Highlights for me. The people. Everyone on the tour has been great. Friendly, funny, diverse and jolly.
Jen and Sandra, two scottish lassies who have made me miss home and have been a great laugh and great company. Jen is a fellow photographer, though our eyes catch different things to take photos of. She reminds me in mannerisms, temperament and accent of my aunt Carla.
Sandra is absolutely lovely and has been a kindred spirit of madness.
Andy, from one of those 'Northern' cities (Birmingham he says, at least I think that's what he said.) He has been the most difficult to understand accent wise, and is a proper blokey bloke. He has put up with me admirably.
Claire is the youngest on the trip and from just outside Belfast. Similar to me, she is on a couple of concurrent trips. She has the typical friendliness of the Northern Irish.
Toby is from Essex and, though always the last to turn up for the bus, is a lovely looney and very friendly.
Dennis is from Canada and has been my room/tent mate for the trip. He's quite quiet, but really nice.
Marielle is Dutch (I think), and very sporty. She has been in the lead group on all the walks and I am jealous of how fit and active she is, especially considering she had a serious neck injury only a year or so ago.
Ari (Ariel) is from Miami, and other than our guide is the only american on the tour. He seems to be alternatively very quiet and very loud, and a huge fan of Taco Bell.
Hilde is from Belgium and was unfortunately afflicted with a horrible cold for the first few days of the trip, but she very kindly shared it with all of us!
David and Mal are from Australia (though David is originally Welsh) and were mum and dad for the trip. Lovely pair, witty, fun and quick.
Ryan, our CEO (Chief Experience Officer, aka tour guide) has been great. Fun, friendly, organised, and though he has not actually been to a couple of the places we went to before, it really didn't show. He is only 26 (though he seems much more grown up...most of the time!) and from Texas. He often leads YOLO trips (18-39 year olds), so hopefully we were less immature than them, though with Sandra and I there, maybe not! In a few weeks he's off to New Zealand to do some CEO'ing out there during the US off season. He's been a big hit with the whole group, particularly with 'Bartlebear', whom he is taking photos of everywhere for his nephew.
So, other than the people, what have my other highlights been. Some of the springs and pools at Yellowstone are high on the list. The colours and formations are amazing.
Craters of the Moon was just surreal. Not a type of landscape I've ever seen before. Something really special.
Crater Lake was similarly a first for me. I'm beginning to run out of superlatives to use to describe this stuff. It was so huge and still and clear - just incredible.
Other notable events:
Black bear at Mt Rainier
Marmots!
Cute chipmonks
Bluebird
The angry italian at Grand Teton (we parked the van slightly in view of his photo and he was about ready to start a fight. He got very agressive, called us 'fuckers' in italian, which Hilde understands, so she told him to 'go fuck himself' in Italian. He was rather taken aback!)
Toby always being late
Ari's love of Taco Bell
Sandra's photos at her namesake town, Gillchrist
Starting every drive with Willie Nelson's 'On the road again'
Ari crying every time Desperado came on
Martin's never ending donuts
Becoming a drug baron (dispencing paracetamol and cough sweets on the bus)
Wifi on tbe bus
Group singalongs on the bus.
Mal's s'mores production line
Dennis and his secret moose
Power march at the top of Glacier pass
Boseman hot springs
Paradise inn at Rainier
Toby in the fishtank
Toby as Gollum in the cave
Hilde breaking the dryer
Ryan's inability to pronounce words like 'route' properly.
Ari's arguing about anything, particularly american 'culture' and guns.
Ryan's 'fun facts', which were only partially factual.
The weather. Whilst cold in the mornings, and initially damp at Rainier, we have generally had stunning weather, and been incredibly lucky with visibility most of the time.
It's been a fantastic trip, I am knackered though, and a little concerned what 10 months of going at this sort of pace will do to me. Tomorrow I fly down to San Francisco and have 1 day to myself before joining the Explore trip to Yosemite and Grand Canyon.
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