We left Bullhead City (nice name huh?) after a lovely cool evening, but by 7.30am it was already sweat-inducing to breathe the air!
There are some crops planted along this valley floor, and a very strange motorised vehicle, which looks like something out of Star Wars, with wheels below 'legs' about two metres high, trundles about between the rows, spraying the crops.
Once we leave this valley we instantly enter the DESERT.... Quite a lot of low greenery, heaps of cacti and cycads abound. Forests of huge tree-sized, multi-branched (you know what I mean) cacti stand impressively and defiantly above the red sand. These areas are fenced, and there are frequently "For Sale" signs along the road. Are they kidding???? Can't imagine what one would do with acreage such as this, with the aim of making money!!!!
Out of nowhere appears an Oasis - about 2 acres of beautiful, tall, green trees!!!! Obviously someone has tapped the underground stream below, and has indeed found gold..
Rising up out of the valley, we're trvelling at about 4,000 feet elevation, and then suddenly we're plunged to the bottom of the valley again, down to 1,000 feet, and later on, we actually get to 190 feet below sea level. No wonder it's so hot down here!!
The air is very hazy and once again looks like a lunar landscape, and we drove through Death Valley Wilderness - how aptly named! Huge yellow sand dunes on either side, and some barren sandstone mountains still along the valley edges, Spinifex-like plants are about the only greenery in sight. No more multi-storey-building sized boulders waiting to crash down, these hills are so old, they're smooth and rounded, and very non-threatening in that regard; they're just crumbling slowly back into the sand from which they were built a few million years ago!!!
We drove about 280 miles (haven't yet converted it to kms, but it's a lot) through Death Valley and did see a Coyote, but not much else. Animals do of course live here, but they're wisely nocturnal!!
Passed through another tiny town which had a sign "Death Valley Health Centre", hilarious I thought, but I didn't get a photo.
Here we priced petrol and US$4.50 per gallon - you do the maths, and NEVER complain about the cost of petrol again!!!
In this town, estimated population; 6 people and a dog - there is an OPERA HOUSE... Again hilarious!
At some stage in this Valley's chequered history, it was assumed that the population would boom due to the finding of gold, silver, or something else which was precious. This of course, never materialised, but the Opera House still stands!
We lunched at a place called Furnace Creek - again very aptly named. Sat in our van, ate salad sandwiches and had the air conditioner up full. Temperature about 38 degrees C, in the shade!
It was an amazing journey through the Valley, and of course there are the remnants of a once very deep lake here, in the form of a salt pan which glistens in the heat.
Set up the Van for the second last night in a town called Beatty, and after sealing ourselves inside the cool van for an hour or two, we emerged to find a gorgeous balmy evening. So, off we wandered - truly amazing place again. There seem to be lots of "second-hand" shops across the way. Actually, 'shops' is not the right word, they are more collections of decaying debris spread over the landscape, in the vain hope that someone might be mad enough to buy something.....
As we were musing about the possibility that we were actually having a nightmare of some sort, that this couldn't possibly be for real, a head popped up over a brick wall to enquire as to whether we were looking for some place to eat, or whatever... So, we wandered over for a chat, as you do, and ended up having a very pleasant hour or so with him, and a bottle of wine, outside on his "patio". He's apparently some filthy rich, ex racing driver, who built, owned and then sold, a racing track and driver training school in a town nearby, and after marrying and divorcing 4 times, is now living every man's dream, living in a big shed, surrounded by boys' toys. His huge establishment houses a couple of Masserattis (sp?), several very impressive motor cycles, a motor home half as big as our house, and much, much, more.
Even after he told us his name I failed to be impressed, as I didn't recognise it as I apparently should have!! However, I did Google him when I got back to the Van, and indeed, he's for real!!!! Perhaps this was our actual "brush with fame", I just wish I'd recognised it at the time!!!!
Lovely cool evening for sleeping.......
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Grand Canyon to Bullhead City, Tuesday.
Nothing too memorable about the drive today, just reminders of what an arid, inhospitable place most of Arizona is.....
We diverted off the highway to call into a town called Seligman, which is on the famous old Route 66. What a hoot - it was full of memorabilia - old 1960s Police Cars, and posters, etc.... A real time warp. Most of the tourists are also old farts like us - the younger generation has no interest in Route 66, and in fact, probably have no idea what anyone is talking about. Actually ran into two groups of men doing the Route - one group of Aussies and another of Kiwis....
We also drove through another town (name not known now!), and it seemed that actually many hundreds of people lived there..... These houses were planted amongst scrub, rocks and red dirt. There did not seem to be ANY possible reason for this town to be there, I couldn't fathom what anyone would do for a living, and in fact it looked like Hell - only worse - death would be slow........
We finally arrived at Bullhead City, temperature about 35 degrees, or more, and you also wonder what on earth this city is doing here. It is in the bottom of a deep valley, through which runs the mighty Colorado River - again sustaining life.
This town is also Indian owned, the Mojave Indians this time, and they own the local Casino (in whose RV park we're staying). No real reason to be here, we're actually en route to Death Valley tomorrow......
We had dinner, courtesy of our tour leader, at the Casino tonight. Another Buffet...... OMG, if I never see another buffet meal again it will be too soon. The food continues to be barely edible, and I'm truly sick to death of bad food......
Cheers...
We diverted off the highway to call into a town called Seligman, which is on the famous old Route 66. What a hoot - it was full of memorabilia - old 1960s Police Cars, and posters, etc.... A real time warp. Most of the tourists are also old farts like us - the younger generation has no interest in Route 66, and in fact, probably have no idea what anyone is talking about. Actually ran into two groups of men doing the Route - one group of Aussies and another of Kiwis....
We also drove through another town (name not known now!), and it seemed that actually many hundreds of people lived there..... These houses were planted amongst scrub, rocks and red dirt. There did not seem to be ANY possible reason for this town to be there, I couldn't fathom what anyone would do for a living, and in fact it looked like Hell - only worse - death would be slow........
We finally arrived at Bullhead City, temperature about 35 degrees, or more, and you also wonder what on earth this city is doing here. It is in the bottom of a deep valley, through which runs the mighty Colorado River - again sustaining life.
This town is also Indian owned, the Mojave Indians this time, and they own the local Casino (in whose RV park we're staying). No real reason to be here, we're actually en route to Death Valley tomorrow......
We had dinner, courtesy of our tour leader, at the Casino tonight. Another Buffet...... OMG, if I never see another buffet meal again it will be too soon. The food continues to be barely edible, and I'm truly sick to death of bad food......
Cheers...
Monument Valley to The Grand Canyon, Arizona, Sunday
More very sad Indian settlements en route today, all looking like each other. Not sure what happens in these "reservations" in regard to entitlement to land, but the houses just seem to be randomly erected in no order, often even with no real roads in to each house, sometimes in loose clusters of three or four, and often a lone house sits with no-one else nearby. They do seem to share the Aboriginals' penchant for collecting wrecked motor vehicles of all shapes and sizes!
Bit cloudy today, but still warm. The weather has been amazing.
Every few miles there is of course another weird church, full gospel happy clappers, or some never-heard-of-before church. The occasional Seventh Day Adventist church appears, but definitely none of the mainstream churches have bothered to put much effort into these communities. Haven't even seen a Mormon church today - must be getting out of their territory too.
Mostly pretty flat, uninteresting country, scrubby growth, with the occasional herd of cattle, a few horses and even, surprisingly, some sheep!!
More roadside stalls selling cheap jewellery.
First canyon we saw was the Little Colorado River canyon - very impressive, but sure the real thing will be more so. This is now very close to the border between Arizona and the south east corner of Nevada.
Once on top of the plateau in the Grand Canyon National Park, the area is heavily wooded, with substantial pine trees (dunno what sort of Pines) but they are no longer the scrubby specimens of past days.
