Vacation Rocks! (recap + 64 photos)

[OversighT]

Hello everyone--
First off let me apologize for the amount of photos I'm including in this thread. I wanted to tell the story of the vacation that my wife and I just got back from and although 64 photos is a lot for on post, this represents only 5% of the total number of photos I have posted online (link to all of the photos is at the bottom of this post).

The company that I work for gives all of its employees a 4 week sabbatical after 5 years of service and my wife, Melanie, and I decided that it's high time that I took mine. So, we planned an 11 state, 1 zoo, 1 island, 8 national parks vacation. We had an amazing time and it's truly a vacation that we'll never forget. The trip was broken up into 2 parts...

Part 1: California and Hawaii
On 4/26 we flew out to San Diego to spend a couple of days with some of my college friends. I hadn't seen Jason since my wedding and it was good to catch up. He and Nicole, his girlfriend, took us to the SD Zoo and the museums at Balboa Park. That area is beautiful! Amazing architecture everywhere.

Nicole and Jason


One of the koalas at the zoo


On 4/28 we flew to Kauai, HI to spend a week relaxing on the beaches and enjoying the place where we spent our honeymoon (we stayed at the Hanalei Bay Resort in the Princeville area of the north shore). We celebrated our 5 year anniversary there and since we had a 2 bedroom condo we brought along a couple of friends who really needed a vacation. We had an amazing time with the highlight of the trip being the snorkel and sail trip along the Na'Pali coast.

This was our view from the lanai (balcony) of our condo.


A lone surfer checking out the ocean on Luma'hai beach.


Dave and Stephanie


Waimea Canyon, called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific


Even when it rains it's beautiful in Hawaii


A gorgeous sunset over Hanalei Bay


An endangered monk seal that we saw on the south end of the island


A Samoan fire knife dancer that we saw at the luau we attended


The majestic Na'Pali coast


The water was an amazing shade of turquoise blue


The plants and flowers around the resort are immaculately maintained and provide quite a variety of shots.






Part 2: Road trip time... Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona
We flew back to the mainland on 5/5 and home to Austin on 5/6 to begin preparing for our 14 day road trip. During the road trip we passed through 9 different states and saw 8 national parks (Rocky Mountain, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Arches, Zion, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, and White Sands)

Melanie packing up the back seat getting ready to leave.


Day 1: Austin to Amarillo (5/10)
I know I don't have to tell any of you that Texas is a BIG state. Our first day on the road we made it to Amarillo.

Me with Tex Randall (we found him just south of Amarillo)


We had dinner at the Big Texan Steak Ranch... home of the free 72 oz. steak.


Day 2: Amarillo to Manitou Springs, CO (just outside of Colorado Springs)
Before leaving Amarillo we swung by the Historic Route 66 area and grabbed some photos and then headed out to Cadillac Ranch. We headed north to Boise City, OK (the only city in the continental US to be bombed) and then on to Raton, NM and into Colorado.



Of course Melanie and I brought along a can of spray paint to add our mark to Cadillac Ranch.


This was taken at a rest stop in Colorado. The Rocky Mountains are in the background.


Melanie and I at Seven Falls, just south of Manitou Springs.


Day 3: Manitou Springs to Broomfield, CO
After waking up we headed to the Garden of the Gods for a quick drive through. The park is amazing... red rock formations everywhere with the backdrop of the Rockies. After that we headed to Broomfield to visit a couple of friends, Jess and Derek. They took us to Golden to tour the Coors brewery and then to downtown Denver so we could pick up a souvenir for my Dad at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Melanie took this shot of me composing a shot at Garden of the Gods.


One of the brew kettles outside of the Coors Brewery in Golden, CO


Day 4: Broomfield to Cheyenne, WY
We spent the majority of this day exploring Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park, CO.

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. The Shining was filmed here.


Self portrait at 10,000 feet above sea level. Taking a deep breath felt like someone was sitting on my chest.


Day 5: Cheyenne to Jackson, WY
We spent the day driving through Wyoming. We stayed at Spring Creek Ranch and had an amazing view from our cabin.

The Wyoming landscape.


This was our view, the Teton range. Grand Teton is the tallest in this photo.


Love the unconventional stop signs at the ranch.


Day 6: Jackson to Moran, WY
We spent the entire day exploring Grand Teton NP.

There are several lakes that border the Teton range on the east side of the mountains.


We saw a family of Grizzly bears run across the road in front of us and managed to get only a few shots of them before they disappeared into the forest.


Day 7: Moran to West Yellowstone, MT
We hung around Grand Teton NP for a few hours and then headed up to Yellowstone.

They still had snow and I couldn't resist making a snowball.


A serene lake shot.


Old Faithful (a must see for any Yellowstone visitor)


On our drive to the west entrance we encountered a lot of bison just hanging out around the road.


The massive figure in the road ahead was a bison walking straight towards the car... he passed within feet of the driver's side of the car.


Also managed to locate a bald eagle nest on our first day in the park.


Day 8: West Yellowstone, MT
This was the only day of the trip that we didn't change hotels. We spent the entire day exploring Yellowstone.

We happened upon this momma black bear protecting her cub (near the tree) from a coyote (on the log near momma) in the Tower area of the park.


This it the Lower Falls... amazing canyon and a HUGE waterfall (though it looks tiny in this shot)


Heading towards the west entrance we stopped so I could get this shot.


Day 9: West Yellowstone to Idaho Falls to Salt Lake City, UT
On the way to SLC we stopped in Idaho Falls, ID to check out the falls. Not nearly as impressive as the falls in Yellowstone, but they are 1,200 feet wide.

