Parachute, CO

     Monday was a long one...about 375 miles.  We didn't get away until nine because we slept until eight.  We have an alarm clock (somewhere).  The first 70 miles were north on I-15 until we hit I-70 east.  The 250 miles or so across southeastern Utah on I-70 was interesting and impressive.  The elevation varied +/- 3500 feet, so the mileage suffered.  As a matter of fact, I spent quite a bit of time managing the transmission and the engine brake.  In spite of the grades one sees a lot of triple tandem trailers here...mostly Fedex, but others as well.  We once saw four of them in a row.  To give you a feel of the dramatic, but desolate, remoteness consider the stretch from Salina, UT to Green River, UT, it is 105 miles, and there are absolutely NO services between the two towns...nary a gas pump nor taco stand.  Imagine such a situation anywhere east of the Mississippi.
     Tonight we stopped in Parachute (perhaps I can find out the origin of that name) at the home of Carol and Tom Mackey.  Carol's and my fathers were brothers.  We parked in their yard, set up the bus, and visited.  The pizza was good, too.
     It was not a day for pictures, but I'll have some tomorrow.  Monday was a unique day in that zero cash was expended...no fuel, no eating out, not even a camping fee.  Such days are rare.

Zion National Park

     Today we drove south and east from Cedar City to Zion National Park.  Yesterday we spent the day peering over the edge and looking down at the scenery.  In Zion the opposite is true. the views were all upward.  Plus there is a tunnel that is over a mile long.  As you might guess, the picture below is taken of checkerboard mesa.

     There is at least half of Zion that can only be seen by using their shuttle buses, and since you can't take dogs on the shuttles, we did not see all of the park.  We did see some impressive views, and since the views were continuous as we drove, I enjoyed it more than Bryce.  There was also some wildlife.  Below is the north end of a southbound Rocky Mountain sheep.  I hope ewe enjoy it.

          To be fair to her, here's one from her better side.

     The "Watchman", of which Durelle now has a cross stitch, is the landmark at the southern entrance to the park.

     In some places the layered colors are reminiscent of the Grand Canyon.

     It surely is nice to not need the AC.  Our overnight low was 35 degrees!...after triple digit Vegas, it is wonderful.

ROCKS

I guess you could say that this place rocks.  Today we left Cedar City, UT about 1030 with a full tank of gas in the Jeep.  The round trip took 200 miles.  So much for a non-driving day.  To get to Bryce National Park from Cedar City, you must proceed east for about 40 miles on UT-14.  Last fall a massive landslide wiped out about a third of a mile of UT-14.  No one was killed, but they are still repairing the damage.  There are ten miles of 6 to 8% grade. It is about 80 miles from Cedar City to the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park.  As you might expect, I took a lot of pictures.  It is difficult to decide which ones to use.  

          This is a "Natural Bridge" picture.

     This, of course, is Durelle and the pup.  Anyone who has spent some time peering through a viewfinder knows that the early morning and late evening light provides the warm and gentle light that makes for memorable photos.  Today, of course, we were in the canyon during the middle of the day when the light is harsh and the colors are washed out.  Nonetheless, I hope that these shots provide some enjoyment.
     Perhaps one of the best views on the eighteen mile drive is at Inspiration Point.

     When we got back to the campground, we were treated to a view of a guy and his golden doodle.  No big deal you say?  We all know golden doodles...Hi, Ginger, but this one rides on the back of his owner's Harley.

     I'm told he does the same thing on a jet ski.  He even has his own you tube video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqrRyT1JSMs.  
     Sunday we'll try Zion; it's not as far away from Cedar City.

Cedar City, Utah

     I only have a couple of modest pictures tonight, so you'll have to settle for my Churchillian prose.  We left Las Vegas (Nellis AFB) at 1000 PST.  We only had a three hour drive north on I-15 to Cedar City.  I am growing to like three hour days.  Cedar City is about an hour and a half from Bryce Canyon National Park and under an hour to Zion National Park.  Tomorrow we'll have a go at Bryce Canyon.
     The drive north out of Vegas was pure desert.  Then we cut across 29 miles of the northwest corner of Arizona.  Arizona was much more dramatic than the featureless Nevada.  Then I-15 plowed on into Utah.  The countryside became much more  photogenic.  The ten mile traverse through the Virgin River Gorge was very dramatic.  Unfortunately I had not set Durelle up to take some windshield pictures,
     We climbed to more than a mile high which hammered our mileage.  Cedar City is over a mile high.  We stopped in a classic KOA with cabins and tent sites, too.  The good news after spending a lot of three digit temperature time in Vegas is that the overnight low tonight is projected to be 56 and tomorrow will be 38!!  

     You can see from the picture that we are parked in the mountains.  The next shot shows our rig with Durelle and Baxter enjoying our first opportunity to sit outside in the evening in a long time.

     With any luck tomorrow's pictures should include some nice pictures from Bryce Canyon.

