Suneel's Travel Adventures

Now that a few days have passed since my return from the 6 week US road trip, I want to jot down my reflections on how it went, what worked well and what did not.  I achieved most of my goals for the trip, I missed some, and in some cases there were pleasant surprises not part of the original plan. I think it is good to not always get everything we want and better to miss out on a few goals. It keeps us humble! If we score 100% in every exam, it must have been too easy and thus not as impressive an achievement :-) I had spent some time preparing for the trip, planning the itinerary, all the logistics. I had captured many of these plans and thoughts in the following blog posts. Planning for a long road trip in a Tesla Road trip across USA But, like all big endeavors there were changes and hiccups. A Covid infection a few days before my planned start, led me to delay the trip by 6 days. I kept my return date the same and cut down the trip duration by 6 days. I ended up dropping s

  Saturday, Oct 15, 2022 The last day of the road trip, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  The only goal for today is to drive back home -  no national parks to visit, no planned hikes.  A few pictures of the RV to capture how well equipped and spacious it was. Carrying this full mobile home along on a road trip does not quite resonate with me. I think I prefer the rich and new experiences of staying in different kinds of places and meeting interesting people, both hosts and guests.  After a quick breakfast, I was on the road.  And after the required 3 supercharger stops, I was back home around 3pm!   After being on the road for 6 weeks (41 nights), driving 13351 miles through all 48 states, walking 467753 steps, visiting 23 national parks, meeting friends/family in 10 cities, I am back home. It has been a dream come true for me, an amazing journey, memories for a lifetime.     A prayer of thanks and blessings from my mom, a loving welcome from my family and a sumptuous fea

  Friday, Oct 14, 2022  Today is the second last day of my road trip. The goal today is to visit the Petrified Forest National Park in the morning and then drive as far as I can in the afternoon, so that I have a short drive tomorrow to get home in Los Gatos. It has been exciting to see a new national park every day for the past week, but I am so looking forward to reaching home tomorrow! As I entered the Petrified Forest National Park, one of the first vista points was a Route 66 memorial. Even though I have not fully driven all of the historic Route 66 during my road trip, it was good to touch it again.  I got information from the visitor center about the various places to see in the park and a brochure about my primary hike for the day, to the Historic Blue Forest Trail .     The trailhead for this trail started from the lovely Tepees viewpoint. The beautiful colors of the Painted Desert got better and better as I hiked down the Blue Forest trail.  In some places, the trail was very

  Thursday, Oct 13, 2022 My booking for the guided tour of Long House cliff dwellings was at 2pm, so I had plenty of time in the morning to explore and do a couple of short hikes. The car was also fully charged after being plugged overnight into the Tesla destination charger. I have been surprised during the trip with the low demand for the destination chargers. There were no other EVs from the 150+ rooms at the Far View Lodge. I assume this will quickly change in a few years as the number of EVs rapidly increases. The first hike for the day was the Soda Canyon Overlook Trail , which provided a view of the Balcony House cliff dwelling across the canyon.  After an early lunch at the Far View Terrace Cafe, I made my way to Wetherill Mesa. I did the short hike and self-guided tour of the small Step House .  I followed that up with a walk through the ruins of the Badger House Community.         The Long House tour was well worth the wait. The forest ranger who led the tour was great, w

Wednesday, Oct 12, 2022  Got ready early, had my breakfast and then headed out from the AirBnb in Montrose back to the visitor center of Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  The visitor center is the trailhead of the Gunnison Route Trail , a very steep trail down the canyon wall to the river at the bottom. Reached there around 8:30am, filled up my water bottles and got ready for the hike. The rapid descent of 2000 feet in less than a mile over steep boulders, loose rock and scree is a heart pounding, somewhat scary hike. In one short stretch, there is a cable to grab onto, but other parts of the trail seemed harder and had no support. It is also mostly an unmarked trail and several stories about people making the wrong turn. I had downloaded the AllTrails route, which was quite useful. I also took pictures at several places on the way, where I might make the wrong turn on the way back up. I breathed a sigh of relief when I could see and hear the river not too far away. I also met a cou

Tuesday, Oct 11, 2022  Drove today from Great Sand Dunes to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. It has been fun to drive to a new park each day, spending time exploring and to do some hiking.  Woke up early after sleeping in the car overnight. It was very cold outside, but inside the car it stayed warm, thanks to the "camp mode". The car was also fully charged from the 240V outlet in my RV spot.  The drive was very scenic, going alongside a river deep in a rocky canyon for some time. The fall colors in Colorado were also in full display. I was enjoying the scenery so much, I didn't even think about turning the music on. I stopped at the Sherpa Cafe in Gunnison for lunch and enjoyed the Veggie Thupka there.  It was hot, spicy, lots of vegetables and noodles - just the right meal to get ready for an afternoon of hiking. I reached the visitor center at Black Canyon around 2pm and got some recommendations for hikes in the afternoon. I also got a wilderness permi

Monday, Oct 10, 2022  The morning started with interesting conversations at the B&B with the host and some of the other guests over breakfast. One of them was a police chief from Latvia, doing US road trip on a motorbike.  After checking out, I drove to the Santa Fe Plaza, the heart of the city and a big tourist magnet. Lots of art galleries and roadside vendors for art, jewelry, sculptures, handicrafts with both Native American and Mexican designs.           I also went to the Loretto Chapel to see its magic, spiral staircase. There are many mysteries and stories surrounding this staircase and its builder. It definitely draws hordes of tourists like me :-) Next was a walk around the Saint Francis Cathedral, which borders the Plaza. In the park next to it, there was a big gathering/protest by Native Americans demanding better rights.           After a few hours in the Santa Fe Plaza area, it was a relatively short drive (compared to most other days)  to the Great Sand Dunes

Sunday, Oct 9, 2022  Drove from El Paso, Texas to Santa Fe, New Mexico today, with a stop at White Sands National Park on the way. It is a very unique park, with miles and miles of white sand (actually gypsum). The terrain is mostly flat, the sand dunes are not too high. So, as far as the eye can see, it is bright white all around.  The park is also surrounded by the White Sands missile range.  It was cloudy when I reached the visitor center. I then set out along Dunes drive that goes about 10 miles, with various vista points and trailheads along the way. A few miles in, the road transitions to just packed sand (gypsum). It was fun to drive on this white sand.  I parked at the trailhead for the White Sands Backcountry Trail , a short trail to experience walking on the white sand. The trail is not visible in the vast white expanse, you have to look for the red and white poles at regular intervals. It was not all white and barren, there were a few hardy plants as well. Half way into th

  Saturday, Oct 8, 2022 I started today an intense sprint of visiting 7 national parks in 6 days. This cluster of parks is spread over New Mexico, Texas, Colorado and Arizona.  Went to 2 national parks today - Carlsbad Caverns and the Guadalupe Mountains.  From my AirBnb in Carlsbad it was a short drive to Carlsbad Caverns. I reached just in time before my timed entry ticket lapsed, at 9:30am,  and started on my self-guided tour of the Natural Entrance Trail and Big Room Trail in the caves. This is an amazing place, a fantasy land underground, simply breathtaking. The caves are massive, but the highlight is the never ending display of stalactites, stalagmites, curtains, and other formations. This is the fourth "Caves" national park I have visited in this road trip and Carlsbad Caverns one was the best.  Normally I associate national parks with big mountains, but exploring the underground marvels was a fascinating experience. They still provide plenty of hiking trails, but in