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Olympic National Park
For our summer vacation this year, we decided to drive to Olympic National Park and spend a week exploring the Olympic Peninsula. We went all the way the first day and stayed at the Log Cabin Resort on Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park for the first three nights. On the fourth day, we took the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, British Columbia, for the day. In Victoria, we had tea at the Empress and revisited Abigail’s Hotel, where we had honeymooned 25 years earlier and enjoyed shopping. For the next three nights, we stayed in the Lake View building at the Lake Quinault Lodge. Here, we took a boat tour of Lake Quinalt and explored the Lake Quinalt Rain Forest and the coast around Kalaloch. Finally, we drove through Mount Ranier on our way home.
American Northeast
After years of planning, we finally got to go on her fall color trip to New England. The night before was stressful, hoping Lois (Jolie’s Mom) did not get delayed in her flight to our house to watch the kids. Once they landed, Jolie picked them up at the airport at 9:30 pm, and we still had to finish up the final packing and preparation. We got up at 4:30 am to get through security for our 6:45 am flight. We flew through Salt Lake City, where we had a fun breakfast and a mimosa sampler.
Old Faithful
For some reason, I decided to challenge myself and shoot every photo for this trip in JPG instead of RAW. This is what happens when you don’t use your camera regularly, ‘minor’ settings get forgotten sometimes. We booked a room for a couple of nights at the Old Faithful Lodge and drove up from Denver. This first day was all driving. We stopped for the Park signs at Grand Teton and the southern Yellowstone entrance.
Land of the Ancients
We spent several nights camping at the Morfield Campground in Mesa Verde National Park. The weather was perfect, and we enjoyed exploring this part of the state. We spent a couple of days at Mesaverde and then a day driving around the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument with a visit and hike around Hovenweep National Monument.
Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge
I visited Colorado’s remote northwest corner for a camping trip the week of Memorial Day with my buddy, Jeff. This is a little-known area in Colorado reflected by the lack of traffic and visitors. We camped in the National Wildlife Refuge at the Swinging Bridge Campground on the Green River between the Flaming Gorge and Dinosaur National Monument.
American Southwest
Day one started early before sunrise at the Doubletree in Grand Junction, Colorado. We drove 20 miles via the west entrance to Grand View overlooking Independence Monument. We arrived around 6:30 am, waiting for some morning light on a brisk morning.
The Bechler River
We did a 5-day backcountry llama trip into the Bechler River region of Yellowstone National Park in September of 2014. We used Jackson Hole Llamas (No longer in business) for the excursion and had one of the best trips ever.
15th Anniversary London Adventure
Jason surprised Jolie with this trip, planning with her sister to keep the kids and calling her boss to get the time off work. He let the cat out of the bag earlier than he planned by accidentally texting Jolie some revealing information one day while she was at work, he was texting Jena at the same time and got the texts mixed up. As a result, he announced the trip that night giving Jolie a card and a guide book of London, what a fabulous surprise!
Lake Yellowstone
We made the long drive from Denver to Lake Yellowstone in the center of Yellowstone National Park. We drove through Casper, Thermopolis, and Cody with the start of our adventure via the East Entrance to the park. Fall colors are turning around the park, only helping the grandeur of Yellowstone. We stopped at Sylvan Lake on the way into the park before getting checked in to our room at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel.