National Park Hopper: Final Destinations Edition

a peek into the world of the north americas from our eyes

day one – crater lake

waters still and blue beyond your imagination. it is amazing what beautiful things can be created in the footsteps of brimstone and fire

day one – toketee river

as beautiful as lakes are, i took one look at this scene beside the river and fell in love. i think i’ll always be team river for all of the action and joy that rushing water brings.

day one – toketee falls

all the cool kids were going under the fence to climb down by the falls but we were content to spectate from above

day one – clearwater falls

this one waterfall sold me on the pacific northwest. i think we all agreed that this was one of the best places we visited and there was basically no walk involved! as H says, “i looked up the ratings online and picked the best ones.”

day one – dinners

instant ramen and rice every night. what’s your favorite?

day two – hotel breakfast

got super excited by the to-go hotel breakfasts and maybe grabbed more than i needed…

day two – painted hills

my favorite part of this was seeing the tiny little animal tracks scattered throughout the hills – no humans allowed!

day two – spokane, washington

i missed out on a traditional city that has rivers running through it. so alive and so vibrant when you’re connected to your source of life

day three – kootenai river

beautiful but dangerous, life-giving but life-taking as well

day three – glacier national park

will this look good on instagram?

day three – st. mary’s lake at glacier national park

almost lost my phone here taking jump photos

day three – victoria falls at glacier national park

i wasn’t really looking for photos, i just sat down because i was dead exhausted from the trek

day four – logan pass at glacier national park

this place makes me wish i were a marmot living in the alpine meadows of montana.

day four – glaciers national park

walking in scary places – if you can’t tell already from the number of photos of this place, it was probably our favorite

day five – grand prismatic springs at yellowstone national park

all the travel magazine photos feel like a lie because you’re not even allowed to bring drones here.

day five – old faithful

double fisting

day five – grand canyon of yellowstone

this place has its own name but obviously i can’t remember it since people just keep calling it the grand canyon of yellowstone. i thought it deserved its own identity even though it was certainly not as grand as aforementioned canyon (ergo the name)

day six – oxbend

this place is magical!

day six – grand teton

a second photo of this mountain range because i’m just so in love

day seven – shoshone falls

i’m still undecided on how i feel about dams. but i will say that watching people swimming in the reservoir next door was absolutely picturesque

day seven – bonneville salt flats

it was so hot that we just stepped out for 5 minutes to take photos, and back to the air conditioned car we go!

day eight – canyonlands

this is arches’ overlooked neighbor, but oh my goodness, the rich redness of the rocks and the layered expanses of plateaus carved over time by wind and water – so magical. they call this place island in the sky and i have to say, it’s another world we’ve entered here.

day eight – canyonlands

in all honesty, i’ve never licked a rock before, but we have to uphold geologist stereotypes (also, it really is a thing)

day eight – canyonlands

the layers!!!! so dramatic. so beautiful.

day eight – mesa arch

more famous for a sunrise visit, but i thought dusk was just as breathtaking. i spent five minutes trying to explain some rock stories to H and she just walked away nodding…

day nine – delicate arch

my mom came here on a chinese bus tour with our grandma a few years back and the tour guide wouldn’t let her go on this hike because some grandma had died sometime earlier that year (i’m so hoping i have all the details right in the story because it’s been passed through so many people and so much time), but then my stubborn grandma started going on her own and got helped by this random dude on the path and she almost made it and freaked out the tour guide. all of which to say, props to grandma because this hike was pretty grueling.

day nine – paintings

WAUW! how often do you get to see signs of human activity from centuries and centuries ago?

day nine – landscape arch

hot, hot, hot – it’s not even ten o’clock in the morning yet and we are so done.

day nine – balanced rock

i lost my party while walking so couldn’t ask them to help me take funny photos. here is my pathetic selfie attempt.

day nine – horseshoe bend

mama is so precious

day ten – bryce canyon

once you see this place, it feels like the view is pretty much the same throughout the area, but oh man, it is a lovely view! hoodoo hoodoo? hoodoo. i loved the myth of this place. Coyote turned the legendary people who once had the power to transform into different animals into stone because they had become evil. that’s why you see the hoodoos, big and small, in the forms of people sitting, walking, and standing.

day ten – red rock canyon

even a mile hike is torturous in this kind of heat. cue resting in the shade of every ponderosa pine whose bark smells like toasted marshmallows (yes, i kept on smelling every single one after i learned that)

day eleven – the alley in las vegas

i absolutely love las vegas. even if you don’t drink or gamble, they just did such a great job of bringing everything awesome into one place, on top of a lot of art and cultural attractions. i have been craving good brown sugar boba in america since i first tried it in taiwan/hk last year, and the alley delivered! an unexpected surprise was how delicious the white peach salted cheese foam combo was. this is a must try.

day eleven – the venetian in las vegas

las vegas is much quieter these days, so hoping for better days soon for this oasis in the desert.

day eleven – milk bar in las vegas

i have to say this was quite disappointing after how much i enjoyed it last time i was here. perhaps that’s not a bad thing because there’s just so much in vegas that it’s easier if you don’t have to pick between so many things…

day eleven – seven magic mountains

i was not expecting this when H said we were going to a place called seven magic mountains, but i LOVE it!! i’m so ready to find some rocks, paint them bright, delicious colors, and stack them at home myself.