Home, sweet home!

Well, we're home. And its wonderful to be back.

Our parents picked us up from our hotel this morning around twelve. After lunch we headed on home. Its sad in a way, knowing that the trip is over. But along with the feeling of peace that comes with being home, we now feel a excitement for future trips that will undoubtedly happen ( I vote Great Britain for the next trip!)

Thank you guys for your suggestions, and for your excitement for the trip that we got to enjoy. We hope that you all enjoyed reading the blog half as much as we enjoyed writing it. So for last time, this is the Trio signing off.

-The Trio

P.S We're already thinking up names for the next trip.The Return Of The Blanton Trio, The Blanton Trio Strikes Back, The Revenge Of The Trio, and last but not least, The Blanton Trio Rides Again. 

All good things must come to a end...but not if there are storms over Atlanta

Yesterday we got up early, really early, except there was no Yosemite to console us this time, only a so so complementary breakfast with a waffle machine. I love those things. We drove the ten minutes to the airport and returned the rental car without any problems. It was hard to let go of the Jetta after more than two thousand miles. The Fresno airport is cute, but the security was more hard core than Atlanta, curious. But we all made it through with our effects.

Oh, and there were birds in the airport. INSIDE the airport, like right beside me.

Whew, things got crazy after that. We had  great flight into Denver, and a couple hour layover there.About thirty minutes before we boarded, we got a call from our parents saying that a tree had fallen and blocked our road, while taking a power line down. So, they couldn't come get us. They booked us a hotel near the airport and everything sounded fine and dandy. The first couple hours of the flight to Hotlanta were gravy, but pretty soon we started making lots of turns and banks... At this point the pilot can on the system and explained that due to storms over Atlanta, we would we landing in Birmingham, Alabama to refuel and wait.

Winston and I broke out the chess board in the Denver airport.

At this point it was two in the morning, and our nice flight that was supposed to get in around ten had turned into sooo much more. The airport in Birmingham was a small one, and pretty much every other airplane going to Atlanta was stopping there to wait, so it was packed. They did let us get off the plane for  a while while we waited. Except they called it 'deplaning'.But it was the sketchiest thing ever, they couldn't even get us to a gate, so they just opened up the door and put stairs under it. But it gets better, the door we had to go into the airport through a 'back door'. The security guard had to let about eight people in at once, then shut the door and re swipe his clearance card, because evidently the door 'wasn't a active door'.

Trying to catch a little sleep.

We took advantage of the Birmingham airport's power outlets.

After about an hour we re boarded the plane and took off, finishing up the trip to Atlanta in about twenty five minutes. Once we got to Atlanta and picked up our luggage we went in search of a taxi or a shuttle.Unfortunately, the shuttle to our hotel shut down at two, which was forever ago. And of course with everyone getting in the airport around the same time, the taxi line was twenty miles long, and quite nearly circled the entire city of Atlanta. As we where getting ready to get in line, a nice man told us that if we tipped one of the other hotel shuttles he would swing us by our hotel. So we did. A big fat tip later we where standing in our hotel room, at last.

Mom and Dad are going to try and pick us up pretty soon, before we have to check out of our hotel.

And so the adventure continues...

-The Trio

"The only thing that could make this better would be a crows nest. And complementary eye patches."

So, we have all fallen in love with San Fransisco.  For sure. Sunday night after some exploring we found an awesome Northern Italian restaurant called Kuletos, and had very tasty food. They have handmade pasta, bread and a menu that changes every few weeks using local ingredients. After that, we all got milk shakes and took them back to the hotel to enjoy. We all had a great nights sleep in our heavenly, soft, beds.

Monday morning after pulling our selves out of our beds, we headed down to the piers to check out sail boat tours. The pier area is very neat, and we enjoyed walking around before our tour. I wasn't to sure about the sail boat, I mean, how cool can a wind powered boat be? Well, to my surprise, it was incredible! By far one of my favorite things so far. The captain and first mate were very nice, and the trip itself was sweet. We went around Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate bridge, and all around the Bay. Plus, the first mate recruited Winston to help hoist the sail, which went well. We also got to sail along side the Oracle Racing Team as they get ready for the inaugural America’s Cup World Series event in Cascais, Portugal. The boats they were using in the bay were scaled down versions of what they'll use in the race as the full size boat will not fit under the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Oracle

Shelby found a hat with paws near the pier.

After the sailing tour, we headed to an old friends house in Sanford, just a little ways from San Fransisco. We have known Nicole for quite awhile, she's really more like family, but haven't seen her (or her family, for that matter) in about eight years. Needless to say, we had a blast hanging out with Nicole and her wonderful husband Hyatt. Their two little daughters were so precious and funny, I had a great time running around with them. We miss them all already!

