UTAH SPEED TRAPS

UTAH’S SPEED TRAPS

Can you believe it, I’m actually doing another update on the same day. First, I need to explain my heading for this update. We discovered that Utah, being a large state with a LOT of unpopulated area, has a very unique (well, at least to me) way of controlling speeders. More than once we encountered a squad car sitting in a conspicuous area. Granted, since we could spot it quite easily, Mike doublechecked to make certain he was not speeding. As we approached the car we noticed that the officer sitting behind the wheel was not moving. No wonder, he was a dummy. We laughed so hard, we couldn't resist capturing one of them on film. Hey! That was clever, wasn’t it…”capturing.” Sometimes I just can’t help myself.

From the beginning of this journey it has been my hope that we would encounter all sorts of wildlife. Granted, spotting the bighorn sheep ranks at the top of my excitement chart, but I must admit that for the most part I have been disappointed. The most abundant wildlife we've seen has been the darned raven. They are EVERYWHERE. No wonder old Edgar Allan was afraid of them. They must have scared off all the other wildlife. We did manage to see a few mule deer (whooppee!), chipmunks (another whooppee!), and jackrabbits (oh yeah, BIG whooppee!). Oh yes, I almost forgot, we saw cows too. Need I say more?

Ok, a highlight. Mike, Glenn, Jalene, and I set out on a “strenuous” hike in Zion National Park one day. I figured as long as we went at a steady pace I should be able to manage it. Well, strenuous is not quite the right adjective to describe our precipitous ascent up the mountain (850 feet). The trail kept getting narrrower, rockier, and steeper, but we trekked on. I could handle the rock steps, the extremely narrow area that could handle only one person at a time, and even the area that was one step away from the edge and you had to hug the rock and hang onto a chain, but when the needlelike path continued on around a bend without a chain, I turned to Mike and said, "I've seen enough." We turned and headed back down, but the Carters showed us up and continued on. Well, Mike and I enjoyed our lunch on a nice overlook on the way back down, thank you very much.

While in Zion, I had read about Grafton, a ghost town where they had filmed the bicycling scene for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The book in which I had read about Grafton painted a wonderful picture of traveling for 9 miles on a byway (dirt road) and viewing a rock formation that was not seen from other roadways (as in paved). Well, we set out, never found the rock formation, and almost went right by the ghost town (road signs were not a big factor in this adventure), and the town was somewhat of a disappointment. Sadly, funds for restoring must have run out long ago. However, getting to walk into a home that was over 100 years old was sort of cool.

Our next stop along the way was a small town by the name of Kanab, UT. We only stayed a couple of days but managed a couple of road trips. One was along some back roads where we happened upon an adorable donkey who must spend his days standing by the fence waiting for people to notice how cute he is, stop, feed, and pet him. I'll post a picture of him. Our other road trip was to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. WOW!!

Mike nor I had ever seen THE CANYON, except from an airplane. What an experience. There are not enough superlatives to describe the vastness and beauty of it all. If you’ve been there, you know exactly what I’m talking about. We spent the day just driving and stopping along the way to enjoy the view. We were lucky enough to be able to tour the lodge also, as they had closed for the season the day before, but were there cleaning. It is quite magnificent with all the beautiful old log construction. It all made for a perfect day topped off with a small snow storm as we left the park.

From Kanab, we headed to Page, AZ for three days. I hate repeating myself, but once again everything we had heard about Page and Lake Powell lived up to its reputation. The lake is the most amazing blue I’ve ever seen, and with the surrounding rocks, and mountains, it’s indescribable.

We toured Glen Canyon Dam, which is the second largest in America, with Hoover being the largest. We’ve never been to Hoover Dam, but we were certainly impressed with Glen Canyon. Once again, the enormity of such an undertaking back in 1956 is mind boggling. Of course, OSHA wasn’t founded until 1970, so maybe the safety restrictions being more lax makes it even more of an amazing accomplishment. We lucked out with our guide, Rachel. She made the tour a lot more interesting than it may have been otherwise. She was quite knowledgeable and articulate. We were so mpressed with her, we decided to submit a critique of her skills to management in hopes of getting her a raise, or at least a bonus.

I’ll wrap this blog up with a brief description of our raft tour of Glen Canyon. Again, we ended up with a fantastic guide. Because Papa John truly loved his job, he made our 4 hour ride on the Colorado River enjoyable and memorable. This was not a “white water” trip, but more like a float down the river and around mesmerizing bends. One of the more interesting highlights was rafting around Horseshoe Bend, which we had happened to hike from the top the day before. If our backs and rears hadn’t gotten so numb, we could have stayed on the raft indefinitely. Magnificent!

