2020 USA

Back in 2005 we took our first big family overseas trip with a foray into the USA with two particular objectives in mind:- Disneyland & Yellowstone National Park.

A great trip was had and it left us wanting more – specifically more of Yellowstone.

Discussions over the years ensued & ultimately we were able to arrange a return trip, this time in Winter with our very good friends & travel companions on part of that first trip, Alan & Dianne Hee.

JACKSON HOLE

After an overnight stop back in 2005 we wanted to have a bit of time in Jackson Hole as it is such a picturesque little town at he foothills of wintertime ski slopes.

By way of explanation Jackson Hole is the whole valley at the base of the Teton Mountain Range & Jackson refers to the town.

We stayed at the Snow King Resort in Jackson which was picture perfect at the very foot of the ski slopes.

Not being skiers our priority was to have a look around Jackson & go to the Elk Refuge where the Elk come down to from Yellowstone for the winter months.

At the time of our visit there were around 5,400 Elk in the refuge with the majority arriving that week.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

One of the things on the wish list for Yellowstone was to see it snowing. Wish granted!

In fact it snowed at some point every one of the nine days we stayed in the park, sometimes quite heavily which was great.

We stayed at Old Faithful Snow Lodge Western Cabins for the first five nights which were much better than staying in a hotel style room in the lodge. Alan & Di had the cabin behind us with adjoining doors.

During winter no private vehicles are allowed in the park and all movements are by their snow coaches & their older “Bombardier” vehicles.

As such you are reliant on the park services for movement throughout the park.

Some months prior we had booked to do an activity/tour every day. These day or half day packages took us to various parts of the park, remembering that Yellowstone is just under 9000 square kilometres in area, with a maximum height of 8391 feet above sea level.

The combination of views & wildlife was fantastic. Although we didn’t get to see a wolf in the wild, the array of wildlife was incredible.

To see quite a number of bald eagles, river otters playfully diving in & out of the freezing river, a mating pair of coyotes, moose, deer and numerous bird life all in the wild with the most spectacular scenery as a backdrop it is difficult to take a bad photo.

Whilst some of the shots were challenging others like the river otters & the coyotes were quite happy to do their thing not bothered about the two legged camera freaks following their every move.

As I mentioned the scenery was also both varied and magnificent.

Blended into much of the scenery is the thermal activity throughout the park in the form of geysers, hot pools, mud pots and steam vents. together with the wildlife and the spectacular scenery it makes Yellowstone one of the most incredible places on Earth.

Along the way we had a lot of fun, met quite a number of really nice people who to a person were most sympathetic about the bushfires in Australia and all offering their sincere sympathy before also enquiring if we were affected by the fires.

We will have great memories of Yellowstone for the rest of our lives.

LAS VEGAS

It has been nearly 15 years since we were last in Vegas and to be quite honest as far as “The Strip” is concerned not an awful lot has changed. Sure a coupe of reno’s for a few of the casinos but nothing of great note.

The biggest change we found was the “old Vegas” strip, Fremont Street.

Over the years they have had to re-invent Fremont Street to attract people back there away from The Strip & re-invent they have.

The Fremont Street Experience as it is now known, is a 500 metre street covered with a domed video screen which, on the hours at night, plays a music video down the length of the street, the effect of which is fantastic.

Along with this there are stages at different points along the street with entertainment as well as a host of “freaks” just wandering the street. You don’t know where to look.

If anyone is going to Vegas I’d suggest going there the first night to give you the choice of going back.

Whilst there we went to Tony Roma’s which has the best ribs in the world. It has been 8 years since we had them in Florida and they were just as good this time around.

HAWAII

Our first 6 nights in Hawaii were spent on the big island, Hawaii. We spent 3 nights in Kona & 3 nights just outside Hilo. The most striking thing is the massive difference between the two sides of the island.

We landed in & spent the first 3 nights in Kona which is built on & surrounded by huge lava fields. Even the airport is cut out of a lava field and is totally surrounded by black lava. Whilst the beaches aren’t white & sandy because of this they do have some really good surf which attracts many surfers which we watched over a drink or two on our balcony.

Whist there we spent one day going out to the Volcanoes National Park which contains Mount Kilauea, amongst other craters.

Kilauea is what is known as a shield volcano. These are not the typical looking volcano. These volcanoes are low to the ground and have gently sloping sides if at all.

As you can see by the photo below Kilauea does not look like your typical volcano.

Kiluea Panorama

The crater ultimately and slowly fills with lava and will also send lava underground up to 50 miles away. The last eruption in 2018 added around 450 acres to the islands land mass.

Due to the weather we also went back to the Volcanoes National Park while we were staying in Hilo which was much closer.

We traveled north from Kona to go around the island to Hilo and gradually the lava gave way to green fertile fields & hills. The change in landscape in such a short distance was amazing.

As can be seen from above there is a snow cap on Mauna Kea in the middle of the island which is there all year round. The locals reckon it’s the only place you can surf & ski on the same day.

We moved on to Honolulu for our last 2 nights. Our two priorities here were to climb Diamond Head and to visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial.

I am pleased to say we achieved both, one being significantly more strenuous than the other!

The Pearl Harbor Memorial, just like all military memorials and for that matter national parks, was a great experience and so well presented it’s a credit to them.

Australia, amongst other countries, could learn a bit from how the USA treats its military personnel, both alive & deceased.