My first trip is in the books!
7 days. 1,549 miles. 3 States. 4 National Parks. 17 new friends.
It was an excellent trip. I won’t bore you with all the details, but here is a quick summary.
Day 1: I met my co-CEO/shadow coach, Katy. We chatted for a bit and I liked her straight away! Not long after it was time to meet our passengers! We had a welcome meeting and then headed out to dinner.
Day 2: We started with a quick walking tour of Hollywood including stops at the Chinese Theater, the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a view of the Hollywood sign. Next we were off to Joshua Tree National Park. We explored with a one hour hike. It was hot and anything longer would have been too much! Did you know Joshua trees aren’t actually trees? They are actually a yucca plant. They do not have tree rings so you can only estimate their age!
We spent the night near Lake Havasu, Arizona. It was so hot, 120 degrees Fahrenheit to be exact! There was the hottest wind I have ever experienced! Luckily, our campsite was located on the Colorado River so we all went for a lovely swim! It was too hot for tents or sleeping bags so everyone slept outside under the stars.
Day 3: A stop at the London Bridge was a must prior to leaving Lake Havasu. This was the original London Bridge in London. Built in the 1830’s, it was sold to Robert McCulloch in 1967 and relocated to Lake Havasu, AZ.
We had a bit of a drive ahead of us so there was no time to waste. We had the Grand Canyon to see! We arrived, set up camp, ate lunch and then headed for the great reveal! We have a little fun with the reveal. I don’t want to give away the surprise, but basically we want all our passengers see the Grand Canyon together at the same time! It’s really neat to watch the reactions of everyone witnessing the magnificent Grand Canyon for the very first time!
Our passengers had a few hours to hike. We met them back on the rim to watch the sunset together. A Grand Canyon sunset is incredible!
We topped off the night with s’mores and fireside bonding!
Day 4: I had the pleasure to take a few passengers to the airport for helicopter rides. Guess what?! I got to fly over the Grand Canyon too! It was amazing! Flying helps you appreciate just how GRAND the canyon really is!
After flight it was time to get in the party mood because we were headed to Las Vegas. On the way we made a stop on Route 66. We stopped for lunch at Snow Cap in Seligman. So delicious! The chocolate oreo milkshake is my favorite! Fun fact: Seligman is the inspiration for Radiator Springs in the movie Cars.
Time to get our party on! We started with the Fremont Light Show which played a great selection of Green Day songs! Then it was straight to the party bus! We partied but also made a stop at the Fabulous Las Vegas Sign, a chapel and the Bellagio Fountains. All of our passengers were having a blast and some would surely feel it in the morning! To top off the night most everyone headed to a rooftop pool party. I, however, had to drive in the morning so I opted for the good nights sleep!
Day 5: Hottest, driest, lowest place in North America??? That’s right Death Valley! Our main attraction for the day! It was 120 degrees Fahrenheit, so another scorcher! I fall in love with this park more and more each time I’m there! The mountains there are so beautiful and full of color. I love it!
I did not love driving through the park. It’s so hot and hilly that we have to worry about the bus overheating or the breaks burning out! Luckily, my Co-CEO did a great job helping me through it! We survived!
Day 6: Tioga Pass opened today!! Ahh!! Tioga Pass is the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park. The road is normally closed October through May due to snow. However, this year was a bad winter with a lot of snow. The road was covered in 30ft of snow! The were unable to get the road cleared and safe to drive on until June 29th! We would be one of the first groups of the season on the pass. In fact, we were there just 2 hours after opening. We were so excited! The excitement was totally worth it because the drive is gorgeous! Tenya Lake is a favorite. It’s beautiful, but chilly!
Before arriving in Yosemite Valley we took a hike to the Giant Sequoia! These giants are always fun to see! There is even a dead, fallen sequoia that you can walk through! However, I chickened out! I don’t like those small spaces without an easy way out!
Once in Yosemite Valley our passengers got free time and so did we! The beauty of Yosemite never gets old! I can’t wait until next week when I’ll have time to hike!
We had an American themed party at camp since it was our last night camping and the 4th of July was right around the corner!
Day 7: Our last day already!? Time goes too fast! We were off to San Francisco!
We had a picnic lunch on Treasure Island which offers a beautiful view of the San Fran skyline. Next we drove to the Golden Gate Bridge. This was a bit stressful with traffic, hills, tight squeezes and a big bus + trailer! Of course, I was driving! But no worries, we all survived and I didn’t hit anything! Plus, all the passengers were really appreciative of my driving so in the end that took all the stress away!
Tonight we had a sunset sail out to the Golden Gate Bridge and back. It was beautiful, but so cold! San Francisco is a cold city and even colder on the water! After the sail we had our farewell dinner. It’s never easy saying goodbye but luckily we would see most everyone the following night. We couldn’t fit our whole group on one sail so we had to split them up. We would get to go again tomorrow!
Day 8: The trip was officially over. My co-CEO and I had to work. We had to clean the bus and get everything ready for the next trip to head out, but we had the sunset sail to look forward to!
Sunset Sail #2 was just as good! We got to see whales! Afterward we went to a cool bar called Tupelo (highly recommended). They had live music and we all had so much fun! It was the perfect end to a great trip! Of course, the worse part of the night was saying “goodbye!” It’s the worst part of my job!
I can’t believe my first trip has come and gone! It flew by so fast! I could not ask for a better first trip. I had the coolest co-CEO/shadow coach. Katy was so helpful and a great teacher. We got along so well and I learned a lot! My passengers were great too! A lot of them knew early on that this was my first trip, but they were all very supportive! I enjoyed getting to know them and I miss them already!
It certainly was a trip I won’t soon forget. They say you never forget your first!
