I've been asked what are my favorite trips to take.  Well, the answer is simple...they are all great. It is not so much where you are, but what condition one's spirit is in at the time of travel.  One could be in a beautiful place, but there might be something "off" about the trip or spirit for one reason or another which makes it not so great.  Taking an adventure travel vacation may not be a vacation from doing daily tasks, but perhaps a vacation from making a thousand decisions which effect the whole family or a company.  I have had passengers come up to me and thank me for making a week's most important thought...food, a swimsuit, and what footwear to get for the day.

Speaking of food, here is a video I put together which illustrates what it is like to be on a trip with the GT...the footage is from the Yosemite 3day and the National Parks Loop trips. Turn the music UP and please enjoy!
http://youtu.be/WyCbcOyXlVA 

Next Trip...NPL!!!

Finally rested, getting laundry done, need to pack, cuz Friday, I'm off for 16 days on the National Parks Loop to: San Francisco, Lamoille Canyon, Jackson Hole, Grand Teton NP, Yellowstone NP, a special Hot Springs, Kodachrome, Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Arches NP, Monument Valley, Lake Powell, Grand Canyon NP, Las Vegas then back to San Francisco. Really, this IS my work!

 

Driving and searching...

When looking at the schedule of the year thus far, I have been on ten trips.  The season started with mainly charter groups and a few Death Valley visits.  Now we have gotten into the real season. June was interesting because I was in Yosemite three times.  The Yosemite trips, for the guide/ driver are about the most technical driving there is. The lanes are quite narrow and there remain perhaps only inches of clearance for the bus which needs to be split so the bus can fit within the lane.  Mentally, it is taken in small blocks of task, two hours here, thirty minutes there, and then there is the passenger management.  When dropping 30 plus passengers off at the Yosemite Lodge with instructions on what to do, what not to do, and the right time to return to the pick up point...there is always that one.  The one who gets lost, fails at time management...well of course...he's on vacation...or the non-English speaker who is overwhelmed by the whole experience and is unable to express one's self. No worries, we still love them because at one point we have all been "that guy"

There is hardly a complaint from me because even if I have to calm a bus full of peeps while waiting for That Guy, I get to enjoy the view from my rolling office.