Hey Google, what time is sunset?

Hey Google, what time is sunrise?

Do you take a break from life to see them?

Lucy The Elephant.

Trivia.

The oldest surviving roadside tourist attraction in America.

In 1881, originally built to promote real estate sales and attract tourists.

In 1969, after years in bad shape and disrepair, was scheduled for demolition.

In 1969, the Save Lucy Committee was formed to save Lucy.

In 1970, Lucy moved to her new home. She still lives there.

In 1976, was designated a National Historic Landmark.

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall in AC. Lucy remained strong.

In 2016, Lucy filed her candidacy for President of the United States. She would have been the first female elephant to become president if she had won.

In 2019, after living in New Jersey for more than 25 years, I visited Lucy.

I traveled back to Tennessee to do another Barkley Fall Classic. And included in my itinerary was a visit back to The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Last year, it was right in that moment when hurricane Florence hit the Carolinas and nearby Tennessee areas that forced the closure of some roads in the Smokies.

This year, the weather was more accommodating for playtime activities. I stayed at the same hotel because it’s right in the spot close to both the park and Gatlinburg downtown.

I planned to do some hiking in the smokies as part of this trip. However, I couldn’t even walk straight after the BFC event. Even after 2 days, I was still hobbling. But the trip to the Smokies did not go to waste. I spent my nights experiencing moonshine from 2 distilleries in Gatlinburg, Ole Smoky and Sugarlands, respectively. I had no idea what moonshine was while strolling the streets of Gatlinburg downtown. I just did some search on breweries and distilleries nearby. Voila! Right where I was standing at that time was Ole Smoky. Saw some folks having some rounds of samples. That’s when I found out it was moonshine samplings. Boy oh boy, I got hooked! I even came back on my 2nd night in the area!

Even without any serious hiking in this trip, it was fun spending time in the Smokies – short hike to Clingmans Dome, scenic views on drive from Gatlinburg to Cherokee, elk viewing in Oconaluftee Visitor Center area, and a side trip to The Island in Pigeon Forge before heading back to the airport.

Fall would be an awesome time to visit the Smokies. The changing colors of Fall would be a magnificent view. Perhaps a road trip from Virginia covering The Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway, next time?

Complete photo album can be found here.

These photos are free to download for personal use as long as you don’t profit from them.

Number of days – 16

Distance traveled – 2340 miles

States visited – 3.  Arizona, Utah, Colorado

National Parks visited – 8, plus national landmarks

I just came back from a 16 day solo Road Trip to visit some of the national parks and natural landmarks.  I think the timing was just perfect.  Yes, it was cold, but the places I’ve visited have very few visitors during this time – December!  I could not imagine visiting these places during their peak seasons.  I did some hiking and on some occasions, I was literally alone on the trail.   And of course, I have a habit of scaring myself when doing these solo hikes.  Those what ifs…  But I really did enjoy those solitary hikes.  Very peaceful.

I have created separate entries for each place that I have visited.  I am providing the links to this post.

The adventure started @ Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.  I rented a car, and was very fortunate to have an almost brand new Jeep Cherokee with just 4k miles, heated seats and steering wheel, Android Auto ready, and Sirius XM!   These features were my sanity-saving company on the cold long drives between destinations.

Itinerary.

Day 1-4.  3 nights @ Grand Canyon National Park.  Stayed @ Maswik Lodge @ the village.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport -> Sedona, AZ -> Grand Canyon National Park.

I don’t have any good pictures @ Grand Canyon, although I’ve watched the sunrise and sunset at different points, because of incorrect camera settings!  I also planned to do a trailing star photo but was just too cold the night I did it.  I ended up with just this…

Day 4-5.  1 night @ Page, AZ.

I had such a wonderful time @ Antelope Canyon that I decided to have a separate entry for it.

Day 5-7.  2 nights @ Zion National Park.  Stayed @ Springdale, UT.

Day 7-9.  2 nights @ Bryce Canyon National Park.  Stayed @ Panguitch, UT.

Day 9-10.  1 night @ Capitol Reef National Park.  Stayed @ Torrey, UT.

Day 10-13.  3 nights @ Moab, UT.

Arches National Park.

Canyonlands National Park.

Last minute decision was made on the last night @ Moab to visit Mesa Verde National Park before heading to Blanding.  Unfortunately, Mesa Verde experienced a blizzard-like condition the night before and the places to visit were closed.  I had quite an experience, though, driving the icy road from the visitor center to the chain mesa.

Day 13-14.  1 night @ Blanding, UT.

Visited Natural Bridges before heading to Monument Valley.  The ‘scenic’ road from Natural Bridges to Monument Valley, Rt 261, passes through Moki Dugway, a scary and steep unpaved road, with a maximum speed of 5 mph!

Day 14-15.  1 night @ Monument Valley.  Stayed @ The View inside the park.

Day 15-16.  1 night @ Chambers, AZ

Petrified Forest National Park before driving back to Phoenix Airport for departure.

Day 16.  Departure.  Very Sad Face

It was such an amazing experience I’ve had on this road trip.  And I am hoping that I could do it again, with minor changes;

1 – Camping to be included in the plan.  I originally included camping on this trip, and I’m just glad I did not pursue that direction.  I am not ready yet for cold, winter camping.

2 – Have one of those emergency satellite communication gadgets, Spot or Garmin In Reach, for those solitary hikes.

3 – I hope I’d have my own camper van the next time I go on a road trip like this

I am sharing them with you in the order I captured them.  The last one is what it looks like from the surface.

If you happen to do the experience, I just hope you not get hooked with a big group.  There was a big group in my schedule and the lady coordinating the tour said she’d put me in a separate tour.  I had a solo tour with a funny and quite intelligent guide.

Thanks Bhreanna!

I’ve been here before.  That particular stay was something I would like to remove from my memory.  I had to come back here to make peace.

So, with a pack of beer, and a camera, I came back 

Visitors may pay an access fee and drive through the park on a 17-mile (27 km) dirt road (a 2-3 hour trip). Parts of Monument Valley, such as Mystery Valley and Hunts Mesa, are accessible only by guided tour.

– wikipedia

Date of visit:  December 14-15, 2018

A relaxing stay in the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park.  I stayed in The View Hotel – the only hotel inside the park.  They have cabins and the regular rooms (all facing east) with wonderful view of the park.  Both expensive, though.  However, they have these ‘inexpensive’ rooms called the Driver’s Room – a small no-view room.  The room still has all the amenities you need – it’s no different from a regular hotel/motel room, I’d say.  The one I got has a window with a parking lot view – a view of my car parked overnight.

The day was spent on the Valley Drive, a 17 mile unpaved dirt road that gives you a view of the several highlights of the park.  The following day was just a short trip back to the spot where Forrest finally stopped running in the movie, Forrest Gump, with an amazing view of the Monument Valley area.

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