They loved feeding me grass

After sadly leaving their house, we went back to our hotel, and decided to try out the original Swensons Ice Cream store, a place that had been highly recommended. So after relaxing a little bit we took of to find this place. We decided to take a cable car up to Swensens. It was soooo much fun. Ridiculously fun. But unfortunately when we found Swensens, it had already closed for the day. Then at the late, late hour, we found our sweet tooth transforming into a Thai tooth. So we found ourselves the Thai place recomended by many just around the corner from our hotel. One of those classic, in an alley, open to 1 am kind of places. 

Cable car!

Hanging off the cable car was awesome!

After eating our tasty Thai food we all went to sleep quickly and soundly. Sadly for the last time in San Fransisco.

This morning we left San Fransisco, and hopped on Highway 1. It was so awesome cruising along the coast with cliffs on our left and the ocean on our right. We drove on it for quite awhile, taking in the beautful day. After leaving Highway 1 we made the rest of the journey to Fresno in a couple of hours. Its funny, that seems like nothing now. Fresno is a nice town, not to big and not too small. 

The views from Highway 1.

 Its almost over, but it feels like we have hardly started. Tomorrow we head to the airport in Fresno, and fly home. We'll probably do one more post sometime tomorrow, but in all, sad reality this is the last interesting day of our trip.

-The Trio

“Wow, Justin Beiber’s voice has gotten deeper” ‘Winston, this is Adele’.

Saturday, June 11th, 2011

Today, we woke up horribly early, around five. What would drive us to such madness? Pretty much the only thing that could get me out of bed that early is Yosemite itself. Or maybe a hot country ham biscuit breakfast, when the redeye gravy is just right... But today country ham was not a option, so we went for Yosemite. Unfortunately, the road we wanted to take was, in the words of a local guy ‘shut up, shut up tighter than a door nail’,Because of snow. So we had to take a longer route, but it all worked out. We arrived at the Yosemite entrance around eleven, and made straight for Yosemite Valley. On the way to the Valley we got to stare at Half Dome and El Capitan, as well as the many water falls in Yosemite.

Falls!

El Cap

 If I had to pick one word to describe Yosemite, it would probably be something like ‘terrifying’. But in a ‘I want to see more’ kind of way. We meandered around the Valley for awhile, sort of accidentally, its surprisingly hard to navigate down there. But we figured it out and decided to head to Mariposa Grove, the home of over five hundred Giant Sequoias ( not to mention the countless regular sequoias, and the redwoods). On our way to Mariposa we stopped to take pictures at the famous Tunnel View. But back to sequoias. A sequoia isn't considered ‘Giant’ until its over eight hundred years old. Eight. Hundred.Years. Old. Thats waaaay older than our country. Sequoias even have there own ecosystems. Other plants and animals grow and live there entire lives within one giant. Thats incredible. If you can’t tell by now, I’m infatuated with these trees. There is something...how would I put it...Entish about the trees, and I think that is why I like them. Anyways,we ended up having to take one of Yosemite's free buses to the actual Grove. I think the biggest sequoia that we saw was  the Grizzly Giant ( I think Treebeard would be better). It was breath taking to look up and barely be able to see the tops of the sequoias.We spent a couple hours walking around and gaping at the trees. I could have spent an entire day, no,week in the grove. But alas, we had to start making our way back out of the park. Mariposa Grove has been the highlight of the trip for me.

Tunnel View

One thing that I keep thinking is how cool it would have been to be John Muir, exploring Yosemite before it was known to many other people. How awesome it would have been.

On the way out of Yosemite, Winston saw some guys climbing El Capitan. We all agreed that to attempt such a thing requires serious guts. 

After a awesome day in Yosemite, we sadly left the park. Sad, but knowing that we had seen a lot in the time we had. After eating a tasty dinner, we headed to our campsite, Moccasin Point, right off of Don Pedro Lake. There we met perhaps the nicest man we have seen since leaving the south, he was working at the entrance to Moccasin Point checking people into the campsite. He was very helpful and hospitable, and he gave a perfect little campsite near the bath rooms and showers, but not too near.We all talked about how people out here just aren’t as hospitable as back home in the south, but this man pleasantly proved us wrong.This will be our last night camping! In a way it’s sad, but we are all excited for the next few days.

Sunday June 12th, 2011

Today left our campsite and made the drive to San Francisco. It was a nice drive, and we saw lots of orchards,oranges I think, and vineyards. I must say, from the little we have seen so far, San Francisco is very neat. We just checked into our hotel, Hotel Union Square, and it is AMAZING. I knew it was going to be cool when we walked in and they had one of the Thin Man movies playing in the lobby. We are getting ready to leave and go explore the city, and scope out good places for dinner! 

-The Trio

“Did he just say hawes?!” ‘He's Johnny Cash, he can do what he wants.’

