Tag: Explore

An Old Ghost-Town That Everybody Forgot

We’d been talking about trying to include a trip to a good ol’ American ghost town but one of the biggest (Bodie) was a little too far off our route.

Instead, we picked a visit to Grafton on the way back from Zion. Grafton was evacuated in 1866 due to flooding and fighting, with the last few families moving in 1944. The buildings have been restored and it’s a great glimpse into the past.

There were around five buildings remaining, one being the church / school house and a small graveyard.

It was quite eerie to wander around the empty buildings; being one of those people who watch far too many scary films, I couldn’t help thinking about the abandoned buildings in the Blair Witch. It was easy to imagine someone or something hiding in the dusty corners of the buildings.

There was only one other small group of people on the site when we visited and that added to the sense of isolation. The backdrop was stunning, all red rock mountains and dust-ground floors.

It wasn’t a long visit but it was a big change from the other sites on our trip and really gave a sense of history to the scenery we were experiencing.

Top 10 Tips for a Road Trip

Top tips for getting the most out of your road trip

Road trips rock. There is no better way to see new places and meet new people. There’s something about getting out on the road – a sense of freedom that you don’t always get to experience in everyday life.

We’ve done a few road trips (some successfully and some less so!) and we’ve put together the top 10 tips for a successful road trip to help you get the most out of your travels:

10. Try to travel light. Over packing the car means a heavier car to steer and all those extra clothes will mean less space to stretch out. Not much fun. Particularly when leg room is at a premium. Trust us! One year we had four people, luggage, food for a week (we were camping) and camping gear, all in a small SUV. When we pulled in to a rest stop to get firewood, the guy chopping the wood actually called his mate over to take a photo of how packed the car was. They couldn’t stop laughing and we were so cramped, it was hard to find the gear stick. Not something we’d want to repeat as it was uncomfortable as hell, but looking back it was one of our funniest trips.

9. Find your travel companions along the way. Road trips are a great way of making new friends – and finding new destinations. Ask other travellers where they are heading, share routes and split rides. When in Egypt, a mother and daughter shared our felucca down the Nile and ended up sharing our car for the ride out to the pyramids. They gave us loads of ideas that helped to inform our trip, and enhanced our experience by doing so.

8. Build in flexibility in to your trip. Planning everything out is great for providing some certainty and structure to your trip – but travel is about adventure! Being creative with your travel plans means that when your new-found travel companions mention the beautiful beach they are heading to the next day, you’re free to change your plans and join them – yeay!

7. If you aren’t confident driving in another country (or on the other side of the road for that matter), you might want to consider joining a long distance group bus trip such as Green Tortoise. Maintaining the road trip vibe, this company ensures that you have none of the stress and all of the fun by doing the driving for you.

6. Explore everything! Look out for places to pull over and spot things en route. Travelling down the Big Sur, we pulled in multiple times to admire the view and managed to spot some sea lions on the beach. Without random pit stops, we’d have missed scenes like this.

5. Shortest route vs the fastest route – the Sat Nav told us the shortest route between Tahoe and Yosemite. We believed it. We quickly realised that the road had turned into a dirt track, meaning that our top speed was approx 5mph to avoid ripping the underside of the car to pieces. The other route suggested by the Sat Nav turned out to be a well maintained road. The shortest route was absolutely not the fastest.

4. Have enough time for the trip. It’s horrible to say but we have to be honest; google lies!!! When you put your destination into google maps, don’t believe it when it tells you that it’s a 4 hour drive. Add more time. Add even more time for gas stops, rest stops and food. Add a bit more time for good measure because, you know; traffic and google lies. Do all that and you might have a more accurate estimate of your journey time. So many times, our planned four hour trip has turned into a 6 hour plus journey. Which can result in sleeping in the car. I’m not sure how it happens. Except; I think google lies.

3. Maps vs Sat Nav – Don’t rely on the Sat Nav provided with the car. They tend to drop signal and are not very accurate. Instead, download maps to your phone and use them as your Sat Nav. Don’t forget to take a paper map too – you never know when your battery may run out and you don’t want to be stranded in the dark with no idea which direction to head in. This is especially true for places with limited road signs – here’s looking at you Yosemite!

2. Sort out that playlist – if you are anything like me, the music on a trip can make or break a journey. Develop a playlist for each place that you are planning to visit – create your own travel soundtrack. Download a range of playlists to your device and make sure you have a way of connecting it to the car. Bluetooth, USB – whatever works, make sure it’s sorted. There is nothing worse than travelling in silence. Wandering Beeb will still start a ‘remember when we..’ story based off what music I’m playing – it’s a great way of remembering your trip by linking the places you’ve visited to specific pieces of music.

