The Boy Who Cried, Wolf!

“Look at the dog chasing the man,” said the boy, who seemed to be around seven or eight years of age.

“What are you talking about?” asked his mother in obvious confusion.

“There,” said the boy, “see, there’s a dog chasing a man?”

It was late on a Friday evening in mid-September, when I, and a group of 20-30 international and American visitors, gathered close to the edge of Grand Canyon’s south rim to watch as a perfect autumn day drew to a close, and long shadows began to rise and stretch across canyon walls away to the north.

The young boy pointed off into the evening haze, and dozens of curious visitors followed the direction of his outstretched hand to look for the ‘dog chasing the man’.

Eventually, even the oldest pair of eyes watched in wonder as the two shadows seen in the image above slowly grew, stretched and changed shape as the sun settled lower in the west.

I don’t know if the child’s parents had ever told the lad the story of The Boy Who Cried, Wolf, but memories of that old folk tale come to mind each time I look at this image, and I remember the boy who taught me once again, the simple pleasures of looking at the world through the eyes of a child.

Jetlagged and Muddleheaded

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So here I am, still jetlagged and feeling muddleheaded, adjusting once again to being back in Adelaide, Australia after my latest three month extended travels through America.

The route map above, plots out my trip from New York City to Los Angeles, California, although the map doesn’t show my day trips out of Flagstaff, Arizona, from where I headed out each day in my hire car to the Grand Canyon (twice), Sedona and environs, and up to Monument Valley, Utah.

This completes my third visit to the United States in six years, and I’m delighted to say that once again, I had a great trip, during which I met many friendly locals, and spent more time in hotels than I have ever had the dubious pleasure of doing so before now. However, just to be clear, I did not drive myself across America. The route outlined above was shared between several Greyhound Bus rides, and what is left of the great Amtrak rail network, as well as the afore mentioned car hire.

Over the coming weeks and months I will begin to process the encounters, the highlights (and low-lights), and the hotel stays, and try to encapsulate my experiences via this blog. I have thousands of photographs to sort through, discard or enhance and utilise here, and more hours of video footage than I can ever hope to examine, edit, shape and put to good use in some way, shape or form. But what’s a traveller to do? The answer I guess, is to take each story as it comes and try to extract the heart out of each experience, and write about it in a way that will be of interest and use to readers who stumble on this blog.

Free iPhone Apps from Chimani

Screen shot of Chimani Grand Canyon App

Download all Chimani national park apps free between April 16-24, 2011.

"Entrance to the national parks is free, and so too should our apps."

Chimani, is a leading developer of mobile applications for iPhone, iPad, and Android designed to help people explore some of America’s stunning national parks. Applications launched to date include those for Acadia National Park, Cape Cod National Seashore, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Grand Canyon National Park and Yosemite National Park. Additional parks to be released in the spring include Grand Teton, Great Smoky Mountains, Olympic, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, and Zion National Park.

Early this week, Chimani, announced that all iPhone national park apps will be free during National Park Week, which runs from April 16-24. The Android versions of each national park app will be available for only $.99 cents. The Chimani national park apps normally sell for between $4.99-$9.99 each.

The Chimani suite of national park apps include Acadia National Park, Cape Cod National Seashore, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Grand Canyon National Park and Yosemite National Park.

"Entrance to the national parks is free, and so too should our apps", says Chimani President, Kerry Gallivan. "Chimani develops apps for national parks because they are special – and we want to encourage as many people as possible to get out and enjoy them.”

Each of the five national park apps are an indispensable resource for anyone exploring some of the most visited national parks. Each delivers constantly updated content, including ranger led activities, free shuttle bus schedules and news alerts. Users can view sunset and sunrise times for the most memorable scenic overlooks, access tide schedules along the coast, review lodging options, plan hikes, and much, much more.

Each of the apps boasts a rich and impressive map interface that is custom-made, GPS enabled, and includes all hiking trails in the parks. Designed from the ground-up using the National Park Service geographic information system data, the maps are all pre-installed in the app and work without any cell or WiFi connection.

“When Google Maps stops working, Chimani maps begin.” says, Kerry Gallivan. “Most smart phone users who visit the national parks find their traditional navigation tools are useless because they depend on a cell or WiFi connection. The Chimani national park apps are designed to work completely offline.”

The national park apps also include an audio tour designed to work while visitors are driving, walking or taking the shuttle buses around the parks. All content is written by professional travel writers and include the most essential information, such as the location of every restroom. “The #1 most asked question in every national park is the location of the closest restroom”, says Kerry Gallivan. “Chimani apps give you just-in-time information, just in time!”

Each of the Chimani iPhone apps can be downloaded from Apple's iTunes App Store and the Android versions from the Android Marketplace (keyword: "chimani"). The iPhone apps will be free, and Android version only $.99 cents, for the entire National Park Week which runs from April 16-26. After that, the apps will return to the regular price of $4.99-$9.99.

Go get them while you can.