The Gipper's Guide to America

The Gipper

I would have told you to go to AAA for your rental car the first thing. I nearly always just do it that way.

And VRBO is good. Alternately look at AirBnB. I am looking at doing something like that in New York City later this year. You can rent whole houses on either one.

Edit.....I did a search on VRBO for you....for May, near Yellowstone. There look to be a number of good choices for May (still offseason). A number that sleep 6-8.

TexasAg1969

Found this on youtube concerning top 10 places to see for a western America trip.

The Gipper

@texasag1969 said:

Found this on youtube concerning top 10 places to see for a western America trip.

I have been to all of these except the antelope Canyon which was not open to the public for tours when I went through that area. Also the valley of fire I have just driven through but not really spent a lot of time in it. Also they did not include Yellowstone on this list. I wondered if that is an oversight or if they intended to include Yellowstone is part of their Jackson hole entry. Also I don’t think I saw a crater lake in there.

TexasAg1969

@the-gipper said:

I have been to all of these except the antelope Canyon which was not open to the public for tours when I went through that area. Also the valley of fire I have just driven through but not really spent a lot of time in it. Also they did not include Yellowstone on this list. I wondered if that is an oversight or if they intended to include Yellowstone is part of their Jackson hole entry. Also I don’t think I saw a crater lake in there.

I like the fact they keep Rocky Mountain National Park a secret. I loved hiking up the headwaters of the Colorado on the western slope there all by myself last Oct.?

The Gipper

@texasag1969 said:

I like the fact they keep Rocky Mountain National Park a secret. I loved hiking up the headwaters of the Colorado on the western slope there all by myself last Oct.?

I think we could probably come up with another list of 10 Top Western destinations to see on top of the 10 they mentioned.

1. Yellowstone

2. Crater Lake

3. Rocky Mtn NP

4. Glacier NP

5. The Redwoods

6. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison

7. Arches and Canyonlands NPs

8. Bryce Canyon

9. Sedona AZ

10. Yosemite

I don't think any of the above were listed in this video...were they?

calfoxwc

@the-gipper said:

I would have told you to go to AAA for your rental car the first thing. I nearly always just do it that way.

And VRBO is good. Alternately look at AirBnB. I am looking at doing something like that in New York City later this year. You can rent whole houses on either one.

Edit.....I did a search on VRBO for you....for May, near Yellowstone. There look to be a number of good choices for May (still offseason). A number that sleep 6-8.

our plans are coming along - we do want to do some easier hiking - no serious killer stuff. But a few hikes well back into the park, to see a pristine lake - I may have to jump in and swim in it just to know i did. I found out that Yellowstone Park has it's own fishing licenses - no other one needed. We aren't much on tourist traps - just beautiful scenery, some adventure.

Like our trip to Tenn - we went horseback riding, white water rafting (safe, family rafting on Ocoee river)) and hiking.I know out there, I'll have my backpack set up for first aid, emergencies etc. Interesting - the #1 item to take with you out there, is a bear bell.

I wonder how many snakes are out in Yellowstone? I read where someone used double thick cardboard and made snake guards for below their knees...

that seems silly.

The Gipper

@calfoxwc said:

our plans are coming along - we do want to do some easier hiking - no serious killer stuff. But a few hikes well back into the park, to see a pristine lake - I may have to jump in and swim in it just to know i did. I found out that Yellowstone Park has it's own fishing licenses - no other one needed. We aren't much on tourist traps - just beautiful scenery, some adventure.

Like our trip to Tenn - we went horseback riding, white water rafting (safe, family rafting on Ocoee river)) and hiking.I know out there, I'll have my backpack set up for first aid, emergencies etc. Interesting - the #1 item to take with you out there, is a bear bell.

I wonder how many snakes are out in Yellowstone? I read where someone used double thick cardboard and made snake guards for below their knees...

that seems silly.

Oh yes....I have used Bear Bells. The next best thing to that is to sing the chorus to The Midnight Special by CCR.repeatedly. Never heard about the snake guard thing. My brother just wore his (cowboy) boots. Usually if you stay on the trails you won't have a problem with snakes as they prefer to hide.

