Wyoming to
Las Vegas - page 5 |
| The next morning we started our return south. We chose
to follow highway 89 and on the last part on I-15 to the Mormon capital Salt Lake City in
Utah, a long drive where we had no possibility for longer stops. In Salt Lake City we
found accommodation in Motel 6. The next morning after a |
heavy American
breakfast (not very sound for your weight) we visited the Mormon Temple. We walked around
the nice gardens with sculptures telling the history of the early Mormon settlement of
Utah and the founder Joseph Smith. One of the beautiful Mormon beauties guided us to the
Concert Hall which is world famous for choral performances and the Mormon Tabernacle
Choir. We then visited the very impressing exhibition in |
Mormon temple, Salt Lake City
|
| the dome of the
Mormon Temple, with a sculpture of the famous Danish sculptor Thorvaldsen. Next day was
Sunday and after a hearty American breakfast with a stack of pancakes we had enough of the
city. So we headed for the Utah desert areas and the wonderful red rock National
Parks of Southern Utah. We followed I-15 south to Provo where we turned east on Highway 6
continuing until Green River. A wonderful trip among sculpturous red rock formations. In
Green River was a |
| lot of motels, and we had no
problems to find accommodation for the night. We even got time to visit a laundry and had
all our dirty clothes washed. Just on the way out of Green River to the east is a
recommendable restaurant with a nice view to the Green river. Be prepared to wait some
time for your table as it is quite a popular place. The next day the adventure of the wild
Utah started. We first visited Canyonlands NP. We walked to Dead Horse Point where you
have a wonderful view to the winding of the Colorado River, the Goose Neck. Dead horse
point is a flat trap ending abruptly with a steep cliff towards the |
Colorado River, Goose Neck, Canyonlands |
| river. We took
another short walk deeper in this strange rocky red landscape under the baking hot sun.
Then we went to Moab where we turned into Arches NP just north of the town. Million of
years of wind and water cleaning of loose particles from the surrounding hard rocks left
at places the resistant stone as a peculiar arch formation. Underground salt movements are
also |
| responsible for this collection
of strange geological formations you find in Arches NP. At the end of the very scenic road
through the park we went for about a one hours walk in Devils Garden where we among many
arches saw the famous Landscape Arch, which has the longest natural span in the world.
Some years later when we had the opportunity to revisit the park we went to the Delicate
Arch. This is probably the most impressing of all the arches, rising high into the sky
from a large smooth plateau of red rock. This view is really worth the 2-3 miles walk, but
be sure |
Landscape arch, Arches NP |
to come early morning or
late afternoon as the heat can be unbearable hot at noon. Moab is base for many tourists
visiting the national parks of the area, so accommodation is quite expensive and |
Anna at the Kachina overlook
|
hard to find in
high season. We decided to go further south and in the small village of Monticello we
found a nice Days Inn which had an indoor pool, which Anna found very attractive. In the
high desert to the south we visited Natural Bridges Natl. Monument the following day. We
drove along the 9 miles one way drive and had a stop at each of the 3 natural bridges:
Owachomo, Sipapu, and Kachina. From the park we went south on one of the minor back roads.
After some 50 miles we suddenly found out that we had stayed on a high plateau for a while
as we came to an overlook with the large Navajo Indian reservation laying below. First we
had to descend via many |
| switch backs on a steeply
graded gravel road. This was tough but the wonderful views compensated for all the hard
driving. After the descend we met the San Juan River at Mexican Hat. Here we went into a
small local cafe to have lunch. Michael got a Navajo Burger which he never forgets, it was
so big and tasteful. So now we were ready for the most spectacular scenery which we had
imprinted in the back of our heads from many western movies. Driving towards Monument
Valley with an outstanding collection of solitary red rock formations |
At the famous Mexican
Hat cafe
|
Heading towards Monument Valley
|
spread
out in the landscape you expect to meet John Wayne in front of a team of cowboys and a
heard of cattle and Indians on the ridge of the cliffs. Of course John Ford will be the
director of the movie. As our |
| destination that day was Kanab close to Zion
NP we unfortunately had no time to further study these fantastic surroundings except
enjoying them from our car. At Page we crossed the Colorado River on the high single span
old Glen Canyon Bridge. It was almost dark when we arrived at this resort |
More scenery from Monument Valley
|
|
Glen Canyon Bridge, Page
|
area where the huge
artificial Lake Powell gives a lot of opportunities for water sports. The lake was established by building the
Glen Canyon Dam at Page. On a later visit to Page we had better possibilities to enjoy the
sceneries of this area. We arrived quite late in the dark at Kanab but were lucky enough
to find accommodation in this popular village which is a good base location for exploring
southwestern Utah. Many attractions are available on day trips from Kanab. This include :
The North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, and on a long |
|
drive even Capitol Reef NP.
