http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Kate and Dave/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Kate and Dave en-us Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:02:12 UTC Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:02:12 UTC After leaving Las Vegas we headed west to Death Valley for a couple of nights. Was really warm there and that evening we watched the sunset at Badwater a pool of salty water in the salt flats at the base of Death Valley which is over 200 feet 45m below sea level. By this time we had a full moon so was really neat lighting. Later that evening we joined up with one of the rangerlead programmes http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/California/blog-109892.html We started heading west again towards Grand Canyon and stopped for a brief look at Meteor Crater and the museum there. Meteor Crater was the first crater ever identified as such on earth and is still the best preserved. Also saw some pueblo ruins out on the plains here just scattered around the place but not open to the public.Made a short stop in Winslow for the obligatory ldquostanding on the http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Arizona/Grand-Canyon-National-Park/blog-109890.html We woke up the morning in Page to a bitterly cold wind and all the leaves on the trees in the campground had fallen overnight. Page marked our entrance into the Navajo Nation the largest Native American reservation in the US covering an area stretching from the Grand Canyon to over the border in New Mexico and Glen Canyon to Petrified Forest National Park. We set out on an Antelope Canyon Tour t http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Arizona/Navajo-Nation-Reservation/blog-109889.html We arrived at Zion National Park fairly late in the day after stopping to do some shopping just outside of Bryce. Was a beautiful evening so we decided to head up the valley to see the sights. There were heaps of deer everywhere as the valley floor in Zion is fairly low in elevation the mule deer population stay there for the winter. Was also supposed to be quite a few mountain lions around beca http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Utah/Zion-National-Park/blog-107011.html On the way to Capitol Reef we also visited Goblin Valley State Park an unusual collection of sandstone hoodoos that look a lot like mushrooms. Some of them are quite large and it was quite a maze to walk amongst them. We had a slight detour getting out of the park though and back on to the main road. I had a map that said there was another road back out but this actually turned out to be a 4wd d http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Utah/Bryce-Canyon/blog-107007.html The drive from Crane Oregon to Salt Lake City Utah was our longest day and travelled through the deserts of northern Nevada. Fortunately most of this journey was on the interstate which actually made it easier. For ages we thought that there were no trees in this part of Nevada and then we realised that what we thought were rocks up in the snow on the mountain ridges were actually pines this s http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Utah/Arches-National-Park/blog-107004.html Howie and Judi very kindly let us use their bach for a night which was situated on the Little Deschutes River south of Bend. Driving over the Cascades to get there was an interesting experience as it was pouring rain and we were a bit worried about the amount of snow over the pass. Fortunately although there was quite a lot of snow on the ground is was quite warm and only raining. The road was http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Oregon/Bend/blog-104777.html After leaving Lake Tahoe we headed north again up to Lava Beds National Monument near the OregonCalifornia border. We arrived fairly late in the afternoon and just had time to visit the visitor centre and set up camp before watching the sun set over the cinder cones lava flows and sagebrush. After dinner we set off in the dark to one of the many lava tubes in the park this one was lit up by se http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/blog-104274.html After arriving in San Francisco at 11 am we picked up the rental car and headed straight out of San Francisco for the town of Tracy. Driving on the other side of the road was a really strange experience at first and took a lot of concentration We bought supplies and food in Tracy and stayed the night at a motel before heading out the next morning for Yosemite National Park.We came in on the north http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/California/Yosemite-National-Park/blog-95600.html