TravelStream™ news feed for member lgthib on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/lgthib en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:17:42 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lgthib/1/1249679205/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lgthib/1/1249679205/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lgthib/1/1249679205/tpod.html Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:17:42 -0400 Our Great American Road Trip

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Bow, New Hampshire, United States

So we managed to find our way home after an incredible summer. In just over 5 weeks we were in 29 States, drove 12,700 miles, visited 5 World Heritage Sites, many wonderful state and national parks, saw great cities, awesome beaches and fantastic friends and family. This was a time I will cherish forever.

Thanks to all who have followed my blog and taken this journey with us.

ox
Lisa
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Stow, Ohio, United States

We arrived at dinner time to a great deal of excitement for Bri's homecoming. As much as it was a wonderful trip, she was glad to be home in her own bed at last!

We'll spend a couple of nights in Ohio and then head home to NH.
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Beloit, Wisconsin, United States

Well, the girls selected our final destination, The Mall of America. It has 500 stores, 50 restaurants, countless kiosks, a movie theater, an aquarium and an amusement park. The girls thought it was great, although they realized that it really was just a big mall. They bought lots of things and had a great time.

Time to head home...
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Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States

We started the day at Mount Rushmore. None of us had ever been there before. We used the audio tours again, and learned a great deal about the carvings, the presidents, the Black Hills and the Lakota people. It really is a special place, and we enjoyed the sculptures and hiking around through the park.

After Mt. Rushmore, we traveled through the Wind Cave National Park on our way to Hot Springs. We saw herds of buffalo and elk, and stopped for a close up look at both. It was great to see buffalo at last after spending two days in Wyoming and South Dakota buffalo country.

In Hot Springs we toured an active archaeological dig, the Mammoth Site. This site was discovered by contractors in the 1970's. Apparently they uncovered what was an ancient sink hole that had been filled with warm waters during the last ice age. Both Columbian and Woolly Mammoths had roamed the area, and wandered into the water, but were unable to get out. So far they have uncovered the bones of nearly 60 mammoths, and they have another 45 feet of depth to study. It was great to be able to see these actual remains and learn about the process used to uncover and study them.

After Hot Springs, we drove 6 hours through the badlands to Sioux Falls. It had to be one of our longest drives through vast, bland landscape! Tomorrow we travel to our final destination, as chosen by the girls, the Mall of America. What a way to end this incredible journey!
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Custer, South Dakota, United States

After a great day in Mesa Verde National Park, we traveled to South Dakota. On to Rushmore tomorrow.
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Pueblo, Colorado, United States

We had a great day today at Mesa Verde National Park. We arrived early, and on our way through the park we saw the group of wild horses again as well as four bucks grazing near the road. Our first guided tour was Cliff Palace. This is the largest cliff dwelling in the park. We were able to walk along the front of the structures while our guide provided a lot of information about the ancient puebloen people and culture. Our second tour was at Long House. We enjoyed it most of all. Long House is on the opposite side of the park from Cliff Palace, about 15 miles away. At Long House, we were able to climb up into the actual dwelling and view the interior rooms. Our guide was great, and we learned a great deal about the geology, history and people of this place.

This wonderful World Heritage Site is a must see!
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Cortez, Colorado, United States

We left Sedona this morning and headed north to Colorado. We arrived at Mesa Verde National Park late in the afternoon, in time to tour the Spruce Tree Pueblo Cliff Dwelling and the ruins along the Mesa Top Loop drive. There are 600 cliff dwellings here in Mesa Verde and many more ancient pit and mesa top dwelling ruins have been uncovered. The pit and mesa top dwellings were built from 10 to 500 A.D., and the Anasazi lived in the cliff dwellings around 1200 A.D. As we were driving out tonight, we were thrilled to see a group of wild horses grazing near the road. What a fantastic place!

I was able to book us on ranger guided tours tomorrow for two large dwellings. Should be a great day!
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Sedona, Arizona, United States

Our last day in Sedona was loads of fun. We went to Slide Rock State Park. This is an area of carved out red rocks where a freezing river winds through and provides the brave a natural water park. The kids had great fun winding through the slippery slides and jumping off high rocks to deep pools below. Gabi & Bri decided to warm up and lay in the sun after lunch while the boys continued endless runs down the rock slide.

It has been a wonderful time here with the Lee's and we'll miss them as we head north tomorrow.
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Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, United States

We had a great day today hiking around the Grand Canyon National Park. We started out early and got there before the crowds. We hiked 2+ miles along the South Rim to the Bright Angel trail head. The views were beautiful everywhere. Looking at the canyon seems somewhat surreal, as if it could just be a movie backdrop. The size and depth is so large, it's hard to take in. A ranger pointed out the Colorado River to us and showed us a bridge across it. From the rim it looked like a one-lane road, yet he said it was 300 feet across!

Inspired by our friends who hiked all the way down to the bottom of the canyon and back, we decided to walk a short distance on the Bright Angel Trail. It was a great hike until it started to rain, then thunder and lightening. We stayed under rock cover until the weather cleared. We tried making an echo, and got a real kick out of hearing it bounce back at us.

After lunch, the park had become thick with visitors and every lot and roadway was filled with cars. We decided to drive to the East Rim, an area that I had never heard of before. It was great. There were very few visitors in this area, despite the fact that it is adjacent to the South Rim. We were able to drive right up and park at each overlook, and walk around with only a few other people in most areas. We found several spectacular spots that I felt had views superior to those in the main South Rim area.

Tomorrow we'll spend our last day in Sedona.
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Sedona, Arizona, United States

Another incredibly hot day in Sedona. The temperature hit 108 degrees while we were driving. We got an early start with Bob & Isabel and the kids, and headed out to look at the red rocks and several national monument sites. First we went to the Chapel of the Holy Cross. This church, built in the 19050's high in the red rocks of Sedona, was a beautiful building in an incredible setting. We continued on southeast to Montezuma's Well and then to Montezuma's Castle. Both of these cave and cliff dwelling sites were built in the 1100's and inhabited by the Sinagua tribe for several hundred years. Our last stop was to Tuzigoot, a Pueblo dwelling site. We did pretty well toughing out the 100+ degree temps as we hiked around, but we headed back to the condos in the early afternoon. We had another nice dinner together, went for a swim, and watched a movie.

Tomorrow it's up and out by 7:00 for our trip to the Grand Canyon.
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