Our visit into Yosemite National Park was brief.  So too, was my last visit in 2008.  I swear I'll do this park justice someday.

We camped at June Lake and then drove into Lee Vining, CA for some breakfast and a quick peek at Mono Lake which also is in this area.…

After our morning swim and coffee at Lake Powell, we hit the road again for a long day of driving.  This day's goal was June Lake, California.  Yes, some may think we're crazy, but we had places to be. ;-) 

Here are some samples of what we saw along the way.…

After we left Antelope Canyon, we drove the short distance over to Lake Powell, and more specifically, Wahweap Marina.  ARAMARK is the concessionaire here and employs a large number of people to operate their hotel, their campground, their boat rental and maintenance operations, their lake tours, and food and…

I looked into visiting this slot canyon based on a photograph I saw on Facebook taken by My CoolWorks member, Keith Larson.  I'm so glad I saw that photo and we did this tour.  Antelope Canyon is located outside of Page, Arizona and is managed by the Navajo Nation.  We took the Antelope…

We left Mesa Verde National Park on Thursday, August 9th after a quick stop in the Far View Visitor Center to see Ranger Rich.  If you want to see this cool / 1960s visitor center, get there soon.  A new visitor center is being built right now and will open this fall.…

I'll definitely add more photographs later of Jellystone and Grand Tetons, but I did want to share photos of the long time Cool Workers I met finally.

Reggie and Kari outside the Mammoth EDR (Xanterra)

Kari and Brenda at Jackson…

After our Balcony House tour and subsequent chill out time, we then went down the mesa to the ARAMARK compound near the entrance to the park.  ARAMARK operates the food and lodging concessions in Mesa Verde National Park.  They have about 225 staff members who do jobs from barista, server, cooks, and gift shop staff, to front desk, housekeeping at the…

After we walked the Petroglyph Trail and had some lunch at the cafeteria, we drove over to the Cliff Palace Viewpoint and then did the Balcony House tour. 

Cliff Palace…

I've been home for two days after a wonderful, but whirlwind, road trip with my boyfriend throughout the west.  I'll certainly share more of my photographs once I get them processed, but I thought I'd start with some posts about my visit to see Ranger Rich / Aggie and the ARAMARK staff at Mesa Verde National Park.  We had an awesome…

It's fun to scheme and dream. The map below shows the route my boyfriend and I will take for a road this August including a visit to the Cool Works Web Shack, a drive through Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks, a Cool Works Meetup at Mesa Verde National Park with Aggie, Lake Powell (Wahweap) / Antelope Canyon, Zion, Mono Lake, Yosemite National Park, and finishing in the Bay Area for a wedding before the long drive north back to Bellingham.  I hope to see some Cool Workers along the…

Death Valley National Park

After we finished the Scotty's Castle tour, and got some goodies at the visitor center and begun our descent down the valley towards Stovepipe Wells.  This is really where you get the full sense of the valley with the two mountain ranges on the east and west sides.…

Valley of Fire State Park

It's Nevada's first state park which was dedicated in 1935 and it became a National Natural Landmark under the NPS in 1968.  It covers an area of 34,880 acres and is located 50 miles northwest of Las Vegas.  It's an easy day trip.  I would recommend bringing a picnic and…

Some time in December, I was researching travel deals to Las Vegas and got a flight / hotel combination including round-trip airfare directly from Bellingham that my boyfriend and I couldn't refuse.  Having been to Las Vegas before, I know that it's a fun town with lots of great entertainment, but gambling is not my thing.  So, we opted to balance our time staying in the city at night and getting out to the wilderness during the day. 

Here's our quick itinerary:

• January 1…

I just celebrated another birthday. Yay me. And, rather than a big party in the city, I went camping with O at Mineral Park Campground up Cascade River Road. It was perfect. Here are a few of my favorite…

Last week, a cousin of mine from Germany was visiting and one of her sightseeing requests was to see the ocean again.  The Pacific, that is.  So, we hopped in the Mini and hit the road and ventured out to the Olympic Peninsula.  Here's a summary of our day with some pics.  We lucked out on the weather, and frankly, the roads on the O.P. suit a Mini just fine. :)

Edmonds Ferry…