And then..... We'd arrived at the Grand Canyon. Yee haa!!!
Parked the Van and took the shuttle into "town". We did the South Rim Walk this afternoon, which took about four hours. Truly awe inspiring scenery, and although we've all seen photo's, you just cannot believe what you're looking at when you're there!! Dragged ourselves away, and got back to the RV park at about 5.15pm.
Much to our delight and amusement, the park (which is in a National Park) was full of wandering Elk. One huge Male with the most splendid set of antlers, a couple of young bucks who were just establishing themselves, and had a fair way to go, and about 20 females of varying ages and sizes.
The large male spent the entire evening bellowing his weird call at full volume as he wandered around the park - we were not sure whether he was trying to assemble his 'girls', or whether he was warning off other males. But they were there all evening and again in the morning, really just ignoring the humans, and SO close, at one stage, Arthur fed one of them with a handful of tiny acorns he has picked up off the ground. This is apparently their food of choice in the park.. We have photo's.....
To think we spent hours driving here and there in Yellowstone to try to see some Elk, and there they were just outside our door!!! Cool, very cool........
Arch cooked up some spag. bol. for dinner. Bed. Stuffed......
Monday......
Waking up in the National Park, it was amazingly quiet. Very few bird calls, and it was strange when you think how noisy our dawn chorus is in Oz.
Having a late start today, we thought we'd use up the eggs and bacon. Sounded good, but our fridge has been behaving badly, and as Arch cracked 3 of the 4 eggs, he realised that they were frozen. Had never cooked frozen raw eggs before, and they looked a bit funny, but tasted okay!!! We have also periodically been having Pepsi 'Slushies' as the fridge freezes anything liquid. The frozen Pepsi is okay, except you have to slice the top off the can with a can opener to add it to the Rum, but the Budweiser slushies have no redeeming features, and are definitely NOT okay.
We had a 45 minute helicopter flight over the Canyon this morning This was amazing, and we flew right down inside the canyon for minutes at a time, and then hovered in front of a wall, gradually rising, for several minutes, also, and repeated this over different sections of the Canyon. To see the fantastic colours and layers of rocks up so close was brilliant. The amazing Colorado river down below seems so small, but is SUCH an important river in north America.
Poor elderly citizens had a nap this afternoon. Nice......
Drinks and Bar food in a cocktail bar - okay, and no cooking or cleaning up in the Van...
Bit cloudy today, but still warm. The weather has been amazing.
Every few miles there is of course another weird church, full gospel happy clappers, or some never-heard-of-before church. The occasional Seventh Day Adventist church appears, but definitely none of the mainstream churches have bothered to put much effort into these communities. Haven't even seen a Mormon church today - must be getting out of their territory too.
Mostly pretty flat, uninteresting country, scrubby growth, with the occasional herd of cattle, a few horses and even, surprisingly, some sheep!!
More roadside stalls selling cheap jewellery.
First canyon we saw was the Little Colorado River canyon - very impressive, but sure the real thing will be more so. This is now very close to the border between Arizona and the south east corner of Nevada.
Once on top of the plateau in the Grand Canyon National Park, the area is heavily wooded, with substantial pine trees (dunno what sort of Pines) but they are no longer the scrubby specimens of past days.
And then..... We'd arrived at the Grand Canyon. Yee haa!!!
Parked the Van and took the shuttle into "town". We did the South Rim Walk this afternoon, which took about four hours. Truly awe inspiring scenery, and although we've all seen photo's, you just cannot believe what you're looking at when you're there!! Dragged ourselves away, and got back to the RV park at about 5.15pm.
Much to our delight and amusement, the park (which is in a National Park) was full of wandering Elk. One huge Male with the most splendid set of antlers, a couple of young bucks who were just establishing themselves, and had a fair way to go, and about 20 females of varying ages and sizes.
The large male spent the entire evening bellowing his weird call at full volume as he wandered around the park - we were not sure whether he was trying to assemble his 'girls', or whether he was warning off other males. But they were there all evening and again in the morning, really just ignoring the humans, and SO close, at one stage, Arthur fed one of them with a handful of tiny acorns he has picked up off the ground. This is apparently their food of choice in the park.. We have photo's.....
To think we spent hours driving here and there in Yellowstone to try to see some Elk, and there they were just outside our door!!! Cool, very cool........
Arch cooked up some spag. bol. for dinner. Bed. Stuffed......
Monday......
Waking up in the National Park, it was amazingly quiet. Very few bird calls, and it was strange when you think how noisy our dawn chorus is in Oz.
Having a late start today, we thought we'd use up the eggs and bacon. Sounded good, but our fridge has been behaving badly, and as Arch cracked 3 of the 4 eggs, he realised that they were frozen. Had never cooked frozen raw eggs before, and they looked a bit funny, but tasted okay!!! We have also periodically been having Pepsi 'Slushies' as the fridge freezes anything liquid. The frozen Pepsi is okay, except you have to slice the top off the can with a can opener to add it to the Rum, but the Budweiser slushies have no redeeming features, and are definitely NOT okay.
We had a 45 minute helicopter flight over the Canyon this morning This was amazing, and we flew right down inside the canyon for minutes at a time, and then hovered in front of a wall, gradually rising, for several minutes, also, and repeated this over different sections of the Canyon. To see the fantastic colours and layers of rocks up so close was brilliant. The amazing Colorado river down below seems so small, but is SUCH an important river in north America.
Poor elderly citizens had a nap this afternoon. Nice......
Drinks and Bar food in a cocktail bar - okay, and no cooking or cleaning up in the Van...
Moab to Monument Valley, Saturday
Driving out of Moab this morning, we saw a sign at a Chinese eatery: "Chinese Food - $`1.75 a scoop". The mind boggled... Can't imagine a restaurant in Oz getting much of a response to a sign like that!!
Drove alongside the red mountains for about half an hour, and then this gave way to mostly flat plains again. Now many small, very worn down hills which have actually been colonised by the native plants, so may be preserved from much further erosion any time soon. Odd huge chunks of rock scattered about.
In Southern Utah we drove through a small town, advertising a Farmer's Market. Yay..... Pulled up, and jumped out of the van, purse in hand. THREE "farmers" had turned up. Did buy a nice Banana Loaf though, but an entire busload of Asians had arrived as well, and obviously didn't spend up big either.
Many small Indian communities exist along the countryside, many abandoned, vandalized, boarded-up houses in evidence. Looked startlingly like some of our Aboriginal communities up north. The occupied houses just sat forlornly in red dirt, NO grass, trees, or shrubs - just dust. Very sad.
The distant mountains became Monument Valley in a flash. Again mile after mile of stunning red mountains, against a perfect blue sky.
Set up the RVs. This is ALL Navajo Indian owned country now - EVERY building, business, accommodation house, camping ground, tourist guide, advertising hording, or retail outlet is Indian owned.
We went on an almost 4 hour guided tour in an open truck, with an Indian guide. Thankfully pretty good suspension, because most of the roads (tracks) were seriously bad.... The views were stunning again, and it was all the stuff we've all seen in Western movies over the years. Amazing.... Came home caked in thick red dust, just as we did when we went off in a dune-buggy in Alice Springs.
There were non-stop tours going all day in Monument Valley, literally hundreds of visitors, all paying a minimum of $50 per head. Not to mention all the people staying in two resorts - one very flash, and one more average. Cannot imagine how much money the Navajos get in their coffers each week, pretty much 52 weeks per year, and cannot imagine what they do with it!!!! Still hundreds living in apparent poverty sadly, and you cannot go more than 10kms along the road, without coming across road-side stalls selling "Indian Jewellery" and rugs. Looked a few times, but it's all very cheap and nasty, so did not part with any money!!!
Too late to eat, and far too tired. Toasted cheese sandwich!!!!
Drove alongside the red mountains for about half an hour, and then this gave way to mostly flat plains again. Now many small, very worn down hills which have actually been colonised by the native plants, so may be preserved from much further erosion any time soon. Odd huge chunks of rock scattered about.
In Southern Utah we drove through a small town, advertising a Farmer's Market. Yay..... Pulled up, and jumped out of the van, purse in hand. THREE "farmers" had turned up. Did buy a nice Banana Loaf though, but an entire busload of Asians had arrived as well, and obviously didn't spend up big either.
Many small Indian communities exist along the countryside, many abandoned, vandalized, boarded-up houses in evidence. Looked startlingly like some of our Aboriginal communities up north. The occupied houses just sat forlornly in red dirt, NO grass, trees, or shrubs - just dust. Very sad.
The distant mountains became Monument Valley in a flash. Again mile after mile of stunning red mountains, against a perfect blue sky.
Set up the RVs. This is ALL Navajo Indian owned country now - EVERY building, business, accommodation house, camping ground, tourist guide, advertising hording, or retail outlet is Indian owned.
We went on an almost 4 hour guided tour in an open truck, with an Indian guide. Thankfully pretty good suspension, because most of the roads (tracks) were seriously bad.... The views were stunning again, and it was all the stuff we've all seen in Western movies over the years. Amazing.... Came home caked in thick red dust, just as we did when we went off in a dune-buggy in Alice Springs.
There were non-stop tours going all day in Monument Valley, literally hundreds of visitors, all paying a minimum of $50 per head. Not to mention all the people staying in two resorts - one very flash, and one more average. Cannot imagine how much money the Navajos get in their coffers each week, pretty much 52 weeks per year, and cannot imagine what they do with it!!!! Still hundreds living in apparent poverty sadly, and you cannot go more than 10kms along the road, without coming across road-side stalls selling "Indian Jewellery" and rugs. Looked a few times, but it's all very cheap and nasty, so did not part with any money!!!
Too late to eat, and far too tired. Toasted cheese sandwich!!!!
Friday, September 21, 2012
Arches National Park, Utah. 20th September.
Got up at 6.15, and on the road by 7am,. intent on getting out to the spectacular Arches National Park as close to Dawn as possible, to get the best photo's.
Brilliant. Got some super shots, and were certainly there before the crowds arrived.
We were back in camp by about 1pm, having had breakfast somewhere out on the road. Lovely day....
Caught up on a bit of lost sleep, and spent the afternoon doing not much!!! Nice.....
Wandered out late afternoon to see what we could see.. Ended up in a small local Brewery, which also served meals. Had a few beers/wines, and dinner. VERY average meals and everything else, which cost us about $100..... Definitely not value for money!!!
Dinner at camp is the way to go we think!
Another early start tomorrow, Friday, this time off to Canyonlands National Park.......
Brilliant. Got some super shots, and were certainly there before the crowds arrived.
We were back in camp by about 1pm, having had breakfast somewhere out on the road. Lovely day....
Caught up on a bit of lost sleep, and spent the afternoon doing not much!!! Nice.....
Wandered out late afternoon to see what we could see.. Ended up in a small local Brewery, which also served meals. Had a few beers/wines, and dinner. VERY average meals and everything else, which cost us about $100..... Definitely not value for money!!!
Dinner at camp is the way to go we think!
Another early start tomorrow, Friday, this time off to Canyonlands National Park.......
Salt Lake City to Moab.. 19th September.
Salt Lake City, what to say, it really has no redeeming features as far as I'm concerned....
We were taken to an amazing, enormous (biggest in the world I believe) Copper Mine just outside of town. Truly an astonishing 'thing'. Closed for two years in the 1980s, but re-opened within 2 years. bigger and better than ever. Still mining amazing quantities of Copper, and has embarked on major land rejuvenation projects, which are awesome!!
We also went to see the famous 'Salt Lake' of the city's name. A singularly ugly creation, had to drive through miles of unloved industrial wasteland to even get there, and once there, you wonder why you bothered.... It's so salty, nothing lives in it, with the exception of some invisible tiny crustaceans!!! A few desperate seagulls hang around, but who knows what they do that for!!
Salt Lake City sits in a huge "dish", surrounded on three sides by mountains, mostly appearing as ghostly apparitions at this stage, due to the thick smoke haze engulfing Utah and surrounding states.
Arthur insisted that Athol (our hapless guide) take us through the centre of town to see the Mormon edifices - yay!!!!! His punishment was to get totally lost on the way back to our camp, and the entire journey took us twice as long as it should have!!!
We left SLC in what turned out to be the rush hour. OMG, driving on the freeway was like being in the Grand Prix.. We assumed that they all drive like lunatics because they "know" the big bloke upstairs was keeping them safe. It was terrifying!!! Four lanes of traffic in each direction, hurtling along at 65mph (not sure what that is in kms), bumper-to-bumper.... zig-zagging in and out of lanes, at 8.45am. Where are they all going???? Surely they're late for work!!!!!
We noted that there are so many Mormon churches in this town (white spires poking above the roofs), that it is probable that nobody needs to take more than 5-10 minutes, ever, to get to Church!!!!!
Once we had left the outer suburbs of SLC, we found ourselves driving through a magical valley, covered in trees full of Autumn foliage. Absolutely gorgeous. Beautiful sunny day too, smoke from bushfires seems to be thinning.
We drove through Price Canyon, actually have been in Canyons all the way so far, and there are still mountains in every direction. Sometimes we are driving way above the canyon floor, and at other times, we are driving on the floor, beside a stream at the bottom.
We found ourselves in a very small town, in the middle of nowhere, and there was an ENORMOUS Mormon Church, stunningly maintained and presented.... About 1km down the road, there was a sad little Baptist Church, - nice(!) - actually, in an old garage..... Pathetic.....
This valley suddenly turned into an expansive desert. god awful country, dry as a bone, no human habitation for miles, and even the ubiquitous Sagebrush was absent. Huge bare rock mountains to one side, moonscape the other, for miles and miles. There were fences and cattle yards!!!! OMIGOD... Why??? Surely no animal could live out here!!!
Then..... A nice river appeared, and with it a small town, green trees, and green paddocks, nice.... Then, as quickly as that appeared, it ended, and we went back to the lunar landscape.... Damned weird country!!
Finally arrived in Moab. Nice, modern town, and obviously catering to tourists. Set up our RV, and had a drink or two in the cool of the evening...
A
We were taken to an amazing, enormous (biggest in the world I believe) Copper Mine just outside of town. Truly an astonishing 'thing'. Closed for two years in the 1980s, but re-opened within 2 years. bigger and better than ever. Still mining amazing quantities of Copper, and has embarked on major land rejuvenation projects, which are awesome!!
We also went to see the famous 'Salt Lake' of the city's name. A singularly ugly creation, had to drive through miles of unloved industrial wasteland to even get there, and once there, you wonder why you bothered.... It's so salty, nothing lives in it, with the exception of some invisible tiny crustaceans!!! A few desperate seagulls hang around, but who knows what they do that for!!
Salt Lake City sits in a huge "dish", surrounded on three sides by mountains, mostly appearing as ghostly apparitions at this stage, due to the thick smoke haze engulfing Utah and surrounding states.
Arthur insisted that Athol (our hapless guide) take us through the centre of town to see the Mormon edifices - yay!!!!! His punishment was to get totally lost on the way back to our camp, and the entire journey took us twice as long as it should have!!!
We left SLC in what turned out to be the rush hour. OMG, driving on the freeway was like being in the Grand Prix.. We assumed that they all drive like lunatics because they "know" the big bloke upstairs was keeping them safe. It was terrifying!!! Four lanes of traffic in each direction, hurtling along at 65mph (not sure what that is in kms), bumper-to-bumper.... zig-zagging in and out of lanes, at 8.45am. Where are they all going???? Surely they're late for work!!!!!
We noted that there are so many Mormon churches in this town (white spires poking above the roofs), that it is probable that nobody needs to take more than 5-10 minutes, ever, to get to Church!!!!!
Once we had left the outer suburbs of SLC, we found ourselves driving through a magical valley, covered in trees full of Autumn foliage. Absolutely gorgeous. Beautiful sunny day too, smoke from bushfires seems to be thinning.
We drove through Price Canyon, actually have been in Canyons all the way so far, and there are still mountains in every direction. Sometimes we are driving way above the canyon floor, and at other times, we are driving on the floor, beside a stream at the bottom.
We found ourselves in a very small town, in the middle of nowhere, and there was an ENORMOUS Mormon Church, stunningly maintained and presented.... About 1km down the road, there was a sad little Baptist Church, - nice(!) - actually, in an old garage..... Pathetic.....
This valley suddenly turned into an expansive desert. god awful country, dry as a bone, no human habitation for miles, and even the ubiquitous Sagebrush was absent. Huge bare rock mountains to one side, moonscape the other, for miles and miles. There were fences and cattle yards!!!! OMIGOD... Why??? Surely no animal could live out here!!!
Then..... A nice river appeared, and with it a small town, green trees, and green paddocks, nice.... Then, as quickly as that appeared, it ended, and we went back to the lunar landscape.... Damned weird country!!
Finally arrived in Moab. Nice, modern town, and obviously catering to tourists. Set up our RV, and had a drink or two in the cool of the evening...
A
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Yellowstone to Salt Lake City, 17th September
Another freezing night - left the heating on - nice!!!
Left Yellowstone at 7.15am - drove through pea soup fog for about 20kms. Once we had left the National Park, the trees improved enormously, and there were many stunning patches of Autumn foliage to be seen along the way. Still in mountains for a while, but finally emerged into a beautiful Valley in Idaho, which certainly looks like great farming country. Still many large bales of grass hay awaiting collection, but many crops already in and being irrigated by enormous rows of moveable overhead sprinklers. No water shortage here!!!
Still hundreds of acres of country seemingly left to the ravages of the ubiquitous Sagebrush, which would seem to be no good for either man or beast. Go figure!!!
Many gorgeous fat, happy, red and black Angus doing their job - eating. Not sure what they do with the cattle in Winter, whether they stable them, or put woolly boots on them!!! Have asked a couple of the obviously "wrong" people, and haven't had an answer to that question!
It has struck us as amazing, that travelling in this situation - self-contained in our RV, you really have very little to do with the 'natives'. Almost the only people you have contact with are check-out chicks, wait staff, National Park check-in staff (there are gates at ALL entrances and exits to National Parks, where you must show your pre-purchased admission card, AND photo ID), and RV Park check-in staff. Probably just as well, as whenever I open my mouth, there are a few seconds of puzzled looks on the face of the addressee, and then they attempt to decipher what I'm saying!!! All too hard!!!
We have learned to say Arrrrrthurrr - that seems to work!
Pretty much the whole drive to Salt Lake City was through beautiful towns and farming communities. All good, prosperous Mormons obviously, as there are always Mormon Churches in even small villages, and often too, gleaming "Citadels", or whatever they call them, right next door, for the VERY good folk I'm told!
We've noticed another very odd thing........
Since we left Las Vegas, with the exception of one black family in Zion National Park, there have been literally NO black people on our travels. Dozens of Chinese, Japanese, Mexicans, Indians, and of course hundreds of Germans and other Europeans, but no blacks... What the???????
We insisted to our guide that we have absolutely no desire to go into town and look at the monstrous Mormon edifice, or hear the 'famous' choir sing hymns.... So, today, we have the morning off - brilliant..... It really does get to be exhausting sitting in the van for 6 or 7 hours as we did yesterday, don't know how Arch is doing it...
Left Yellowstone at 7.15am - drove through pea soup fog for about 20kms. Once we had left the National Park, the trees improved enormously, and there were many stunning patches of Autumn foliage to be seen along the way. Still in mountains for a while, but finally emerged into a beautiful Valley in Idaho, which certainly looks like great farming country. Still many large bales of grass hay awaiting collection, but many crops already in and being irrigated by enormous rows of moveable overhead sprinklers. No water shortage here!!!
Still hundreds of acres of country seemingly left to the ravages of the ubiquitous Sagebrush, which would seem to be no good for either man or beast. Go figure!!!
Many gorgeous fat, happy, red and black Angus doing their job - eating. Not sure what they do with the cattle in Winter, whether they stable them, or put woolly boots on them!!! Have asked a couple of the obviously "wrong" people, and haven't had an answer to that question!
It has struck us as amazing, that travelling in this situation - self-contained in our RV, you really have very little to do with the 'natives'. Almost the only people you have contact with are check-out chicks, wait staff, National Park check-in staff (there are gates at ALL entrances and exits to National Parks, where you must show your pre-purchased admission card, AND photo ID), and RV Park check-in staff. Probably just as well, as whenever I open my mouth, there are a few seconds of puzzled looks on the face of the addressee, and then they attempt to decipher what I'm saying!!! All too hard!!!
We have learned to say Arrrrrthurrr - that seems to work!
Pretty much the whole drive to Salt Lake City was through beautiful towns and farming communities. All good, prosperous Mormons obviously, as there are always Mormon Churches in even small villages, and often too, gleaming "Citadels", or whatever they call them, right next door, for the VERY good folk I'm told!
We've noticed another very odd thing........
Since we left Las Vegas, with the exception of one black family in Zion National Park, there have been literally NO black people on our travels. Dozens of Chinese, Japanese, Mexicans, Indians, and of course hundreds of Germans and other Europeans, but no blacks... What the???????
We insisted to our guide that we have absolutely no desire to go into town and look at the monstrous Mormon edifice, or hear the 'famous' choir sing hymns.... So, today, we have the morning off - brilliant..... It really does get to be exhausting sitting in the van for 6 or 7 hours as we did yesterday, don't know how Arch is doing it...
Jackson to Yellowstone 15th & 16th September
Very cold overnight - zero!!!! Bright sunny morning, and the smoke seems to have cleared.
Lots of roadworks wherever we've been, sometimes with delays of up to 10 minutes, there's certainly something to be said for having both a dunny and a cold drink on board during these long waits!!
We shopped before we left Jackson, which incidentally is a VERY cute town, and busy all during the year, as a major skiing resort during Winter. Lots of money here, and definitely NO Walmart... However, there is an absolutely brilliant Supermarket - Albertson's - which actually leaves Leo's for dead (that's for the Melbournians).
Had to drive back through the Tetons today and very smokey again - there are fires all over the place apparently. Mountains still obscured by the smoke unfortunately.
Arrived in Yellowstone for a late lunch, and after setting up the RV, we headed off to see what there was to see..
Actually, the trees are rather boring, and seem to almost totally consist of the Lodgepole Pine, which was obviously named for it's perfection for construction log cabins. The lateral branches all fall off as the tree matures, without any scars, so what's left is a dead straight tall pole, of uniform diameter - perfect!!! There was a disastrous wild fire in 1988 which wiped out tens of thousands of acres of trees, but the forest is regenerating nicely. Thousands of smallish trees of near identical height would suggest to me that there had been a bit of aerial seeding post-fire, but have not had that confirmed.
During our day and a half driving around Yellowstone we did see several herds of Bison, a large herd of Elk - which were standing in a small creek, nicely posing for photographs!! Also saw some big-horned sheep, three wolves (separately) - and no photo's to prove we saw them. No Bears (despite there being many warning notices about), and of course no Moose!
