Santa Maria

Yesterday morning (6/18), we woke up in our hotel room knowing that we were headed out of Ridgecrest.  The van was fixed and ready to hit the road.  We had some hotel breakfast and punched in the 4 hour drive to Santa Maria into our navigation.  We were on our way to visit our Aunt and Uncle and their kids.  I was looking forward to this stop very much!

Our drive started out with a lot of white smoke still.  The guy that worked on the van said that it might continue to smoke for a bit, but should stop after driving for a bit.  We drove for about 5 miles with smoke still coming and then the engine back fired.  This was a little unsettling.  We continued on and the van eventually stopped smoking! Woohoo!

We had a really nice and relaxing drive to the coast.  We decided to take highways instead of the freeway.  It was more scenic and we had less traffic to deal with too.  Brad was a lot less stressed out than he had been which made me so happy.

We arrived in Santa Maria around noon and made it to our family's home.  We were greeted by our loving family and their hugs were just what we needed!

After unloading our stuff, we decided it was lunch time and the only option for lunch was In N Out Burger.  Brad had NEVER had an In N Out Burger so we definitely needed to get him one asap.  We ordered our meals and enjoy our amazing lunch with our family.

We returned home and relaxed for awhile.  We watched the CWS and drank some beer with our Uncle Tim.  This was just what we needed.  After watching UC Irvine lose :(, we got into the hot tub.  We enjoyed more beer and catching up with our family.

We ended the evening by watching 21 Jump Street and snuggling up on the couch.  This relaxing night was just what we needed!

We are very happy to be here in Santa Maria and we will be here for the next few days.  We have a lot of plans including taking Brad to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time!!!

XoXo- Chelsea

Death Valley = Vanagon Death

Sorry for not posting last night, but yesterday 6/16 might have been one of the worst days of my life!

It started out great.  We woke up in Zion and got ready to leave and head to Death Valley.  Our plan was to drive all the way to Death Valley to camp over night and to leave early the next morning to go to Sequoia National Park.  This did not happen.

The drive from Zion to Death Valley was only about 4 hours and we were enjoying our drive SO much.  We had a stellar playlist going, I didn't fall asleep, and we just had a happy disposition.  Who would have thought that the day from hell was in front of us.

We entered the park and found our way to the visitor's center.  We walked in and we should have knew something was not right when they did not have the white oval National Parks stickers we had been collecting at each park.  We were bummed and bought a stupid, weird, not matching sticker for the park.  Mistake #1.

We then looked at the map and saw that there was not too much that we really wanted to do.  This was disappointing, but what do you expect being in a place that is 110 degrees.  Lame...  We saw that there was a point in the park that was the lowest elevation in all of North America.  Kind of cool.  We decided to drive down there, snap a few photos and get the heck out of there.  Mistake #2  It was only 15 miles and not a hard drive.  As we reached the parking lot, Brad noticed white smoke coming from the van.  GREAT!!!!!   We are in the spot that holds the record for the hottest place in the WORLD and our car is producing white smoke.  Needless to say, we freaked.  Brad assumed that the van was just over heating and that we just needed to give it a break.  He checked everything out and he noticed a small oil leak.  Even better.  We were there for about 20 minutes checking the car, not smiling and taking pictures like the rest of the freakin tourists.  We then got back in the van, said a little prayer and headed back up to a gas station.  We made it up the hill, but left one of our friends lying at the lowest elevation in the world.  We like to call him Brad's Iphone.  He dropped it while working on the car and did not realize it.  Mistake #3

We pulled into the gas station and Brad was so appalled at the fact that gas was $6.58 a gallon that he reached for his Iphone to snap a picture.  No phone.  We ripped that van apart and did not find it.  There was no way that we could have drove back down there in the heat of the day after already doing it once and failing at it.  We returned to the visitor's center.  Brad went in and filled out a lost and found slip while I sat in the car.  We were both feeling pretty miserable.  Brad ran into a couple that was heading down to the lowest point to do fun tourist things and Brad asked them to look for his cellphone.  They said they would and so we waited in the visitor's center.  And waited.  And waited.  We waited in the visitor's center for 2 hours.  We were both so on edge that we did not speak.  The only good thing about this was that there was air conditioning.  While people watching, I became even more mad watching  the grumpy old man that ran the gift shop.  He was being rude to people and was just down right miserable, maybe more than I was.  This made me feel really bad for him and put me in an even worse mood.

After watching Brad pace and fidget for 2 hours, the couple came back with Brad's phone!  Woohoo!!  Trip saved!!! NOT

Brad thanked them profusely and then we headed to the van.  We looked on the map to find the campsite that we planned to stay at.  At this point we just wanted to pop the top, have a beer, and sleep.