Next stop, Sedona, AZ…

Happy Halloween!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Yep, it’s October 31st, and I’m finally getting around to titillating you with more exciting adventures. If you recall, the last update left you anticipating an offroad trip. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

We did all pile into Glenn’s Jeep another day with the express purpose of offroading along Schafer Trail in Dead Horse Canyon. Before starting out on Schafer Trail, we stopped at the visitor center and enjoyed the spectacular views of the canyon. Never having seen the Grand Canyon, Mike and I were pretty amazed at the enormity of Dead Horse Canyon. While gazing out, we noticed a dirt road winding down the canyon. Yep, that was to be our trail. Actually, it didn’t look all that precipitous, especially when we spotted a Chrysler Grand Caravan trekking along it without difficulty. It would be a piece of cake in Glenn’s Jeep. Hah! Note: The previous journey had started from the bottom, the new journey would be starting at the top!

As anticipated, it didn’t start out too badly. The road itself was a bit bumpy, and filled with potholes, and the view out over the edge was pretty dramatic, but the road itself seemed pretty wide. Remember that old saying about “luring one into a false sense of security?” Well, that was what we did. The farther along we got, the narrower the cowpath became (that’s right, it’s no longer a road). Then we started the “switchbacks”. Holy cow! Why in the world would someone make a road with curves that come back almost 180 degrees on themselves? It makes no sense to me. And to top it all off, it’s on a narrow bit of real estate thousands of feet above a big hole in the ground. Then, just when you don’t think it can get any worse, some jerk comes tooling up the path from the other direction, and you have to look way ahead to find a point that you can pull over so the inconsiderate tourist can pass you. Actually, the stop was a nice respite from the jarring of your brains and body as the jeep bumps, jumps, rattles, and jostles along the way.

As you have undoubtedly figured out, we made it safely down the entire Schafer Trail. It took several hours, but it was quite a ride. We even passed the huge boulder we had seen on the previous attempt. We did all wonder how in the world the Grand Caravan we had seen was capable of traversing the entire trail. You definitely needed a high riding vehicle and four-wheel drive. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to get any photos while on the trail, but the memories are indelible.

We spent a full week in Moab, hiking, touring, biking, and enjoying all that it has to offer. The town of Moab itself is unique, and walking around and enjoying all the shops was a lot of fun. They even have a farmers market every Saturday morning, so we made certain that we partook in the homegrown fare.

Our next stop was Zion National Park. We were fortunate enough to get a campsite within walking and shuttle distance of the park, so we didn’t have to use our vehicles. The park itself decided to stop personal vehicle travel to almost the entire park a few years ago, and started using propane powered shuttles. Talk about a great plan. This not only alleviated traffic back-ups for miles and hours, but also cut way back on pollution. The frequency of the shuttles keeps everything moving smoothly.

Once again, we were mesmerized by all the different topography. The many different layers of sandstone, limestone, etc. and the different formations never failed to inspire awe. We took advantage of the shuttle and road the complete route the first day, stopping at the museum, watching a brief history, and walking different trails as we felt like it. But wait until you hear about our second day there.

The four of us piled into our truck and headed out through Zion for a drive to Bryce Canyon. We originally thought we’d stay a few days there, but the weather was going to be a bit cooler there, so we decided on a day trip instead. To reach Bryce, we passed through a tunnel that had been blasted through the mountain decades before, without all the modern technology of today. Quite a fete. As we exited the tunnel, we noticed some people out of their vehicles and pointing to the side of the road. As we looked, we caught sight of some bighorn sheep. Naturally, we found the first safe place to stop ourselves.

As we were walking along the road, we signaled to another person as he was going past us. He stopped and took up a spot and started taking pics with some very sophisticated camera equipment. We held lenses, etc. for him, and helped him as much as we could. He was so appreciative of our having signaled him and helping him, that he sent us his website (http://tbmoniz.zenfolio.com/). When you go through the pics that are marked "recently added," start on page 12, and you'll see the bighorn sheep. This guy is pretty talented, and I think you'll enjoy a lot of his pics. I asked him if he was a professional, and he said, “a serious amateur.” Seeing those magnificent animals was truly a highlight of our trip.

Bryce Canyon itself was all that everyone had said it would be, and more. Certainly, just more red mountains with varied striations in both color and structure, but still unique and different at the same time. I wish I was poetic or intelligent enough to explain the complexities of beauty found around every bend, but I can’t. These are nature’s masterpieces that need to be seen, appreciated, and interpreted by each individual lucky enough to experience it in person.

Well, I’m behind again (November 5th), so I’ll just post this much and add some more later. Love to all!!

…to be continued