It is rare to work overtime last year and make up a 7-day small holiday this year, and make up 2 days of the annual leave. Counting last weekend, I made up a total of 14 days to experience the natural scenery in the west of the United States. The whole family went together, and many of my mother’s college classmates went together. It was a gathering in the United States. Everyone chose to travel with a group, and participated in two groups before and after, both formed and disbanded in Los Angeles. There are many people, so it is convenient to go together, and the group schedule is very tight, so you can see more scenic spots and save the trouble of driving. The journey is too long, the driver is very hard. The disadvantages are also very clear. The browsing time is in a hurry, and the rest time is actually very short when you get up early and return late. The large number of tour groups also affects the number of photos and sightseeing. The itinerary is also posted in the article, and friends who drive by themselves can also learn from experience. Writing travel notes here is also mainly to record the itinerary, I think the United States It is really possible to do it a few more times (if you have time), and you can go to different places in so many national parks. Even if you don’t refer to it in the future, it will be a very pleasant experience to look back.
In fact, this itinerary has been prepared since I applied for a passport last year, and I have given great expectations in my busy life. Facts have proved that this trip is worthwhile. If the land area is large enough, there must be many distinctive scenery, which may be unique in the world, such as Yellowstone Park and Antelope Canyon, which are worth exploring. The west of the United States feels vast and sparsely populated. Except for the metropolis, it feels relatively empty, and there are not too many pedestrians on the roads, which is in stark contrast to China. The country on wheels, there are many vehicles, to the United States Not long after that, it happened to be the Memorial Day holiday. There were many people at the scenic spots, and there were also many RVs on the road. I would enjoy life more. In terms of diet, there are not many choices for traveling with a group. Many locals go to the supermarket to buy a lot of food and eat it for a long time. Many DIY foods, such as pizza , cakes, sauces, meat, beans, etc., can be freely combined when they go back. , provided that there is heating equipment. The finished pizza also very good to go back and reheat. The local Chinese food is incomparable with domestic ones, and the taste is very average. food on american The price is not expensive. It is recommended to bring your own cooking pot to cook some meals, otherwise it will be very uncomfortable to eat for too long. The voltage in the United States is 110 volts , so charging, for example, will be very slow. For water, it is recommended to buy more bottled water in supermarkets, as locals often drink it.
5-19 Fly to Los Angeles
Stayed at Holiday Inn El Monte and arrived in Los Angeles . The border hall was crowded with people, and the efficiency of crossing the border was too slow to complain. Fortunately, the airline staff made a special arrangement for us to open an opening, otherwise we would not be able to get out for three hours. It was already midnight after crossing the border. Everyone contacted the travel agency to help us arrange two cars to provide paid services. The first day was considered smooth.
5-20 Santa Barbara-Seventeen Mile Drive-San Francisco
The first part of the itinerary map of Crown Plaza Union City, as well as the following maps, do not reflect the information of the hotel where you are staying, and it connects the itinerary for many days.
From Los Angeles to Santa Barbara via the famous Highway 1, which is a picturesque road built along the Pacific Ocean. Highway 1 connects several pearl-like towns, which are scattered along the Pacific coast and are known for their quiet and beautiful environment, including Santa Barbara, which is full of Spanish ambience. in the United States Rich people rank among the top 10 ideal places to live, so the housing prices in this place are not generally expensive.
The weather on the road is cloudy, and the view of Highway 1 is limited, otherwise it must be a pleasant scenery, and you can feel the magnificence of the Pacific Ocean.
Small town seaside park. But the sea view from here is really ordinary, maybe because of the weather.
Coin games on the beach. There is a pier on the beach, and there are some such decorations under the bridge to the pier. Tourists throw coins from the bridge if they like it, and there is no one nearby.
The roads in the Seventeen Mile Bay Scenic Area were built with private investment, and a toll is required to enter. The most famous thing in Seventeen Mile Bay is Bird Reef. There is a reef not far from the sea, which is full of resting seabirds. Because of the large number of birds, the top of the reef has become the yellow color of bird droppings. The villas in the scenic area are expensive to build, some costing tens of millions of dollars, and the rich only come to live here when they are on vacation.
Small squirrels and seabirds are common on the beach. The squirrels come here just to ask for food, and the seabirds will be frightened and fly away if they get too close.