While staying in Kanab we visited Bryce Canyon NP. Just north of Kanab we made a short
stop at a long stretch of sand dunes (Coral Pink Sand Dunes) made from pure white (or
pink) sand. Quite an impressive view among the pine forests. We arrived at Bryce Canyon
around noon. It was hot but we decided to take a walk down into this fantasyland of eroded
rocks of incredible shapes. At the lodge at Sunset point an easy |
Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Kanab
|
|
trail descend to the floor of
these pink rock pillars. We walked in narrow gorges with sheer rock walls, under rock
arches and bridges, among strange spires and pinnacles. Its all up to your fantasy
Anna in Bryce Canyon
|
Thors Hammer, Bryce Canyon
|
| to imagine all these shaped figures of
columns, spires, walled windows to be part of a fairy tale landscape. Colors are
delicately changing according to the iron content of the rocks, from bright pink to deep
red with white or grayish bands. After our walk we drove about 20 miles along the rim to
Rainbow Point where we had a magnificent view to the whole canyon and the harsh
mountainous desert beyond. On our way back to |
Entering Zion NP
|
Kanab we got hungry and stopped at a local
and friendly place which served good sandwiches. The next day we had to move on for Las
Vegas. Still there were so many places we still missed so we have to come back some day.
Just west of Kanab we entered Zion NP. The road is quite winding and goes through tunnels
at this eastern entrance. The mountain sides consist of wonderful colored rocks with large
smooth surfaces which seem to have been swept clean every day. So quiet here among these
large stone surfaces |
| where trees and vegetation are quite scarce. Further
inside the park you encounter the Virgin River flowing along the bottom of the narrow Zion
Canyon. We drove the 8 miles up to the Temple of Sinawava. Here it was very crowded with
visitors and it was hard getting parked our car. An easy trail on the bank of the river
led us further into the very narrow canyon. Here moisture was plentiful and green
vegetation was hanging from the high sheer walls and water was trickling down |
the rocks. Quite a contrast
to the dry eastern entrance. Leaving the park we visited the South entrance Visitor
Center.
In Las Vegas we had made reservation for two nights at the Harrah`s gambling casino which
is shaped lake an old Mississippi steam boat. Here we got a wonderful room just on the
central part of the Strip opposite Caesar's Palace. Even though we were right in the
middle of the desert with temperatures well above 100F you feel very comfortable inside
these huge casinos. Las Vegas can be expensive or you can have fun very cheap. |
Michael in front of Harrah's, Las Vegas
|
| It's your choice. You can stroll
along the Strip and watch all the wonderful casino buildings, the crowds and all the light
shows at night, or go inside and watch free shows, take a 4.99 $ all you can |
Inside Caesar's Palace
|
eat dinner or play nickels
on the slot machines. Or you can spend a fortune in a luxury suite at Caesar's and Gamble
hundreds of dollars at the tables. Anyway you will always have fun. We had some wonderful
days. Anna enjoyed the luxury swimming pool in the hot day time. Every evening we set
aside a few dollars for playing poker at the nickel slot machines. In this way we probably
visited almost all of the Strip casinos, Caesar's Palace, Mirage, MGM Grand, Flamingo
Hilton, Circus, Circus, Excalibur and many many more. |
| Las Vegas is quite a contrast to
all the primitive living and wild nature we had experienced in the days before. But it was
very relaxing filling us up with new energy for the coming days exploration of the
California wilderness. And we have returned many times on later trips to the West. Just
when we were on the way out of Las Vegas we went to a gas station to fill up. Entering the
station we heard a strange noise from the wheels of the car. A mechanic noticed that two
of the tires were worn up and we had to change them. 200 unexpected dollars. But the
rental company Hertz gave us a refund for all of this amount when we returned the car at
Los Angeles Airport. So since then Hertz has really been our favorite rental company.
Probably the long trips on very hot asphalt in the Utah desert had its effect. On the
other hand the rubber quality seems to be rather low in the US. Along the Interstates you
see a lot of exploded tires. |
So equipped with a totally new set of
tires we were ready for our California Adventures.
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