We also saw the famous "Old Faithful" do his thing, and spurt boiling water and steam from his belly.
This area of the park is really a full-on steaming cauldron - there are heaps of boiling mud pools, some colourful smallish pools of boiling water, and little hills of coloured run-off.
Some of this boiling water runs off into a nearby river, and somewhere downstream, lots of folk take advantage of the lovely warm water for a swim.
We also the Yellowstone Grand Canyon, pretty impressive, and a great waterfall. Nice walk along the rim.
Also visited Yellowstone Lake - which is North America's highest altitude lake, and which is crystal clear water. Shoreline of about 141 miles - haven't converted that to kms....
On our way home, last half hour in Yellowstone, we're pretty sure we saw a female Moose - not close enough to confirm it as such, but we're so desperate, we're prepared to claim it as a sighting!!!
Exhausted.... Dug around in the fridge and found enough goodies to make a delicious omelette.
Had a message from Libby, she's in big trouble... Has developed a tumour behind her left eye, and this is giving her much grief. I hate to be so far from home at this time.
Lots of roadworks wherever we've been, sometimes with delays of up to 10 minutes, there's certainly something to be said for having both a dunny and a cold drink on board during these long waits!!
We shopped before we left Jackson, which incidentally is a VERY cute town, and busy all during the year, as a major skiing resort during Winter. Lots of money here, and definitely NO Walmart... However, there is an absolutely brilliant Supermarket - Albertson's - which actually leaves Leo's for dead (that's for the Melbournians).
Had to drive back through the Tetons today and very smokey again - there are fires all over the place apparently. Mountains still obscured by the smoke unfortunately.
Arrived in Yellowstone for a late lunch, and after setting up the RV, we headed off to see what there was to see..
Actually, the trees are rather boring, and seem to almost totally consist of the Lodgepole Pine, which was obviously named for it's perfection for construction log cabins. The lateral branches all fall off as the tree matures, without any scars, so what's left is a dead straight tall pole, of uniform diameter - perfect!!! There was a disastrous wild fire in 1988 which wiped out tens of thousands of acres of trees, but the forest is regenerating nicely. Thousands of smallish trees of near identical height would suggest to me that there had been a bit of aerial seeding post-fire, but have not had that confirmed.
During our day and a half driving around Yellowstone we did see several herds of Bison, a large herd of Elk - which were standing in a small creek, nicely posing for photographs!! Also saw some big-horned sheep, three wolves (separately) - and no photo's to prove we saw them. No Bears (despite there being many warning notices about), and of course no Moose!
We also saw the famous "Old Faithful" do his thing, and spurt boiling water and steam from his belly.
This area of the park is really a full-on steaming cauldron - there are heaps of boiling mud pools, some colourful smallish pools of boiling water, and little hills of coloured run-off.
Some of this boiling water runs off into a nearby river, and somewhere downstream, lots of folk take advantage of the lovely warm water for a swim.
We also the Yellowstone Grand Canyon, pretty impressive, and a great waterfall. Nice walk along the rim.
Also visited Yellowstone Lake - which is North America's highest altitude lake, and which is crystal clear water. Shoreline of about 141 miles - haven't converted that to kms....
On our way home, last half hour in Yellowstone, we're pretty sure we saw a female Moose - not close enough to confirm it as such, but we're so desperate, we're prepared to claim it as a sighting!!!
Exhausted.... Dug around in the fridge and found enough goodies to make a delicious omelette.
Had a message from Libby, she's in big trouble... Has developed a tumour behind her left eye, and this is giving her much grief. I hate to be so far from home at this time.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Jackson, Wyoming, 14th September, 2012
Drove into the Grand Teton National Park today.
Smoke very thick, and visibility was still very poor. Couldn't even see the very tall mountains in the Park.
Parked the van and did a couple of short walks, to the shore of a lovely lake, and drove through the countryside in this park. Smoke did clear a bit, and we could see the mountains, but whilst they are impressive, nothing can compare with Bryce Canyon at this stage.
Athol left Arthur and I to our own devices, with the plan that we would take a boat road across to the other side of the lake, and do a couple of walks, however, it seems, the 'season' finished a week ago(!), so no boats today!!! The smoke had cleared a bit, and it was a lovely sunny day, dozens of people around, and not a lot to do!!!
After sitting watching not much, we drove back into town, found a wonderful supermarket, and stocked up on goodies.
Had a couple of drinks with Athol and Diane, and Arch whipped up some spaghetti bolognaise, with meat balls. Very good.
Off to Yellowstone tomorrow, and that promises to be spectacular!!!!
Cheers, night all!!!!
Smoke very thick, and visibility was still very poor. Couldn't even see the very tall mountains in the Park.
Parked the van and did a couple of short walks, to the shore of a lovely lake, and drove through the countryside in this park. Smoke did clear a bit, and we could see the mountains, but whilst they are impressive, nothing can compare with Bryce Canyon at this stage.
Athol left Arthur and I to our own devices, with the plan that we would take a boat road across to the other side of the lake, and do a couple of walks, however, it seems, the 'season' finished a week ago(!), so no boats today!!! The smoke had cleared a bit, and it was a lovely sunny day, dozens of people around, and not a lot to do!!!
After sitting watching not much, we drove back into town, found a wonderful supermarket, and stocked up on goodies.
Had a couple of drinks with Athol and Diane, and Arch whipped up some spaghetti bolognaise, with meat balls. Very good.
Off to Yellowstone tomorrow, and that promises to be spectacular!!!!
Cheers, night all!!!!
Evanston to Jackson, Wyoming. 13th September.
It was freezing cold overnight, and Arthur was up scrounging extra blankets to stop us shivering. Finally put the heating on at about 6am - silly us - it's free......
Beautiful sunny morning. This is a drive through small town America.
Trailer parks and homes are very popular in Evanston, it's obviously not a prosperous town, and some look as though they have been home for years.
Almost none of the houses, either on farms or in the small towns, have trees in their yards. Very odd..
Lots of fat Angus cattle grazing here again too.
Today we head pretty much due North and crossed several state lines. After leaving Wyoming we crossed back into Utah, then back to Wyoming, over to Idaho and finished up back in Wyoming!!
Town of Woodruff - in an expansive wide valley, but looked like very marginal farming country, not a lot of Sagebrush has been cleared. Why????? who knows?????
Just down the road, serious clearing of this junk flora has produced some brilliant cattle grazing country. Still very small towns, and very large Mormon churches!!!
With the help of one of the staff, I have mastered the art of extracting coffee from a wall of "machines" in a service station-cum village today. Reckon I've got it sorted now. Have learned never to ask for "white coffee" although the totally blank stares in response are vaguely amusing - once or twice anyway!
Moved on to a valley called Star Valley, which is a magnificent, very productive valley. Higher than average rainfall and fertile soil paying dividends obviously. Gorgeous fat Angus cattle (almost always Angus) and this time some sheep also - yay!!! Still cutting and gathering grass hay too. This is a really lovely place, and there's a stream meandering around the paddocks beside the road, which is blocked up here and there by very impressive Beaver dam walls!!! Again Autumn foliage in full swing up on these hills too, gorgeous.
Drove into the smoke from a large "wild fire" as they're called here - saw a couple of helicopters filling up and flying off to drop their water on the fire. It was very smokey, and the visibility was poor, but there was no wind, so we were not diverted from our route into town. There didn't seem to be any danger to Jackson.
Athol, our tour leader, took us into town on the Shuttle Bus to have a look around - very prosperous town, as it's busy 12 months of the year. Now in Summer and Autumn for hiking and camping, and it's a favourite skiing resort in Winter as well, so prices in shops are amazing.....