We started driving.  We had no service on our phones, but we had our map.  We followed the roads we needed to.  We then were driving and driving and did not see the camp ground.  So, we kept driving and realized that we had gone WAY past it.  There was no signage NOTHING!  We did not even see anyone camping.  This was frustrating.  So we looked at the map and found another camp ground that we could make it to.  We continued to drive, but this time up mountain passes.  This was terrible.  The car was not running great, we had some white smoke still and we were just chugging up mountains.  Before we knew it, we were several miles past the campsite.  We could not believe this!  Again, no signs and no one around.  We stopped the car.

We decided that we just needed to get the heck out of that park.  It was cursed.  Nothing but trouble.  We looked at the map, which at this point meant nothing to us, and saw that there was a town right outside of the park that said it had gas and lodging.  We had just enough gas to get us out, so we did- fast.  Worrying about the gas, the smoke, and now freakin SAND STORMS.  It was almost impossible to see anything.  We honestly could not believe it.  We could only see about 15 feet in front of us and the sun was totally blocked from view.  The very high winds mixed with sand were ridiculous and so hard to drive in.  We kept going.

We still had no cell service and the sun was starting to set.  We drove along a deserted desert highway like the ones you see in movies.  We did not see any cars for miles and miles.  We stopped for a minute and put our back up supply of gas in the car.  Not long after that, we passed a ghost town that was a little unsettling.  We kept going thinking that we just had to make it to Trona.  The magical city of Trona that would be the place where our luck would turn around.  We could see the city coming up and we were optimistic- Mistake #4

Trona was an extremely small and rundown town.  We pulled off at a gas station to purchase oil and gas.  We decided after looking at the town, that we would drive 25 more miles to get to the city of Ridgecrest.  We finally had cell service and could see that Ridgecrest was WAY WAY nicer than Trona.  We started the van and then...  As Brad pushed on the gas, the van bucked and hesitated to accelerate.  Tons of white smoke now came out and we could not get any father that about a block.  At this point, we admitted defeat.  We called AAA.

We called for a tow truck and were told that it would be 2 hours before someone got there to tow us.  Sure enough, it took them 2 hours to get to us.  We were stuck in a dark, rundown town for two hours.  This was the point that we realized that we had not eaten lunch or dinner.  At this point, we were to mad/worried/exhausted to eat.  We waited and waited and the tow finally came.  We watched our home get lifted onto the flatbed.  We had the tow driver take us and the van to Ridgecrest.  We knew there was several repair shops and several hotels.  Luckily, the tow driver was very nice and sociable.  We dropped the van off at the shop and then got ourselves dropped off at an EconoLodge.  It was midnight by this point.

We walked into our room and looked at each other both feeling so defeated.  We had a granola bar and went to sleep.


We woke up this morning (6/17) and Brad called the shop that we thought would work on our car.  They were booked five days out.  Brad then had to walk to six different shops just to be told that they would not work on the van because it was a German car.  He finally found a shop and the man said he had time to look at it.  Then we waited.

We finally got news on the van around 3:30 that he had figured it out and thought it was good to go.  He said it was the transmission fluid.  Luckily, it did not cost us much, but we still wish it could have been avoided.  We decided that it probably was not a good idea to go to Death Valley and we plan on staying far away from it no matter what vehicle we are in.

We are leaving Ridgecrest and heading straight to our aunt and uncle's house in Santa Maria.  Unfortunately, we had to skip our two day trip to Sequoia National Park.  We plan on visiting the park sometime in the near future though.

We will keep everyone update on our travels tomorrow to Santa Maria.

<3 Chelsea

    

     

Day 3 in Zion. Last day in Zion 6/15

Today was a memorable day in Zion.  Brad and I woke up very early in hopes of having light traffic and cool weather conditions for our hike up to Angel's Landing. The alarm was set for 5:50am and we got up (slowly) and got ready for our big day.  We ate a quick breakfast and then headed down to the shuttle. The shuttle was close to empty which made us feel confident that there would not be a lot of people climbing at 7:00am. We got off at our stop, did some stretching because we were sore from yesterday's hike and then went on our way. The trail was nice and paved for a little bit but was up hill.  It took a very long time for our leg muscles to warm up. We kept going up and took several leg breaks on the way up. This was super easy compared to what came next. Switch backs. The winding switch back were so steep that you could almost hear our calf muscles screaming at us. We climbed and climbed and climbed some more. We took some water breaks along the way and enjoyed the morning breeze we were getting on the shaded trail.

