I know it has been a little while since my last blog. This one is going to be long. I mentioned in my last entry about Yosemite that my next destination was going to be Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Well, I just returned from there in fact. The trip wasn’t just these two National Parks however, as I also visited 3 others: Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. I was hoping some of you could have joined me for the first two parks but it did not happen unfortunately. I do understand a lot of you may not feel ready to travel yet because of the pandemic. Being in the travel business, I feel that I should be the one to first go out there and then share my experience with you. I also feel that it is time to see our own country better. The decision of making this trip was not easy but I convinced Jack and Chris to join me. I found my drivers and the photographer! When my sister learned about our plan she too joined without hesitation. Not knowing what can happen especially during this pandemic, I have to say we are quite fortunate to have made this trip. Here is a simple daily encounter of our journey before my memory fades:
Day 1: San Francisco to Elko, Nevada
We started the journey mid morning and finally reached Elko after 8 hours. The drive was quite comfortable but uneventful. Jack had been to Elko when he was young, as his family passed through on the way to visiting his grandmother and grandfather who were living then in Salt Lake City. After checking into our hotel we went out for our first dinner. Chris found a restaurant serving Mediterranean dishes. I was very skeptical about the choice, afterall, we are in Elko, Nevada, not San Francisco or somewhere in Europe. It turned out we had the best Mediterranean meal I could remember. My sister and I don’t care too much on Dolmas, but their Dolmas Platter is to die for! The restaurant’s name is Odeh’s Meditteranean Restaurant. All restaurants in Nevada are opened for dining in with reduced capacity for social distancing. The hotel we stayed at was very comfortable and also found out that they completely redo the reception area during the pandemic. We enjoyed all the fresh new furnishings.
Day 2: Elko, Nevada to Jackson, Wyoming with a stop in Twin Falls, Idaho
The drive today will cross the state line from Nevada to Idaho and then onto Wyoming. One thing came to my mind when our car reached Idaho - potatoes! We passed huge potato fields and trucks filled with full loads of potatoes. The smell of the fresh potatoes filled the air as we passed. We stopped at Twin Falls for lunch and found another good restaurant in this small town. Jack had a great burger and I was more impressed by the artwork featured in the restaurant. We visited nearby tourist highlights after lunch. The waterfalls and the canyon where the river flows through it were stunning. The time in this city was well spent but it was completely dark when we arrived in Jackson and most of the shops and restaurants were closed already. We decided to turn in early.
Day 3: Jackson, Wyoming
Jack and I had a meeting with the academic program director at the Teton Science Schools this morning to discuss the possibility of a program for my yearly school group. Instead of visiting China, the National Parks may be a good alternative. I think the students can learn a lot. The drive to the campus for the meeting was beautiful! I was surprised to see the fall colors in full display. Every head turn felt like a painting. The campus is very impressive and the programs the director showed us are inspiring. I expect a lot of work and conversations when I came back to the office but certainly with high hopes when we left there.
We met up with Chris and my sister back at the hotel and went to the National Wildlife Museum as per my original itinerary. The museum is relatively small, but with quite an expansive collection from famous artists. I did not know the “Big Four” (Richard Friese, Wilhelm Kuhnert, Carl Rungius and Bruno Liljefors) until now and how their works influenced the other artists following their footsteps. The collections focus on wildlife as stated in the name of the museum. The animals were lively depicted in their natural habitats in each painting and sculpture, and they aroused the inspiration of conservation from within. The collections of this museum offered a very different dimension of view from the ones I visited in Europe, Asia and other countries. The museum is situated on top of the hill where you have a view of the vast Elk Reserve valley below...quite magnificent!
Jackson is the city that most tourists stay when visiting the National Parks or for winter skiing. Because of the year round visitors, the town offers choices of accommodation, shops and restaurants. Being a western town, it is not hard to find cowboy bars with live bands playing western music. Our hotel (The Wort Hotel) was in the center of town and gave us the convenience of exploring different corners of the town.
Day 4: Jackson, Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park
Teton Science Schools (TSS) sent Kevin to pick us up at 7am from the hotel to start our first day of exploration in the Grand Teton National Park. We were supplied with binoculars, coffee, snacks and water in a safari type of vehicle. Kevin, a Naturalist/Biologist/Guide, has worked for TSS for 15 years and needless to say he is very experienced and knowledgeable. Most importantly he is very passionate about what he does. Our experience in the national park was enhanced tremendously with Kevin being there. He explained everything from the park’s vegetation, different habitats for different animals, how animals prepare for different seasons. He contained so much valuable information that I think he literally talked non-stop for the whole entire day! We saw a female moose enjoying a quiet morning, Mama and baby bears feeding on a thornberry tree, families of bison (buffalos) relaxing on an open field and a family of Pronghorn (the fastest animal in the park!) sharing the field. Without a knowledgeable guide, we would have missed a lot. Kevin was a godsend. He even tried to teach us to smell a fresh animal’s waste to find out what the animal was and the proximity of this animal to us, believe it or not! He was quite accurate and not soon after that we encountered the bears.
