Start:  Gallup, NM
Destination: KOA Kampground, Canon City, CO
Odometer: 106,567 (start)  107,153 (end) – 586 miles
Date:  Thursday, September 15, 2011

Unlike Gallup, where there was much to see on the way, the drive to Canon City was rather bland, especially given what we had been seeing for the past two weeks.

Adding some irony to the blandness was the Welcome to Colorado sign, which advertised the colorfulness of Colorado through a rather colorless dark brown and white sign that was hard to see in the grey mist falling upon us.

Fortunately, Dad and I had some colorful political discussions to enliven the drive which started in the dim light shortly after 5am and ended in the sunny afternoon shortly after 2 at the Canon City KOA Kampground.

Rather than setup the tent immediately, I had to rush to access the WiFi at the campground so I could connect to a video interview for Moishe House that had been postponed due to earlier technical difficulties.  Unfortunately, those difficulties initially continued to occur.

I had called the campground before we arrived to confirm that there was WiFi, and they confirmed they had it, so I relaxed, thinking there would be no issues.  Well, we arrived during the quiet part of the day when the office was closed, and so couldn’t check it.  Fine, we can do that later, I’d just connect to the WiFi.  The network was quickly found, but a password was required to connect.  Ugh.  I called the office number only to hear the phone ringing behind the locked, see-through entrance door.  I tried visually scanning the office for a paper that might display the password, but saw nothing of the sort.  I set my laptop down on a shelf in a wooden kiosk near the office and was resigning myself to having to postpone the meeting again when I noticed something in the corner.  Sure enough, there was a welcome packet for us and it contained the password for accessing the WiFi.  Huzzah.  And who should appear shortly after connecting? The campground manager to check us in who told me what I now knew and invited us to take whatever campsite we wanted as the tent area appeared completely vacant.  Dad left to pick and setup a site and I went to have my meeting.

I setup my office in the laundry room of the campground which had a large shelf-table and some chairs.  This interview was part of the process for becoming a resident of the Moishe House in Montgomery County, MD.  In short, this house is part of an international organization aimed at Jewish community building and education for 20-30 somethings.  I enjoy Jewish learning and teaching and was in need of a housing arrangement for the Fall, so it seemed like a good fit.  Indeed, the interview went well, and I am writing this post in my new home at the MoCo Moishe House.

While I was busy on the computer, Dad roamed the campground.  This KOA Kampground was the most expensive campground of the trip, and KOA’s seem to be on the more expensive side for campgrounds (in the $30+ range).  In exchange, they provide an assortment of amenities, from WiFi, clean showers, and laundry rooms, to a miniature golf course, go-karts, and a potato-sack slide.  We thought these would be free with the cost of the campsite, but apparently the entertainment amenities are extra.  It was the off season though, so most of the attractions were closed, except for mini-golf.  The course wasn’t in good shape, but they still wanted to charge.  Dad finished his tour impressed with the extent of services at the campground but sour about the lack of generosity/customer service regarding the golf course.  I had always seen KOA Kampground signs but this was my first time staying there. If you want the services of a hotel and to have family entertainment at your campground, KOAs seems to provide that well, but we didn’t need those so weren’t as impressed.

We didn’t come to Canon City to see the campground though, so we hit the road to explore the area.  The first thing I noticed was that this city needs to get some agreement on its name.  Depending on the sign, we were in Canon City, Cañon City, or Canyon City.  I know they are pronounced similarly, but I felt the residents should decide to be anglicized or spanish and stick with it.

The main attraction in the city is the Royal Gorge Bridge.  The bridge, until recently, was the highest suspension bridge in the world (nearly 1000′ above the Arkansas river) and is about a quarter mile long.

Lest this bridge not be commercialized, there is a large theme park built on each side of the bridge with a $25 entrance fee to visit the park and drive over the bridge.  We arrived as the park was closing and the security guard informed us that we could actually get a nice, free view of the bridge, river and gorge, a few hundred feet away.

As described, the views were impressive and we were also able to watch a swarm of bats out for a late afternoon feast.  While atop the gorge, we tried to figure out what the difference was between a canyon and a gorge.  We hypothesized that a gorge is in effect the open space, and the canyon is the walls and river floor, but apparently they’re just synonyms, with one word being Spanish and the other English.  Again, let’s pick one and go with it.

The other nearby attraction is a skyline drive which is a one-lane road with sheer drops on both sides.  We were debating whether to take the potentially nerve-racking drive, and when we got to Canon city, we saw it was highly advertised tourist attraction, but the decision was made for us when we found the entrance to the drive was closed, presumably due to rains from the previous days.

So, rather than drive along the sky, we drove along the Arkansas river until close to dusk.

We arrived back to the campsite with not much time to spare before the sunlight left us, so I started to quickly make dinner.  As I was about to finish though, rain drops started falling on our head, so we quickly gathering up everything and took sanctuary in the laundry room.

The rain passed quickly and was gone by the time we were done our meal. Dad cleaned up while I did some work in the car, and we retired to the tent for a quiet night’s sleep in preparation for the Rocky Mountains.

Start:  Sedona, AZ
Destination: Red Rock State Park Campground, Gallup, NM
Odometer: 106,301 (start)  106,567 (end) – 266 miles
Date:  Wednesday, September 14, 2011

We arose before day-break and quietly broke camp by 5:50am without waking our youthful, late-arriving neighbors.

The drive that morning took us back north to Flagstaff and then east on route 40.  The landscape makes an abrupt shift after Flagstaff, from a hilly/mountainous and rocky desert to flat planes similar to the mid-west.  (I  was driving and unfortunately didn’t take pictures.)

The original plan had us stopping at Meteor Crater, but we began second-guessing ourselves that morning and decided to skip it in order to have more time at other spots.  The tickets were $15/person and felt we’d seen enough holes in the ground.  That is, until we were hit by their advertising campaign.  First, there is their radio station which airs a loop listing all the amazing attractions, from an actual piece of the meteor to having a Subway sandwich shop.  Then there are the billboards, listing facts about the meteor and the crater.  Lastly, there’s just the uniqueness of the place as the “world’s best preserved meteorite impact site.”  One of the guiding philosophies/rules of the trip was that we’d not have regrets of “oh, we should/could have done that, but didn’t.”  The closer we got to passing the crater, the more I felt that I would be felling that, and so I caved and made the turn onto Meteor Crater Road.

The drive to the crater is on a nice several-mile road, empty at that early hour of the morning, through flat grassland, leading towards what looks like an average hill.  As we’d eventually learn, that grassland was eviscerated 50,000 years ago and that hill is the rim of the giant crater.

We arrived just as the ticket office was opening.  I bought the tickets (again, we benefited from a senior discount) and received an informational tri-fold.  I read this while Dad made some business phone calls.  I must say, this was a lengthy, but very well written tri-fold, that explained:  a) the science about the meteor, the impact, the resulting geology, and insights about the universe gained from it b) told the story of its discovery, mining attempts, controversy over what formed it, its use by NASA, and how/why it was turned into an attraction, and c) raised excitement about what we’d be able to see from the public vantage point and the Visitors Center.  As rare as the meteor is, it’s also rare to find such a detailed yet readable pamphlet to a natural attraction.  I think my Dad still has it in his trip document folder if you’re interested.

When we entered the visitor center, we were informed that a short movie was going to be starting in a few minutes, so we headed towards the theater instead of the exit to the crater.  The film was neat, but I had already learned most of its information from the pamphlet…which came in handy when answering the pre-film quiz questions.  The film did add better insights about how the crater helped improve scientific understanding of collisions of celestial bodies and the role they play in the universe.

Finally, we were outdoors and standing atop the crater.  At first, it’s rather unimpressive:  just a big hole in the ground.  Then the reality and scale sinks in:  three football fields with over 2 million spectators in the stands around the circumference could be held there, the spec at the base is the size of person, a boulder along the rim (pictured below) is the size of a house, and last but not least:  this whole thing wasn’t caused by erosion, an earthquake, a volcano, or some terrestrial phenomenon like other sites we’d seen, but from a rock, only 150′ wide, from deep in the universe slamming into the ground just 50,000 years ago.  And just think, now it’s next to a Subway – there’s something either crass or poetic about this intersection of human civilization and the universe.

We walked around the rim as much as we could, but we were fairly limited.  It would have been cool if an option existed to walk to the base of the crater were available, but there wasn’t one yet.  This was made up for however in the visitor center where they had a real / non-replica piece of the crater that was eventually discovered.  And for some reason, there was also an Apollo Test Capsule on display.

In all, we were glad that we stopped here. It’s a pretty cool site and you can easily spend a few enjoyable hours seeing the crater and walking through the educational exhibits.   After our couple hours, we were ready for some breakfast and to get on with the trip to see the petrified forest and the painted desert.

The Petrified Forest is one of the great American landscapes.  Now, many of the places we’ve gone to were priceless and couldn’t be stolen by anyone other than Carmen Sandeigo.  At the Petrified Forest however, the thousands of pieces of tie-die colored petrified wood that form the landscape are also priceless, but also easily stolen by anyone.  Indeed, after nearly every step one comes across a piece of petrified wood that would look great on one’s mantle, in one’s living room, or many other places around the house.  Apparently several tons are stolen each year (not sure how they really measure this), so there are checkpoints upon entering and exiting the park where drivers are questioned and can be potentially searched.

Some of the dinosaur fossils found in the muck were also on display.  I had never seen skeletal structures like these.

We headed onto the next stop of the drive through the park which features more petrified wood.  For the most part, it was similar to what we had just seen, but this site had a nice hill, petrified wood that still looked like wood, and a clearer visualization of the muck that the petrified wood was in before it became uncovered for us all to see.

Our time walking around this pleasant, pre-historic landscape was interrupted however by storm clouds that quickly emerged above and released its rain on us below.  The next couple hours would be an interesting mix of sites and extreme weather.

We arrived at the Agate Bridge in time to be hailed upon.

We arrived at the dunes to see a cloud opened up in the distance.

And to the petroglyphs (images etched into rocks by people 650-2000 years ago) to see an intense cloud column formation.

As we exited the park, we were able to see the accumulation of rain by means of the raging river that had now filled the previously dry river bed.

The Petrified Forest was one of the highlights of the trip.  I had heard about this place and had seen petrified wood before, but experiencing the geology and landscape in person was spectacular.  This is one of those places where one could spend the entire day taking pictures and still feel there was a lot that was missed.  Definitely add this to your list of places to visit.

We then moved on from a colored forest to the nearby colored desert.  The scenic drive through the Painted Desert takes one along landscapes of incredible shades of pink.  It was very pleasant and unique, but its very monotonous and the hour was getting late, so we hurried through the drive.  Next stop:  Gallup, NM.

The drive to Gallup was rather uneventful, with a flat landscape interspersed by impressive mesas and other rock formations.

We arrived at the campground around 6 and settled in.  The campground is part of a state park and situated amongst red rock cliffs.  On the plus side, there’s showers, nice scenery, and an inexpensive, informal payment process.  On the down side, the bathroom requires a key (which is easy to forget when hurrying to the bathroom in the morning), a lot of the scenery is blocked by trees unless you go into the park itself, and we had some anxiety about if, when, and how we’d be paying for the site.  Either way, we were settled in and it was time for dinner.

