Vacation 2022
Cedar Breaks
National Monument

I would describe Cedar Breaks as a mini-Bryce Canyon. Unfortunately, we were not prepared for the weather at the time of our visit. It was cold, the wind gusted to around 70mph, and we were being pelted with sand granules. We were literally being sand blasted.

So, we didn’t stay at the monument very long.

Pretty this entire episode of the Vacation 2022 video is just driving around from the campground we stayed in, around the Cedar Breaks NM and a short jog into Bryce Canyon before returning to our campground. The video will a good idea of what the Southwest quarter of Utah looks like.

May 29, 2022

Start – We arrived at the campground late last evening. Having had a long day of driving plus taking in the Hoover Dam and driving across Death Valley, we opted to just take it easy today and rest up for our foray into Zion National Park tomorrow.

5:20 – Stopping to do a little map work.

22:34 – Now we’re getting somewhere. This road will lead us to the monument.

33:13 - And here we are at one of the observation overlooks.

37:07 – Yep, that’s some snow that has melted away.

40:59 – Entering a beautiful place somewhere between Cedar Breaks and Bryce Canyon.

49:03 – We’re actually in Bryce Canyon National Park but only for a moment.

53:41 - Were back in that beautiful place again, between Cedar Breaks and Bryce Canyon.

59:58 – Nearly back at the campground now.

Vacation 2022
Death Valley National Park
Hoover Dam

Everyone has heard of Death Valley. And they’ve probably heard that it’s hot and dry there. It was hot and dry while we were there. No records were broken though. Despite the heat and lack of water, there is a surprising amount of animal and biodiversity in the park.

A lot of history at Hoover Dam. And an engineering miracle for the time, perhaps it still would be for our time. It’s economic and environmental impacts on Arizona, California and New Mexico is nearly enumerable. By damming up the Colorado River, the dam was able to bring water to many residential areas. In fact, without the dam and the water it provides, the major residential it provides water for would probably just be small towns (except L.A.).

May 28, 2022

Start – Heading Eastward toward Death Valley.

4:40 – We’re officially in Death Valley.

13:38 – Descending into valley.

30:08 – We should be seeing the ocean here.

32:38 – Sideways video #1.

38:19 – Borax refining site.

43:08 – Climbing out of Death Valley on the East side of the park.

The whole valley, all 2 hours of driving across it, looked pretty much as you had just saw. So I cut the video short of being in the valley and moved it along to the Eastern side.

52:03 – The outskirts of S.E. Las Vegas heading toward Hoover Dam.

59:04 – Mead Lake overlook.

1:14:10 – Parking at Hoover Dam.

1:17:42 – Leaving Hoover Dam and heading to Utah.

1:25:07 - Traveling through the Virgin River Canyon. Very pretty but it’s no Glenwood Canyon.

1:38:22 – Out of the Canyon and continuing on to Utah.

1:45:34 – In Utah just West of Zion National Park.

2:00:52 – Entering and traveling through Zion NP.

The road in the tunnel is very rough and vibrated my movie camera off of the dash. Hat takes care of any more video for today.

raveling the mountains getting into the valley of Death Valley are pretty and fun to drive. However, where we crossed through the valley was not very interesting. I’ve watched documentaries on Death Valley and there are places in Death Valley National Park that are interesting, it just wasn’t where we were. It took a little longer to cross the valley and probably 3.5 hours to get across Death Valley NP. Based on what we did see, I can not recommend visiting Death Valley NP unless you just have to check it off as on of the national parks you have visited.

Hoover Dam is not national property though it does reside in the Glen Canyon Recreational Area. Due to the 911 attacks, security is really high at the dam. So much so that Dad was allowed to enter any of the buildings due to the 2-inch Old Timer pocketknife he carries. I wasn’t willing to let Dad wait while I toured, nor was I willing to let him throw his knife away (an option that security suggested) nor was I willing to hike back ¾ of mile to the car and back in the 100+ degrees heat to stow his knife there. As the visitor’s center and museum were closed for remodeling (seems every visitor center and museum were being remodeled on this trip) we just took in what we could outdoors and left for Utah.

Hoover Dam is a huge American landmark. I highly recommend that everyone try to visit it sometime in their life.

Vacation 2022

Awaiting Yosemite

Things were looking pretty good as far as our somewhat flexible schedule went. Since Yosemite is one of the busiest national parks, we had planned to be here for our visit on a weekday and before Memorial Day so that many families wouldn’t be on vacation yet. This would permit us to visit when the park was far from maximum people capacity.

Also, many of the national parks require reservations to enter. Yosemite is one of them. However, because of the distance we had to travel to visit Yosemite and the other stops we had planned, we were not sure exactly when we would be here. So we were going to purchase our reservations when we got close. You don’t get much closer than a couple of mile outside of the Northwest gate. We arrived late and decided that we would sleep in today and then get our reservations tomorrow.

Once we got going today, we started on our journey of information gathering. We pursued and received information from a park ranger. He indicated that reservations are not needed for entry so long as you enter the park before 6am and after 4pm. A quick pow-wow with Dad and we decided to just take it easy today, get to bed early and get in the park early in the morning. So that’s what we did.

Today’s video is a short one of just driving around checking out the local scenery and such.

May 24, 2022

Start – We got into “The Pines” campground, operated by the BLM, late last evening. We decided to sleep in and take it easy today. But we were rudely awakened.

1:47 – Let’s take a drive.

10:29 – Checking out the “Lost Claim” BLM campground.

29:26 – Back home again… Well, back at the campground again.

Vacation 2022

Redwood NP & SP
to Yosemite NP

This video is just a portion of the beautiful roads that we drove on from the Redwoods to the edge of Yosemite.

May 23, 2022

Start – Leaving the Southern end of the Redwood NP and headed South.  The Pacific Ocean can be seen on the right from time to time.

3:50 – Paul Bunion and Babe.

29:33 – Elk!

38:52 – More Elk!

56:05 – Continuing South in the Sierra Mountains.

1:02:21 – Typical California City.

1:11:32 – The Breadbasket of America, the San Joaquin Valley in California.  Lots of groves and farms that was dessert a few decades before.

1:18:38 – Driving through the mountains about 1.5 hours from the North West entrance of Yosemite.

Not on the video but we camped at a BLM just a few miles from the Yosemite National Park entrance.

Vacation 2022

Redwood National and State Parks

The Redwood park system is pretty unique in that the national and California park systems work together to manage the Redwood parks.  The Southern park forests tend to have more and taller undergrowth.  The Northern park forests have shorter undergrowth allowing for easier viewing through the woods.  I thought the Northern much prettier and more majastic.

May 22, 2022

Start – Heading to Ladybird Johnson’s Redwood Grove.

7:11 – We arrived at the parking lot and begin a foray into the forest.

11:44 – A couple of pictures of Dad and I in front of some redwood giants.

26:09 – The return to the bridge that gets us to the parking lot.  Driving North to Jebedihia Smith’s Park.

51:06 – Starting the Howland Hill Road scenic drive.

1:29:58 – Taking a walk around Stout Grove.

1:46:55 - What are you up to Dad?

1:52:55 – Continuing our drive on Howland Hill Road.

1:59:43 – We spent the night in the Mills Creek campground.

The Redwood national and State Parks should be on your bucket list!  Simply beautiful.