To Oregon!

Oregon is the land of mountains and coastlines. About 363 miles of the Pacific caostline is open to the public; highway 101 takes travelers all along the the scenic view. Many state parks are located along this western side of Oregon, offering sight-seers many opportunities to view the rustic Oregon coast. Some of these state parks are Beverly Beach State Park, Bullards Beach State Park, Cape Arago State Park, and Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint.

A popular tourist attraction in Oregon is Mount Hood not only for the view but also for recreation. Four skiing places are available for those who enjoy to keep active. Delicious fruits are grown near Mount Hood because of the rich volcanic soil. The Columbia River Gorge is also a beautiful sight where visitors have the opportunity to go windsurfing.

This state also has country scenery in Willamette Valley. Farms are spread across the landscape, and produce stands are set up full with fresh fruits and vegetables.

In southern Oregon is the United States' deepest lake, Crater Lake. Hikers enjoy trekking through the forests and observing the beautiful scenery. Smith Rock National Park, in central Oregon, is also enjoyed by hikers and especially rock climbers. The adventuresome can use several of the thousand climbing trails this park has to offer.

In Hells Canyon, the deepest gorge in North America, tourists may go white water rafting and kayaking. As one can obviously see, the state of Oregon shows even more beauties of this country. If one has the opportunity to visit this state, do not pass it up!

http://www.traveloregon.com/Explore-Oregon.aspx

http://12feet.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2009-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2010-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=7

http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/farmlands-of-the-willamette-valley-margaret-hood.jpg 

http://oregon.4h.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/OregonCoast.jpg

CALIFORNIA

Now let's talk about the state of California and, in particular, two of its national parks: Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite was one of the first parks in the United States and is known for its waterfalls. Sequoias, rivers, and meadows are also some of the beauties of Yosemite. The main attraction for hiking and taking pictures is the Half Dome. A seven mile trail leads hikers to the top of the dome that is 8,800 feet above sea level but 5,000 feet above the Yosemite Valley. From the summit of the Half Dome, one can view “Vernal and Nevada Falls, Liberty Cap, Half Dome, and panoramic views of Yosemite Valley and the High Sierra.” That view must be amazing! After watching this video http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/halfdome.htm#CP_JUMP_365187 one can understand how hiking up the dome can be dangerous, but for the adventurous this it is a great challenge.

Sequoia National Park is home to one of the most spectacular forests in the United States. Sequoia trees are not quite as tall as the famous redwood trees but are larger in diameter. Sequoias are the largest trees in the world. They grow to 378 feet tall and 22 feet in diameter. Some of the trees in the park are thousands of years old. In some trees, a road has been constructed so that a car can drive through it.

When planning a trip to California, Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks need to be included. Thousands of people visit these parks each year. The beautiful sights are worth seeing.

http://www.nps.gov/yose/index.htm

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/halfdome.htm

http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/78418/Letting-them-see-Sequoia-2

http://www.visitsequoia.com/redwoods-and-sequoias.aspx

http://www.visitsequoia.com/giant-sequoia-trees.aspx

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Half_dome_yosemite_national_park.jpg&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Half_dome_yosemite_national_park.jpg&usg=__PELOR9Y-dbJiNVqcd9UPM48EkbA=&h=2048&w=3072&sz=2924&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=yiPBEq0KzRtqIM:&tbnh=147&tbnw=222&ei=MwRfTbjEGJHjtgeRqMW1DA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhalf%2Bdome%2Byosemite%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D485%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=362&vpy=141&dur=1961&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=176&ty=82&oei=SfheTcKgF4j6cOnstcwJ&page=1&ndsp=8&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0

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Never Go Camping to the Rocky Mountains in June! – part 2

Let me describe to you how cold it became every night. We slept wearing winter hats, several shirts, sweatshirts, a coats, gloves, jeans, sweat pants, and many pairs of socks including wool socks. We braved the wintry elements in June without even contemplating checking into a hotel.