We were low on food and had been going through the southwest for awhile now, yet hadn’t had any “authentic” mexican / tex-mex, so we opted to find such a restaurant and then stop at a supermarket.

We didn’t have a restaurant in mind, so we relied upon the GPS.  The GPS listed dozens in the area of Gallup, so we decided to just drive downtown and see what we saw along the way.  Unfortunately, nothing stood out, so I choose one from the list and followed the GPS to a residential part of the city.  Now, for better or worse, not being from the area, it’s hard to tell what is a bad part of town; however, the place we stopped did not seem particularly inviting, and not of the type to have much of  a vegetarian option, so I decided to call.  As suspected, it was not where we’d be eating that night.  Hungry and a bit frustrated at not being able to find what I thought would be simple enough, we parked and I called the list of options in the area according to the GPS.  Of the first 5, only one, El Metate, had the right answer and attitude.  When asked if they had vegetarian items and/or fish tacos, they said yes and that they could make whatever we’d like.  This seemed like a place to patronize so we reset the GPS and were on our way.

Again, we arrived to a residential part of town where the restaurant had parking in the back.  We were again a bit skeptical of the area, so we put our main valuables in my backpack and brought it in with us.  We received a friendly greeting from the waiter and a recognition that I was the one who had called earlier (fish tacos were going to be the special of the night he told me).  The restaurant is rather simple and the bathroom could be better maintained, but the food is good and has a fresh, homemade feel to it.  The thing though that honestly stood out to me were the customers.  This is a very hispanic restaurant in a very hispanic part of town, yet everyone eating there that evening was a) white non-hispanic b) tourists and c) middle-class and/or yuppies.  Something was up.  After googling the restaurant, it turns out that this place has many 5 star reviews and positive comments on Yelp, all from tourists who either stumbled upon it or went there because of the recommendations on that site.  If people needed more evidence about the power of good online reviews, I think this should settle it.

After dinner, we stopped at the supermarket but didn’t get much beyond the basics of some fruit, bread, tuna fish, and ice.  I had apparently stopped  at the discount supermarket and while probably great for others, it lacked the items and diversity expected from a mainstream grocery store.  It was a bit frustrating, but we were resupplied and had waited out the rain that had come in that evening.

On the way back to the campsite, I recalled seeing signs for some free WiFi, so I stopped to try and access it quickly from the car, but to no avail.  However, that stop left Dad to re-examine and identify an issue with our route for reaching Canon City, CO tomorrow.  The predicament was that it was at least an 8 hour drive on main highways according to the GSP if we went east through NM then north, but a friend familiar with the area suggested a more scenic drive would be going north first, into CO, then east, but this would be on lower-speed highways with sections going through towns that would add several hours to the already long trip.  After much back-and-forth, and examination of paper maps and GPS calculations, we decided to go with the safer route on the major highways.

Our course set for the next day’s long drive to Canon City, we returned to the campground and concluded our very full day with a peaceful night’s sleep.

Start:  Grand Canyon – North Rim, AZ
Destination: Sedona, AZ
Odometer: 105,976 (start)  106,301 (end) – 325 miles
Date:  Tuesday, September 13, 2011

We finally had a good morning.  It didn’t rain during the night and we were able to pack the tent in comfortable weather.  We were out around 5:10, before the sun, but not before a family of 6 elk who were out for a walk across the road.  It should say something about the frequency of seeing wildlife at this point that I was did not snap a picture.  Rather, I was more impressed with the sunrise coming through the burnt out forest.

The first stop of the day would be Flagstaff, AZ in order to make the CraigsList transaction for the new camera, get an oil change, and have breakfast.  The drive to Flagstaff went by quickly as we gazed at the valley/ravine and giant red rocks formations.  These would be nice previews for our time in Sedona.  The CraigsList deal went down smoothly at the local Target, the Jiffy Lube was able to replace the oil and clean the car quickly, and Dad was ecstatic to have a chicken-fried steak at Denny’s for brunch (without exception, there would be an incident to ruin the meal whenever we’d go there on a family vacation and so we finally stopped going, but my Dad still likes Denny’s and would want to go).  After a series of misguided GPS navigation routes that did/would have taken us on giant loops, we were back on the appropriate highway to Sedona.

We arrived to the outskirts of Sedona via a scenic drive through Oak Creek and Dad happened to notice the sign for our campground, Manzanita Campground, miles before the address we had entered in the GPS (using the address of Manzanita Campground Road, Sedona, AZ should work in the future).  We were greeted by Susan, the friendly campground host, and settled into our site.  Dad cleaned the tarp and tent from the wetness and dirt of the Grand Canyon while I explored the river running behind the campsites and the swimming hole at the end of the campground.

The afternoon’s adventure that day was an unexpectedly off-road, scenic drive through the desert of Sedona.  I’m not exactly sure how we ended up there, but after missing a turn and taking the GPS’ new directions, we ended up on a 12 mile long back-road full of rocks, bumps, and potholes.  We could barely go 5mph for fear of getting a flat tire, but the views of cacti, puffy white clouds in a clear blue sky, and towering rocks with fascinating shapes like ancient ruins and sculptures, and soothing shades of red, tan, and green made us want the road to keep on going for many more miles.

We were also quite alone on the road, except for the occasional tour company vehicle that would whizz pass us and/or stop and ask where in Maryland we were from (deducing from the plates) and if anyone on their tour was from there as well (turns out one women was from Upper Marlboro, MD).