1. Pick your travel companions wisely! Spending a long time together in the car or on a bus for vast stretches of road can take a toil on even the best of friendships. Long journeys in close proximity can bring out the best and worse in people – make sure your friendship can stand the test! Luckily, we’ve travelled with some brilliant people and always managed to stay friends by the end of the trip!!

What are your best road trip tips? Did we miss any?

A Stinky Pool in Paradise

Banff’s sulphur hot springs stink. There’s no getting away from it, the smell of sulphur is everywhere and it reeks.

As soon as we pulled up in the car park, the smell invaded everything and it smelt like rotten eggs. Still, we’d never visited hot springs before, and as the saying goes, try everything at least once!

We’d been up Sulphur Mountain the day before and marvelled at the amazing scenery. The basin below is home to the historical site of the first National Park, an information centre and the grotto which housed the sulphur spring.

The grotto was fairly small but the pool within was like something out of a movie.

Surrounded by rock, the green glow of the water reflected all around us. The smell of the sulphur was almost overpowering at times but it was really interesting to see the source of the ‘healing waters’ that people had once flocked to bathe in.

Outside of the cave, a small visitor’s centre provided information on the history of the site. Around the outside of the site, the pool deck provided a walkway around the edge of the pool. Standing up on the higher walls gave a great overview of the site and really highlighted how deep the pools were.

Living in the caves and basin are a species of endangered snail. Although we could get close to the pool edge, we were warned not to put our hands in to avoid upsetting their delicate eco-balance.

We spent the rest of our visit checking out the visitor’s centre and learning more about the basin site before heading up to the hot springs themselves. If you do decide to visit the baths, be warned, they are the hottest waters I have ever been in, and I like my shower set to scalding!

Although the centre only really has enough to keep you entertained for a short visit, it’s well worth a stop, especially if you look out for the red chairs – a great place to sit and take in the view.

Learn more about Banff’s cave and basin here: https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/ab/caveandbasin

$4 for adults, children go free.

Highlights of San Francisco

San Francisco is an odd place. There I’ve said it. Everyone who I know that has visited speaks with delight of the cable cars, the steep hills and the beautiful pier. There’s a problem though – I’m not convinced! Or am I?

We’ve visited San Francisco a number of times now, usually because it’s the best place to pick up a car before heading to one of California’s national parks.

The first time we stayed in San Francisco, we booked the hotel on the day and ended up in one of the most grotty places I have ever been: the shower didn’t drain, we were right in the middle of the roughest part of the Tenderloin area (we didn’t realise this until later), there were huge spiders and the toilet sounded like a foghorn every time we flushed it. Although it was terrible, it added character to the trip and we still laugh about it now.

Since then, we’ve tended to stay outside the city centre at the Best Western. Fairly close to the airport (and a Trader Joes for stocking up on food for camping trips), this is a handy place to stay.

I think that the reason I struggle with San Francisco is because it reminds me of Blackpool! The old trams, the pier and the general ‘seaside’ nature of the place all remind me of when we used to visit Blackpool as a child – and it’s not the stand out place for a holiday destination for me.

That was until I started writing this post. So many happy memories of what we did on our trip came flooding back. I remembered how this was the gateway to our road trip. How excited we were to explore and hit the road. San Francisco has given us some amazing memories:

  • The Giant Noodle – Top of my list is the Giant Noodle. When we visited back in 2010, there was a sculpture of a noodle on the pier. Next to the noodle was a sign which read “for your own safety, please don’t sit on the giant noodle”. This struck us as immensely hysterical and ever since, the wisdom of the giant noodle is often quoted in a range of situations and each time it makes us laugh.
  • Alcatraz – This place was creepy and cool in equal measures. A ‘must do’ if you visit San Francisco. You can read about our experiences and tips for visiting Alcatraz here.
  • Bird attacks! – One of our group got hit in the face by a bird. On the pier, in the rain, with a wing. And it was as funny as it sounds!
  • The Cheesecake Factory – sitting high above the Macy’s sign, a small balcony looks out over the main square in the city centre. Armed with the best cheesecake in the world (I love a good cheesecake – and they cater for gluten free travellers), it’s the best place to watch the world go by.
  • Golden Gate Bridge – just standing by the iconic landmark, watching a group of yachts go by was one of those surreal ‘wow I’m in America’ moments.
  • Cable Cars / Tram – Going down the steepest hill on a tram is a experience all on its own!
  • Cliffs and Coast – Driving over the cliffs in the middle of the fog, looking out at scenery between each break of the clouds was the start of our road trip to the national parks.

San Francisco is not the one of the most beautiful, scenic or even iconic places, but it did give us plenty of laughs and memories, and that’s exactly what you want from a holiday, isn’t it?