From Nevada to Utah, we had to travel back into Arizona for a short while. We are driving through the Virgin River Canyon enveloped in barren rock.
Both of these shots are in Bryce Canyon. The Hoodoos were an amazing site!The colors in Red Canyon between Zion and Bryce Canyon were beautiful!
We decided to leave Las Vegas via the old Vegas strip where Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. walked along the sidewalks during the filming of the original "Oceans 11" movie. We were in search of the Golden Nugget and the Thunderbird Hotel but could not find them. Part of Fremont Street has been covered with a canopy so the street does not look the same. Rita's mom and dad went to the Thunderbird in the 60's and saw Pat Boone perform and also got his autograph. How cool! Even though old Vegas is a little sad, it is fun to imagine what it once was. It was fun seeing all the wedding chapels down the old strip. Wonder how many of those marriages made it?
We were happy to leave the scorching temperatures and head toward Utah. Along the way we saw a sign that read, "Prison Area - Hitchhiking Prohibited". Does that mean they have a lot of escapes from that prison? A Fed Ex truck whizzed by us with 3 trailers attached. We have seen 2 trailers before but not 3. There was a lot of swaying going on so we kept our distance! We were driving along, minding our own business, when we had a small collision. We collided with a large tumbleweed! No joke! It smashed into our car as we were going 78 mph (speed limit is 75 in most states since we left Tennessee). It broke apart with pieces flying around and over the top of the car. What an experience...we have a small souvenir we pulled from the car grill.
We approached Arizona (had to travel back into Arizona for a short while in order to get to Utah). From a distance, it looked as if we were about to drive straight into the mountain in front of us. Instead, we curved in between 2 tremendous rocks and we were riding very low in the Virgin River Canyon with tall plateaus towering above us, around us and on both sides of us. It's amazing that grey barren rock can be so beautiful too. We were so close to the rocks that Rita kept saying, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"
We stayed in Springdale, Utah close to the Zion National Park. No matter where we were at the hotel...in the parking lot, when we opened our room curtain, when we sat on the upstairs patio, when we ate breakfast on the downstairs patio, we saw the same breathtaking view everywhere we looked! We took a hot shuttle ride through part of Zion National park and at one of the stops, hiked a little over a mile to the lower Emerald Pool and back. Water falls over the rocks at 3 different altitudes. It was cooler there which we welcomed! The town of Springdale is charming and we ate at a local restaurant on the patio and you guessed it...we had a fabulous view.
Thursday (day 14 of our trip), we headed out for Bryce Canyon but drove over 20 miles through Zion National Park to get there. That was a most spectacular drive. There are many pull-offs along the slow winding road and we got out of the car many times to take pictures. Every single turn we made, the view looked more beautiful than the last. At one point, Angela said she felt like crying it was so beautiful! We probably have taken over 150 pictures in the past two days. Unfortunately, we saw a "National Park Search and Rescue"vehicle along our trek through the park. We drove by hoping there would be a happy ending. We have met many nice people along our way which has enriched the memories we have made. At one pull-over, we talked with a man from Germany and at another, we had a conversation with a father and son from Switzerland. We have been amazed that there seem to be many more foreign-speaking people than Americans wherever we go.
We left the park and made our way closer to Bryce Canyon. We went through Red Canyon before reaching Bryce and it was gorgeous just like every other place we have been. And you guessed it, it was very red! In the middle of nowhere, we stopped for lunch at a German Bakery & Restaurant. We didn't expect to find this type of restaurant with such good food along this stretch of road. We have had so many pleasant surprises along the way that we didn't expect. While we ate lunch, we talked with a couple who were probably in their mid 80s and from Phoenix. They were vacationing in a new Porsche sports car. They said they worried a little that it might not be big enough for a trip but there was plenty of room because the car's engine is in the middle of the car and there is storage in both the front and back of the car.
As we drove into Bryce, we headed straight to the Bryce Canyon Visitors Center. There, we picked up another shuttle bus and made several stops along the way to walk and view the spectacular views of the rock spires called Hoodoos. There are also shallow caves called Grottoes. One can see the signs of natural erosion here more than any other place. Paiute Indian legend explains there were once animal-like creatures that changed themselves into people. But they were bad so Coyote changed them into rocks (Hoodoos). The view is spectacular and the spires really do look like people. The trails went deep down into the canyon. As we stood on the rim, we could see many hikers making their way further and further down until they disappeared. We went a short way down but decided we liked it better from the top. However, it has to be a hiker's paradise!
We went to the Ebenezer Bar & Grill for an old fashioned cowboy dinner and show. It was actually fun and the Bar G Wranglers performed. The harmony and arrangements were so good and we loved hearing songs like 'Happy Trails To You", 'Rawhide", Theme from Bonanza and many others that we all recognized. We sat at a table with a lovely couple from Switzerland. They have grandchildren in the states but were staying 6 months to travel as well. We had great conversation and laughs and just made some more memories!
Our next stop is Arches.
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