Besides the animals, the fall colors were everywhere which truly enhanced our enjoyment of the scenery. I agree with the TSS academic program director that this is the best time to visit the parks.
Day 5: Jackson, Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park
Kevin told us that the Grand Teton National Park tour was for the viewing of the wildlife and Yellowstone National Park tour was for the understanding of the geology of the park as we could not cover the park in one day and that we were limited to the lower loop of the park. It was a longer day because of the distance we had to cover. As we were driving through Grand Teton, a male moose came out to greet us. I thought it was a good sign for another great day. While Kevin explained the formation of the park, we enjoyed the coffee in our hands.
We first visited “Old Faithful”, and finally understood why it is called such a name. The timing of the spouting of the water and steam is so dependable that you can dial a special hotline for the exact time for the upcoming mother nature’s show. We then saw the hot springs, mud pots and steam vents . I could never have imagined an area so huge with a landscape that seemed to constantly change as we continued to explore. Lunch today was quite special because a mule deer having her lunch was not far from our picnic table. We continued our tour with a stop at the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, 308 feet of sheer beauty. Seeing how the river cut through the Canyon was another admiration of mother nature’s powerful force. We lingered around a little more before the journey back to town. Everyone was quiet during the drive until Kevin spotted a line of cars parked down the road. He suspected a bear might be spotted and asked if we wanted to stop and assure us that time was not an issue. We then quickly got out of our vehicle. Kevin grabbed his powerful binoculars as usual and we followed. The next thing I could hear was Kevin saying “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh…” when he was setting up the binoculars. He spotted a couple wolves trying to get to a carcass behind a line of brush and trees. Of course we all had our small binoculars in our hands and saw the animals also. The next scene was when a grizzly bear came out from nowhere to try to chase out the wolves from the carcass. My sister and I screamed when we saw the head of the bear through the 50 power spotting scopes that Kevin set up. Everyone around was so excited. Then another wolf came into the scene, now 3 altogether. They all stuck around to wait for the bear to have enough and leave since they couldn’t fight it. Now, a few ravens came and someone quickly mentioned that he had sighted a bald eagle! Lo and behold there was a Bald Eagle, perched majestically atop a tree just in front of where all the action had taken place. Just imagine, Yellowstone National Park encompasses 2.2 million acres of land, there are about 100 wolves in the park and we saw 3, one black and two gray, at the same time in the same location. You can calculate the odds of this viewing. I told Kevin that it was definitely the “finale” of the visit to the park! It was something that we all will never forget!
Day 6: Jackson, Wyoming to Salt Lake City, Utah
We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel before the start of our onward journey. The drive from Jackson to Salt Lake City is about 5 hours and we passed through so many ranches and open fields. They reminded me of the western movies like “The Lonesome Dove”, “Open Range”, “Dancing with Wolves” and many others. The scenery was just breathtaking especially with all the fall colors.
I have never been to Utah, the state of the Mormons. I always wanted to visit this city because my name “Sherri” was given to me by a Mormon missionary in Hong Kong because he missed his girlfriend named Sherri back home. His church was looking for a place to preach their gospel in the village where I lived. They rented my mother’s kindergarten space for a short while for their Sunday service. They asked my mother if they could also use the space for English classes. My mother decided to send me and my sister to their classes to benefit in learning English without having to pay. That was the first time I was asked for my English name. It was also through them I learned about the Mormons, Utah and their beautiful Temple in Salt Lake City. It has been so many years ago and I am happy that I am finally here. The only unfortunate thing was the Mormon Temple was scaffolded for repairs and the whole structure was blocked off. Under COVID-19, the city was relatively quiet and many of the shops and restaurants were not open. Those open were with limited hours. Again, most people are very conscientious with wearing masks and socially distancing. With not much happening around, we decided to turn in early and rest up for the Canyon Land for the next two days.
Day 7: Salt Lake City, Utah to Kanab, Utah with a stop at Bryce Canyon
Leaving Salt Lake City behind, we continued on our journey to more National Parks in southern Utah. We purposely arrived late in the afternoon at Bryce Canyon because we wanted to observe the sunset at Sunset Point of this Canyon. We were in awe when we had the first glimpse of the stones. No doubt, it is a dynamic, mesmerizing place like no other. With the very limited time we had, we did not see a lot in this park. We stayed mainly at the Sunset Point to view changing of colors cascading down on the Bryce Amphitheater by the setting sun. Everyone was amazingly quiet to take it all in. How true it is that they call the place “Poetry in Stone”. We wished we could stay longer to enjoy the surrounding beauty, but we had to move on to Kanab. The boys had the 49er game waiting for them at the hotel! Sunday night football! My sister and I had to go out ourselves and bring food back to the hotel for them.