Axe

Canyon De Chelly... Northeastern Arizona.. ?

31647_395638831510_3892185_n.jpg?_nc_cat

The Gipper

@axe said:

Canyon De Chelly... Northeastern Arizona.. ?

Been there a couple of times

The Gipper

They have created another National Park Unit...in Kentucky called Camp Nelson NHS. It is a Civil War era site...though not a battlefield.

It is in a fortuitous location for me....being just south of Lexington KY. I am actually going to that area in April and can stop by.

https://www.nps.gov/cane/index.htm

This makes NPS unit #418. I have been to 351 of them so far. I plan to go to another in mid Feb....if the BOM gets out of the way.

calfoxwc

I just have to find a place to pan for gold wherever we do end up going. We decided to go to Yellowstone next year - most any place we could find to stay within reason, was already booked. It'll take more planning well ahead.

Meanwhile, we are going together somewhere. Probably Smokies? don't know. Acadia in Maine? don't know.

The Gipper

@calfoxwc said:

I just have to find a place to pan for gold wherever we do end up going. We decided to go to Yellowstone next year - most any place we could find to stay within reason, was already booked. It'll take more planning well ahead.

Meanwhile, we are going together somewhere. Probably Smokies? don't know. Acadia in Maine? don't know.

I will be going to Acadia in June.

The Gipper

Last week I went to National Park Unit #352:

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monumnent.

You take a 44 mile windy twisty hilly road out of Silver City New Mexico to see these ancient native American dwellings that were built in caves in a cliff above the Gila River. They were built circa 1200 AD....but were only used for a period of 30-40 years.

I also revisited several places I had been to before: White Sands NM, Big Bend NP, Lincoln Count NM. Tombstone AZ, Roswell, the very Large Array,

Also new stuff: Columbus N Mex. (where Pancho Villa invaded), The Coronado Trail, Three Rivers Petroglyphs, the Organ Mtns. and more.

The Gipper

@calfoxwc said:

I just have to find a place to pan for gold wherever we do end up going. We decided to go to Yellowstone next year - most any place we could find to stay within reason, was already booked. It'll take more planning well ahead.

Meanwhile, we are going together somewhere. Probably Smokies? don't know. Acadia in Maine? don't know.

Cal....have you made your plans yet? You say you are not going to Y-stone. Have you decided on Acadia area? and when? My resource has some 2BR units in the Acadia area....for the end of April.

calfoxwc

no, we had to cancel plans - you'll have to go read my post about "...close call" on the political board as to why. I guess we'll try again next year. On page two, Feb 20

The Gipper

@calfoxwc said:

no, we had to cancel plans - you'll have to go read my post about "...close call" on the political board as to why. I guess we'll try again next year. On page two, Feb 20

I don’t think I want to wade through that morass why don’t you just say it here.

calfoxwc

ok, geez, here is the op I posted after being noticeably gone from the poli board for a few weeks

(mostly a public service announcement - we got a great education on a close call - she is going GREAT after two weeks - you'd hardly know she had surgery two weeks ago Wed. She will be able to fly in a few months, or less.)

"Some weeks ago, my Wonderful Cute Wife and I visited our family dr., she was going to visit her Dad, 96, down in Texas, bought plane tickets,

and just figured to get some anti-biotics to get over her bit of bronchitis before she left. Our Dr frowned, said she heard her heart murmur loud, nothing like the very slight one over the years. She arranged an Electro-cardiogram some days later, etc, and by the time we got home from that, after stopping at the grocery store, Dr. office called and said she had to see a heart specialist right away, as in, the next morning.

So, we did. He explained that she had a Critical Aortic Stenosis. Never heard of that, but it's a drastic narrowing of the aortic heart valve.

He said she needed heart surgery sooner rather than later - he seriously said " I wouldn't wait even six weeks, folks". Three days later, they did a heart catheter, and her heart was strong and clear. A very high level surgeon met with us after that, and discussed a few surgical options. He said our family Dr. was right on the money - the "red line" for critical aortic stenosis is .8 centimeter. Hers was even smaller - .6. They explained that the valve is supposed to be the size of about a quarter - and hers was only as wide as a pencil eraser.