5-21 UC Berkeley-San Francisco City Tour
Accommodation Clarion Modesto The land where the University of California Berkeley is located was purchased by the private College of California (College of California) in 1866, but due to the shortage of funds that year, the college merged with the state “Agricultural, Mining and Mechanical Technology College” and established The University of California was established in Oakland . In memory of the great 18th century philosopher George Berkeley George Berkeley, adding “Berkeley” to the school name.
I drove to the University of California, Berkeley early in the morning . Everyone must have heard about the academic strength of Berkeley. We came very early, and there were not many people on campus. We saw morning joggers and students going up and down for self-study. It is estimated that the time for self-study at this time is to spend the night. .
After entering through Sather Gate, go straight to Sather Tower.
Sather Tower is the central clock tower on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, often referred to as “The Campanile”, and is the most prominent symbol of the University of California, Berkeley. At 307 feet high, it was built in 1905 and is the third tallest clock tower in the world.
On the way to downtown San Francisco , the congestion in the morning peak feels like an imperial capital.
“The very steep street on Jiuquhua Street was originally a straight line, but in consideration of driving safety, in 1923 this section was changed to the current curved and circuitous situation, and the length was exchanged for space to slow down the slope along the line. The pavement is paved with bricks to increase friction. There are eight sharp turns, and because there are 40-degree slopes and bends like a “Z” shape, the car can only go down one-way.”
The Golden Gate Bridge spans between San Francisco and Marin County, California, USA, with a total length of 2737 meters. Construction started on January 5, 1933, completed in April 1937, and opened to the public on May 27 of the same year. golden gate The original idea for the bridge came from bridge engineer Josef Strauss . Strauss placed a brick from his alma mater, the University of Cincinnati in Ohio , before pouring concrete on the south pier . The next day, with RossPresident Fauer pushed a button in Washington, and the bridge was officially opened to cars.
Voters in the San Francisco area issued an initial $35 million in engineering bonds, pledging their homes, farms, and businesses as collateral. In 1977, the last bond was paid off, of which the principal of $35 million and the interest of $39 million came from the bridge toll income.
There is a scenic service center at the end of the bridge, where you can buy souvenirs at the visitor center. There are text shapes in multiple languages in the flower bed of the viewing platform nearby.
The building below is a fort, built during the Civil War, overlooking the entire channel.
The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco , USA was originally built in 1915 for the Panama “Pacific World Exposition”. At that time, it attracted 18 million tourists, but it was abandoned after the meeting, and only the Palace of Fine Arts was saved from demolition.
Alcatraz in the middle of the strait, once a heavy federal prison, held a group of notorious felons, including Al Capone. is now obsolete.
Go deep into the urban area and continue to visit. On the Twin Peaks, you can have a panoramic view of San Francisco . The wind on the mountain is very strong, so you can see the rapid movement of the clouds, which is unpredictable.
Next stop is San Francisco City Hall. Unlike domestic government agencies, many of them can be visited. The sculpture opposite the square outside the city hall.
The old city hall was destroyed in an earthquake in 1906, and the new city hall was built in 1915, which is considered a century-old shop.
The city hall looks like it is preparing to hold an event, and some couples are taking wedding photos here.
5-22 Yosemite – Los Angeles
Stay at Holiday Inn El Monte
Yosemite National Park. The park was built on October 1, 1890 and was listed as a world natural heritage in 1984. Evaluation by the World Heritage Committee : Yosemite National Park, located in the center of California, USA, is famous for its many valleys, waterfalls, inner lakes, icebergs, and moraine. It shows us a large number of granite rocks that are rare in the world. relief.
I feel that this place is more suitable for travelers to walk in the mountains on foot, and other tourists will feel that the fun is not as good as the park’s reputation. It’s midsummer, and the green water and green mountains complement each other, but it’s unavoidable to feel tired after watching too much.
The canyon area, a must-see shooting spot in the park , is similar to the canyon area of Yellowstone, suitable for taking panoramic photos.
