The End of the Road

We have finally arrived home, safe and sound!!! For those of you that are thinking "But, I thought they were still in Colorado?" Well, we were but Nebraska and Iowa do not really tickle our fancy so we drove straight through. The last few hours in the car we had a lot of time to reflect on our trip. What an amazing experience this was and we are so lucky to have seen so much of North America. We gathered some statistics that we thought our readers might find interesting...

We were gone for 193 days.

Our blog has had 7,760 views (Excluding this post, obviously)

We drove through 16 states (Including WI) and 3 Canadian Providences.

We put on over 20,000 miles on the Jeep. Plus 3000 miles more in RV's.

We put roughly 15,000 miles on the Sweaty Yeti.

We took meticulous notes of the money that we spent on this trip and we managed to save  $2268.42 with our National Park Pass, Alaska State Park Pass, coupons, and AAA membership. 

The most we payed for gas was $4.94 per gallon at Muncho Lake, British Columbia, Canada

The cheapest gas we payed for was $1.97 per gallon at Buffalo, WY

For the trip home we spent 155 hours and 55 minutes in the Jeep. 

We visited 20 National Parks in America and 3 National Parks in Canada. 

We became Jr. Rangers at 14 of those National Parks.

Below is the complete list of National Parks that we visited:

Badlands National Park (South Dakota)

Mt. Rainier National Park (Washington)

Olympic National Park (Washington)

Denali National Park (Alaska)

Kenai Fjords National Park (Alaska)

Wrangell St. Elias National Park (Alaska)

Jasper National Park (Canada)

Banff National Park (Canada)

Kootenay National Park (Canada)

Glacier National Park (Montana)

Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)

Grand Tetons National Park (Wyoming)

Great Basin National Park (Nevada)

Zion National Park (Utah)

Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona)

Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah)

Capitol Reed National Park (Utah)

Arches National Park (Utah)

Canyonlands National Park (Utah)

Mesa Verde National Park (Colorado)

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (Colorado)

Great Sand Dunes National Park (Colorado)

Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado)

We actually decided to rank the national parks that we visited and created several categories to judge them on. These categories include the visitor center/gift shop, niceness of rangers, Jr. Ranger booklets, how much we enjoyed our time there, geologic uniqueness, and if they had "The X-Factor". They were also deducted points for large crowds and lack of ability to accommodate these crowds. Out of a total of 30 points the top 5 parks were:

1. Great Basin National Park (28 points)

2. Canyonlands National Park (25 points)

3. Wrangell St. Elias National Park (23 Points)

4. Bryce Canyon National Park (20 Points)

5. Kenai Fjords National Park (19 Points)

Looking back over the entire experience there are definitely some days that stand out in our mind as days we will treasure forever. At the top of our list was the glacier hike we took over the 4th of July. Hiking 6 miles over our first glacier with a great guide in great weather was our absolute favorite Alaskan memory. Tied for second place was halibut fishing with Ashley's parents in Homer, AK and the glacier cruise with Adam's family. We could not have picked a better experience to have with our family's. This trip was truly amazing and we consider ourselves to be so blessed in that we could have this experience. It is something that we will remember for the rest of our lives. 

Seeing as this is our last blog we thought we would end it on a happy note...here are some blooper photos that did not quite make the original cut...

Some may ask "Why?". To that we say "Why not!"

Bring it bears, try me! 

Now that is the face of astonishment. 

Oh, did you call my name? 

Touche Adam

There was just too much excitement...

We are waiting on Trya Banks to recruit us for America's Next Top Model any day now.

The fear is real. The science is unknown. 

Oooooooo, bubble. 

High Fashion

Awwwwwwwww

Someone is impressed with her own work

"I'm too sexy for this lake." 

Scandalous. A bear pooped in the woods! 

Blue Steel

Hey Girl Hey! 

Don't worry, Adam doesn't know what he is doing either!

Someone got too excited, shocker. 

Ashley attempting 007...this is just one of many attempts.

Disco on a glacier

Of course he bought the shirt. 