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

Today we got up early, and hit the road. We drove south, and left Yellowstone through the South Gate. No sooner had we left Yellowstone, when we entered Grand Teton National Park. There we saw some of the largest mountains so far. It started snowing at a pretty good rate, and we all got a little nervous. But fortunately, nothing stuck on the roads. We made it to Jackson Hole Wyoming for breakfast. Well, sort of a breakfasty brunch lunch. I had nachos.

Snowy Jackson Hole

We set out from Jackson Hole and drove like mad. We went from Wyoming to Idaho to Utah, back to Wyoming, back to Utah, back to Wyoming, back to Utah etc. The makers of the road obviously couldn't decide which state they liked better. We drove through Salt Lake City, which was pretty cool. Somewhere near Salt Lake City we saw the Morton Salt plant, with piles of salt the size of small mountains. 

Mountains of Nevada

Salt flats!

A little further down the road we discovered that we where actually looking at some of the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah, and it was incredible. Winston and I had to talk Shelby out of  taking the Bonneville Speedway exit,  she wanted to ‘see how fast this baby will go’. The Jetta wasn't meant for that sort of thing. The Salt Flats were really cool, so barren.We could see the curvature of the earth, and in the far distance mountains that looked like they were floating because of some strange trick of the eye. Very neat. 

We truly where in the desert, with no other life forms for miles. But still, on the horizon we could see mountain ranges. It felt like we had stumbled into an old school western. I half expected John Wayne to ride up beside us on a horse. 

But ,there was no rest for the weary, and we drove on. After too much Lady Gaga, I took over the DJ position and played some proper music, Johnny Cash, Rolling Stones, Mumford & Sons. If ears had taste-buds, this would be comfort food. Finally making it to Nevada, we stopped in a town called Ely. Not being brave (crazy) enough to try the advertised “biker friendly” Prospector Hotel and Casino, we played it safe and spent the night in a little Motel 6. It was nice to sleep in a bed, and get a hot shower. The bad part was having to pay three stinkin dollars for internet. I wonder if the Prospector had free wifi.

Friday June 10th, 2011

We woke up this morning and left our Motel 6, and after several hours of driving  through the desert we made it to our camp site in Inyo National Forest, at June Lake. Its a very cool little area, and the weather was the best it has been. We decided to capitalize on the great weather by seting up the hammock and reading at the beach on June Lake. Tomorrow....YOSEMITE.

We couldn't resist.

Our awesome campsite at June Lake

We're takin pics in-yo national forest!

P.S Oh Lord help me, Winston and Shelby are singing Lady Gaga. Who are these people.

P.P.S We just passed a ‘Dust Hazard’ road sign. And a sizable lizard just ran across the road. Yeah, we’re in the desert.

P.P.P.S I’m writing most of this from the my mobile corporate office. A.K.A the blue Jetta passenger seat. Thank goodness I don’t get car sick.

-The Trio

“That petrified tree is not nearly as epic as I anticipated.”

Tuesday June 7th, 2011

When we last posted, those of you who are keeping up with us, we had used a laundromat's surprisingly fast free internet. We are now on our way to Jackson Hole Wyoming by way of Grand Teton National Park. But a lot happened in between.

We left the laundromat and did some exploring in West Yellowstone, there are quite a few gift shops and cool little stores. We also stopped by Bob Jacklin's fly shop, a very neat place in its own right. If you know anything about fly fishing in the US, you probably have heard of Bob Jacklin, he’s a pretty big deal around here. The cool part is that several years back, my grandparents took me fishing with him. So we popped in to see if we was there, sadly he was not in at the moment. So, to my disappointment, we didn’t get to see him. After the fly shop, we decided to go ahead and eat in West Yellowstone. We found a good little restaurant who’s name escapes all of us, but we all left satisfied and full.

After our West Yellowstone excursion, we ventured back into the park and stopped to check out Gibbon Falls, which was beautiful. We also visited Artists Point, which affords a gorgeous view of the Lower Falls and Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was truly awe-inspiring. 

Gibbon Falls

Artist's Point

After scrapping our jaws of the ground, we made for Canyon Village to scope out showers. On the way we spotted a grizzly bear chilling out, and probably basking in the glow of the dozens of camera flashes that were going off. At Canyon we did find showers, and nice ones at that. Being clean feels so good. We all relished it. After our agreeable hot showers, Winston and I wolfed down a little ice cream at the Canyon Village Deli. We then retired to our campsite, and slept well. Oh, and some where in there we stopped by a petrified tree that wasn’t nearly was exciting as I made it up to be.

Wednesday June 8th, 2011

We slept in Wednesday morning, and that felt good. Today was the day we would venture into the northern part of Yellowstone, the part that holds Mammoth Hot Springs. The drive up to Mammoth was pretty long, and filled with many bison and elk.