The drive ended on a nice touch when we came across a family of mule deer and paved roads.  At first, we lamented that the GPS had taken us on such a back-country road, but it ended up being for the best, since had we taken the intended road, the landscapes we’d have seen would have paled in comparison.

After the drive through the natural sites of Sedona, we took a drive through the artificial sites of this artsy town.  I really liked the architectural style and look of the buildings, but Dad is not a fan of stucco structures.  The price tag for the properties seemed to indicate that many others liked the style though.   After a drive through the business district, the religious district (where we happened upon the Jewish Community Center and received a Shabbat invitation from the Rabbi and her husband who stopped to inquire about us as they passed us leaving the parking lot), and the residential district (no, we didn’t come across the Hammock district – points if you get The Simpsons reference to one of my favorite episodes).

We concluded our long drive through the hot desert in the air-conditioned car at a trendy ice cream establishment unique to Sedona: Dairy Queen. Dad had a pineapple sundae, I had a milkshake, and we shared some french fries.  While it had been a warm, clear day until then, we started to notice rain clouds forming, so we hurried back to the site so I could make us a quick dinner (we were delayed though by friendly conversations with some Burning-Man-type families camped near us).

Sure enough, around dusk the rain started coming.  We had eaten, cleaned up, and were in the car, so it wasn’t a big deal, but Dad lamented that his earlier cleaning of the tent would now be for naught.  We were in much better shape though than our neighbors, a group of 20-somethings from California that arrived during the rain and after dark and still had to set up camp.  I wanted to go into town to make use of the cell service that night, so rather than wait around the campground, we drove into town early to try to check out the shops, but all except a few eateries were closed.

We returned to the campground late that evening and were glad the rains had stopped.  We had brought the camping fans into the tent earlier thinking it would be a hot night, but it ended up being a cool, relaxing evening.

Sedona was a nice place to spend the day, especially after the Grand Canyon, but I wasn’t too interested in staying longer.  Sedona wasn’t originally on our itinerary, but after my Uncle Sudipta commented that it was one of the best places he’d been and strongly encouraged us to go (and others seconded his view), it was added to the trip. If you are going to be in the area, we now also recommend the stop.  The landscapes are great, there’s trendy shopping and stylish architecture in town, the campground is clean (vault toilets though) and located in a nice spot in the woods by a stream, and Oak Creek on the outskirts of the city is a pleasant drive.  I’m sure there was much more we could have seen and done with more time, but I felt like we hit the key parts and were ready for our next stops on our way to Gallup, New Mexico:  Meteor Crater, The Petrified Forest, and The Painted Desert.

P.S.  The next post probably won’t be until the week of October 3rd due to Rosh Hashanah and my moving out from my current home.

Start:  Zion National Park, UT
Destination:  Grand Canyon – North Rim, AZ
Odometer: 105,719 (start)  105,976 (end) – 257 miles
Date:  Sunday, September 11 – Monday, September 12, 2011

Our great experience at Zion left us excited to the see the most famous canyon in the world:  The Grand Canyon.  Unfortunately, this ended up being the least enjoyable stop on the trip.

The day started with a nice drive featuring red rock mesas and nice cloud formations, but quickly turned on a bad note right upon entry to Arizona in the town of Fredonia.

Fredonia is a small town right over the border into Arizona and styles itself as the “Gateway to the North Rim (of the Grand Canyon).”  Not having the Grand Canyon however, it seems they still profit from the tourists in at least one way:  speeding tickets.  The main road is part of a highway, and so many people, including myself, didn’t notice that the speed limit was dropped to 35 at some point.  Sure enough, the white SUV that was the only other car on the road at that early hour, going the opposite direction, passed us, made a sharp U-turn, hit the lights, and pulled us over.  Seems I was going 55 in a 35 mph zone.  The officer dropped it to 45, but I was still stuck with both a ticket for $118 and the annoyance/sense of violation of being stopped and fined for a victimless offense (BTW, I recommend people join the National Motorists Association, which, amongst other member benefits, has a program that will cover up to $300 for a ticket if you fight it and lose).  I also learned a few days later when I called Fredonia about the ticket that it seems any speeding ticket in Arizona comes with an automatic 3 points, and that would transfer to Maryland.  Fortunately, I called Allstate and learned they don’t re-check for tickets when renewing their auto-insurance policies each 6 months, so I guess I’ll be staying with them for the next three years (as I was planning to anyway).

In addition to what I think is a fairly unique/annoying traffic point policy, Arizona also stands out for not following daylight savings time.  As such, for 6 months of the year, they are one hour behind all the other Mountain Time states.  We became aware of this when we saw the ticket was written for 7am, while our clocks said 8am.  It would have been considerate for Arizona to have declared this idiosyncratic time policy to their welcome signage.

The trip to the Grand Canyon was not without its good turn-of-events.  My cell phone’s battery had died earlier in the trip and when I plugged it in to charge through the USB cable connected to my laptop, nothing would happen.  The lights stayed off and it wouldn’t turn on.  In the past, I could take the battery out and put it back in, and somehow there’d be enough charge left for it to startup, at which point I could plug-in the phone to the laptop and it would charge.  This also wasn’t working.  It occurred to me that morning though that the physical power conducting lines should be connected when connected, so perhaps it’s just a software issue that the phone doesn’t indicate that it’s charging.  As such, I decided to connect the phone, and just leave it potentially charging for the ride.  Sure enough, when we arrived, I habitually picked up the phone to turn it on, and voila, the phone was good as new, as if nothing had happened.  Unfortunately, it would seem that the balance would have be restored for this bit of good fortune.