Meat, cheese, and bread. Doesn't get much better than that for a Wisconsinite. 

Again, Ashley was just a little bit excited to go hiking on  a glacier. 

Ashley was ready for the photo, Adams face speaks the truth. Pure exhaustion. 

The tunnel must be at least three times bigger than this!

The face of pure excitement. 

CLIFF EDGES! 

We don't even know where this photo was taken. The background gives us no hints whatsoever. 

Ashley's hair was even scared of the cliff edge.

We would just like to thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for reading this blog. Writing this and sharing our adventures with you was so much fun! Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that the blog would be read by so many of our friends and family and people whom we have not had the pleasure of meeting. We hope that you got a laugh or two from it and will go out and adventure the next chance you get. Until the next adventure.

-The A-Team 

A ladder, a tunnel, and a squeeze!

We have a couple of exciting announcements! We finally made it to Colorado and back into regular looking mountains! At least regular compared to the Alaskan mountains we've become accustomed to. The other exciting news it that we went to a National Park! Well, that would be exciting if we hadn't already been to 10 National parks in the past 3 weeks; but it's still exciting! We spent the night in Mesa Verde National Park and having arrived after dark we didn't know what we were in for until the next morning. A vast majority of the park was just driving up and around the massive plateau or mesa as the park's name suggests. It wasn't until we reached the very end of the park that the more unique aspects were revealed. Mesa Verde was home to a few ancient cliff dwellings, dating back to before the 13th Century. The only trouble with viewing most of these dwellings was the fact that they were about 150 feet below the cliff edge we were standing near. We bought tickets to go on a Ranger led tour of the Balcony House. For some reason, of the 40 people on the tour, Ashley had the only face that said "I'll volunteer to be the Ranger Helper and answer all of his ridiculous questions." They weren't too difficult but it's a little tricky to take tons of pictures with everyone watching you. So with that we started down the steep stairs to the cliff dwelling. We ended up below the dwelling and had to climb a 32 foot ladder to reach the entrance. The biggest benefit to Ashley being the helper is that we got to be the first up the ladder and spend the most time looking around. There were only a few small rooms to the house but it was still fascinating. Eventually Adam got roped into the Ranger's questions  too but the A-Team is too smart to be bested on ancient survival questions. After some Q&A and a few more features of the house, we climbed back out and made the long drive back towards the visitor center. We got our Jr. Ranger badges in record time and hit the road, heading North towards Denver.

The 32 foot ladder we had to climb to get to the cliff dwelling! 

Adam reaching the top of the ladder

Worming our way through some of the small passageways

The view from the cliff dwelling

Having fun even though we were picked on by the Ranger for the entire program!

The ancient cliff dwelling

Ashley helping out with a demonstration

Adam lead the group through the tunnel

We all had to crawl through this tunnel to get out! 

Climbing up the last ladder to get to flat ground

Leaving the cliff dwelling we had to climb two 15 foot ladders and walk along a very steep rock path! It was actually this steep! The picture is not exaggerating!

LOOK AT HOW STEEP THIS IS!!

After all the crawling, sweating and excitement we decided we had gone long enough without showers and laundry. We got a hotel in Montrose, CO for the night. How lucky we were to find Harry Potter on TV as we've spent the entire drive from Alaska listening to the books on tape.

So we spent the morning lounging in our hotel room because it was paid for so why not. This was a particularly fancy hotel because they served breakfast from 6:00 am to noon! We definitely got our money’s worth in waffles and bacon alone. After that it was back to the glamorous life of road tripping through the hot desert. We went from Montrose to the Black Canyons of the Gunnison National Park. The main attraction of this park was, you guessed it, a big black canyon. The sights were beautiful and we had a wonderful time walking around. But that wasn’t the most exciting part of our visit. We stopped into the Visitor Center (and more importantly the gift shop) before we headed out to the next stop. This was where the park really wowed us. Over half of the merchandise was on sale, some items as much as 70% off! We grabbed a few more items than usual and were happy to head out with our new treasures. However, the wonderful Park Ranger we talked to had even more excitement for us. He explained that over the season different companies would send products to all of the parks to show what new merchandise was available. This wasn’t always park specific so the park in Colorado had items from all over the country. The ranger said they get too much stuff to keep so there was an entire counter full of free items for the taking. We found some good books, laminated pamphlets and brochures, even a Blu-ray/DVD of the National Parks! We were ecstatic and left with arms loads full of goodies. Best park ever!

