National Parks – The Adventures of Kaycee & Elliott

June 11, 2019June 19, 2019

Getting to Channel Islands National Park

A few weeks now removed from our wedding and I’m realizing I haven’t posted anything on this blog about our wedding…so that will be the next post when I get to it.

Kaycee and I just got back from a trip to Mexico for my sister’s wedding and a Hawaii trip planned this summer with Kaycee’s extended family so we were a little hesitant to plan a honeymoon trip so we decided that Channel Islands National Park would be a good little weekend getaway.

We drove up the day before our trip to the islands to stay in Oxnard the night before. Buena Park to Oxnard is about a two hour drive which I slept for the last 30 minutes. Zzzzzzzz!

The reason we came up a day early is because check-in for the boat ride is 7:15 AM which would have meant we would have had to leave at 5:15 AM the day of to make it. Would rather not do that if we didn’t have to.

The boat tour was through Islands Packers which as far as I know is the only service that goes to the islands. I believe there were three boats that were each going to different islands and there were a few returns boat rides from the island back to the main land.

Kaycee and I went to the island on Memorial Day 2019 and if you remember that Memorial Day, it was windy and the seas were rough. About five minutes into our boat ride, people started headed towards the back off the boat, where Kaycee and I were sitting, because they were feeling queasy. If you get sick on boats or motion sickness in cars, just know it could be a rough ride. The Island Packers folks will warn you.

Once you get to the park you are pretty much free to roam as you would like. Our boat ride back that same day was at 4 PM so we didn’t venture too far off.

We first headed to Cavern Point which is probably about .5 mile away from Scorpion Ranch (where the boat drops you off). After that we ventured to Potato Harbor which is about an additional 1.5 miles away.

The winds were crazy all day and eventually got really annoying so we headed back towards Scorpion Ranch, where we were originally dropped off…the wind was just as bad there. We spent the rest of the afternoon going to the visitor center, laying on the beach and watched the island foxes roam around until are return boat arrived and we headed home.

Lot’s of fun and National Park number 16 for Kaycee and myself!

Elliott

February 13, 2019February 13, 2019

Vegas, Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon and Back to CA – All Within 36 Hours

It started with an early morning flight out of Long Beach to Vegas.

Land in Vegas and pack 7 of us into a rental van.

Where to next? Dutch Bros Coffee of course! With a stop at Filipito’s Mexican Restaurant as well.

Then onward toward the Grand Canyon, about a 4 hour drive. Walk around the South Rim a little then get back into the van.

Kevin, Elliott, Kaycee, Jo Ann, Ty, Trent & Krystal

Next a two hour drive to Page, Arizona where Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon are.

Drive on some sketchy highways with not a car in sight in any direction.

When we got to Page, we stopped at a Denny’s for dinner. Denny’s is the type of restaurant that you don’t plan to go to, you just end up there. This case was no different.

The Denny’s was a sad scene. No one at the front to greet us and maybe took 3 or 4 minutes for someone to come by and seat us. Soft elevator music setting the scene. Half the restaurant closed off and a few quite patrons seated on the other half. One waitress taking care of all the tables.

I digress.

We get to our hotel and and get to bed as we have a semi early morning to make sure we can get on the road early enough to get back to Vegas to catch our flight.

The first stop is Horseshoe Bend which you can walk right up to and there’s not cost or entrance fee which I believe we heard will be changing in the future.

Horseshoe Bend
Kaycee and Elliott @ Horseshoe Bend

Then after that we had a guided tour by Ken’s Tours through Antelope Valley.

Then another 4 hours back to Vegas to catch a flight home and make it back in the evening, completing our 36 hour trip.

Really an awesome experience and especially to do it with Kaycee’s parents, brothers and soon to be sister-in-law.

Until next time!

Elliott

September 26, 2018September 26, 2018

Sequoia National Park – Round Two

The end of the summer of 2018 brought with it another trip to Sequoia National Park with Trent, Krystal, Ty and some of Kaycee’s friends.

In our classic Kaycee and Elliott fashion we got out our tiny house doors early on a Friday morning (6 AM) to try and beat the traffic through LA to get to Sequoia in a decent time. We arrived to our campsite at Lodgepole at about 11 AM so mission accomplished.

Day 1 consisted of a hike through Congress Trail which you can find near General Sherman. While on the trail we spotted some deer grazing on some light green moss growing on a fallen tree. For dinner, Kaycee’s friend, Lauren, cooked up some mighty fine Korean BBQ tacos.

Day 2 consisted of a hike up Little Baldy trail which is about 3.4 miles round trip with about 700 ft. of elevation gained. At the end of the trail there’s a great vantage point where you can look out to all the surrounding trees and mountains.

When we got back to camp, we all enjoyed wraps and chips for lunch. Once the protein comes out, the bees all come out to get a bit of your lunch. Pretty annoying!

Elliott and Kaycee on Little Baldy Trail

Later on the second day, the rest of the group went to go see General Sherman and walk around some of the trails in that area.

Since Kaycee and I had already seen all that the day before we decided to adventure around other spots in the park that we missed our first trip like the Tunnel Log and the fallen tree.

Side Note: Throughout the entire trip, we heard a lot of foreign languages. Many people speaking French and German.

Day three we cleaned up our campsite and headed back to reality. I ended up with zero bug bites this Sequoia trip which is about 30 less than our first trip.

Can’t wait to go back again!

Until next time!

Kaycee and Elliott at the base of a Fallen Sequoia

Elliott