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Category Archives: California

America’s National Parks: An American Perk worth celebrating.

Posted on January 28, 2017 by emmalouiseclarke Posted in Arizona, California, East Coast, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Massachussetts, Missouri, Nevada, New England, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Western USA .

In a week where the National Park Service has been in the news in relation to alleged censorship on Twitter by the Trump Administration, I have been thinking about one of my favourite things in America – the areas of outstanding beauty that are cared for by the agency – and am inspired to write a post reflecting on my experiences in some of America’s most stunning landscapes. I have had the privilege of spending time in many National Parks, and I hope to continue visiting and that they will remain protected for generations to come. As a Brit, I believe the National Park system is one of America’s finest assets – what follows are some of the parks I’ve been to and the pictures I’ve taken whilst there – I hope you agree that these parks are worth protecting and celebrating!

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

The Grand Canyon, one of the seven wonders of the world, is a mile deep and around 10 miles wide on average. It is awe inspiring, and frankly left me speechless. I was fortunate enough to fly over the canyon in a helicopter – the moment where you come to the edge of the canyon and your stomach does a somersault inside you, your brain can’t comprehend the sheer size of what you’re looking at, so shrinks it down to make it more manageable. The orange/brown rock surrounds you and far below a thin green line winds it’s way through – the mighty Colorado river, a vast and powerful river which from the top of the canyon appears to be only 5cm wide. The individual layers of rock in the canyon glow in the Arizona sunshine and revealing history in front of your very eyes. It truly is astonishingly beautiful.

Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

Less famous than its nearby cousin, Bryce Canyon is no less fascinating. Here, the rock formations stand tall like statues, an army of soldiers on parade, the fading evening light bouncing off the layers to produce an orange flame of colour. These structures are rather pleasingly called ‘hoodoos’ and can be up to 200ft high, formed not by central erosion, but rather by frost weathering and stream erosion. Native Americans developed a myth that the structures were in fact ‘The Legend People’ that the Coyote, a trickster type character, had turned to stone as punishment for being bad.  We stood and stared for almost an hour at these pillars of stone rising up from the ground, proud and striking and beautiful.

Zion National Park, UT

Zion is Utah’s oldest National Park, and is made up of giant Sandstone cliffs stretching high up above the Virgin River, which runs through the almost 230,000 square miles of wilderness. Climbing up towards the Emerald Pools, the vista of orange and pink rocks contrasted with a bright blue sky stretches out as far as the eye can see; waterfalls cascade down over pathways carved out by centuries of walkers navigating their way around the water, the droplets forming miniature rainbows as the sunlight hits them. Birds of prey circled overhead as we walked upwards, their calls echoing across the vast valley reminding us of the sheer size of the park. Everywhere you look there is wildlife – a deer darting behind a bush as it hears you approaching, squirrels and mice scurrying over the rocks scavenging for food – thanks to the vast difference in elevation across the park, thousands of species thrive here.

Death Valley National Park, CA/NV

The desert is an incredible place, and Death Valley is no exception. This is the hottest, driest and lowest National Park in the country (over 200ft below sea level). We stayed at Furnace Creek towards the end of September, and the temperature during the day got to 114 degrees Farenheit (45.5 degrees Celcius). This sounds horrendous, but it’s a dry heat, which is marginally more manageable than the humidity of the south. However, 10 minutes outside of the car was enough – the sun burned down onto our skin, the wind hot, and the shade absent. The silence is deafening – the air seems to press in on you and not a sound can be heard. The salt flats glow bright white in the distance, with the foreground made up of brown rocks complete with streaks of pinks and yellows and greens, with traces of blue and purple. It’s a bizzarre landscape, and thoroughly captivating.

