2013 Year in Review

Once again I put together a calendar of my favorite pictures from our travels during the past year.  I thought I would just post the pictures I used, but in order to make this a 'year in review', I'll have to add a few other pictures.  This could get pretty long, so I apologize in advance.

We began our travels in March when we joined Diana and Phil on a trip to Hawaii.  We had an amazing cruise around the islands, then an additonal week on the Big Island near Kona.  Phil took this picture of us at Rainbow Falls, which we used as our Christmas card and our new blog picture.

Our RVing adventures began the end of April when we departed Mesa for southeastern Arizona.  I was excited to spend some time hiking in Chiricahua National Monument.

We made our way east to New Mexico, then north on I25, staying at some of the state parks along the way.  Tent Rocks National Monument is well worth a visit.

Continuing north, we enjoyed some gorgeous Colorado scenery and some time with family in Denver.  We found a perfect spot in a National Forest campground where we stayed the two week limit.  The campground was close to this quintessential mountain cabin . . .

And the Chapel on the Rock.

We took day trips into and around Rocky Mountain National Park, but our highlight was seeing the elk calves on the golf course in Estes Park.  They were just a few days old.

We continued north and enjoyed an Escapees rally in Gillette, Wyoming and explored the Bighorn Mountains outside of Sheridan.

The lupine were in full bloom.

 

On we went through Montana, stopping at Little Bighorn National Monument, Billings, Bozeman, Canyon Ferry Lake, and Great Falls, before meeting up with Diana in Glacier National Park.  She took us on a great hike in the Many Glacier area of the park.

And I had to get the famous shot of Wild Goose Island in St. Mary Lake.

We spent time with our WIN friends in Kalispell and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho with its beautiful lake.

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And joined them to bike the Hiawatha Trail on the border of Idaho and Montana.  With its tunnels and trestles, this is an amazing 'rails-to-trails' route.

Leaving our friends, we headed south through Idaho and into central Oregon.  We finally made it to one unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  In addition to fossils, the monument has colorful geologic features.

Then we turned south along the eastern side of California.  We enjoyed a day at Lassen Volcanic National Park.

After meeting back up with Diana and Phil, we headed down US395.  We visited Bodie State Historic Park, one of my father's favorite places.

We stayed for several days near spooky-looking Mono Lake.

US395 runs along the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains with lots of gorgeous hikes and National Forest campgrounds.  Unfortunately, the government shutdown shut us out of the campgrounds and we didn't spend as much time as we would have liked.

We were searching for that nice autumn color, but it was rather scarce.

But the Alabama Hills in the foothills outside of Lone Pine are always fun.

We drove through Death Valley on our way back to Arizona, but couldn't stop and explore because of the shutdown.  That was really unfortunate because the weather was perfect.  How many times does that happen in Death Valley?

We arrived back in Mesa the end of October having put 5168 miles on the RV.  Ron figures we spent $3734 on gas and $916.50 in overnight fees.  Yikes!  This is why I never add these things up!