5-23 Los Angeles-Las Vegas-St. George
Quality Inn Suites Zion
second leg of itinerary
5-24 Lake Powell – Antelope Canyon – Bryce Canyon – Salt Lake City
Marriot Salt Lake Downtown
Continue to drive to Antelope Canyon. The Antelope Cave is divided into two caves, the upper and the lower, and this time I went to the Lower Antelope. From the small shed at the entrance, led by an Indian guide to enter. Take a short walk and climb the iron ladder down to the bottom of the valley. Because our group is all Chinese, the tour guide speaks Chinese directly, but only a few words are spoken back and forth, and the pronunciation is not quite standard. “Together” and “quick”, I didn’t understand it at first, but it was only when I saw the little brother’s cooperative gesture that I realized it. That is to say, we were urged to take less pictures, and the team tightened up and left quickly. The Indian tour guide will help you take pictures in some places where it is easy to take beautiful pictures, and you will also use your mobile phone to take pictures of the scenery, provided that you have an Iphone to pull the panorama. After leaving the canyon, the team tipped the tour guide a few dollars to express their gratitude.
Antelope Canyon is a famous slit-shaped canyon, which is formed by various erosion forces of soft sandstone over millions of years. The cave has soft curves, and the rock itself contains a variety of minerals. Under the illumination of the natural light from the top of the cave, it presents rich orange, red, purple and other colors, which are very gorgeous. Legend has it that this place used to be a place where antelopes often haunted and inhabited, so it got the reputation of “Antelope Canyon“.
Continue driving to Bryce Canyon Bryce Canyon is the scalloped edge of a large rock mesa , not an actual canyon. It is a series of large circular depressions formed by erosion on the Ponsagunte Plateau in southwestern Utah. It is not actually a canyon cut by a river, but the end of a jagged, semicircular plateau. There are fourteen valleys as deep as 1,000 feet in the canyon. The rocks are eroded by wind, frost, rain and snow, showing more than 60 different colors such as red, light red, yellow, and light yellow. , entertaining people’s eyes. United States since 1924 National Park.
The road in the canyon is not easy to walk, there is a lot of sand, and some people slip and sprain, so pay attention to safety.
The stone pillars have different shapes and are all kinds of strange things, which is a major attraction.
Return to Salt Lake City . The hotel I live in is not far from the Nordstorm mall. After visiting the mall, I happened to encounter a fountain show in the mall. Water and fire dance together. The fountain is not large in scale, but the show is quite fashionable.
5-25 Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park Cabins
Palette-Grand Prism-Old Faithful-Trail-Watershed-West Thumb Geyser Basin
Fountain Paint Pot-Grand Prismatic Spring-Old Faithful Geyser-Geyser Hill Area (including Morning Glory Pool Trail and along the line)-continental divide -West Thumb Geyser Basin
early morning Salt Lake City
Finally came to the dream of Yellowstone Park. According to the tour guide, when the white people came here to hunt, they saw that the steep rock was yellow, and then it gradually changed to Yellowstone. The park is very large, and each scenic spot has its own characteristics. At least two days of sightseeing are arranged. The time is very tight. It would be better to reserve a longer time.
We enter the park from the west side.
The exterior scenery during the drive is beautiful, and I keep taking pictures of various things. It is also because the scenery of Yellowstone is very distinctive, and it is really rare in other places. Later, as the journey deepened, I gradually became immune to the beautiful scenery.
Here you can’t help but appreciate the design concept of the park, the intimate contact between man and nature. If there are trails that can solve the problem, then never set up guardrails and handrails. If there is no trail, use natural dirt roads to solve the problem, and only set a few horizontally placed dead trees outside the road as boundaries. There are few safety measures, and more attention should be paid to their own safety. The wild animals here may attack humans, such as yaks and bears. Be sure to keep a safe distance; if you set up a safe range, don’t go out easily. Various springs are likely to be fatal, and the seemingly hard land outside the boundaries may be hollow below. It will break if you step on it. I also saw the fines imposed on tourists by the park police for crossing the border. Different from the domestic concept, we must respect nature and maintain its proper appearance.
Next stop: Grand Prism
Some netizens posted a guide for taking panoramic photos. It takes a long way to go. It seems to be quite tortuous. Interested friends can check it out and steal a picture here.
Next stop: Old Faithful. It is named after the eruption time rule, which can predict the next eruption time.
Three consecutive eruptions.
The hotel in the Old Faithful Scenic Area is very distinctive. This hotel opened in 1904 and is also one of the historical heritage.
Take a walk along the Old Faithful trail to see the various springs. Go to Morning Glory and turn back.
Heading West Thumbs. En route visit the Great Divide. The rainwater on one side of the collar flows to the west Pacific Ocean, and the other side flows to the east Atlantic Ocean.