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

The Gunnison River that carved the massive canyon.

Next we headed over to Great Sand Dunes National Park which is in the southern part of the state. As we drove up we could see mounds upon mounds of sand off in the distance with mountains behind them. By the time we got there the sun was starting to set and it cast a beautiful pink sky over the dunes. We managed to get a campground for the night and the next morning we headed out for a hike on the sand dunes. We should have known that hiking across massive sand piles would not be the easiest thing. It was a lot of work but it was worth it. We walked right up to some of the sand ridges and had fun jumping off the edge to land in the cool sand. We felt like two kids in a giant sand box! It was so much fun! After playing around and getting sand in everything from our shoes to our eyes, we decided to head back to the car and see what else we could find.

Holy windy!

A fresh sand dune for us to jump off of!

It wasn’t long before we came to Colorado Springs and found our next exciting activity for the day! Something we're sure is on everyone's bucket list; Segway riding through a National Park! Garden of the Gods is a park in the city that has the coolest red rock formations sticking up out of the ground. It is very popular for rock climbing and hiking. There was a company that offered Segway tours of the park that we could not turn down. After flying through the safety course we were ready to go! Again, Adam was in boy heaven as he zoomed around the park on his Segway. Our tour guides name was Happy and he was awesome! He offered us cold beverages, snacks, and had a great sense of humor.

Pike's Peak in the background of the Garden of the Gods

The beautiful red rocks standing tall out of the ground.

No hands! Because we're professionals.

Maybe we need room to haul some Segways...

After a fun hour and a half ride on the Segways we were excited to go just a few minutes down the road to Cave of the Winds. Ashley booked us on the longest tour they had which was a lantern tour. We were shocked to find out that the lanterns we nothing but a metal bucket with a candle that slide into a hole in the bottom. That was the only light offered the entire tour! It was a crazy experience as we headed into a cave that had no walkways, lighting fixtures, railings, or anything. It took a while getting used to but soon Adam thought it was the coolest thing to use these bucket lamps and was playing with the candle a little more than listening at times. The guide taking us through the cave lead us through some tight places and told us folklore and ghost stories of the cave. It was such an interesting caving experience and we had a great time! As we left the cave it was 84 degrees at 5:00 pm! We decided we were too sweaty and gross to spend a night in the hot camper so hotel seemed like a great idea.

The next morning we headed to the car and we were surprised to see that we had a flat tire! There was a small piece of barbed wire fence stuck in the tire and we used our jump pack/air compressor to inflate the tire. A quick trip to the auto parts store and we managed to “fix-the-flat”. Hopefully it holds for the last 1,000 miles home! With four fully working tires we hit the road North towards Rocky Mountain National Park. This was the last park that we were visiting on the trip home. The drive felt long and was hot and dry until we reached the park. The clouds had rolled in and the cool air descended. We had just made it to Estes Park when the rain started to fall. Being tired and being ready to be home we did not spend long in the park. We were a little too eager to head home and we would come back to this park again, hopefully when the weather was better! So we hit the road! Next stop, home! 

-the A-Team

The Trifecta!

The journey continues as we leave Bryce Canyon and head east. Southern Utah is home to five different National Parks and we planned on seeing all of them. The next one we came across was Capitol Reef. This park is lesser known so we had little to no expectations for it. To our shock we drove up to the park and our jaws dropped. Rising out of the desert floor there was a large red rock ridge that stretched on for miles. This place is very unique in that it is called the waterpocket fold. This ridgeline is able to collect water and provide an oasis in the desert. For many years a town was located in the heart of the park which thrived off of fruit trees and orchards. Now the town is preserved for people to tour and the views are stunning. The national park does not have a lot of facilities and by the time we got there the campground was full so we moved on, but what a beautiful place.