Set up camp, wandered up to the "Restaurant" on the premises, and had another god-awful meal. Couldn't even get a drink!!!!
Bed..... Cheers,
Beautiful sunny morning. This is a drive through small town America.
Trailer parks and homes are very popular in Evanston, it's obviously not a prosperous town, and some look as though they have been home for years.
Almost none of the houses, either on farms or in the small towns, have trees in their yards. Very odd..
Lots of fat Angus cattle grazing here again too.
Today we head pretty much due North and crossed several state lines. After leaving Wyoming we crossed back into Utah, then back to Wyoming, over to Idaho and finished up back in Wyoming!!
Town of Woodruff - in an expansive wide valley, but looked like very marginal farming country, not a lot of Sagebrush has been cleared. Why????? who knows?????
Just down the road, serious clearing of this junk flora has produced some brilliant cattle grazing country. Still very small towns, and very large Mormon churches!!!
With the help of one of the staff, I have mastered the art of extracting coffee from a wall of "machines" in a service station-cum village today. Reckon I've got it sorted now. Have learned never to ask for "white coffee" although the totally blank stares in response are vaguely amusing - once or twice anyway!
Moved on to a valley called Star Valley, which is a magnificent, very productive valley. Higher than average rainfall and fertile soil paying dividends obviously. Gorgeous fat Angus cattle (almost always Angus) and this time some sheep also - yay!!! Still cutting and gathering grass hay too. This is a really lovely place, and there's a stream meandering around the paddocks beside the road, which is blocked up here and there by very impressive Beaver dam walls!!! Again Autumn foliage in full swing up on these hills too, gorgeous.
Drove into the smoke from a large "wild fire" as they're called here - saw a couple of helicopters filling up and flying off to drop their water on the fire. It was very smokey, and the visibility was poor, but there was no wind, so we were not diverted from our route into town. There didn't seem to be any danger to Jackson.
Athol, our tour leader, took us into town on the Shuttle Bus to have a look around - very prosperous town, as it's busy 12 months of the year. Now in Summer and Autumn for hiking and camping, and it's a favourite skiing resort in Winter as well, so prices in shops are amazing.....
Set up camp, wandered up to the "Restaurant" on the premises, and had another god-awful meal. Couldn't even get a drink!!!!
Bed..... Cheers,
Bryce Canyon to Evanston, Wyoming. 12th October
Miles and miles of lowish hills (by comparison) - high mountains gone for the time being.... Expansive valleys between these hills, and much irrigation going on at present. Trying to get something to grow before the cold sets in.
Some of the grain crops have not yet been harvested - don't know why... Lots of fat cattle grazing intently - not sure if they go to market by the time Winter comes, or if they're stabled. Haven't asked the right people yet! Not a sheep in sight at the moment.
The mountains in the distance seem lilac in colour, and the colour deepens to blue as you get closer! The, right up close, they are in fact yellow, dry and parched!!!
A surprising amount of the country is covered in what looks like our Saltbush, and is in fact Sagebrush, same thing methinks. Seems to lay waste to the land, but when cleared, produces very satisfactory grazing, cropping land...
Not a lot of money along this neck o' the woods it seems, lots of sad little houses perched here and there, and there's land advertised at $200 per acre. Thanks, but no thanks...
Accommodation is advertised at $32 per night, including Wifi. Thanks, but I'll pass on that too.
One large billboard along the freeway advertised a Gun Show, and proudly declared that there were free giveaways of guns and ammunition!!! Will they never learn; and this is deep in Mormon country - guess they're just as gun happy as the average Joe... Speaking of Joe......
Almost next door to the above Billboard, was one advertising a Helpline for Polygamists..... And next door to that was one for Dirty Joe's Adult Novelties and Gifts...... god, I love this country!!!
We bypassed Salt Lake City on this trip, but there are many new towns, all looking rather prosperous, lots of new, large, houses, beautiful tree-lined streets, and of course, enormous Mormon Churches! For the first time, we did see a church of another denomination - small of course!!
Soon approached another amazing mountain range (they seem to be never-ending), and drove through a beautiful valley - deciduous trees are putting on their many-hued autumn finery and look spectacular.
Lots of road works, and this makes driving pretty challenging for Arthur - he did brilliantly however.
Getting close to Evanston is another lovely red rock valley - it seems to us that most of Utah consists of red rock. These are substantially more worn down that Bryce Canyon though, probably by a few million years.
It's amazing to think that it took several hundred million years to compact this red desert sand into sandstone, and it's all going back to sand again!!
You know when you're driving through Indian owned country - the ugly hoardings are thick on the roadside - they're not subject to the same regulations that white fellas are, so they can change what they like, and advertise whatever!!! Fireworks are big around here, and there are many stores on Indian land, selling these.
Stocked up at Walmart again - don't you just love Walmart!!!
Arrived at Evanston about 4.15pm. Staying for one night only - it's a pit stop - there's nothing here!!!
Some of the grain crops have not yet been harvested - don't know why... Lots of fat cattle grazing intently - not sure if they go to market by the time Winter comes, or if they're stabled. Haven't asked the right people yet! Not a sheep in sight at the moment.
The mountains in the distance seem lilac in colour, and the colour deepens to blue as you get closer! The, right up close, they are in fact yellow, dry and parched!!!
A surprising amount of the country is covered in what looks like our Saltbush, and is in fact Sagebrush, same thing methinks. Seems to lay waste to the land, but when cleared, produces very satisfactory grazing, cropping land...
Not a lot of money along this neck o' the woods it seems, lots of sad little houses perched here and there, and there's land advertised at $200 per acre. Thanks, but no thanks...
Accommodation is advertised at $32 per night, including Wifi. Thanks, but I'll pass on that too.
One large billboard along the freeway advertised a Gun Show, and proudly declared that there were free giveaways of guns and ammunition!!! Will they never learn; and this is deep in Mormon country - guess they're just as gun happy as the average Joe... Speaking of Joe......
Almost next door to the above Billboard, was one advertising a Helpline for Polygamists..... And next door to that was one for Dirty Joe's Adult Novelties and Gifts...... god, I love this country!!!
We bypassed Salt Lake City on this trip, but there are many new towns, all looking rather prosperous, lots of new, large, houses, beautiful tree-lined streets, and of course, enormous Mormon Churches! For the first time, we did see a church of another denomination - small of course!!
Soon approached another amazing mountain range (they seem to be never-ending), and drove through a beautiful valley - deciduous trees are putting on their many-hued autumn finery and look spectacular.
Lots of road works, and this makes driving pretty challenging for Arthur - he did brilliantly however.
Getting close to Evanston is another lovely red rock valley - it seems to us that most of Utah consists of red rock. These are substantially more worn down that Bryce Canyon though, probably by a few million years.
It's amazing to think that it took several hundred million years to compact this red desert sand into sandstone, and it's all going back to sand again!!
You know when you're driving through Indian owned country - the ugly hoardings are thick on the roadside - they're not subject to the same regulations that white fellas are, so they can change what they like, and advertise whatever!!! Fireworks are big around here, and there are many stores on Indian land, selling these.
Stocked up at Walmart again - don't you just love Walmart!!!
Arrived at Evanston about 4.15pm. Staying for one night only - it's a pit stop - there's nothing here!!!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon, 2012
Zion National Park
Four-l
egged beastie
View from Weeping Rock Trail
Tried to caption these photo's but it seems to be beyond me to do it properly.Scenery is truly spectacular anyway
11th September, Bryce Canyon.
On the way to Zion Canyon from Las Vegas, we wandered up to the north-east corner of Nevada, crossed briefly into Arizona, and then entered the state of Utah.
Everywhere you go, in tiny country towns, or larger centres, you are reminded that you are in Mormon country. A tiny village with half a dozen houses, will have a Mormon Church!!