We then hit a canyon. This was such a nice break from the several stories of switch backs we had just climbed. It was nice and level with very few hills.  We then hit MORE switch backs. These were quite the challenge. They were even steeper than the first and looked like hell. It was set up like a staircase and we took them about three at a time. This was brutal. It was about 20 stories up. When we hit the top of these switch backs, we were grateful to know that we had no more to do. 

Now came the rock climbing.  At this point there were several people who had stopped and would not contiue. This was a motivator for me. We were climbing up areas just as steep as the previous switch backs, but had to climb and maneuver up the slick rock. I had never done anything like this before, let alone a thousand feet above the canyon floor. It was honestly the most terrifying thing I have ever done. We kept climbing and climbing. This was extremely strenuous on not only our legs but our arms as well. There were several narrow areas that one wrong step could have sent you rolling down to your death.  The cliffs were sheer and narrow.  Thank god for the chains that they put up there. At a few points there were thousand foot drop offs to both your left and your right.  Just thinking about it again blows my mind. We continued to climb and I thought that I would never make it to the top. It just kept going and going.  Finally, we hit a flat, wider space of rock and walked to our end point.

The view was spectacular. The second we hit the Angel's Landing, all of the struggle and hard work paid off. We found a spot and sat in silence as we took in the amazing view that we worked so hard to get. I felt an astonishing sense of accomplishment that I have only felt a few times prior. For hiking my first time only a few days ago, I really was proud. 

We had a snack and then headed back down after getting our fill of the beauty before us.  We had just enough time to let our legs rest and we were ready to head back down. Going down was a little easier, but still a hard task. Instead of looking up, you were now looking down at the far away canyon floor. We took it nice and slow all the way down the rocks. We then hit the switch backs again and felt a different kind of pain going down them. We slowly cruised the switch backs and eventually made it to the end. We congratulated eachother and took a well deserved selfie at the very end :) A  very difficult 5 mile total hike that I never thought I could have done. I know I could not have done it with my amazing partner <3

We caught a shuttle back down the canyon to the visitors center. We then realize how freakin tired we really were.  We walked back to our campsite and sat down for a bit. We then decided that it was time for a much needed shower. We were both very excited!!! We walked back down past the visitors center to a shop that had showers.  5 bucks for 5 minutes!!!  Crazy expensive. We didn't care though.  We took our showers which made us feel so great and then went to a little brew pub right next to the shop. They did not brew on site, but just down the road. We enjoyed great beers, great food, and great air conditioning. It was a nice relaxing time for us. 

We walked back to camp sore and tired. We took a nap in the van and then read some of our books.  We were so full from lunch still that we had a snack at dinner time and then I beat Brad in phase ten for the third time since we have been gone. :)

What a memorable day in Zion that I know I will never forget. 

Happy Father's Day Daddy and Val!  Love you both !!!

Chelsea

         

Zion day 2. 6/14/14

Today was our second day in Zion. We woke up a little later than unsual this morning and loved the cool morning air. We had cereal for breakfast and just relaxed.  We got ourselves ready and walked down to the shuttle to head up to the trail head for the Hidden Canyon.

Hidden Canyon was a 1.5 mile hike up a steep cliff. There were several switch backs going up and we worked our butts off to make it to the top. We took frequent breaks and drank our water on the way up. Most of the trip up was not difficult, just steep.  Once we got to the top, we had to walk along the edges of the cliffs.  Scary.  Let's just say I did not look down often. When I did look down it was gorgeous though!  We kept hiking (carefully) and eventually made it to the canyon. The canyon was about a half a mile walk with huge bolders and lots of sand.  Along the canyon we met two owls. One came swooping towards us at about waist level and did not look like it was going to stop. About two feet away from us, the owl decided to fly straight up  into a tree.  It was so pretty.  We hiked a little farther and then found the other owl. He was sitting in a tree right at eye level and was very calm and tired. We stared at him for a while and appreciated his beauty. We continued to hike until we hit the end of the canyon. There was a sign telling us that we could not go any further due to the sensitive wildlife after that point. We were disappointed that we could not continue but we turned around and headed back. We hiked back down and about mid way we found a shady spot and ate our sandwiches that we had packed. The rest of the way down was not bad at all. This hike definitely prepared us for the big hike tomorrow morning. 

