This last weekend J and I decided to head to the Naha Tug of War. It was postponed to the 14th because of bad weather the week before. I have been to it several times but this time we didn't pull on the rope so we could get a better idea of the other things going on near the center point of the Tug of War. We drove down kind of late and I thought for sure we were going to have a terrible time finding parking nearby but we ended up doing okay. We found this little spot of only 6 spots that had metered parking, 60 minutes for 100 yen. Great rate for that area if you can find it. It was one of those spots where you drive over a little gate and ... read more

We drove up to Niagara Falls, NY after picking up our truck at the Newark Airport. We hit the park around 4pm, which was actually really fast time since we didn't even leave Newark until after noon. The park on the US side is state run which really suprised us. We were expecting it to be a National Park. We were a bit disappointed by it. We drove through it once before we found parking to just get a lay of the land, and it just seemed a bit commercialized. Before you are even completely through the park, you run into a section of cheap food places and gifts and it feels a bit like the area right outside the gates at Yellowstone. They could do so much more with the area that they have, if ... read more

We slept in a bit and headed out to sightsee after the morning rush. We were staying in a place off Park Ave set up a bit like a hostel so it was nice to wake up and not have to fight for the bathroom or see people in the hallway while I was in my glasses and boxers. We walked a few blocks, got some breakfast food at a local deli and headed to the closest subway station. We had purchased a day pass for each of us from the hotel lobby for the metro system and planned to use it to the max. We took the train (a couple of them) to the southern part of the Central Park and explored a while, taking lots of pictures and even getting a geocache under out ... read more

After breaking camp in Bryce Canyon early in the morning, we made our way towards Arches National Park. We were in the process of moving across the US so we were trying to make time but also wanted to see everything we could along the way. We hoped to hit Arches and still get some distance under our belt during the day. I have to say, Arches is an amazing place...unbelievable really. We drove through the entire thing. I had several virtual geocaches to find and amazingly enough, they led us to many of the sights we would have seen anyhow. We went to Balanced Rock, Turret Arch, Delicate Arch, and the Windows. The pictures don't do them justice and it is hard to describe how incredible they look and are in person. I highly recommend ... read more

After leaving Zion National Park, we arrrived at Bryce Canyon in the afternoon. We quickly found a camping space and set out to explore the park before the sun set. First we walked over to the Amphitheatre at Inspiration Point to check out the amazing views, and then headed down into the Canyon along Wallstreet and Navajo Loop Trail. There is nothing that compares to the view from down inside the canyon among the hoodoos. We were stopping to take pictures every few feet. The colors at that time of day were unbelievable and I am sure the photos don't do them justice. We traveled the short loop through the canyon and came back up on the Thor's Hammer side. The sun was starting to leave the area so our photo opportunities were fading quickly. Once ... read more