Yosemite National Park, CA

Travelling from Death Valley to Yosemite is an ear-popping experience in itself, climbing from 200ft below sea level to 10,000ft above it through desert roads and mountain tracks. As you ascend the landscape changes, gradually becoming more green and noticeably cooler until you reach Yosemite, a glorious oasis of trees, lakes and mountains. We found a beach area, with a small tributary of water flowing through it – complete with a Beaver Dam, toothmarks visible in the logs they had dragged across the beach from the trees on the other side of the stream. I felt so small standing at the base of the sheer grey rockface that towered above me, the trees themselves dwarfed by it. We stopped off by a lake surrounded by deciduous trees and large rocks poking their peaks out of the water, a breeze gently blowing the surface of the lake producing a lapping sound at the shore where we stood. We hiked a mile or so down to Tolumne Grove, where the giant Sequoias stand proud and tall, so vast that you can’t see the top, so wide that you can fit a car through the centre. There were some that had fallen, their root systems visible – a single root wider than my thigh. The contrast to Death Valley was stark and the diversity of America’s precious landscape was evident as we visited the parks one by one.

Acadia National Park, ME

We stayed in the town of Bar Harbor, a lovely coastal town with restaurants serving clam chowder and blueberry pancakes and hotels overlooking the ocean. Acadia National Park is a combination of coastal and mountainous scenery, with Cadillac Mountain being the central feature. We took a drive on the Park Loop, a 27 mile road offering incredible Atlantic Coastal views and a trip to the top of Cadillac Mountain itself. The view over Frenchman Bay from the north end of the park is spectacular, with 4 small weather-beaten islands of land dotted about the water. The cloud hovered over the ocean as the sun struggled to shine through, the white tips of the waves breaking as they hit the rocks of the islands sending spray high into the air. In addition to the beaches and the mountains, Acadia is also 20% Wetland, has more than 20 lakes and ponds and is covered in forest. You don’t get much more diverse than that!

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN/NC

Recently in the news for severe wildfires which completely destroyed the lodge we stayed in, this is the most visited National Park in the US and spans 2 States, Tennessee and North Carolina. The Smoky Mountains are part of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain which runs from Newfoundland in Canada through to central Alabama. We drove up to Clingman’s Dome, the highest point in the park at over 6500ft, offering incredible views of the Smokies – the blue hues of the mountain tops stretching for miles all around. The Appalachian Trail, described in hilarious detail by Bill Bryson in his book ‘A Walk in the Woods‘, crosses Clingman’s Dome, making it the highest point of the trail between Maine and Georgia. We actually went up twice – the first day was so foggy that you couldn’t really see further than your hand. The following morning we had another go, and wow, was it worth it! The greenery of the foreground gave way to blue as the moutains silhouetted against each other in the distance, peak after peak rising and falling, with the sun shining intermittently through the fluffy clouds that sped past in the high gusts of wind enveloping the top of the mountain, casting moving shadows over the mountains below. There are 12 endangered or threatened species of mammal, fish, insect and plant life that call this park home – it MUST be protected.

These are just 7 of the 58 National Parks in the USA, and we have been blown away by all of them – the diversity and beauty of America’s natural landscape is incredible and MUST be preserved. I haven’t even mentioned the National Monuments, Recreational Areas, Preserves and Forests that we have been fortunate enough to visit, and the National Park Service looks after each of these (I will just include photos here as I will write about them elsewhere, but they are all too beautiful to leave out!):

Golden Gate National Recreational Area, CA

Canyon de Chelly National Monument, AZ

Glen Canyon National Recreational Area, AZ/UT

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, MO

Martin Luther King Jnr National Historic Site, GA

Lincoln Home National Historic Site, IL

Cape Cod National Seashore, MA

Niagara Falls Heritage Area, NY

Statue of Liberty National Monument, NY

To finish on Lady Liberty is especially poignant at the moment. Her plaque reads:

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

This is the America I love. I can’t wait to visit more of these unique wonders of nature. I just hope that the current administration recognises their inherent value and doesn’t destroy them for profit. Here’s to many more years of unspoilt beauty!

Many thanks to the National Park Service for maintaining and preserving American history, nature and wildlife for future generations.

 

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Tags: America, American conservation, American history, National Park Service, National Parks, USA .

10 great reasons why a Route 66 Roadtrip is a fabulous idea!

Posted on February 12, 2014 by emmalouiseclarke Posted in Arizona, California, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Route 66, Texas .

When we decided to drive Route 66, we didn’t really know much about it – only that it was a long drive, and Billy Connolly had done it on TV (check out his DVD here). Having done it (and we would do it again!) we can see why people want to drive this iconic American road. So here are our 10 reasons why it’s so worth driving the whole of Route 66.