We got back on the shuttle and headed to the lodge where Brad bought me some icecream :) we then headed back down to the visitors center and had to stop for ice. We got our bags of ice and then headed to camp. We were pretty tired from the three hour hike we had done. We got to camp and I took a quick nap while Brad enjoyed some quiet time and a few beers. We then made some dinner and enjoyed the beautiful breeze we had this evening. It was a relaxing night and a fun one. 

Another great day in Zion. Tomorrow is a big day for us (mostly me).  Angels landing!!!

These phone pics are not the best, but they will do for now! 

Zion Day 1 6/13/14

Hello!
This morning we packed up super early at our Horse Thief campsite in hopes of getting to Zion early enough to get a camping spot.  We very quietly got ready and hit the road at 4:00 AM.  We were both groggy from the early wake up call, but we knew we had to get to Zion early if we had any chance of getting a spot.  Brad drove the whole way and let me sleep because he is a gentleman and an amazing husband.  He had a rough morning of driving with several mountain passes and very high winds.  He got us to Zion in one piece :)

As we entered Zion, we made our way to the South Camp Grounds to try and look for a first come first serve spot.  We hoped we could find one with it being the start of a weekend.  We pulled into a jam packed campsite.  Seriously, the campsites are about 20 yards away from each other.  We had just left a campsite where I could not even throw a baseball and hit the next site to us.  We saw tons of vehicles and tents.  We drove through the whole campsite about three times and then it happened.  We found a spot!!!  It was one of the maybe three left. We were so relieved and happy that we did not hit the road that early for nothing.  We pulled in and set up.  We had some lunch and decided to head to the visitors center.

At the visitors center, we planned out the hikes we would be doing while in Zion.  We decided to do the easy stuff today, the moderate tomorrow and the crazy on Sunday.  So today was The Weeping Rock and the River Walk.  Saturday will be the Emerald Pools and the Hidden Canyon.  Sunday... Sunday will be the day that we will hike up Angels Landing.  Google it if you have the time.  I do not want to give too much info about it just yet, but it will be crazy.

At the visitors center, we caught the shuttle bus that takes everyone up into the Zion Canyon.  We stopped at the trail head for the Weeping Rock.  We hiked a short ways and came up on the rock with a drizzling water fall.  It was beautiful and refreshing in the 95 degree heat.  We enjoyed the view and the waterfall.

After the Weeping Rock, we got off the shuttle on the trail head for the river walk.  We walked a nice paved trail for about a mile and ended up at the Narrows.  This was beautiful as well.  We stopped for a bit to watch the water flow and take in the scenery again.

To finish the day, we stopped at the Human History Museum and gained a lot of knowledge about the park and air conditioning!!!  This was a nice stop.  We then jumped back on the shuttle and headed back down to the visitors center that we started at.  We then walked a bit to a small grocery store to get a few odds and ends.

We walked back to our campsite and were truly exhausted.  We had a snack, took a nap, and then had a lovely evening once the sun went down.  Great day in Zion and we can't wait for the next two days.

To everyone reading, thank you!

To our friends and family back home, we love you!

-Chelsea  

Canyonlands 6/12/14

Today was our last day in Eastern Utah and a day we set aside to explore Canyon Lands.

We woke up and made a delicious egg, hash brown, mushroom, and bacon casserole.  We were happy about how the experiment turned out!  We then got ourselves and the van ready for a day at Canyonlands.  Our campsite was only about 5 miles away from the Canyonlands entrance so it was not a long drive at all.  We got our maps and stopped at the visitors center.

Our first stop was a look out point that gave us a view that was unbelievable.  The canyons stretched for miles and miles.  It was unlike anything I had ever seen before.  We then headed towards the Mesa Arch.  This was a huge arch that stretched across a cliff.  The arch framed the canyons below it perfectly.  After the arch, we hiked to the viewing point for the Upheaval Dome.  This was 2 miles wide and was wonderful shades of browns and greens.  The dome was either created by a meteorite or it was a salt diapir that pushed all the salt and other materials upward.  We personally think it was a meteorite.  We sat down and enjoyed this amazing view for awhile.  We then headed to our last stop which was the Green River Overlook.  This was yet again an amazing site to see.  The canyons stretched farther than our eyes could see.  We found a rock close to the cliff to sit down on and enjoy the magnificent view.

