Monday, July 23, 2012

The First 70

I'm back from our amazing road trip to Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore! It was a great trip which I'll go all sorts of into soon, but at the moment, I wanted to bring up another topic.

The state of California is in a budget crisis, as many are, but on the list of cuts are the closing of 70 state parks across the state. A group of filmmakers went on a 120 day tour of these parks and created The First 70, a documentary to highlight the beauty of the parks scheduled to close. 



 
 
As a California native, this topic bums me out - there is so much to see and do in our state and it breaks my heart to know that these parks are closing! In addition, one of my favorite parks, Limekiln State Park, has already closed. Limekiln is a simply stunning park - it's on the Big Sur coast and has a campground with spaces in the redwoods and on the beach, and miles and miles of amazing hiking trails and historic sites. There are waterfalls, lime kilns  where mined limestone was quarried for many buildings in San Francisco to be built. It's also a favorite vacation spot for my mom and me, and it's going to be sorely missed by us.

Check out the documentary, make a donation if you're so inclined, and check out images from the incredible parks that are scheduled to close. Visit the Save Our State Parks website for more action items, or check out the list of closures to see if your favorite state park is in danger. And for more information on each park, check out State Park Closure Trip blog, a blog run by another woman visiting all of the parks slated for closure.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Wild Wild (Mid)West - Montana, Wyoming & South Dakota Road Trip

Even though I technically live west of Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota, the upcoming road trip we have planned there reminds me of the "wild wild west."

M and I were taking a drive a few months ago and decided we wanted to take a road trip. But not just any road trip - a road trip to somewhere 1) we'd never been, and 2) that was completely different than California or the East Coast. Then we remembered we'd never seen some of the great "American" sights like Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore (which both scream road trip, no?) and voilĂ , a trip was born. 

I meant to write about our itinerary ages ago when we actually booked the trip, but stuff (like my real job) got in the way, and now it's right around the corner! SO. Here's a rundown of what we're going to be doing!

DAY 1 – BOZEMAN, MT