We arrived to the North Rim a little after 9am (Arizona time) and went from one poor customer service experience to the next.  First, we arrived at the entrance gate and were greeted by a gruff ranger who at a minimum, was not excited to see us.  This is in contrast to the other rangers at park entrances who have greeted us with smiles, gave us the park map and newspaper with a friendly attitude, and genuinely made us feel welcome.

Next, we pulled into the gas station because we wanted to check the tire pressure and perhaps add air.  In addition to learning from the attendant that a horrendous storm had passed through the camp last night and that the camp had WiFi, we ended up paying $2 for him to check and add air to the tires – the cost is $1.35 but no change was given/offered for the $2 proffered.  I get that it’s a gas station that targets tourists, but really, let us fill our own tires for free/50 cents or do it for free as part of being welcoming and good customer service.

A little bit down the road after the station we saw the campground registration desk.  Our registration receipt said that registration wasn’t until 11am, but we saw that someone had pulled up and there was an attendant at the desk.  As such, we pulled up as well, Dad got out of the car, noted in a friendly manner that she was there early, that we didn’t expect anyone to be there until 11am, and jokingly asked if she was open to handle reservation check-ins.   The reply to the question, in a serious voice and face:  “Sir, you’re blocking the way, you’ll have to park over there.”  Now, this registration area is its own section of the entrance, with its own parking lot, which was empty, and no one was coming or going.  Again, I get that it’s the start of the workday and sure, under normal circumstances, we would have and should have parked in a proper parking space instead of the curb in front of her teller window, but you’d think the person staffing the face of the park campground would have a friendly enough personality to react with something like “Yup, I’m open.  I’d be glad to check you in, but can you please park your car in a space first.”

We also had less than desirable experiences at the general store and the deli.  The General Store was adequately stocked, though with price markups corresponding to the fact that they are the only town and store within about 60 miles – and that’s to Jacob Lake, which is mainly basically a forest.  The main thing that stood out was the lack of eye contact, cliquish personality, and curtness.  Even when making a point to say hello, goodbye, or generally talk with the staff, they’d always be looking at something else (this wasn’t just with us).  The staff seems more interested in talking with themselves, and the customers just happen to be there.  And when I happened to queue up at what I thought was an open register that had a clerk behind it, a nearby staff person who I think might have been a manager, curtly pointed to a sign out of my view saying that register was closed and I had to go across the store.  Okay, you’re working at a store isolated in the woods where the weather seems to be rather dreary and the main/only community are co-workers, but that’s no excuse to be rude and dismissive to your customers.

Regarding the deli, it had many of the same issues as the general store.  As we’ll get to later, the weather was such that cooking was not to be recommended, so Dad suggested we check out the restaurants at the Lodge.  The main Lodge restaurant was too overpriced for us to justify, so we went to the deli next door in the complex (again, these are the only places to eat within 90 minutes of the park).  The deli wasn’t inexpensive, but it was reasonable given the circumstances.  I was going to get a hot portobello mushroom sandwich and Dad would get some hot dogs.  That was the plan until I noticed that the “hot sandwiches” they offer are simply microwaved.   There isn’t a toaster.  It’s hard enough making a good mushroom sandwich, and microwaving is not a good sign.  We reconsidered and ended up deciding on sharing a 3-cheese pizza.  Now, we were kinda hungry and I wasn’t inclined to wait for the pizza to cook.  I saw that the per-slice display case had a whole cheese pizza, from which no one had yet ordered.  I inquired/requested that we just be served that one, but was told they could only sell us that one at over $3/slice.  They were unmoved when I criticized that policy, so we resigned ourselves to wait.  The staff at the counter at least made eye-contact and were somewhat personable, but I think the appropriate thing to have done here would have been to ask the manager if an exception could be made in this case (I’d think selling an already made pizza that had been sitting around for a bit and wasn’t selling would be an attractive proposition for them.)  We were then told they’d bring it out to our table, and we could pay at the register and get our drinks now.  After processing a few customers before us, Dad’s card was swiped and in the process, the point-of-sale (POS – funny what that acronym also stands for) computer crashed.  Great.  The manager came over, handled the restart, criticized the frequency of the system going down, and was disinterested in making small chat with my Dad during the wait about his son / my brother also being in the restaurant business and the complaints he’s had regarding the POS systems at his restaurants.  On the up side, the card eventually went through, the pizza was delivered to our table as promised, and was good.

On reflection, the best customer service was by the private concession at the Lodge for the mule rides down the Grand Canyon.  Dad really wanted to see the Colorado River, but the guide was upfront that his tour wouldn’t be what he was looking for, and directed us to the appropriate drive from which the river could be seen.  We didn’t make use of his services, but the guy was friendly and helpful, so we’ll recommend that if you still go to the North Rim after reading this blog, consider patronizing his mule rides.

OK, enough about the them, and back to us and the sites.  The campground itself was nice, our campsite was right across from the bathroom, and Dad used the laundry facility without issue.  We also saw a new type of squirrel:  one with dark fur and a bright white tail.  We put the campsite in order and started our tour of the Grand Canyon.

Our first stop was the visitor center, but on the way we stopped to have brunch at some picnic tables overlooking the canyon.  We could see there was a long way down from where we were looking, but the view was partially blocked by trees, so we continued down the road, past the visitor center, until we came to a clear overlook and a path leading to further viewpoints.

The size of the Grand Canyon immediately hit us with awe.  It is huge in all directions:  deep, wide, and long.  One really doesn’t know where to start, so we started with just taking in the breadth of the canyon.