After leaving the Green River Overlook, Brad and I had to decide what to do next.  I was afraid that I knew the answer before we even discussed it.  While at our very first look out point at the beginning of the day, Brad had noticed a very narrow driving trail called Shafer Trail that few cars were driving on.  They almost looked like hot wheels because they were so far down in the canyons.  When I saw his eyes light up I knew no matter what I said, we were driving that trail.  We looked at the map and saw that the trail started just past the visitors center and ended just outside of Moab.  The trail was along these massive cliffs going all the way down to the bottom of the canyons.  I was a little tiny bit scared but I accepted the adventure.  Brad was beyond excited to go.  We headed down the trail and before we knew it, we were riding on the edges of the canyons on one narrow lane dirt roads.  This was amazing and terrifying.  Brad had a huge smile on his face the whole time.  There were a few times that we had to pull off the rode to let the brakes cool down.  The decline was a killer.  We eventually made it to the bottom and worked our way along.  We had to keep declining and then hit a 4 wheel drive required road.  This was crazy!  All of our stuff got tossed around and we thought that our poor van might just break into a hundred pieces.  She kept going and really cleared some rocks and washouts or dip like a champ.  We really should have had a Jeep or an off-roading vehicle to have done this, but our moving home turned into an off-roading machine!  The Shafer Trail was a total of 20 miles of dirt and off-roading trails.  We then hit about 20 miles of paved roads.

The last stop was along the highway.  We came across several Native American cliff writings.  They were really cool and just along the highway.

What a wonderful and adventurous day we had in Canyon Lands.  Off to ZION TOMORROW!!!!

We apologize that we are unable to get photos uploaded, it is taking crazy amounts of time to just try and get one picture to upload.  We PROMISE that we will add pictures to the appropriate blog posts as soon as we get to our aunt and uncle's in Santa Maria.  That will be on the 19th.  Sorry :(

Chelsea

loved this road!

Arches June 11th

 From yesterday...

Our first night of camping was great!  In the morning we woke up and enjoyed some cereal and coffee.  Today was the day we had set aside for Arches National Park.  We got ready to go and left the campsite to head to Moab.  What a neat town!  We stopped and got ice and gas and went up into Arches.  It was a good drive up to the national park with so many great rock formations to see.  I could not believe my eyes.  Everything was so beautiful.  It only got better as we headed deeper into the park and made our way to the Arches. 

We first stopped at balanced rock.  This was not an arch, but a huge boulder balanced on a pedestal of rock.  We then drove out to the trail head to go see the Delicate Arch.  While we were getting out of the van, we had a gentleman on vacation from China ask us how the power was in our van.  We both laughed and said it was pretty bad.  The man then told us that he had had a Vanagon many years ago and loved his, but the power was lacking.  He was a funny guy that we were glad stopped and talked to us.  We then headed out on the trail.  This was a 3-mile hike up a mountain and 3 miles back down.  It was an extremely hard hike for me since it was my first one for the whole trip.  It was a little easier for Brad.  We hiked up and up and took several breaks to catch our breath and drink water.  We are definitely not used to the altitude.  The sun was beating down and it was about 88° out.  We kept hiking and hiking, up and up, until we reached our turn off.  We walked around a huge boulder corner and all of the sudden the Delicate Arch appeared.  The second the arch appeared, the difficult hike was all worth it.  We took some pictures and then sat down and enjoyed some shade and the scenery.  Sitting up there was not only a great view of the arch, but also a great view of the rest of the landscape around us.  We had a snack and started back down the trail.  This was a lot easier for us.  By the time we returned to the car, we felt tired and hot, but made our way to the Sand Dune Arch.

This was a short 0.25 mile hike but all through sand.  Sand was so hard to walk through especially after that long 6 mile total hike prior to it.  After working through the sand we found our way to the arch.  It was very neat and pretty big.  It was tucked away in many canyons so it was kind of off the beaten path.  We enjoyed this area because there were not many people there.  After the Sand Dune Arch, we drove to the trailhead to go see the Pine Tree Arch and the Double O Arch.  This was a 1.5-mile hike to see these two arches.  They were both great arches and we enjoyed the Pine Tree Arch the best out of the two.  We then drove by the Window Arches.  Next, we headed to the Double Arch.  This is Brad’s favorite arch.  We hiked up to the arch and enjoyed the shaded and some relaxation time.  There were very few people at this arch, so we found a spot and laid back a little to enjoy the arch’s beauty.  By this time, we were both exhausted from the heat, the sun, and the hiking.  We headed out of the park and enjoyed the scenery one more time while driving out. 

After leaving the park, we were in need of food and beers.  We headed into Moab to go to Moab Brewery.  We were excited to go there because Brad’s dad Val had recommended it.  And of course we love our beer.  We enjoyed a nice dinner accompanied by great beers.   The air conditioning was also great!

After dinner, we headed back to our campsite and set up for the night.  We are both exhausted from our fun filled day.  I now understand why Brad and his dad love Arches so much.          

Chelsea