Author: Sarah Holbrook
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Japan Day 3 – Gundam Base, Shinkansen to Kyoto, Fushimi Inari Shrine
We hit two key itinerary points today: Gundam Base for Soren, and riding the Shinkansen for Ned. Considering how much transit time we’ve already accrued I punted on our plan to breakfast at Tsukiji Outer Market and instead we walked over to the diner-style restaurant Royal Host. It was super quiet and uncomplicated. Plastic hobby…
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Japan Day 2 – Daikanyama, Ginza, Disneyland
Today was very full, even after I dropped a couple of things from the planned itinerary. We only have two nights in Tokyo so it was tough to plan. We had pastries at The City Bakery in the train station, then took the train to the Daikanyama neighborhood. Daikanyama is cute, with Instagram styled fashionable…
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Japan Day 1 – PDX -> HND, architecture walk
Japan time! Our December 2013 trip was Tokyo focused; this time we’ll spend some time on the Shinkansen (high-speed train) to see more. Japan’s been on the family shortlist for a while so I’m happy we can make it happen. We used an app (Timeshifter) to prepare for the time change, so we were up…
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Day 9 – Mammoth Terraces, Pine Creek, home
Our flight wasn’t until early evening, so we decided to do a little more exploring. Since Mammoth Terraces is so close to the entrance we went back for a third time. The angle of the sun makes a huge difference to how everything looks. I’m happy that we got one more look at the park;…
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Day 8 – Lamar Valley Trail, Trout Lake Loop
Lamar Valley is known for its herds of bison and the successful reintroduction of wolves. Conventional wisdom says the animals are most active at the start and end of the day, so we made coffee to go and entered the valley a bit before eight. Almost immediately we started seeing bison. Hooray! We also encountered…
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Day 7 – Mormon Row, Yellowstone Storm Point and Artist Point
This was a Big Drive day, as our lodging for the final two nights is in Gardiner, outside the north entrance of Yellowstone. Thankfully there was no need to hurry, and no one segment of car time felt too long. We enjoyed one last delicious breakfast and made the short drive over to Mormon Row.…
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Day 6 – Taggart and Bradley Lake Loop, wandering Jackson
After another scrumptious breakfast, we willed our legs along the 2.5 hour Taggart Lake and Bradley Lake Loop. This was a popular trail. There were a couple of groups of older women having a great time, and many people relaxing by the lake. While these lakes do allow swimming, they remain very cold. Most watery…
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Day 5 – Lake Solitude Trail
The all-day Lake Solitude Trail was one of the best hikes of my life. It was epic, beginning to end. It started with a short boat ride across Lake Jenny. There was no wait, likely due to most kids being back in school. The boat docked shortly after 9:30, and we re-boarded around 5. Most…
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Day 4 – West Thumb, Grand Teton float
We were out of the cabin by 7:30 and shortly headed south towards Grand Teton National Park. Our first stop was at the continental divide, where part of Isa lake drains to the Mississippi and the other to the Columbia. These longer drive days really highlight just how large the park is. We stopped at…
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Day 3 – Midway & Upper Geyser Basin area
Midway Geyser Basin, Grand Prismatic Overlook, Firehole Lake Drive, Fountain Paint Pots, Black Sand Basin, Upper Geyser Basin, Ranger talk We slept much better in the absence of buffeting winds. Thankfully the lodge had hot water to make instant coffee, and with cereal bars and apples we were off to cover the Old Faithful area.…