One morning, I woke up before the rest of my family and waited impatiently for my mom to wake up because I had to use the restroom; I could not just leave the camper without telling anyone, since at the time I was only eight years old. After what seemed to be a long time, my family did start waking up; I received permission to go and sat up to put on my tennis shoes. There was no need to change out of my pajamas because I was already dressed in my layers of clothes. Wait, there was one problem; the door would not open. I tried again, but did not open. Then someone pointed to the top of the door. Here is what had happened the night before; snow had quietly fallen on the mountain all night. It was heavy enough to cause the awning of the camper to fall backwards into the door. By now, I was quite frustrated because I really did have to use the restroom; with my big, puffy coat and I did manage to squeeze through the door. Once out in the open air, I saw a spectacular winter wonderland. I made my way to the restroom while observing another beauty of the mountains. This experience has never left my memory. Most people do not intend to camp in the snow, but I am glad we did. To me this just another reason proving that camping is amazing!

http://www.worldofstock.com/slides/NWI2685.jpg 

Never Go Camping to the Rocky Mountains in June! – part 1

After the hiking adventures of Kentucky during my family's first camping trip, we made plans for the next summer's vacation out west. By this time, we had bought our own pop-up camper with no air-conditioning, bathroom, or other conveniences, but we loved it. Our plans were to stop at our grandparents home in Illinois, drive on to Scott's Bluff and Chimney Rock in Nebraska, and arrive at our main destination at Rocky Mountain National Park. If you ever decide to go camping in those mountains, let me give you one tip; do not go in June! The reason is that a rise in elevation means that the temperature drops, and my family knows this quite well now.  

Hiking and camping in the Rocky Mountains was beautiful. I have distinct memories of that place not just from the view but also the experiences. My older sister and I slept on one of the beds that “pops” out of the side of the camper; nothing separated us from the outside world except a canvas stretched over a few metal poles. My sister played a trick every morning to wake me up. First of all, every night, on the canvas above us, a layer of condensation formed from breathing out warm air in contrast to the dropping temperatures outside. Using her devious mind, she would reach out over my head, smack the canvas above me, fling her sleeping bag over her head, and wait for my reaction as hundreds of icy water droplets fell onto my contentedly resting face. This happened every morning! Ah, this was one fond memory to think about, but at least it begins to relate how cold it became every night. On chilly nights, sleeping in walls in one thing, but sleeping with only fabric between you and the outside air is another. Interestingly, I would not trade this winter experience in June for a heated house in January.   

Other Sources about "Traveling the USA"

This week I have been looking into other blogs related to “Traveling the USA.” Most of the travel blogs I found were about personal experiences rather than researched tourist attractions as I have done. 

Here is one that I have found to be quite interesting: http://www.travbuddy.com/X_Drive/blogs. This man, Roger, has multiple blogs about his journeys in not just the United States but also the world. He mainly blogs about places in California where he lives. I have enjoyed browsing through his experiences. In 2008, he took a road trip all the way across the southern United States to Florida and then back to California by a different route. My own family trips have never taken us down to the south. We have gone as far as South Carolina but unfortunately not for sightseeing’s sake. We only drive down there to bring my sibling to college, so I am excited to read more about the south from Roger's perspective. You should read into it too!

This website (http://atravelerslibrary.com/tag/usa/) gives a fascinating view of the United States. Instead of telling the readers about personal experiences, this site gives movie and book reviews about particular places in America. The author, Vera Marie Badertscher, does write her personal opinion at the end of her posts, but mainly she shows her readers what the media is portraying of America's tourist attractions.

Now this, http://12feet.blogspot.com/, is about personal experiences of two guys and their two pets touring the country in an RV. For the past four years, they have written about their travels through the West. Their posts mostly consist of their photos taken of the breath-taking landscape of America.

I hope you will take the opportunity to at least glance through these websites. I have never visited the places described in these blogs, so I hope you will enjoy reading about it as I have. Enjoy!