Day Fifteen/Sixteen

Day Fifteen
Yesterday we drove to Mammoth Lakes, Ca on the way we also stopped to see Bodie. Those that don't know Bodie is an old mining town that is now a famous ghost town.

Here are a few pictures from that stop.

Took his picture and made him get up really quick so chair wouldn't fall apart.

 The First church built in the town. You cant walk through it now thanks to a bunch of vandalism.

Just a small section of Bodie. The town now has only 5% of the building remaining from its hay-day.











Day Sixteen:
Today we drove to Manteca, Ca which meant I got to drive through Yosemite National Park. Which was gorgeous. My great-grandfather George helped build the orginal fireplace at the Awanee hotel.

Here are pictures from today.

  That is the entrance to the hotel. Was kind of crumbling but looked interesting.

 El Capitan from the ground.

Stopped by the river for a cool nature shot.












Tomorrow we are off to Vacaville, Ca to go to the Jelly Belly Factory. Super excited to take Walt someplace he hasn`t been.

TTFN,
Ashley

Day Thirteen/Fourteen Mesquite,NV & Bishop,CA

Day Thirteen:
So we left Moab,UT and headed for Mesquite,NV. It was a fairly long drive with no sights to see. Until we got to our rooms that is. Walt got suites for us both and they were gorgeous. Not only were the rooms amazing the pools were fantastic as was the food. I tried Escargot for the first time and really enjoyed it.

 This is the living room. The closet was the size of the library nook I want.

 One of the 2 pools. The water was great.

 Escargot. Was so delicious and unique.











Day Fourteen:
 We left Mesquite,NV at 730 am (didn't get to enjoy the rooms that much.) The earliness was so we could beat the heat in Death Valley. I drove through Las Vegas and Walt drove through Death Valley so I could take pictures. The Visitor Center said the temp was 111 degrees but we averages 107 while driving around.

 Stood below sea level. It was soooooo hot outside. Came across this little guy. he stopped in the middle of the road then walked to the side of the car. There was a moment of terror if he was going to get in the car and eat us.






Today we are off to Mammoth Lakes,CA after stopping at a few places. Going to be a nice day. Its great to be back in California :)

TTFN.
Ashley

Day Eleven & Day Twelve Moab,UT

Day Eleven:
So yesterday we left and headed for Moab,UT along the way we stopped at Monument Valley and The Goose Necks. This was incredible to drive out and see. Lets start with what the car looked like to begin with.

So pretty and red right.......
Well we drove around the ground floor of the monuments. Saw a few rocks, well they were rocks but they are way more cooler in person.



Here is a few samples of what we saw.

 They were awesome. The one I really liked was the Three Sisters. ^








Here is the car after driving around in the lovely red soft dirt.

It was filthy. We are just now heading to the car wash tonight to clean it because we weren`t sure how dirty it would get today.




We also went to the Goosenecks and I took a step to far back.

Day Twelve:

We stayed in Moab so we could go to Arches National Park.
Got up at 7am, had breakfast then took off to hike to see some of the most famous arches in the world.

For those of you who watch my facebook you have heard about my 7 mile adventure. I hike a total of 10miles today Walt hiked about 1/2 that. It was roughly 78-80 degrees out by 930am. We started by takng the side road to see Balanced Rock then doing a short hike to the Delicate Arch. Which was amazing (a word I shall use a lot this entry).

After returning to the car we drove out to do the 7.2 mile hike to see Landscape Arch, Double O Arch and Dark Angel. Well about 3 miles in Walt had it. He waited in the shade and sent me the "Strong and Fit" one on to see the amazing arches. I made it all the way to Landscape and Double O arch however, i had no energy to walk the side loop out to the Dark angel rock. I took the pictures then crawled my way back to Walt and the car. Not after I attempted a side adventure up some deep sand towards a small hole in the sandstone. My plan was to climb up into the hole and have Walt take a picture. This did NOT work because I was too short to reach my happy butt up to the first ledge. It looked pretty awesome though.

Pictured is the Landscape and Double O Arches.

Now here comes the best part to end our fabtabulous day. Walt signed us up to take a Jeep Tour and it was WORTH IT. Would take it again in a heart beat. We jumped in the jeep at 1:30pm and took off for a 2hr tour. Walt was a little worried when we started out going up this huge hill. When I see the guys post pictures of flexing their trucks and rock climbing I think they are nuts but what We did today was intense. Moab has some of the best sights and trails out here.

Guys this is supposed to be a flat landscape. View from outside the jeep window. Not as intense as the others but those were "have to be there to experience it" moments.

The lovely jeep that was our chariot. This at an angle and YES we went up that huge hill. 

This is the Colorado River from up above. So pretty.

This was such an amazing way to end the day and we are exhausted. Tomorrow we are off to Mesquite,NV for the stretch home.

TTFN,