Coming back from vacation, our hearts and minds are so filled that it’s hard to even know where to begin!

Joshua and I spent 3 weeks in the US with his family and visited several national parks. We got to see so many things I couldn’t put it all into one single blogpost. So here is our personal diary of our 3-week trip with links to separate blogposts containing more park information.

Our journey began with the always wonderful 12-hour flight from Zurich to San Francisco. It’s one of those long flights where you just can’t look at the clock before you’ve reached halftime because otherwise the flight simply never ends. It’s one of those flights where you get to read an entire book, cover to cover (Ladina) or watch 5 movies (Joshua). Once we arrived in San Francisco we had the glorious idea to go straight to Yosemite with a friend. The 5-hour drive after the already long trip ended up being a little much. We were all the more happy when we finally reached the Airbnb in Ahwahnee.

Yosemite

Our first day in the US started with another car drive to Yosemite National Park. Because we’d booked our Airbnb pretty late, all the places to stay closer to the park were booked. We had a 40-minute drive to the park entrance which in total made it 1.5h to get to Yosemite Valley. This seems a pretty typical drive if you don’t reserve far in advance.

I got to admit; I was a bit skeptical about the park because I thought it might be too similar to Switzerland. But I was proven wrong, the plants are very different, and mountains are always impressive, no matter how many you’ve seen before. After reaching Yosemite Valley you get rewarded with a breathtaking view into the Valley and every skeptic becomes a lover.

On our first day we stopped by Merced River, which is the stream flowing though the valley, and enjoyed the clear water with a great view of El Capitan. Even though the valley is 3900ft (1200m) above sea level, temperatures rose to 36°C (97°F) and so we enjoyed the cool water of the river to cool off our legs. Later we drove further into the valley, and we decided to do a small hike to Colombia Rock. To me as a Swiss “mountain” girl the hike seemed like it would be really easy because it only had a 1000ft (300m) elevation and was 2 miles (3.2km) long. But the afternoon heat and probably the jetlag taught me a lesson and within a few minutes my head was indistinguishable from a tomato. The switchbacks didn’t seem to end and there was less and less shade. After lots of breaks we reached Colombia Rock, and we enjoyed the astonishing view of the Valley and Half Dome. On our way back down after the hike our body needed another refreshment in the river before we drove back to the Airbnb. For dinner we had the best garlic parmesan fries with ranch sauce, I am still dreaming about them! I highly recommend checking out South Gate Brewing Company if you’re in the area.

Yosemite Valley and Half Dome seen from Colombia Rock

The next day we drove right back into Yosemite. We were very happy our friend had been to the park a few times before and knew some great places see and hikes to do! This time we took the road going to Glacier Point. We stopped by the Sentinel Dome Trailhead and walked through the forest for about an hour to the viewpoint. Up there at 7800ft (2400m) you get a majestic view of the valley and El Capitan. Some people entertained us with daring activities such as slack lining from one rock to another and I got dizzy just looking at them. Just like on the day before we ate our lunch of homemade sandwiches and walked back to the car. We drove back into Yosemite Valley and decided to do a second hike to Vernal Fall. The path there was called Mist Trail, which sounded like a great promise of refreshment by the waterfall. We chose a hike with a little less feet to climb, but even then my face color still matched my pink t-shirt. Halfway up the road we heard a lady proclaim that the temperature differences compared to the top were astonishing. This gave us new energy to press on. Soon we reached the thunderous waterfall. We soon found out why the path was called “Mist Trail”. The ground had several puddles, the air thick with moisture, and within a few seconds we were dripping wet from all the mist, but it was still a welcoming refreshment. We walked up all the stairs to the top of the waterfall where it was very calm and peaceful. After what felt like 100 photos we hiked back down. The setting sun and the mist of the waterfall made for some of the best vacation photos! On our way home we stopped to get some Mexican food. (Obligatory visits in California)

Santa Cruz

The following week we spent in Santa Cruz with Josh’s family. We are always looking forward to our stay there. It’s great to see friends in real life and not just on screen, and to have time with Josh’s parents and his grandfather. Here you can find all kinds of ideas for activities and trips in Santa Cruz! One of our highlights was seeing a baseball game featuring the San Francisco Giants. Josh’s uncle gave us tickets to some of the best seats in the stadium right behind the pitcher. Now, that I’ve seen the game live I was even able to understand the rules! The vibe in the stadium was great and the fact that the Giants won the game was just the cherry on top.