Shot of a portion of the falls with the local temple in the background.


Day 10: SLC to Moab, UT
Arches NP is pretty spectacular, but we had the misfortune of getting there when it was completely overcast so the red rocks didn't light up as much as I had hoped.

Our car parked next to one of the rock formations... you really feel small when you experience natures artistry.


Melanie sitting in the north window (one of the many arches that give the park its name)


Can you find me in this photo? This is the south window.


Day 11: Moab to Springdale, UT (Zion NP)
We spent the day driving across Utah to get to Zion NP. We didn't have much time at Zion and we were a bit disappointed to find out that all of the really beautiful spots were several hours hike away once you were in the park, but it was a pretty place to visit regardless.

The view from our balcony at the Cliffrose Lodge. This was hands down the best place we stayed during the trip. The most spacious suite and the most comfortable bed ever.




Typical sight throughout the trip. We travelled over 5,000 miles in 2 weeks. I haven't looked at how much we spent on gas yet.


Day 12: Springdale to Tusayan, AZ
The plan for this day was to see both the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon, but we got a late start and spent more time at the north rim than we expected so we got to the south rim after dark.

North rim... this is called Angel's Window


Temple of Vishnu... when we were there it seemed pretty close, but was really 2 miles away.


Sunset on the way to the south rim. I had to use the car to add some interest to the shot (the canyon was completely black)


South rim of the canyon (the weather wasn't the greatest when we were there)


Self portrait on the south rim


Me worrying Melanie with how close to the edge I got to take some photos


Day 13: Tusayan to Flagstaff to Sedona to Winslow to Holbrook, AZ
Busy day of driving, but we covered a lot of ground. We wanted to see the Route 66 area in Flagstaff, but were disappointed that it wasn't much so we headed south to see Sedona. We were only there for about an hour, grabbed some photos, and got back on the road. In Winslow we stopped by the "standing on the corner park" made famous by the Eagles and then headed to Holbrook to spend the night.

Shot of Sedona. Neat little town surrounded by towering cliffs of red rock.


Me standing on the corner.


The traffic cone hotel in Pixar's movie "Cars" was based on this place... you can really sleep in a room shaped like a wigwam.


Day 14: Holbrook to Roswell to Ruidoso Downs, NM
We stopped at the Petrified Forest NP for about 2 hours before heading to New Mexico. We stopped in Roswell for dinner and then headed on to Ruidoso Downs.

We grabbed dinner at the cover up cafe.


This is what petrified wood looks like


Day 15: Ruidoso Downs to Alamogordo to Las Cruces to El Paso to Austin
This was the last day of our trip and proved to be the worst day of driving. We saw the White Sands National Monument in Alamogordo, the world's largest road runner in Las Cruces, and ended up not leaving El Paso until 5pm... 8 hours later I managed to hit a huge log in the road that was deposited there during a flash flood that night outside of Fredericksburg.

White Sands National Monument


Artistic interpretation of my vacation


Me with the world's largest road runner


The sunset before the run of nasty thunderstorms we'd hit while driving on I-10


Car damage from the log in the road




Whew... that took a long time to compose and I hope that y'all enjoyed the narrative. This was by far the most memorable vacation we've ever taken and we had a great time.
If anyone is interested in seeing the remaining 1,200+ photos you will find them at http://schneiderphotos.phanfare.com/album/264097.

Also, if you have any questions about the areas or how we researched and planned the trip please don't hesitate to ask. I'd love to help anyone else who may be planning a trip to any of the places we went.


T.

[Daniel Bates]

Whew, that was a lot of photos! But I enjoyed looking at every one of them.

[Terrancelee]

What a trip! :) Lot of good shots here, will go to the link and check them out soon as I have time.

[pippin]

what?!?! couldn't even come have lunch with me? *sniffle*

joking.

anyways, great shots!!

[robert t]

Much envy!!!!! great images!!

[tommas4]

Nice series, enjoyed looking thru them.

Tomas

[Joe_Lorenzini]

I agree, an excellent series. I envy you both.

_/oe

[Abel]

very cool trip troy.. thanks for sharing!

[ndsimm]

The company that I work for gives all of its employees a 4 week sabbatical after 5 years of service

just one question - are there any openings at your company???




great shots man!

[DJ.]

Great series and I have to agree with you about Hawaii. We spend 10 days on Kauai and didn't want to leave.

[OversighT]

Thanks for all of the responses everyone.

Lisa -- Now I'll just have to plan another trip to Colorado to have lunch with you

Nathan -- We are staffing up... it's limited, but we have a lot of changes coming up. Check out http://jobs.schwab.com.

Dave -- Kauai is an amazing place. My wife and I want to go back every year now.


T.

[L Stegall]

Enjoyed looking. We're off to Hawaii (Lana'i) in a few months, so really enjoyed seeing those. I love the Western US too - we've been to some, but not all, of the places you posted. Now I have incentive to see the rest.

[snidow]

What a great trip! thanks for sharing it, I love all the photos and it reminds me of what I am missing... vacation haven't been on one in a long time.

[JenJohnson79]

It's hilarious that you posted this. . . my husband leaves ALONE I'm in summer school! Saturday for a trip similiar to this including all the states, but he's throwing in a Astros vs. Rockies game, and a Red Sox vs. Diamondbacks game in the mix! And he'll be gone 10 days or so. . .

[MarcoFromHouston]

Originally Posted by ndsimm

just one question - are there any openings at your company???




great shots man!

I was gonna ask THE SAME question! WOW!

Love all the pics, especially the "artistic interpretation" one.

And good job rockin your Astros gear! (even though they are on a losing streak right now ).