It should be pointed out that the Grand Canyon is a collection of canyons.  We’re not sure if this is technically true, but from our perspective it is.  While there is one giant hole in the ground, there are so many canyon nooks, each deep, wide, and amazing in its own right.  Moreover, because the Grand Canyon is so big, the scenes and stops are better understood as viewing points to a few of these nooks, rather than a location where one can view the entirety of the Grand Canyon.

Despite the grandeur that was before us, we still wanted more, namely, to see the Colorado River running along the bottom of the canyon.  As my Dad put it, it’s not a canyon scene if you can’t see the river running along the floor.  The views from nearby the visitor center did not provide this opportunity, so we decided to drive up to the two main viewpoints:  cape royal and port imperial.  The road to Port Imperial turned out to be closed that day, so we went to Cape Royal.

The road to Cape Royal is a nice, winding road of about 23 miles (without buffaloes).  There are a few stop offs on the way, but the real stop is at the top.  Once at the top, there is a large parking lot and then a hike of about half a mile through wonderfully fragrant flowers and what we think were spice plants.  The view from Cape Royal is truly grand.  You cannot look out at what is before you and not feel the immensity and uniqueness of what has been created.  In addition, we were able to see a section of the Colorado River from the viewing perch.  We’d later learn that the section of the Colorado River and the bit of land near it was the site of many archaeological finds.

Our stay at Cape Royal also introduced us to the rapidly changing weather patterns of the canyon.  The clouds at the top of the canyon were great, as were the views and wide, colorful vistas that showed the height variations and variety of the canyon better than our view from the visitor center.  It was neat being at or above the clouds and seeing them move and change.  Indeed, when we arrived, it was a bright clear day, but while we were at the end of the trail, a distance from the car,  the storm clouds had formed/rolled in and the rain was starting.  Rather than waiting for the full rain to arrive, we double-timed it back to the car.  Moments after reaching our car, the cloud opened up.  Along with strong rain, there was lightning, hail, fallen rocks in the road, and a fog/mist/cloud that filled the canyon.  We never felt at risk, but were concerned about the tent.

We arrived safely back at the campsite to find the tent upright and seemingly in good shape.  I went inside to check for leakage, and only found a few drops on the floor.  I wasn’t sure where they came from until I looked up and saw that a pool of water had formed at the top of the tent.  I’m not sure if this is a design feature, a flaw, or the result of something we did or did not do (the lantern did not depress the top further than it would have been without it).  We were able to push out from the inside and drain the water off the top, but I was concerned about what would have happened if the rain had continued longer and the pool grew larger.  Feeling no harm no foul however, our esteem for the tent was not reduced and we went on with our day.

The next adventure occurred a few minutes later.  I decided that before we head out to the General Store to wait out the weather and hangout I’d go to the bathroom by the campsite.  I was getting my things together from the car and put my camera in the side pocket of my orange hooded-sweat-jacket.  I had thought at the time that it was not a great place for the camera because it could fall out, but figured I was just going to the bathroom, no problem.  Well, there was a problem.  As I was standing up after doing my business, the camera fell out of the pocket and into the toilet!  I immediately pulled it out of the water and used some toilet paper to dry off the outside.  This camera had been through some bad conditions before, so I thought it might have survived this dowsing.  I tried to turn it on, but got nothing.  I recalled that the battery was just about dead, so I took it to the car, plugged it in, and tried again.  No luck.  More drastic measures would be needed in the car.  I got out my mini-screwdriver set, unscrewed the incredibly small screws securing the case and protecting the inside electronics.  I tried drying the insides off manually, but with little effect.  I’d need something better:  a hand dryer.  I recalled that the bathroom by the visitor center had hand driers, so we raced there, I stopped the car in a no-parking zone in front of it while my Dad stayed with the car, and I rushed the camera to the bathroom/emergency room for its potentially life-saving procedure.   After what was at least 10 minutes of drying, I felt the hand drier had been able to do whatever it was going to be able to do to help the situation.  I returned to the car, Dad reinserted the screws, I plugged the camera in, and hit the on button:  nothing.

I have had this camera, a Kodak EasyShare V530 , since 2005 and we’ve been on many adventures together.  I think I got it for my trip to Israel to replace the last camera I’d had since around 2000.  Now, I knew this camera would eventually have to be replaced and that it had power management issues (I was thinking of getting a new camera for this trip but just decided to buy a new battery), but this is not how I wanted it to go.  Like a valiant soldier getting killed while back-home by a drunk driver, this camera deserved a better end.  I more expected to lose the camera in action by dropping it down a canyon as a tried to get a cool picture.  But alas, here we were.  I had been careless with it one time too many and it finally cost it its functionality.  Let this be a wake-up call to all of you:  appreciate the time you have with your technology and be careful with it.  They deserve a better death than drowning in a toilet bowl.

I had to move beyond the guilt however and deal with the resulting problem:  how to take pictures.  For the short term, we realized we could fall back to my Dad’s iPhone, which he’d been using when he wanted there to be some pictures from our Saturday hikes.  It could take pictures and movies, but the quality was not what we wanted for the rest of the trip.  We thought about going to a nearby town, but that was scratched when, as mentioned before, we learned that Page, AZ is at least 90 minutes away.  We therefore decided to go where we had intended in the first place:  the general store to use the internet.  I’ll spare you the details of the search process, communications, and logistical issues that arose, but we eventually settled on a CraigsList offer for a Samsung Digimax A7 in Flagstaff, AZ, which we’d be driving through after leaving the Grand Canyon on our way to Sedona.