Sadly, our time to say goodbye to friends and family came way to fast and we had to pick up our rental car for the big trip. I was nervous, which I often am before big trips, because I don’t get to drive a lot. Every year Josh and I try to see a different part of the US. This is how we saw New York and Hawaii the years before. This year we wanted to drive to Texas and visit a few national parks on the way. Our first stop was Joshua Tree National Park which is an 8-hour drive away from Santa Cruz. We entertained ourselves with music and counting the many truck hauling massive loads of tomatoes. (We stopped our count when we hit 200 trucks!!) Late in the evening we reached our Airbnb.

Joshua Tree

Although we did our trip in summer, this was not the primary tourist season for the parks we visited. For many, the heat would be far to scorching to enjoy time outside. Because of that we had to plan our visits according to the weather. Even in the early morning temperatures were around 86°F (30°C) and so we left the Airbnb early. At 7AM there were only two other cars in Joshua Tree Park, and we didn’t even have to pay an entry fee! Soon we realized that this is not the normal experience at all. The information signs were giving instructions on how to avoid the big mass of visitors. We drove around in the car to exciting looking stops and made a few smaller hikes. Because of the heat we didn’t stay out for more than 15 minutes at a time and hopped into the car to cool off. The shape of the trees and rocks were fascinating, and we enjoyed our time there a lot! Even though it was very hot, we don’t regret our timing of the trip. Joshua Tree is a very fascinating national park, and we would go again in an instance!

The rest of the day was spent with another 5-hour drive, this time to Phoenix, Arizona. We were very excited to finally see one of Joshua’s brothers, whom we hadn’t seen in 4 years!

Sedona

Joshua’s parents recommended a short side trip to Sedona, a place two hours north of Phoenix, surrounded by red rocks. Our visit there was one of my highlights of our trip. The intense red-orange rocks mixed with the green bushes and trees painted a fantastic picture of the landscape. I couldn’t stop taking pictures! We checked out different viewpoints like Airport Mesa, Bell Rock, Chapel of the Holy Cross, and Red Rock State Park. We wished we had more time to see Devil’s Bridge and Slide Rock State Park as well. Instead, we went to see the sunset by Airport Mesa. Finally, the heat was warming, the wind refreshing, and we enjoyed a few moments of quiet from all the travelling. To end the day, we jumped into the pool of the hotel.

Saguaro

As the next day dawned we hit the road again (though more late morning than dawn). Our goal was to reach Saguaro National Park which was only 3.5 hours away from Sedona. Saguaro is split into two parts and known for its massive Saguaro Cacti. This time we also did a lot of driving in the park itself because temperatures were over 104°F (40°C). On the short stops we did, we admired the big variety of cacti, some of them even in full bloom, and we hoped not to see any rattle snakes. In the visitor center I learned that cacti are wooden inside. I always assumed they were through and through plant flesh. After a while we noticed a big storm was making its way towards us, and we decided to travel on to New Mexico. According to our schedule we had another 5-hour drive ahead until we’d arrive in Alamogordo, a town nearby White Sands National Park. The trip went by fast as we entertained ourselves with “The Hobbit” audio book from J.R.R. Tolkien. Shortly before the end of our trip we drove though Las Cruces and we were very happy we didn’t book the hotel there. A couple of times folks in various states of consciousness staggered into the street, and we made sure our car was locked. Alamogordo luckily turned out to be very different and so we had a good night’s sleep!

White Sands

Early on the next morning we hit the road to make it to White Sands National Park. There were no missile testings that day (yes, sometimes they close the park because of that). Just like in Joshua Tree, we arrived so early we didn’t even have to pay an entrance fee. (Are those the things early risers get to experience?) We drove over white sand and into the park. At first you could see some shrubbery but soon it all vanished, and the white sands took over. Different paths led over the dunes, or you could explore the park on your own terms. The sand was surprisingly cool to the touch and we enjoyed the time there. The blue sky painted an amazing contrast to all the white and was all invitation needed for an impromptu photo shoot. We were surprised that in all 3 “desert” national parks (Joshua Tree, Saguaro and White Sands) we found a lot of animals that adapted to the rough conditions. In every park I was able to take a photo of a lizard and they always looked a little different.