With zero symptom overt, they arranged a meeting early the next week to meet with the prominent surgeons to discuss options.

then, the saturday night before.. she calmly came to me, a bit before midnight, and said she felt a weird, slight pressure on her chest, like one of our cats was laying on her chest. We found out later, that women don't have the same symptoms as men with heart problems occurring.

With zero pain, etc, I drove her to emergency. They said she did not have any heart attack, but that the weird feeling with zero pain was considered a kind of pain, as in, a preliminary warning to worse and far more dangerous symptoms. So, with her stabilized, they said they wanted to send her up to the main hospital, pronto, and joked that I did a good job getting her there, but me driving her up to the main hospital wasn't an option, and yeah, we were both fine with that. The paramedics got her up to the main hospital, and she was quickly admitted to the heart floor. They did not want her going back home to wait for surgery - it was dangerous.

I stayed with her the first two nights, in a recliner chair the nurses brought to me, in her room, without sleeping - the surgeon stopped in, joked that he hadn't expected to see her again so soon. He said their plan was to expedite surgery to about the end of the week. On monday, he said their surgical team met, and her surgery was wednesday. We discussed options again, got an amazing education, made the perfect decision. It helps that before the emergency trip, my longtime best friend's brother was a longtime heart-lung machine expert/research fellow, who gave us a great understanding of it all, and a great reference for the surgical team.

Last Wednesday, she had open heart surgery, to replace the bad valve with a new bio-engineered valve. I stayed with her all the day and all night, in the chair...

With the incredible advanced tech they have, she came home five days later, and she was carefully walking around the house like she never had surgery.

We are so very fortunate - she could have been flying when symptoms hit, etc. She's my best friend, always and forever, and I am so much one of the luckiest guys ever, It's great to have such wonderful friends - we are so fortunate and blessed.

Everybody take care.

The Gipper

Thanks Cal.

Hope all goes well with your wife.

The Gipper

Updates:

A month ago did a trip to Kentucky.

Went to NP unit #353 (out of 419).....Camp Nelson, Civil War encampment site SW of Lexington KY. I described that above.

Just came back from doing a trip to Michigan....NW Michigan. I really liked the area. Revisited Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Also...they have another new NP unit....#419: Tule Lake. This is another site of a Japanese internment camp from WWII. It is in very northern California right near the Oregon border. This is the 4th Japanese internment camp they have turned into a NP unit: Manzanar in SoCal, Minidoka in Idaho, and Honoliuli on Oahu. Not sure why we needed another of these.

Next trip: 2 weeks in New England with the wife. A week in Southwest Harbor ME...which is basically part of Acadia NP, then a week in New Hampshire. This will be in mid June.

Here is a link to a list of all 419 NP units:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_United_States_National_Park_System_official_units

Also....as an aside, one of the persons who was interred at the Tule Lake "Segregation Center" as it was called, was none other than:

George Hosato Takei was born Hosato Takei^[7] on April 20, 1937 in Los Angeles, California,^[8] to Japanese-American parents Fumiko Emily (née Nakamura;^[7] born in Sacramento, California) and Takekuma Norman Takei (born inYamanashi Prefecture),^[9] who worked in real estate.^[10] His father named him George after King George VI of the United Kingdom, whose coronation took place in 1937, shortly after Takei's birth.^[11]^[12] In 1942, the Takei family was forced to live in the converted horse stables of Santa Anita Park before being sent to the Rohwer War Relocation Center for internment in Rohwer, Arkansas.^[13] The family was later transferred to the Tule Lake War Relocation Center in California.^[14]

^{Of course, we all know George Takei as Lt. Sulu of the original Star Trek.}

calfoxwc

Hi, Gip - seriously, if you are ever in the Canton area on your travels...let me know if you'd like to stop by - we met at a tailgate once, when I was with Canton Mike.