Via a town called Springdale, we entered the Zion National Park. Set up our vans, got everything hooked up, and realised why we felt absolutely knackered. It was about 36 degrees C...
The views from the back and front of our vans were truly spectacular - we were in a narrow valley, literally at the foot of two mountains, and beside a small river.
We had an orientation drive (in a park provided bus) around the park in the afternoon, and decided what we would do more extensively the next day. Too many choices... So, rather than make a decision in haste, we sat outside for a couple of hours and had a few drinks, gazed up at the cliffs, marvelling at our situation.
Set off on the Park Shuttle bus quite early the next morning, and bussed it to the "Narrows" - the place where the only way you can progress further along the valley is by walking IN the river!! It was very pleasant, and nicely busy, not crowded. This shuttle is a hop on hop off bus, and comes and goes all day, about 20 minutes apart, so it's fantastically convenient.
Caught the shuttle again and came back another couple of stops, and did a lovely walk along the river again - not difficult at all, and once again we were seemingly in a "cathedral"...
Next came a slightly harder challenge - actually got sucked in to doing a shocker of a walk.... Up hill god knows how many metres, over rocks, boulders and sand.... Ended up walking for about 2 hours, mostly up hill, to what was reputedly a stunning walk to the Emerald Pools (shallow pools of water collecting from spring water run-off). By the time we got back to the bottom, we were nearly catatonic - it was again about 36 degrees. Fell into a lunch place and were delivered the most hideous 'meal' ever eaten. A 'chicken salad sandwich' was a ghastly mixture of mayonnaise, something slightly more solid, a couple of small dots of something green (onion?) and something else (possibly shredded meat), served on a wheat biscuit - which was of course soggy, because it had been made hours before. The 'salad' was a lettuce leaf on the plate beside this concoction, one slice of tomato, and 3 slices of gherkin. What a reward for a hard morning's work!! We shared this one thankfully, and had not ordered one each!!
Arthur was proudly wearing his North Melbourne hat, and as we were stretched out under the shade of a tree, a fat, balding, heavily tattood fella, along with his similarly adorned partner, came to sit near us. He was wearing a sleeveless "Collingwood Magpies" jumper!! Arch and I looked at each other, and marvelled at how perfect he was for a Collingwood supporter. Couldn't resist the temptation to talk to him, only to discover he was a Pom, had lived in Brisbane for a few years, and his Aussie mate had given him the jumper. He was actually a very nice bloke!!!
Had a few drinks outside, with our hosts, Athol and Diane, and put together some Spag. Bol for dinner. Fell into bed..... Slept like the dead!!
So far, the National Parks have been stunningly maintained, all the bathrooms are clean and functioning, and there is NEVER any rubbish around - not in the camp grounds either.
Had to get up early the next morning, on the move again - this time moving on to Bryce Canyon.
Drove miles through a lovely little (seemingly) fertile valley, lots of good pasture and happy animals. Obviously a series of little Mormon settlements along this valley; not much money around here though, but there are dozens of wrecked vehicles of all descriptions gathering in people's yards. Maybe junk value???
Suddenly we must be in porcelain doll land - at least 10 houses/shops offering either finished dolls, or dolls made to order, one even offering lessons!!! Shame we didn't have time to take up that offer.
Drove several miles through this lovely wide valley, beside gorgeous Pink Mountains, and paddocks of farmed Bison - none wild anywhere any more methinks.
Very suddenly we enter a narrow Canyon, full of stunning red sandstone, wind sculpted peaks - this is of course Red Canyon!! This goes on for miles, and then just as suddenly as it began, the Canyon ends, the peaks have gone, and all you have is long worn down, red gravel hills. Amazing. Then low hills covered in vegetation and back to a very wide valley, and a village with many motels and cafes.
The Mountains of Bryce Canyon loom large........
Just put $150 worth of petrol in van, and that's only about 3/4 of a tank!!
We set up the van again, and took the park shuttle into Bryce Canyon. Omigod... It is once again truly stunning, but VERY different from Zion. This time you are up above the peaks looking down on more of the most amazing sculpted peaks - called Hoodoos. These "things" are life-like creations out of a long-forgotten fairy tale - in fact the original Indian inhabitants thought they were so life-like that they were the spirits of their dead ancestors, returned. The vision is too stunning to take in....
Again the colours are red, pink, browns, shades of white and dark grey. Indescribable.
We planned to again seek out several walks to do today (Tuesday), and perhaps bravely, even venture down to ground level.
Cooked some yummy hamburgers for dinner, and then sat at the table, and watched the final set and a half of the US Open Tennis, live on the little computer. That was good.
Tuesday - woke to rain, and COLD. We had arranged a 3 hour bus tour of the harder-to-get-to parts of the canyon this morning, followed by a picnic lunch, and some walks. We did go on the bus tour, but that proved to be a waste of time - absolutely poured all the time, and we were mostly up IN the clouds, so there were NO views. However, the bus stopped at the prescribed viewing points, and most of the people put on their rain gear, and trudged off to look; came back on board, took off their rain gear, and sat down. This was repeated for nearly 3 hours..... I didn't even bother getting off the bus - reckoned we had seen much better yesterday, and with several more stunning National Parks to visit, didn't see the point!!! Anyway, it poured all day, stopping about 3pm, so there were no more walks today. So, we had a quiet time, Arch had a snooze, and I caught up on photo's and Blog.
Sorry if this is boring.....
Cheers,
A&A
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Las Vegas - onwards!!!!! 9th September, 2012
Saturday morning, and we're about to head off on our grand adventure....
Hanging around what can only be described as an enormous "neighbourhood" casino has been very eye-opening to say the least.
There are so many people who are struggling around with such impaired mobility, on a variety of "wheels" that I cannot believe how dull their lives must be - to persist in hanging about the slot machines. Truly, they wheel themselves up to the machines, and appear to be in a trance - I'm so dumb, that I cannot even work how to play them!!
The eating establishment favoured by many is an "all you can eat" buffet for something like $9. They are SO enormous, honestly startlingly..... and they just keep on stuffing their faces. I'm sure the reason so many of them are riding around in "gophers" is that they are just too fat and lazy to walk. Even at the local Walmart (where we stocked up on goodies for the trip), there are young, enormous men going around on the (store provided) gophers..... as well as mothers with several children piled on board. It's like being on Mars....... I do not recognise these people!
When we were stocking up at Walmart, we were amused to note that a brand new toaster cost $7 but to hire one with the Van would have cost us $10.... Go figure.....
Alcohol is SO cheap in Nevada you wouldn't believe it. About 1.75 litres of Bacardi Rum for about $16. Actually, EVERYTHING is cheap here, and the poor buggers can't afford to live with their shocking wages.
There are so many fully employed people (often couples) here who cannot afford to live in a house, that they are living in their vans... And of course there are millions of under-employed as well, just working a few hours a week. The local government authorities here (not just Nevada) have set up "Safe Car Parks" for them to park their vans in!!!!! OMFG..... Now that's a good long term solution methinks!
We were all thrilled to learn that Collingwood was thrashed over the week-end. Yay... Poor Arch is now nervously waiting for the North game.
Anyway, we're about to head off - Arch is just attending to the washing, and we'll string it up in the van to dry whilst we travel.
Cheers to everyone......
Hanging around what can only be described as an enormous "neighbourhood" casino has been very eye-opening to say the least.
There are so many people who are struggling around with such impaired mobility, on a variety of "wheels" that I cannot believe how dull their lives must be - to persist in hanging about the slot machines. Truly, they wheel themselves up to the machines, and appear to be in a trance - I'm so dumb, that I cannot even work how to play them!!