The views approaching the park

Panorama of the ridgeline

Perfect place for a picnic!

We could look at this all day

The view south down the ridgeline

What they call "Castle Rock"

Deer hanging out in the orchard

After enjoying the sights we headed on to Moab, UT. This is where we set up camp because it is conveniently located near two National Parks. We managed to get one of the last campsites in the town and we headed off for an evening hike in Arches National Park. As we drove into the park we were in awe as the road climbed higher and higher in front of a massive red stone-front. But as soon as we rounded the corner it opened up into red rock pinnacle and massive red rocks. As we started exploring the park we found the massive Double Arch. It was two arches coming off at a 90 degree angle to make a cove of sorts. We hiked up to it and started climbing around on the rocks. Adam even scrambled up to the bottom of one of the open archways and Ashley soon followed. She quickly realized that once up at the top it was a sharp 40 foot drop (15 foot at most according to Adam) on the other side and she got down as quick as she could. By then the sun was starting to set so as we looked out through the arch we could see the purple and pink sunset on the horizon. A few bats fluttered between the arches above us. Too soon it was time to head back to the car and back to the camper but we would come back the next morning for more exploration.

The rock formations that greeted us as we entered the park

Evening is a perfect time time come 

Those lumps in the foreground are petrified sand dunes!

Walking up to the Double Arches

Hiking up to climb around on the rocks

Adam climbed up to the bottom of the arch!

Adam really enjoyed climbing around on the rocks! 

The sunset as we were heading back to our car

The next morning we got an early start and drove around more of Arches. We first stopped at the visitor center and became Jr. Rangers. We also learned that these arches have a lifespan, they will not last forever. Over time they will erode and collapse in on themselves. What makes this park even more special is that this place has the more natural arches than any other place in the world. We decided to hike to another arch and we chose Sand Dune Arch. This one was a good trail to do in the morning as it wound through massive red rocks and the shadows of the rocks kept the sand nice and cool as we walked through it. Soon we came upon the arch tucked back so far that you would never know it was there. Eventually we made our way back to the car and headed on to Canyonlands National Park next.

Hiking through the rocks to find Sand Dunes Arch

We found it!

We did a little bit more exploring after finding the arch

But we didn't get very far

Views from the drive

Canyonlands is another park that isn't well known by most travelers. We didn't really know what to expect. Much to our amazement we discovered that this park was going to be one of the best ones. We decided that is was time for some lunch so we chose a lookout spot as our picnic area. We hiked across the rocks to get closer to the canyon edge. Perched on a rock not 5 feet from the canyon edge we looked out to see deep, massive canyons that stretched out to the horizon. It was absolutely breathtaking. After lunch we decided to go for a hike. We chose the White Rim Trail and as we started the trail we walked through juniper trees, shrubs and even saw a tiny lizard perched on a rock. Most of the trail had no canyon views whatsoever. It was not until to last bit of trail that you got a glimpse as to what is in store. The end of the trail led out onto a fin of rock the jutted out into the massive canyon. Two more canyons on either side of the fin lay at the bottom of the first canyon. Easily another one of our most favorite spots that we have found. As you get further out onto the fin of rock it starts to look like giant boulders perched precariously on top of each other. We were terrified to walk over these rocks, sure that they would topple over and fall to the bottom of the canyon. But, luckily they didn't and we were able to venture out a little bit further until we got too scared and turned back. We drove around and saw several beautiful canyons before heading back to the visitor center and becoming Jr. Rangers. This was such a fun few days, we cannot wait to see what comes next!

Panoramic of the canyon

If you look closely you can see a road down by the rim of the canyon. We thought the Yeti might not make it that far!

It is so pretty!

We were having just a little bit of fun ;)

Green River Canyon

Even standing this close to the edge made Ashley nervous

Teeny, tiny lizard! 

Close-up of the canyon

These are the rocks that we climbed out on to the end of the trail! We only got about half-way before turning back.

-The A-Team