Finding a camp site

So this blog is a tribute to campgrounds everywhere, but will focus in on yellowstone.
This is the truth about finding a campsite without a reservation. It is not easy, unless you pick up on the swing of the camping scene.
Things to know:
Campgrounds that except reservations are not worth your time if you didn't make one, or if you are in an area that is touristy.
Look for first come first serve sites, if you want to be free of reservations.
Double check and make sure they are really first come first serve, before you set up the tent.
Get there early, people who are road trippers usually head out early, so the sites are open before the checkout time... other people will be all over the sites so you have to be just as aggressive.

The yellowstone story.
We got in super early, and went to the campgrounds that said there were opensites. Mistake one: I forgot to check and see if it was a first come first serve grounds. Hey, it was really early and we were both exhuasted. Second mistake, we found an empty site as the late arrivals instructions stated... and set up the tent. It wasn't until later that I figured out that by late arrivals they were thinking of people getting in at night and leaving when we had arrived. The end result we had to take the tent back down because the site we had found empty was acctually reserved for that night. It was still early when we discovered this and redirected to a real first come first serve site we were able to find a great spot, which was free the first night. This was not a fantastic gimic of the park to draw in campers, they just had no water at the site. We didn't complain, two full days and two nights at yellowstone for $6. Well that and the annual pass. With the site found we were able to enjoy all the beauty of the park.

One more suggestion, while it is a little out of the way the site we stayed at was the Lewis Lake site. It is in the southern part of the park, and if you get there later it seemed to fill up slower then the others.

Yellowstone

We just pulled into Yellowstone Park, at 4am. Watched a little sunrise and saw a family of buffalo. Now we passed a few elk. Fun, off to find a campsite.

The redwoods are giant, and the ocean is cold. We are driving to Yellowstone! More details later.

In Cherry Valley CA

I just finished spending a week with my family in CA. It was a lot of fun, and included another family dinner. Don't misinterpret, I have really loved all the family dinners this month and I guess last month too. I can't think of anything better than family, they love you no matter what and always find ways to cheer you up.
Best parts of this visit:

• Grams and Mom being there when we arrived, like our own private welcome committee. I really felt like a part of the family, and I think Bev does too. :)
• Playing games with Joshua, although I really hope he is feeling better now.
• Meeting a friend of Bevs', Ben.
  
• Then making a new friend, Diana.
• Going to a late late movie, and being unable to finish a whole popcorn by myself (at least that night, I totally saved it and eat it all later. $8 popcorn need I say more)
• Meeting and visiting with cousins.
  
• Watching the Lakers loss, and better still win big.
  
• Climbing Rocks at Joshua Tree, I got pretty high.
  

So now we are on the road again, off to the redwoods... and having a little trouble finding camp sites.
We have seen so many Campgrounds Full signs today, we finally had to give up and get a hotel in Santa Cruz.

Road Trip Knowledge:
Be prepared to get a hotel, ever night if need be... and the need might just be.

Grand Canyon

The view is amazing.
We went to a sunset Ranger Talk, and she said "pictures don't do it justice, you have to come and see it for yourself, whatever the reason it is worth seeing for yourself".
The talk was a little on the morbid side, involving Mishaps and Mistakes made by visitors of the canyon. She also told the story of the Spanish Mexican explorer who first traveled to the canyon. If I wasn't so bad with names I would have remembered his name when I was telling Bev about him a day earlier at the Ruins in New Mexico... However I am really bad with names and having heard his name again at this talk still can't seem to remember it. The best part of the story is not his name (that would just make it easier to find out more), the beat part is the Natives. He was on a quest, as most of the explorers of his time were, to find a City of Gold, who knew there could be so many supposed cities of gold. When he arrived at the Bandiler Ruins there was no Gold and the Natives, being wise and a lot intimidated, told them the City of gold was father north west. They did this possibly for more reasons then just trying to make the Spanish leave them in peace. There was another Native people out there and they almost thought of the same thing when confronted with these wild gold hunters. However, they decided to be creative and told him a story about a river that would in fact connect to the ocean. Not exactly gold but just about worth it's wait in his mind. This time he didn't leave the city right away, he sent out some scouts and they did indeed find that river.
The stories were a ton of fun, even if some of them did not end so well.

The camping was a little rough, high winds on the Canyon made it hard to sleep. I felt terrible because Bevs' side of the tent was literally filling with sand. We did some adjusting and the wind wasn't as strong the next night, but it was still rough.

We got to go on a lazy walk along the canyon rim, after being in the car for so long and a night of rough sleeping it was hard to commit to a hike down into the canyon. Bev plans to return someday and hike to the bottom. I am not so sure, but I think my husband would love to come see it so I will probably at least come back to it someday.

Other Ruins

We got to the Aztec Ruins just before they closed, 20min. The lady at the counter said it was possible to see it all in that amount of time, however we might have to skip some of the small door ways and read about it all afterward. We decided to give it a try and booked it through the entire city. We even made it through the little doors, and we discovered she really meant they were little.

From there we continued on finding that the Four Corners monument was only an hour or so away, we thought why not check it out and then find a place to stay.
Problem one, the Monument was closed...
Problem two, there is no where to stay anywhere near where that monument is...

The good news was...
We meet some college grads that were also traveling from NY. Even more surprising then that they had left from/graduated from RPI right in our very own Troy area. It is always a joy to meet people on the road, but sweeter still to meet people with whom you share a common starting point. they had also made their very own four corners and shared the fun.

Someday when I have a better computer I will try and post pictures of all this, but right now that is just not working out. The computer freezes when I open the photo files, sorry.

Bandelier National Monument

This was a beautiful walk. The loop around is not long and takes you straight through the dwellings. The area was formed due to a volcanic eruption, and the natives carved rooms into the rock face. The volcanic rock has many holes and is somewhat soft compared to other rocks, but it was still a lot of work. We climbed inside a few of the rooms that were carved into the mountain.

It was amazing how much cooler it was in the shade, and inside the dwellings. The sun can be brutal.

I'll have to add pictures another time the internet is much to slow.