The eating establishment favoured by many is an "all you can eat" buffet for something like $9. They are SO enormous, honestly startlingly..... and they just keep on stuffing their faces. I'm sure the reason so many of them are riding around in "gophers" is that they are just too fat and lazy to walk. Even at the local Walmart (where we stocked up on goodies for the trip), there are young, enormous men going around on the (store provided) gophers..... as well as mothers with several children piled on board. It's like being on Mars....... I do not recognise these people!
When we were stocking up at Walmart, we were amused to note that a brand new toaster cost $7 but to hire one with the Van would have cost us $10.... Go figure.....
Alcohol is SO cheap in Nevada you wouldn't believe it. About 1.75 litres of Bacardi Rum for about $16. Actually, EVERYTHING is cheap here, and the poor buggers can't afford to live with their shocking wages.
There are so many fully employed people (often couples) here who cannot afford to live in a house, that they are living in their vans... And of course there are millions of under-employed as well, just working a few hours a week. The local government authorities here (not just Nevada) have set up "Safe Car Parks" for them to park their vans in!!!!! OMFG..... Now that's a good long term solution methinks!
We were all thrilled to learn that Collingwood was thrashed over the week-end. Yay... Poor Arch is now nervously waiting for the North game.
Anyway, we're about to head off - Arch is just attending to the washing, and we'll string it up in the van to dry whilst we travel.
Cheers to everyone......
Friday, September 7, 2012
Las Vegas - September 7th, 2012
Flew from Great Falls to Las Vegas, with a stop in Salt Lake City. Much to my shame, I've never given much thought to the reason for Salt Lake City being so named!!! On the flight from there to Las Vegas, the scenery was unbelievable - truly spectacular... Thousands of acres of salt pan and endless layers of mountains and valleys as well; the colours were incredible, and Artie and I were like kids at a movie, gawking out the window non-stop. Then, we entered "The Valley", and again were totally surprised. We really should get out more!
As you enter the terminal you are greeted by hundreds of Poker Machines and have to wind your way past players to get your luggage; amazing. And more amazing that there were so many people who thought they could back a winner there!!!
The Casino/Hotel we're staying at, prior to leaving on our RV adventure is called Sam's Town, and we both thought it would be a pretty insignificant establishment as it's quite a way out of town...
We were SO wrong!!!! We reckon the whole shebang almost covers an entire city block, including a multi-storey carpark, and additional entertainment (and a park for RVs).... Once again, the country cousins from Melbourne are in awe!!!
God knows how many rooms there are here, but the whole thing is built around a "garden" square, and there are 7 levels of hotel rooms (and 2 levels of Casino gaming). Of course the whole thing has a glass roof, and there are shops and restaurants around the perimeter as well as inside. All air-conditioned of course, thankfully.
I reckon at least 30% of the staff are "seniors", and they potter around, bringing drinks, waiting on tables, generally tidying up, and moving endless quantities of food around the buffets. Always smiling - probably all on Prozac.......
Every available surface has gambling equipment of some sort on it - I went up to the bar to buy a drink, and there, on the front face of the counter, are lines of machines of some sort (all foreign to me), on which you can lose your money. Needless to say, I resisted the temptation..
Arthur however, thought he had died and gone to heaven. He is walking around saying "Viva Las Vegas". After we ate dinner, he settled down to play Black Jack, and I retired to the room to watch the US Open - stretched out on the King size bed!!
Arthur came home some time after I was asleep, and this morning said we should live in Las Vegas as it would cost us nothing... His winnings would have paid for our Luxurious room and last night's meal; believe it or not, he only won $65. Everything is so cheap here - obviously subsidised by the gaming revenue. There he goes again, Viva Las Vegas........ (His words not mine). Thank God we're leaving tomorrow,and only have limited time here when we return!
We wandered across the road to the Wal-Mart this morning - incidentally, it's about 35 degrees here, and very humid - not nice...... As we're leaving civilisation tomorrow, I got hooked up to T-Mobile on the computer, and Artie had a haircut! $15 - he was rapt. We will be going shopping there tomorrow to stock up on supplies before we leave, so we had a bit of a reccy to find what was where.
Our tour guide turns up tonight, but we might put off meeting until breakfast tomorrow.
Cheers,
A&A
As you enter the terminal you are greeted by hundreds of Poker Machines and have to wind your way past players to get your luggage; amazing. And more amazing that there were so many people who thought they could back a winner there!!!
The Casino/Hotel we're staying at, prior to leaving on our RV adventure is called Sam's Town, and we both thought it would be a pretty insignificant establishment as it's quite a way out of town...
We were SO wrong!!!! We reckon the whole shebang almost covers an entire city block, including a multi-storey carpark, and additional entertainment (and a park for RVs).... Once again, the country cousins from Melbourne are in awe!!!
God knows how many rooms there are here, but the whole thing is built around a "garden" square, and there are 7 levels of hotel rooms (and 2 levels of Casino gaming). Of course the whole thing has a glass roof, and there are shops and restaurants around the perimeter as well as inside. All air-conditioned of course, thankfully.
I reckon at least 30% of the staff are "seniors", and they potter around, bringing drinks, waiting on tables, generally tidying up, and moving endless quantities of food around the buffets. Always smiling - probably all on Prozac.......
Every available surface has gambling equipment of some sort on it - I went up to the bar to buy a drink, and there, on the front face of the counter, are lines of machines of some sort (all foreign to me), on which you can lose your money. Needless to say, I resisted the temptation..
Arthur however, thought he had died and gone to heaven. He is walking around saying "Viva Las Vegas". After we ate dinner, he settled down to play Black Jack, and I retired to the room to watch the US Open - stretched out on the King size bed!!
Arthur came home some time after I was asleep, and this morning said we should live in Las Vegas as it would cost us nothing... His winnings would have paid for our Luxurious room and last night's meal; believe it or not, he only won $65. Everything is so cheap here - obviously subsidised by the gaming revenue. There he goes again, Viva Las Vegas........ (His words not mine). Thank God we're leaving tomorrow,and only have limited time here when we return!
We wandered across the road to the Wal-Mart this morning - incidentally, it's about 35 degrees here, and very humid - not nice...... As we're leaving civilisation tomorrow, I got hooked up to T-Mobile on the computer, and Artie had a haircut! $15 - he was rapt. We will be going shopping there tomorrow to stock up on supplies before we leave, so we had a bit of a reccy to find what was where.
Our tour guide turns up tonight, but we might put off meeting until breakfast tomorrow.
Cheers,
A&A
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Wednesday 5th September, Great Falls.
Post Script.....
The photo's I posted originally had titles, but they seem to have been lost in "translation"...
Enjoy anyway!
I omitted to say that we visited the T-Rex Museum in Eastend. Over a long period, they have recovered pretty much the entire skeleton of a T-Rex. It's a fantastic little Museum, and we had a really informative talk from a young man there. We have held dinosaur poop in our hands - no, it doesn't stink, and a fossilised piece of thigh bone.
There are many other partial skeletons in the Museum too, and it was quite fascinating to be amongst such ancient artefacts. There is actually a workshop there as well, and usually you can see Paleantologists working on bones, and piecing small bits together, through the workshop windows. However, they were on holiday when we were there.
Going to bed...
The photo's I posted originally had titles, but they seem to have been lost in "translation"...
Enjoy anyway!
I omitted to say that we visited the T-Rex Museum in Eastend. Over a long period, they have recovered pretty much the entire skeleton of a T-Rex. It's a fantastic little Museum, and we had a really informative talk from a young man there. We have held dinosaur poop in our hands - no, it doesn't stink, and a fossilised piece of thigh bone.
There are many other partial skeletons in the Museum too, and it was quite fascinating to be amongst such ancient artefacts. There is actually a workshop there as well, and usually you can see Paleantologists working on bones, and piecing small bits together, through the workshop windows. However, they were on holiday when we were there.
Going to bed...
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