Joy Domain

Travel, Outdoor, Photography

Author: Yongjia Song

Olympic National Park — June 12, 2021

Olympic National Park

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Duration: 5/28/2021 – 6/4/2021

Outline: Seattle – Hurricane Ridge – Sequim – Sol Duc Rain Forest – Mount Storm King – Lake Crescent – Forks – Rialto Beach – Hoh Rain Forest – Ruby Beach – Kalaloch – Lake Quinault – Seattle

Keyword: Road trip; Olympic Peninsula; Rain forest; West Coast; Hiking; Museums

While COVID hasn’t ended in US, the vaccination did bring more confidence to people who haven’t travel for a while. During this year Memorial Weekends, I saw the news from Zion National Park that visitors got into the line to wait park shuttle for almost a maximum of 2 hours. I believe Zion is not the only story, people were seeking for an opportunity to have some fresh air. Since I’m still a little bit worried about being exposed of a massive people gathering, I selected to visit Olympic National Park since it hasn’t reached its peak season during July and August.

When people talk about Olympic National Park, these words usually pop up: “Primeval Forest”, “Snow-caped Mountains”, “Indian and Pioneer History”, “Sparkling Streams and Lakes”, “Spectacular Coast”. Yes, Olympic National Park, which is located at Olympic Peninsula west of Seattle, lives up to its reputation to become one of the most diverse national parks.

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Florida National Parks — December 6, 2019

Florida National Parks

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Duration: 11/23/2019 – 11/28/2019

Outline: Everglades NP – Coral Castle – Biscayne NP – Turtle Hospital – Robbie’s Marina – Dry Tortugas NP

Keyword: Road trip; Lighthouse; US 1 Highway; Miami; Deep sea fishing

Florida state has three national parks: Everglades, Biscayne, and Dry Tortugas. Everglades NP is well-known for its unique tropical wilderness and ecosystem; 95% of Biscayne NP area is under the sea; Dry Tortugas NP has a massive Fort Jefferson which was the third largest costal fort in US. In overall, these national parks offer completely different views than others.

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费城巴恩斯基金会 (Barnes Foundation at Phily) — November 18, 2019

费城巴恩斯基金会 (Barnes Foundation at Phily)

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Girl in Gray-Blue (1889) by Renoir

今年九月底去费城开会，抽空参观了一个集中收集印象主义和后印象主义画作的艺术博物馆 – Barnes Foundation。更准确的说，应该称之为一个致力于艺术教育的基金会。

创始人Albert Barnes出生在费城。自获得医学学位后，游历德国转攻化学。回国后投身于药企，发家致富，从此开启了收集画作和艺术教育之路。基金会至今已经收藏了900多幅画作，涵盖范围之广包括印象主义，后印象主义，现代主义，写实主义，非洲，埃及和希腊艺术等等。

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Glacier National Park — August 5, 2019

Glacier National Park

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Duration: 07/20/2019-07/25/2019

Outline: Logan Pass – East Glacier – Many Glacier (Grinnell Glacier) – West Glacier – Fishing

Keyword: Road trip; Grinnell Glacier; Logan Pass; Wildflowers; Fishing

Glacier National Park, which is also called the “Crown of the Continent”, is located at northwest area in Montana. It’s on the US-Canada border and is a sister park to Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada. The visitation to Glacier NP has increased dramatically during the past 3 years, compared to the first time when it hit 1 million visitation in July 2017.[1] It’s probably because scientists have estimated all glaciers may disappear by 2030.[2]

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Great Smoky Mountain National Park — June 1, 2019

Great Smoky Mountain National Park

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Duration: 05/25/2019-05/27/2019

Outline: Cades Cove Loop – Ripley’s Odditorium – Synchronized Fireflies – Skylift Park – Clingmans Domes – Salt & Pepper Museum

Keyword: Road trip; Biking; Synchronized fireflies; Cades Cove; Clingmans Domes

Great Smoky Mountain has been the most visited national park for at least 70 years, which beats Grand Canyon NP and Zion NP as the second and the third.[1] I guess the biggest reason might be it closes to major cities and small towns. We drove from Louisville, passed through Lexington/Knoxville, and arrived at Friday night before Memorial Weekends.

