Adventures by Alan and Melanie
The last time we were in Zion, we managed to avoid seeing anyone else for hours while navigating through Mystery canyon, even though it was the busiest day of the year. Although our initial plan of exploring slot canyons had to change due to rain, Zion is probably the best backup plan anyone can hope for.
Continue reading “Zion: we can’t get enough of this park!”
After failing to see the Grand Canyon on several trips down I-10, we finally made it happen. We drove through a pretty intense dust storm followed by rain, and finally pulled into the forested camping area outside of the park in the dark.
Continue reading “The Grand Canyon”
Having arrived to the campsite at night, the rising sun brought our first sight of the magical landscape. A giant sandstone finger pointing to the heavens glowed red with first light, and we watched it shrink into the horizon as we scraped frost from our windshield and headed into the park.
Continue reading “A magical day in Canyonlands”
We were thinking about our van life during our European summer, so we tricked out our CR-V with a bed and headed East to find the sandstone in southern Utah and Northern Arizona. The first stop on our road tip was Arches National park. It’s a place we’ve both wanted to go to for a long time, and we were excited to finally explore! We were up with the sun, and headed in.
Continue reading “March’s Arches”
Coming back to the mainland US after being abroad for so long was definitely an adjustment! Fortunately, our friends David and Rachel softened the blow by letting us land at their home while we figured things out.
Continue reading “Birthday in Death Valley”
Stepping off of the bus in Cat Ba town, we were relieved to be taking a break from big cities, and beyond excited to rock climb!
Our ferry arrived back in Athens, and we spent the day in the city before heading north to the mountains of Bulgaria. We did two fabulous day hikes and explored more ancient cities, the capital Sofia, and walked through a sweet cave!
Despite our best efforts, we still got grey weather in Albania. However, we caught a fantastic weather window to take a river cruise and go for a hike! Along the way, we found fine dining and natural warm springs.
After landing in Sarajevo, we set off for Montenegro, retracing our path through the beautiful Bosnian countryside. (This time with a well-traveled English hitchhiker for company!) As we crossed into Montenegro, the river valley transformed into a stunning canyon with tall limestone cliffs lining the river, and mountains peeking behind. This unreal first impression had us eager to discover what more the country had to offer.
After getting our fill at Paklenica, we continued our track south along the Adriatic. Along the way, we got spectacular lightning storms, more magical waterfalls, an ancient city, an impromptu rafting trip, and quality rock climbing!