By this time, it was getting close to evening and the weather was still cold and damp, with rain a possibility, so Dad suggested we have dinner at one of the campground eateries.  As mentioned earlier, the Lodge restaurant was expensive, so we went to the deli and ended up having a three-cheese pizza.  We used the internet for a bit at the general store again and then went to bed, hoping that the weather would be better tomorrow.

The next morning was still cold and damp, so we went to the General Store and I worked on the blog until late that morning, when the weather had improved.    Our plan that day was to go back up to the top of the canyon and see if we could see what we were unable to see yesterday due to the weather.  Well, on the way up, we saw some good news:  the road to Port Imperial was open.  We took the road and were curious what new scenes would be available at the port.

Port Imperial did provide some great new angles of the canyon, but will be remembered for the clouds that morning and the burnt forest nearby.  The skyline of the Grand Canyon always seemed to be a mix of briskly moving clouds of either the peaceful-white cloud variety or the dark-grey death cloud variety.  That morning, we could see grey rain clouds right at our level, and they were moving so fast, we could see them climbing over the walls of the canyon.  Many of the parks we visited are also home or nearby managed forest lands.  Managed seems to mean burned at regular intervals.  We had seen many burnt out forests on the drive in (it wasn’t a good sign) but now we were able to see one more up-close since it was visible next to the parking lot.

The drive back up the path to Cape Royal was definitely better today than it was yesterday.  We stopped at the “Greenland Lake,” which wasn’t that impressive a site, but apparently is of geologic interest as a sinkhole according to the information placard.

We also stopped at the overlooks that we had skipped previously on the way down.  Again, there were some nice views of the canyon from different angles, but nothing particular new.  We made it to the summit again, but the rain clouds were already there to meet us.  We watched the rain, hail, and lightning storm from the car, both because it was neat to watch and because it was too misty to drive down safely.  We were definitely glad we didn’t go on the mule ride.  The storm eventually lessened (these giant storms come and go and don’t seem to last more than an hour) and we went back to our hangout at the General Store (we were glad they weren’t charging rent to us, and the many others who were taking refuge / loitering there).

Space was at a premium at the store for tables and internet, but there wasn’t much else to do (there was little to no cell service) and we were committed to working on the blog.  What should have taken less than an hour in normal circumstances, took several hours and the rest of the day at the store.  The WiFi was fast at times, but most of the time, the signal would fluctuate between 0 and 4 bars, usually towards the lower end.  We kept our patience though and got done as much as we could.

We took a break for dinner around 6:30 and decided to make our last two ready-heat meals and eat in the car since the weather was still unpleasant.  Dad had the pepper-steak and rice and I had the vegetarian lasagna.  We joked while we ate about the context that these were intended for, e.g. let’s see what spices we’ll have while we wait out the apocalypse in our bomb shelter.

After dinner, I took a nice hot shower while Dad worked on the computer until the General Store closed at 8.  Bored and tired, we went to bed early that night, anxious to leave, pickup my camera in Flagstaff, and enjoy Sedona.

Overall, I’m glad we came to the Grand Canyon, but several things could have been better.  The Grand Canyon is viscerally and geologically impressive, but aesthetically, the canyon’s we’d seen earlier at Zion and Yellowstone, were better.  The Grand Canyon in some ways suffers from what makes it great:  it’s just too big.  We couldn’t really see or get to the floor to fully experience its depth, the rock walls are mostly the same color and texture without much diversity or spectrum, and the walls are more like steep hills rather than sheer drops.  I also wasn’t aware of the weather patterns at the Grand Canyon.  For obvious reasons, the pictures I’d seen of the canyon have been of a warm, clear, sunny day, and so I figured storms like that which we experienced were rare, as opposed to the norm.  The weather did not make for an enjoyable stay at the canyon or the campground.  Also, I figured the North Rim would have a tourist town around it, but it is rather isolated and the people and amenities at the park left things to be desired.    Our desire to see the Grand Canyon though was fulfilled and did lead to many great stories and shared experiences with my Dad, so in the final sum, I’m glad we went.  Your experiences, results and reactions may vary.

Start: Antelope Island State Park, UT
Destination: Zion National Park, UT
Odometer: 104,996 (start)  105,719 (end)   723 miles
Date:  Thursday, September 8th,  2011 – Saturday, September 10th, 2011

Today was going to be the start of our three day stay in Zion National Park, in Hurricane, Utah.  The road to Zion started at 5:15am and had one minor and two major stop offs before hand.

The first stop off was to a local supermarket.  The previous night’s dinner had emptied our food supply and while we thought we would have to stop at a supermarket close to Zion or during normal business hours, a few minutes out from the park we came across a Smith’s 24 hour supermarket that was anything but empty.

Dad introduced himself/ourselves upon our entry to the store by telling the clerk that he never thought he’d be one of those crazy people actually shopping at this hour.  The clerk assured him that he wasn’t that crazy.  The staff there was very friendly and helpful and we would recommend patronizing their business.  We bought some ice, some hummus, apples and oranges, tuna fish, veggie burgers, and some other sundries.  We re-packed the items into ziploc bags, filled the cooler and trunk, and headed off to our first major stop before Zion:  Bingham Canyon Copper Mine, the first open-pit mine, and still one of the largest in the world.

We arrived at the mine around 7:30am, but visitors aren’t allowed until 8.  I used the time to post a message about our technical difficulties via my Dad’s iPhone and check email.

Shortly after 8, we paid our $5/car admission fee (which goes to charity) and journeyed up a two-mile road to the visitor center.  We saw a short film, toured the exhibits, looked into the currently .75 miles deep, 2 miles wide mine as the trucks and workers did their jobs.  It is a site to behold.  The Objectivist in me was awed and inspired.  It was interesting seeing the processes for handling the material and making a profitable mine out of what is around 1% copper ore in the rocks.  They produce around 20% of the country’s copper needs.