  1. It’s EPIC! The road spans 2451 miles (give or take) and crosses 8 States from Illinois in the Midwest to California on the Pacific coast.

 

2. It mostly skips the Interstate. Leave the monotony behind and venture out into lesser seen, small town America – the well trodden paths of the past. Sometimes, you find yourself in between the Interstate and Railroad being overtaken by trucks and trains whilst you sit back and cruise the open road!

 

3. You follow in the footsteps of American history. As westward expansion has taken place, thousands of people have trodden the path – from the Native Americans in the 1830s along the Trail of Tears when they were displaced from their lands, to the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s where families up and left their homes seeking a better life in golden California – the promised land of jobs and prosperity. From the road’s heyday in the 1950s and 60s where American families took to the road to holiday in the west, to the decline of the route (and a large proportion of the towns along the way) in the 1970s as the Interstate was born and people wanted a more direct route across America.

 

4. There are ghost towns! Along the way you find deserted towns that once thrived with travellers – now left as merely a reminder of the ‘good old days’.

 

5. There are thriving small towns too! Don’t worry – it’s not all death and decay of small town America. There are so many superb, friendly and vibrant places to stop and grab a coffee or a bite to eat. Small town America is in many ways the best of America! This picture is Darren and I in Winslow, AZ – a little town with an active population, small businesses and bit of tourism thrown in for good measure.

 

6. There are awesome diners all over the place! You don’t have to drive far to experience that most iconic of American ideas – the roadside diner. There are so many good ones along the route – trouble is you can’t stop at all of them for a coffee or it would take you a year to travel the road (plus the toilet stops would get incredibly tiresome after a while!). Our favourite diner was in Albuquerque – a proper 1950s affair complete with 1950s music and Route 66 memorabilia. The food was great too!

 

7. You meet fascinating people. There are so many people we met along the way who enriched our journey – there was Bob the Mayor of Pontiac, Gary and his wife Lena at their restored gas station in Missouri and Pete on the train to Santa Fe to name but a few. Each of them had great stories to tell of their lives that are so far removed from our own. The picture below is of me with Gary and Lena. They’re in their late 80s and are passionate about Route 66. Rather worryingly, Lena and I had matching shoes! You can check out their website here (and you may just spy some of our other photos from our visit with Gary there too!).

 

8. You get a taste of the diversity of America. This trip has it all. You have the metropolis of Chicago, the plains of the Ozarks through Missouri and Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, the joining Native American, Spanish and Western cultures of New Mexico, the deserts of Arizona and California and the beachfront city of Santa Monica. The sheer size of the country is staggering and each State is like a different country with different laws and landscape, culture and character. Travelling across the US from East to West is a constant journey of discovery.

 

9. There are so many quirky roadside attractions! From the Gemini Giant in Illinois to the Largest Rocking Chair in Missouri. From the Blue Whale of Catoosa in Oklahoma to the countless murals all along the route – there’s always something to make you jump out of the car for a break to gaze in wonder at the craziness of it all! This is a picture of the Largest Rocking chair – you can just about spot Darren at the bottom left!

 

10. It’s about the journey, not the destination. Yeah, I know it’s a cheesy line – but isn’t that the spirit of all the best road trips? Route 66 is made for road tripping – even though each day’s destination town is great in itself, the best bits are more often than not along the way. That little town. This coffee shop. That roadside attraction. This meal. It’s those moments that leave a lasting impression on you, those small surprises that you weren’t expecting, the people that you meet. It truly is the journey that makes travelling Route 66 from Chicago to LA the trip of a lifetime! I’m so glad we did it. Add it to your bucket list today!

A huge thanks go out to Complete North America who helped us arrange our trip, and featured this post on their website here.

You can buy Billy Connolly’s Route 66 DVD and check out our inspiration for the trip!

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Tags: Road trip, Road Trip USA, Route 66, USA .

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Recent Posts

  • America’s National Parks: An American Perk worth celebrating.
  • 48 hours in Boston.
  • New York Take 2: Lessons from the same place, at a different pace
  • 2 nights in New York: Seeing the sights when time is tight
  • There’s something about spring in New England

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