Tiny Pinecone Land (Sequoia National Park)
Welcome to the land of tiny pinecones and humumgous trees! We went on a trail and saw the General Sherman sequoia tree, and we also saw lots of other sequoia trees like a tree that was struck by lightning and the only remains was some bark! Then we went back to the campground and went for a swim in the river and then we went on a night sky ranger talk. We also saw the Milky Way!
After we went Sequoia, we went to Death Valley! Death Valley can get up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit! We went on a walk in Golden Canyon. It was sooooooo hooooot!!
Then we went to Las Vegas! When we arrived in Vegas we went to Circus Circus where we saw a show with a guy that was super good at balancing! Then we went to the Adventuredome! In the Adventuredome there are some inside roller coasters an arcade and much more! Mum and dad said me and Josh could go in the arcade area it was really fun, they had all kinds of games. Sadly we left Circus Circus and walked the Vegas Boulevard. On the Boulevard we saw the Mirage (a volcano if you’re wondering) it was awesome! We also saw the Vegas version of the Eiffel Tower. The next day we saw the biggest TV screen in the world it was huge, and it wasn’t even complete!
Then we went to Zion. In Zion we went on a trail called The Narrows and the whole time my pants were soaking wet because we were walking in a river. After that we hopped on the shuttle bus and kept stopping at places all the way back to the campground. The next day we climbed Angels Landing, at the top there’s a part with some chains to hold on to. It was awesome! On the way down we stopped at a river to cool off.
Then we went to Bryce “Canyon”(actually it’s a amphitheater) and Capitol Reef. We saw some hoodoos, arches, Canyons, and Balanced Rock (no, literally a balanced rock called Balanced Rock!). We went on a trail in Cohab Canyon which was really hot! We went into some slot canyons that were really skinny! We went on the Navajo loop trail in Bryce Canyon and at the start of the trail there is a lot of stairs down, down, down into the “canyon”. There’s also a hoodoo that looks like Queen Victoria on a camel.
When we arrived in Mesa Verde we went on a tour of a cliff dwelling called Balcony house. In Balcony house there are lots of kivas and rooms. A kiva is a big hole in the ground that ancient Pueblo people lived in. Kivas are circular with seats around them and they have something like an air conditioning unit that sucks air down into the kiva. To get into a kiva you need to climb down a ladder that’s on the roof. That is also where the fire is underneath and where the smoke comes out. The coolest part about Balcony house is getting in and going out because there are tunnels and ladders. When we got back to the campground we saw 8 Mule Deer and 3 wild turkeys!
At the Grand Canyon we went on a trail into called Kaibab trail. When we were going down we saw mule poo! We went all the way down to Ooh Aah point and then stopped for a break. After the break we went down to Cedar ridge to have lunch. Then we turned around and headed back up to the rim.
Then we went to Joshua Tree. Our campground was the best campground ever as it had so much climbing! The first thing me and Josh did was climb. We climbed and climbed and climbed and climbed all night long (well maybe we didn’t but you get the idea, a lot). There were Tarantulas and Scorpions around so we had to be careful. I got to photobomb Mum and Dad doing The Floss and then we hopped on a plane and went back to New Zealand.
Bye ‘Merica! So long, and thanks for all the fish!!
Scott Verkaaik
Light Your Fire! 
Great photo bombing skills Scott! Did you all go ‘ooooh’ and ‘aaaah’ at Ooh Aah point? I love all your photos (and I love in true 8 year old boy fashion that of all the amazing things you saw and did that the mule poo got a mention!)
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