Some of the Hot Springs

Unfortunately, the clouds decided to opened up when we arrived at the Hot Springs, so we didn’t attempt the walk that lets you get close to the Springs.We did however glimpse them from afar. A bit down the road, when it had stopped raining, we found a little trail that looked promising. So, we took off down the trail. We hadn’t gone far when we stumbled upon four sizable elk(s?) They obviously weren't afraid of us, and we actually had to go off the trail around them. After hiking a little bit, we back tracked to the car and set off for Gardiner, Montana in search of lunch. 

Hiking!

The trail blocking elk.

We left Yellowstone through the North Gate, and found a nice restaurant serving fried chicken, all three of us capitalized on that. Tasty. We also found a grocery store in Gardiner, we commandeered a bag of marshmallows for roasting later (okay, we paid for them, but commandeered is such a fun word, I just couldn’t resist).

Reentering Yellowstone

After the grocery store trip, we reentered Yellowstone, and took an amazing happy birthday picture for a certain Richard Fish.

We decided to drive back to Bridge Bay by way of Tower-Roosevelt, so as to see as much of the park as we could. Sure enough, on our way through Dunraven Pass we saw the most snow I think we have ever seen. It was at least twelve feet at the side of the road. For a North Carolina boy, thats North Poleish. The thing that is so incredible out here is the elevation. It plays a huge part in temperature and snow accumulation. Down in West Yellowstone ( a much lower elevation) there was hardly any snow, but up at Dunraven Pass, they have twelve feet of the stuff. We just don’t have the assortment of elevations back home.

We made one last stop at the Fishing Bridge General Store for some cool stickers. Then we moseyed on back to camp and coxed a modest fire out of the soaping wet ground. We hurried up and roasted marshmallows before our fire went out. Then, for the last time, we laid out heads on Yellowstone National Park (only figuratively, we actually laid our heads on pillows).

I have no patience for this sort of thing.

-The Trio

Seventy five to snow...

Some of our Walmart plunder.
This photo is dedicated to Emily Fish

Well, here we are. I’m writing this in the toasty warmth of our rental Jetta. We’re heading toward the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  And its snowing.Perhaps I should back up a bit. Sunday June 5 we flew out of Hotlanta, had a short layover in Chicago and then arrived in Bozeman, Montana around ten. The flights went smoothly, except for a minor delay in Atlanta because ‘they were waiting for the brakes to cool down’. Sketchy. But everything went well, and we spent Sunday in a hotel in Bozeman. The hotel was just an average Days Inn, but they had a cheery man serving hot breakfast to those above the age of eighteen, but the sweet lady at the check in counter took one look at Winston and I and said we looked like we could eat. And eat we did. After a brief raid on the local Walmart  for provisions, set off on the two hour drive for Yellowstone.The drive was beautiful, the weather perfect at seventy five degrees. The terrain was just so different than anything we had ever seen before. We were in Yellowstone before we knew it.

The drive from Bozeman to Yellowstone.

We had been in Yellowstone for all of fifteen minutes before seeing bison. They were just lazily taking a stroll on the road. I got a bit worried for the man on a motorcycle in front of us. Bison are so cool. Its hard to think that not that long ago they were all over the US, but now they have retreated to a few parks. Sad, but apparently they are doing well in Yellowstone, they’re as thick as fleas here.

BISON!

One of the things that have blown me away have been the rivers. Yellowstone's rivers are numerous and large. I have kicked myself about a hundred times for not bringing my fly rod. Oh well, I don’t think we will have time anyway, what with so many other attractions.

We decided that before heading to our camp site at Bridge Bay, we should see the famous Old Faithful geyser. Old Faithful was sure enough faithful, and after several teases of steam and short water bursts, she gave off a huge eruption. It was incredible. Nothing like that back home. After good Ol' Faithful, we drove the rest of the way into Bridge Bay. Camp was set up in short order, thanks to the trusty Fulghum tent. It was mutually decided that a hot meal would go well, so we grabbed burgers and fries at the Fishing Bridge restaurant.

Old Faithful.

Because of the time change, we were all wiped out. We climbed into our cozy sleeping bags around eight and knew no more.

Winston in our campsite, which had just enough snow free space for a tent.

Until this morning. We awoke to find two inches of fresh snow scatter about, and the temperature hovering in the thirties. It is truly amazing how fast the weather changes. We are now headed up to Canyon to see what we can see in the gloomy weather. I say gloomy, but even the gloomy weather here is majestic. Already this morning we have seen a bear, from pretty far away. We couldn’t tell if it was black or grizzly. And several elk, a osprey and a bald eagle. And of course....bison.`

So, in short, we are healthy and happy. A bit cold, but happy. Sadly however, Winston has had a major casualty. His copy of Lord of the Rings sustained some water damage last night. A grievous wound, but he is of a doughty sort.

P.S Annnd this post was made from a lovely laundry mat that has free wifi. Score.

-The Trio