Arrive at the West Thumb Scenic Area, the Yellowstone cabin where you stay is not far from here. Walking along the trail, the distant mountains and lakes, together with the evening sun, make the heart very peaceful.
Come out in the evening, but pay attention to safety in case of being attacked by animals. The tour guide repeatedly emphasized that one of his colleagues had a face-to-face meeting with Xiong around the hotel, and after a stalemate, several other tourists came before Xiong left. Some tourists will carry bear spray with them and keep many people together. The best way for other animals such as yaks is to keep a safe distance.
The log cabin shop by the lake, looking in from the window, the tables and chairs are messy, it should not be the opening season yet.
5-26 Yellowstone National Park
Lodge at Big Aky
Fisherman Bridge-Mud Volcano- Yellowstone Canyon (Lower Falls, Upper Falls)-High Tower Scenic Area-Mammoth Hot Springs-Norris Geyser Basin
Fishing Bridge-Mud Volcano-Canyon Village(Lower Falls, Upper Falls)- Tower Roosevelt-Mammoth Hot Springs-Norris Geyser Basin.
Fisherman’s Bridge. It used to be a very popular fishing spot, and there are countless photos of anglers fishing on the sign at the head of the bridge. Later, fishing was banned because of the protection of the ecological environment. Every year, a large number of trout swim upstream and come to their birthplace to spawn. It must be a spectacular scene. The bridge itself is also a hundred years old, very old.
Continue on: Mud Volcano
When you get off the car, you will get the unique smell of sulfur, because it is morning, the weather is cool, and the smell is not heavy. When it is hot, it is estimated that this smell will be in the car.
The next stop is the must-see Huangshi Waterfall. If the spring area is the gentle side of Huangshi, here is the magnificent side. Here is also the middle of Yellowstone Park, Yellowstone The river poured down, forming the Yellowstone Lower Falls.
Continue to go to the Yellowstone Upper Waterfall, where you can only look at the side.
The waterfall falls three times.
After visiting the canyon area, head north to Mammoth Hot Springs. The colorful colors are actually the colors of different microorganisms, and these microorganisms can survive when nourished by water flow. However, as the water flow in some step areas dried up, the microorganisms and bacteria died one after another, turning gray and white in front of us.
The Mammoth Hot Springs area is also the seat of the Yellowstone Park management department. Of course, there are also various public buildings nearby, such as hotels, souvenir shops, post offices, and visitor centers.
5-27 Grand Teton-Jackson-Great Salt Lake-Salt Lake City
Sheraton Salt Lake Downtown Grand
Teton Park is located in the south of Yellowstone National Park , alpine terrain. Known for its rolling snow-capped peaks, it stretches more than 200 miles along the Grand Teton Mountains, along with the Snake River (Snake River) flowing through the national park. The towering snow-capped mountains in the park, the vast grasslands, pure lake water and rich wild animals together form a beautiful picture.
Small lake at the entrance to Grand Teton Park. It is also a private area, and every year the rich will tow their yachts here for vacation.
5-28 Mormon Temple – Utah State Capitol – Las Vegas
SLS Las Vegas
Brigham Young, founder of Mormonism. The Mormon Church is headquartered in Salt Lake City , Utah , USA . According to the figures released by the church on August 15, 2014, the church has 15.082 million members, of whom about 6.39 million live in the United States, which is the United States It is the fourth largest religious group and currently the largest emerging religion in the world.
5-29 South Canyon – Hoover Dam – Las Vegas
SLS Las Vegas
Grand Canyon National Park South Rim. Because the West Rim is too commercialized, it chose the South Rim with better natural scenery. The price is the long distance and the rush of time. If you have plenty of time, you can calm down and take a walk. It is best to stay for one night and watch the sunrise or sunset. Naturally, it is even better.
5-30 Chocolate Factory, Cactus Garden – Los Angeles
On the last day of the itinerary, take the flight back to China in the evening , and go directly to the cactus garden after leaving Las Vegas, and stay with the chocolate factory.
The magazines on the flight reminded me of domestic food, and I should eat it after returning home. The diet these days is really too hasty. The diet on Meixi Road is mostly pizza , fried chicken, and burgers . The taste of overseas Chinese restaurants is also very average. If you eat too much, you will get tired. Naturally, I will have a big meal when I return home.
