The Rocks, Trees and Water Tour - 2007

Finally, a little bit of time to try sorting out some sort of road trip recap. Things have not been mellow since I returned as I'm looking for an apartment and I've received a 6-month ultimatum at work...so here's a little escape back into the recent past.



Statistics:
departure date: june 30, 2007
return date: july 18, 2007
miles travelled (by odometer): 3970
gallons of gas used: not yet calculated, but often got 30+ mpg
direction travelled: counter-clockwise (darn it, had to pay the toll to cross the Golden Gate)
states crossed: 7
provinces crossed: 2
relatives visited: 11
national parks visited: US 5 (+ 1 national monument), Canada 4
national forests crossed: I lost count, really
former nuclear reactor sites visited: 1
live bears spotted in Yellowstone NP: 1
live whales spotted from Redwoods NP: hard to tell, they're underwater most of the time
Old Faithful eruptions: 1
nights spent camping: 4
nights spent camping in rain: 0
nights spent at Super 8's: 2
nights spent at Motel 6's: 1
number of bug bites on me: <10
number of bugs splattered on front of car: countless (I won!)
runs: 2 (including half-marathon in Calgary)
bike rides: 4 (Grand Teton NP, Glacier NP, Silver Star Mtn, Vancouver Island)
attempts to swim: 1 (Lake Lewis, Yellowstone NP...cold, so cold...)
laundry days: 2
bagels eaten: 11
boxes of cereal eaten on the road: 2
cooler ice refills: 5
number of days requiring air-conditioning in car: all
highest recorded surface temperature in Craters of the Moon NM: 178 deg F
highest altitude attained: Continental Divide in Yellowstone is about 8900 ft
number of CDs played while driving: 59
number of CDs played twice: 3
number of CDs played more than twice: 0
reasons to stay more than one night in Wells, NV: 0

Pictorial review, the short course--Rocks, Trees and Water:

Grand Teton NP

Pictorial review, the long course--Rocks;

Yoho NP, BC, Canada

Trees;

Mt. Revelstoke NP, BC, Canada

and Water.

Takakkaw Falls, Yoho NP, BC, Canada

We can also play Spot The Critters:

l-r: Yellowstone NP, Glacier NP, Glacier NP

Hint: left to right is fish, goat, sheep. The fellow in the middle photo took a look at the mountain goat and then proclaimed, "Yup, that's a big male all right." Um, precisely what I was thinking...

It was a great trip and I'm glad I did it. My only regret is forgetting to get a keychain from each national park (my usual keepsake). Still, it'll be a while before I try something like it again...