On this day we still had a long drive to do. 9 hours of driving to get to Fort Worth Texas, to be exact. We left White Sands shortly before noon and stopped in Cloudcroft to experience a real rustic barbecue restaurant. It was fantastic! People wore Cowboy hats and, on the walls, there were all kinds of trophies and badges from hunting and military. The restaurant made you very proud to be an American. And Joshua of course, had to stop by the gunshop next door just to look around. We spent a little too much time there and then finally left to drive to Texas. There wasn’t much to see on the way, just sand and a lot of nothing for hundreds of miles. After 4 hours I had had enough! All the driving and the illusion of thinking we were almost at the destination when we reached the border of Texas, (from there it was still another 6 hours) did the rest. At some point hunger joined the already explosive mix of emotions. Sadly, there was no restaurant within the next hour and when we finally found something it was burger and fries again. If you know me, you know I love that food but that night I actually ordered a SALAD at Chick-fil-A! Way too late, we arrived at Josh’s sister’s place in Fort Worth, and we dropped into bed exhaustedly.

Fort Worth

On the next day luckily, we got some much-needed rest from our travels. We slept in and relaxed at the pool for a few hours with our nieces and nephew. In the evening we found out a friend of ours from the East Coast just happened to be in town as well and Josh got to enjoy a guy’s night out in a cowboy bar with a mechanical bull. Obviously all the guys had to test it out and it was a very fun night. I was happy I got to enjoy an evening with a book in bed and get some more rest.

On the second day we had enough energy gathered again to explore Fort Worth and so we drove into town in the afternoon. We wanted to see the cattle drive through the Stockyards. Sadly, due to the heat they cancelled the drive but instead had a live old west duel. Even though it was fun, I was a bit disappointed because I was excited to see the Texas Longhorns. We decided to give it another shot on the next day and try the morning show. The evening we spent with Josh’s sister and brother-in-law in a restaurant with amazing food and great conversations.

We had to say goodbye way too soon and we drove up to see the cattle drive once more. It was very interesting to watch, and the massive, long horns of the cows were jaw-dropping. Imagine something like that in Switzerland! We wouldn’t even have room for them! After the cattle drive, we strolled through the streets and visited a lot of traditional shops and learned new things about cowboy hats and boots.

Waco

Our next and last destination of our trip was Austin, Texas. On the way there we had to stop by Waco to see Magnolia Market, the flagship store of the TV series “Fixer Upper”. I love the show and was super curious to see the different products. “Store” might not be the right word in this case though as it is a big area with several buildings and shops with different offers. Everything was decorated nicely and the visit there was definitely worth it!

On our drive we also stopped by Buc-ee’s, one of the biggest gas stations in the US with room for over 80 cars to get gas at the same time! The “station” itself was also enormous selling everything from meat to books to really anything you need.

Austin

An hour later we reached the Airbnb in Austin. Josh had bought two tickets to a comedy show at Joe Rogan’s new comedy club, Comedy Mothership on 6th street. When we reached the main street, we found no way to cross it as there was a long parade going on. Only after several minutes of walking we found a way to cross and made it to the Mothership just in time. Several different comedians performed that night and we laughed and enjoyed the evening.

On the next day we wanted to explore the city. We strengthened our bodies with a nutritious breakfast and then looked at the Texas Capitol and walked down Congress Street. Temperatures were again around 104°F (40°C) hot and even the squirrels in Capitol Park layed flat on their bellies to cool down. I also didn’t feel great at the time and I just wanted to go into a store with AC. Sadly, we couldn’t find that many shops on that street, even though it seemed to be a big, important one. I started to get grumpy and emotional: Was there nothing to do here? Aside from a lot of homeless people we didn’t see anyone else on the streets. Close to tears we found a café to cool down our emotions and to make new plans. We decided to eat dinner in a nearby restaurant and then to go and watch a nature spectacle before sunset. Every evening exactly 20 minutes before sunset 1.5 million bats fly away from South Congress Bridge to find food. I was awestruck! Just like a Swiss clockwork the bats flew away and together with the sunset, it was a beautiful experience.

Bats in Austin

The next day we learned from our mistakes from the day before and we made our plans in the cooled Airbnb before heading out. At first, we went to Austin’s big Antique Mall, a huge thrift store with hundreds of different sellers. We spent a couple hours spelunking and searching (and buying more or less useful things). Then we drove to Barton Springs to cool down. The underground springs fill the natural swimming pool, and the temperatures are a perfect refreshment. To crown our amazing vacation, we found Radio Coffee & Beer, an outdoor restaurant with live music. We sat in the garden, enjoyed our food and the Blue Grass Band that played that night, and thought about the last 3 weeks: What a wonderful, accident-free, and eventful trip we got to have. We are very thankful for our time!

A Journey from California to Texas