The park has two main entrances by connecting with Highway 441: Gatlinburg, TN on the north, and Cherokee, NC on the south. There are many accommodations in Gatlinburg area as it’s very close to the north entrance and has various restaurant options, but be prepared for the crowds especially for holidays. Not recommend to stay in Pigeon Forge town, as you might get stuck on the road to Gatlinburg due to the traffic jam in Gatlinburg!

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三亚小记 — March 29, 2019

三亚小记

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最近因为工作原因，博客停更了近半年。乘着这次回国探亲，和家人一起去了趟三亚，用文字记录下这次旅行～

先简单介绍一下海南这个海岛。它是我国最南端并且唯一的热带海岛省份。之前被广东省管辖，直至民国时期才升级为省。GDP处于中下等水平，但由于地理位置优越有着丰富的海洋资源。尚未充分工业化，自然风光吸引大量游客支撑起旅游业[1]。海南省旅游的交通状况还算乐观，一般可以考虑直接飞往三亚凤凰国际机场，或者飞往海口美兰机场再乘坐动车或租车环岛去三亚。如果时间充裕，租车自驾东线是比较推荐的路线（西线还在开发）。海南环线高速公路（G98）不收取费用（油价高～），从海口到三亚途径文昌（东郊椰子林，铜鼓岭天晴拍月亮湾美翻），博鳌（亚洲论坛永久会址），万宁（加井岛，石梅湾，兴隆咖啡庄园），陵水（分界洲岛～人少版蜈支洲）。

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Denver – Rocky Mountain NP – Great Sand Dunes NP — October 21, 2018

Denver – Rocky Mountain NP – Great Sand Dunes NP

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Duration: 09/01/2018-09/06/2018

Outline: Denver – Rocky Mountain NP (2.5 day) – Great Sand Dunes NP (1 day) – Denver

Keyword: Road trip; Hiking; Alpine; Sand Dunes

Colorado is an ideal destination for people who likes traveling. Aspen Mountain is the holy place for skiing in winter. Four national parks (Rocky Mountain, Great Sand Dunes, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and Mesa Verde) provide most diverse and gorgeous scenery. Multiple rivers, lakes, and mountain streams let Western Colorado become one of the best destination for fly fishing.

The idea of visiting Colorado just came in mind 10 days before the planned setting off date. I have thought about this popular place for many times, but it’s really hard for me to find a two-three week vacation to cover all places in one trip. Then I just decided to break it down to several small trips. This blog recorded the days I spent in Denver, Rocky Mountain NP, and Great Sand Dunes NP during Labor Day Holiday.

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Mammouth Cave NP – Wild Cave Tour — August 18, 2018
Bourbon Distillery – Four Roses — July 9, 2018
Las Vegas – Death Valley – Zion — June 30, 2018
Maneki-neko — May 31, 2018

Maneki-neko

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These pictures were captured when I visited Lucky Cat Museum in late April. It was located at Essex Studios in Cincinnati, Ohio. The museum is opened from 3pm to 6pm, and it has several art walks throughout the year. The owner of this museum is Micha Robertson. She has spent almost 13 years for collecting 1,000+ lucky cats from various sources. I’m glad that she guided me through the collections and told me tons of stories about the lucky cats. She was a very nice lady and I had a great experience.

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Bourbon Distillery – Woodford — April 29, 2018

Bourbon Distillery – Woodford

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Today we visited one of the oldest bourbon distillery in Kentucky – Woodford Reserve Distillery. It is located at Versailles City and 50 miles southwest from Louisville.

Bourbon is a type of American Whiskey. It’s a distilled spirit made at a minimum of 51 percent corn and aged in oak barrels. It’s acknowledged to be a symbol of south America and strongly associated to Kentucky. Although the origin of Bourbon is not well documented, the distilling industry was brought by Scots to Kentucky since 18th century.[1]

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2017 Christmas Trip (US 1 Highway + Yosemite NP) — February 1, 2018