Revised Itinerary

     For no earth shattering reason we changed our east bound itinerary to return via I-70 instead of I-80.  The changes are reflected below:


               # of days

26 May          1            Bremen, GA              
27 May          1            Memphis, TN             
28 May          1            Checotah, OK            
29 May          1            Amarillo, TX               
30 May          1            Gallup, NM                
31 May          1            Kingman, AZ             
  1 Jun           7            Nellis AFB, NV          
  8 Jun           3            Bryce Canyon, UT      
11 Jun           2            Grand Junction, CO    
13 Jun           8            USAFA, CO               
21 Jun           1            Russell, KS           
22 Jun           1            Columbia. MO          
23 Jun           1            Terre Haute, IN          
24 Jun           1            Marengo, OH              
25 Jun          10           Westfield, NY             
 5 Jul             1            Glenville, NY              
 6 Jul            14           Humarock, MA           
20 Jul            3            Athol, MA                  
23 Jul           48           Belfast, ME                
9 Sept          21           Brookline, NH 

     You will note that our routing from NH to SC is still a completely blank slate.         

     I thought that you might like to see a picture of the church that was the setting for yesterday's wedding.  The aesthetic combination of the southwestern, adobe-like architecture and the classic, domed Greek church was particularly well done.

   

The Wedding

Well, it happened.  There were about fifty people at the wedding of Illia Zotos and Melissa Cloutier.  It turns out that Las Vegas is partway between Australia and New Hampshire.  Plus, the venue was ideal for the partying Aussies.  The wedding was a characteristic orthodox Greek ceremony in a wonderful church that combines, in an architecturally correct way, the southwestern adobe and a classic Greek temple.  For those of you that don't know, Melissa is a beautiful lady who just graduated from Boston University.  Illia is an Australian whose family and friends  made the long trip to the states for their son's wedding.  I took 102 pictures.  Obviously only a few will make the cut for this blog.  There are many pictures that will be sent to the principals that will not be seen here.

   
     I suppose it is appropriate to start with a picture of the bride and groom.  The wedding was a classic Greek Orthodox wedding.  The priest got a good laugh when he dealt with the "let no man put asunder" issue by saying to the bride's parents, "or taking the bride down under".  They will be moving to Australia.  
     The toasts and the poignant remarks brought tears to most of those present.  You'll be happy to know that yours truly managed to refrain from imparting any superior wisdom to those a half century younger than we are.  I must include a picture of the wedding couple with us.

     It was a wonderfully done event that ran as smooth as silk.  The couple must be congratulated for accomplishing an event  that took such a high degree of international coordination.  We wish them the very best as they start a life together.  In less than two weeks we will celebrate 52 years of our life together.  It's been fun.
     Tomorrow we will do some housecleaning and grocery shopping in preparation to spending three days in Utah with visits to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park.  In the next blog I will provide an updated itinerary as we have decided to head east on I-70 instead of I-80.

Finding a top notch Mexican Restaurant

     Although it is quite a way north of the Mexican border, Las Vegas has always had a reputation (among many others) as a good place to find a great Mexican restaurant.  Today, via Google, I found lists by several rating agencies.  The consensus choice seemed to be the Lindo Michoacan, which was conveniently located in Henderson on the southeastern edge of Las Vegas on our way to visit Hoover Dam.  One of the charming attributes was the table side preparation of Guacamole dip.

     Durelle ordered a shredded beef chimichanga while I went with chile verde with the expected tender chunks of roast pork.

     This is the chili verde and you can see the bowl of Guacamole in the top of the picture.  The style of the restaurant was expansive, yet intimate; elegant, but not overly adorned.  Did I mention the margaritas?  Any great Mexican restaurant must make a great margarita...on the rocks with salt, please!  Due to the upcoming outdoor activities in the Arizona/Nevada sun, we limited ourselves to one and had a big glass of ice water.
     From there it is only thirty miles to the Hoover Dam, a truly massive project the was implemented during the depths of the Great Depression.  I was unable to get any "Oh, Wow" pictures, and there is really nothing to give you a sense of scale.

     The first picture is taken from the dam looking up toward the southern tip of Lake Mead which the dam created.  Note the cordon upstream of the dam which denies boater access.  These days it more to protect the dam than the boaters as was the original case.  All vehicles pass through security before they are allowed to drive over the dam.  
     The second picture shows the downstream side of the dam.  Note that it is arched toward upstream so that the pressure of the water forces the dam to transfer the stresses into the canyon walls.  Although there is nothing visible to provide scale, the dam, itself, is over 760 feet tall and contains over 3 1/4 million cubic yards of concrete.  There was another million or so used for all the supporting structures.  I could dig up a lot of mind-numbingly large logistic facts. Suffice it to say that that it was a breathtaking achievement given the technologies of eighty years ago.
     Just downstream from the dam is the new Pat Tillman Memorial bridge that carries the traffic to bypass the dam.  It, too, was a significant engineering achievement, especially anchoring the bases in the vertical walls of the Black Canyon.

     Tomorrow is the wedding.