July 11 - October 1, 2021: USA & Canada

It’s been about three months since I retired from a fun and rewarding career as an educator and Kimchi closed down her successful small business. And, what an incredible beginning of retirement. We visited 15 National Parks in the US and Canada, including Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Banff, and Yoho.

During the first portion of our epic adventure, we visited 15 National Parks in the US and Canada, including Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Banff, and Yoho. During this 83 day journey, we drove our campervan through the heartland of America before heading north toward the Canadian Rockies while exclusively sleeping at campsites with the exception of a one night stay in a gorgeous hotel overlooking Niagara Falls in Canada.

We completed several bucket list hikes at these National Parks including Yosemite Falls & Mist Trail at Yosemite; Lake Solitude at Grand Teton, the Narrows & Angel’s Landing at Zion; Grinnell Glacier & Highline Trail at Glacier; Lake O’Hara and Iceline Trail at Yoho.  It was not always necessary to trek several miles/kilometers to be rewarded — the Grand Canyon, Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake in Banff are a few examples of seeing breathtaking views after only a short, leisurely walk.  Besides the National Parks, we were amazed by the beauty of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, Niagara Falls along with Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend in Arizona