Day 8 Kanab, Utah, The Grand Canyon
We chose to stay at Kanab for two nights because of its proximity to the 3 National Parks we wanted to visit in the area, 1.5 hours drive from Bryce Canyon, 1.5 hours to the Grand Canyon and 30 minutes to Zion National Park. As small as the town is, little did we know it also has a storied Hollywood history. Quite a number of famous celebrities such as John Wayne made western movies in this town in the 30s, 40s and 50s. The town people are sure proud of this as they have pictures of the stars with movie descriptions lined along their main street.
Many years ago I visited the Grand Canyon South Rim with my relatives. I have forgotten really how “Grand” it is. Because of the distance, we only could visit the North Rim of this Park. It was a smaller area than the South Rim, but that did not take away the grandness of it. Standing on top of the canyon, you can only feel how small you are, absorbed by the vastness with seemingly no boundary. You have to brave a fear of heights when you look down, otherwise, the depth of it is enough to make your legs become weak. Well, they have guard rails in most places that look very dangerous. After a late picnic lunch with the Canyon view, it was time to head back to Kanab to have dinner at the Rocking V restaurant recommended by the hotel staff. Me and my sister could not get into this restaurant our first night in Kanab because they were too busy. We were smart to make the reservation for tonight. Only one word to describe our dinner - wonderful! We really did not expect such high quality plates created by the chef in this small town. I believe the restaurant is a family owned restaurant and really nothing fancy about it from the outside. We returned to our hotel very satisfied and looking forward to the last busy day of our trip.
Day 9: Kanab, Utah to Las Vegas, Nevada with a stop at the Zion National Park
We started our day fairly early as we had more ground to cover today. You may think to yourself that we must be pretty tired of the National Parks at this point. Not a bit! Each park has its distinctive differences and beauty. As we got closer to the park, I don’t remember how many times me and my sister chirped out “oohs” and “aahs”. We entered the park from the East Entrance and I have to say it is the most beautiful drive of all the parks we visited. Not too far from the entrance, we were greeted by a herd of bighorn sheep feeding on the pasture beside the road. Such a show! As we continued further into the park after the entrance gate, the scenery became more and more magnificent. Then there was the traffic jam. We did not know the popularity of this park. Parking was a challenge because of the number of people they allowed into the park. A good portion of the park was closed to private vehicles and advance purchase of shuttle tickets required. We did not do that as we did not know how much time we could spend there. That was a blessing because the lines for the shuttles were horrendous. With so many people, social distancing could not be enforced strictly. Since this is the park for hiking, we decided to take the easiest route and that took about 3 hours roundtrip! Under the strong sun with over 90F temperature, the easiest became the hardest for me. In the end, mission accomplished, only Chris worried sick about my bright red face and kept his close steps besides me on our return journey. I don’t think he will ever hike with me after this experience. Though I told him that I will train myself better when we get home.
After a late lunch in the Park, we started our journey home with one more night in Las Vegas. We arrived in Las Vegas early in the evening. We ventured out to see how the town is doing amidst the COVID-19 crisis. Overall, the picture is still pretty sad. There were not that many people in the casinos or on the street. Many shops and restaurants close early. Those opened had hardly any people in them. Everyone had masks on. One can really feel how deep this COVID-19 has affected communities, and it will indeed be a long road to recovery.
Day 10: Las Vegas, Nevada to Home!
It took about 9 hours driving straight from Las Vegas to San Francisco. That gave me a lot of time to think about our trip. I feel so fortunate that we were able to make this trip in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. We all have to be very careful facing this pandemic, but as much as how consuming it is, we cannot lose hope. While we mourn for the deaths, we need to also learn and remember the positive effects. There are still a lot of things you can do whatever suits you. For me, it is the continuation of traveling and learning. Our land is beautiful, we need to respect, preserve and treasure it. To see it as we did, you will absolutely love it. We came back with our hearts fulfilled knowing that all things are possible. Helpful hint: If you are thinking of doing something similar, invest in a National Park’s Pass. As entrance fees to National Parks are $35.00 per vehicle plus $20 per person admission fee, the $80.00 Annual Pass can save you a lot as it allows entrance to the pass holder and 3 additional adults. If you are a Senior (62 years of age or older) you can get a Senior Lifetime Pass for that same amount. As Jack has a Senior Lifetime Pass it saved us close to $600.00 total. If you want to plan a similar trip with your private group, don’t hesitate to give us a call. I would love to see other people enjoy the time together and the experience as much as we did.
