sandr086

Breakfast in Hollister Hollister Hog Rally During the fourth of July of 2014, I flew from JFK to San Francisco International Airport direct via Jet Blue to spend the weekend in Pinnacles National Park and Big Sur . I arrived in San Francisco late Friday night and spent the night at my friend's apartment in the Dogpatch neighborhood in the city. On Saturday morning, we woke up early and drove approximately two hours to Pinnacles National Park , currently our nation's newest national parks . The drive to Pinnacles is nothing special. The most exciting part was stoping at a diner in Hollister for lunch. Interestingly there are two Hollisters in California, and the one we stopped at is not the one known for surfing. It is known, however, for a Fourth of July hog rally (which we did not participate in).  Heat warning in Pinnacles After stopping for lunch, we arrived in Pinnacles and were greeted by a number of signs warning us of the dangers of heat stroke. Undeterred, we...

ZION NATIONAL PARK : PLANNED ITINERARY DAY ONE     Fly to Las Vegas and then drive to Springdale, Utah (approximately three hours). Spend the afternoon hiking in Zion National Park .   (Fun fact - Utah has five national parks, but Zion was its first.) Spend the night at the La Quinta Inn in Springdale . DAY TWO Drive two hours to Bryce Canyon National Park . Do a half day horseback riding tour of Bryce Canyon . Have dinner at the Bryce Canyon National Park Lodge . DAY THREE Go on an ATV tour near Zion National Park . ZION NATIONAL PARK : ACTUAL ITINERARY   DAY ONE Fly to Las Vegas and drive to Springdale, Utah . Arrive in the late afternoon, check into the La Quinta , and spend the evening relaxing.  Springdale is a great town. It is very small, but very cute with a number of restaurants and art galleries. So far, on this adventure to see all of the national parks, Moab and Springdale are my favorite national park towns. Interestingly, St. George, Uta...

Labor Day of 2014 took me to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Getting to Arches and Canyonlands is easy from New York; we hopped a direct flight from JFK to Salt Lake City on Jet Blue . ( Salt Lake City is about a 3.5 hour drive from Arches National Park .) We arrived in Salt Lake City close to midnight and drove about a half hour to Park City where we spent the night at the Hyatt Escala Lodge . We got a great deal with Priceline Name Your Own Price ; the resort did not disappoint. Our room was huge and gorgeous with multiple fireplaces. We easily could have fit more than just the two of us in there. (The only downside to staying at the Hyatt Escala Lodge in the off season is that there is no room service. I also regret not bringing my dog; the Hyatt Escala Lodge is dog-friendly.) Park City, Utah We spent the first morning of our trip enjoying our luxurious room at the Hyatt Escala Lodge and seeing the beauty that is Park City . The real highlight of the day was visi...

I have years of national park visits to write about. I thought about putting them in order of how much I liked them, but then I decided reverse chronological order was easiest since choosing a favorite national park is difficult! Read on to learn about my last national park trip to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park near Montrose, Colorado . Getting to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park  is no easy feat from New York. The closest major airport is in Montrose , but there are no direct flights from New York. Friends of ours flew from New York to Dallas to Montrose . Our trip was mainly based in Telluride, Colorado , with only a day trip to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park . Since Telluride is roughly equidistant between Montrose and Durango, Colorado , we flew into Durango (via Denver). Our flight into Durango got in late so we spent the night in Durango then drove to Telluride the next morning. A couple of tips if you also fly into Durango . First, D...

Love Nature, Hate Camping: A Manhattanite's Quest To Visit All 59 National Parks I'm a 31 year old woman living in Manhattan. Sadly, because of where I live, nature isn't a big part of my daily life (drinks at the Boat Basin , bike riding in Central Park, and tanning at the Jersey Shore don't really count as bouts with nature, as fun as they are...). Despite the lack of nature in my normal life, in fall of 2011, I found myself in Rocky Mountain National Park , celebrating my 28th birthday with one of my closest friends from college and one of my closest friends from high school. During a long hike, I mentioned that I love visiting national parks and that I wish I had visited more while I lived in Los Angeles since so many are more accessible to West Coasters. This lead to a conversation about how many I had visited at that point. The answer was 12 ( Acadia , Glacier Bay , Grand Canyon , Grand Teton , Great Sand Dunes , Haleakala , Joshua Tree , Kings Canyon , Mesa Ver...