After our morning of tourism work at the mine, we stopped for lunch at the nice new public library near the foot of the mine.  We used the library’s bathroom (which had very powerful electric hand dryers) and commented on the new housing being built on the mountains across from the mine and how they seemed rather susceptible to water and erosion issues, yet were probably twice as expensive.

Satisfied with our peanut butter sandwiches, we headed up to Zion.  The drive was pleasant and scenic, featuring the Utah mountain ranges again.  Before reaching Zion National Park, we took our second intended stop at Kolob Canyon National Park, which was a 5-mile scenic ride up winding red roads to view five massive red rock formations that formed a canyon.  The red color theme, that comprised the road and the rock, created a landscape unlike any other I had seen.  Around every turn, we were awed by the view and excited to see more.

After our Kolob Canyon appetizer, we proceeded onto our main course: Zion National Park.  Once entering Zion, it’s 20 miles to the campground/visitor center.  On the way to the campground, we saw wide vistas of mountains, yellows, reds, and browns.  Zion canyon itself is a narrow canyon with sheer vertical walls rising between 1400 and 3500 feet above the floor (which is already 4000+ feet above sea level).  It was really something to wonder at.  This immense canyon was formed by the unassuming Virgin river, which appears much like our local creek back home.

We arrived at our campsite and were glad that we had made reservations, since the campground was sold-out, were glad we were next to the bathroom, since having to walk a distance in the morning is rather annoying, and were glad we chose that campground, since we had incredible views of the surrounding mountains.

We wasted little time after setup to get on the Park shuttle bus to go on a 13 mile ride along the length of the canyon.  From  Angels Landing, to the Court of the Patriarchs, to Cathedral Mountain, to the Temple of Sacrifice and more, one could not blame the Mormon settlers for the spiritual and regal emotions that were evoked by the massive walls of the canyons.

The tour had given us a good sense of what we wanted to see in the subsequent days ahead, but for now, we just wanted to get the lay of the land and get back to our site.  However, two events of note occurred along the way.  First, as we walked to our campsite from the visitor center, we noticed a park ranger and another woman trying to push a giant RV out of a parking spot while the boyfriend/husband steered.  Sensing a hand was needed, we walked right over and started to push.  Turns out the RV needed to be pushed out, then forward, and back again in order to align it properly so it could take the jump and start (we don’t understand why this had to be the case either).  I was impressed we were able to move it, but sure enough, a few minutes later, the RV was properly aligned and everyone was appreciative of our help.

We were still hungry, so we continued back to the site and I made dinner.  Here our second fortunate occurrence came when I heard a rustling behind me in the bushes.  I thought it was someone walking through our site, but it turned out to be a some-thing, namely a mule deer grazing around the campground.

The next morning we slept in a bit, in that we didn’t leave the campground until around 7am, at which point we headed over to Bryce Canyon about two hours away.  This is an amazing drive.  First, there is the 13-mile scenic highway out of Zion, that takes one through a 1.1 mile tunnel through solid sandstone, yellow and brown rock formations made from layered rock, the Checkerboard Mesa, stone arches, and many other great landscapes.

We arrived at 10:15am at Bryce Canyon, and naturally had peanut butter sandwiches for brunch. Shortly before 11, we started on the 18 mile scenic drive that had many notable stop offs.  We really can’t detail them all here.  There were so many pictures and so many great views.  The red sandstone Hoodoos looked like settlements/cities.  The best spot though was Inspiration Point, which consisted of  three sections, two of which  were very steep, long climbs along a path, but very well worth it.  We looked down several thousand feet to the ground below.  We had wanted to do the Navajo trail recommend by my Aunt, but it was late, lightning was occurring, and storm clouds were on the horizon.   She also recommend the Route 12 scenic drive, so we opted for that one instead.

The drive took us to Escalante, UT and gave us more great views of colorful sandstone formations and what seemed to be parts of the canyon floor we saw from the top of Bryce Canyon.  We were glad we took the drive, and wanted to go farther, but time and weather were against it.  We were a minimum of three hours away from Zion and it was raining.

Part of the fun on the way back was speculating on what the weather would be at Zion based on the clouds in the distance.  The sky was full of grey rain clouds, except for a small spot of bright blue sky.  We hoped that spot was over Zion.

Before we arrived back at camp, we again had to stop at the store for bread.  We found a “local”/tourist grocery store and I ran in to make the purchase while Dad made some calls.  When I returned to the car, Dad nearly passed out after hearing the cost for the loaf (over $4) and inquired what kind it was, which forced me too look closer.  I’m glad he asked, because it led me to see what I had missed in the store:  mold.  Upset about being sold moldy bread, but feeling rushed for time, I simply ran back to the store, showed the bread to the manager, and exchanged it for a fresh loaf.  Bread in hand, we hurried back to camp.

On the way back to Zion, we again drove on the scenic highway, this time seeing some goats walking along the angled rocks with ease.  This was nice, but it also backed up traffic.  We were also further delayed at the tunnel, which was normally a two-way tunnel but was being treated as a one-way for some reason and we had to wait for the oncoming traffic to clear out. We made it back to camp shortly before sundown and I made a hasty Shabbat dinner.

As I was making dinner however, we were pleasantly interrupted by a park ranger who had stopped in front of our site.  She walked over to us and at first,  I was nervous, but then we recognized her as the officer whom we had helped push the RV out of the parking space .  We left that incident not thinking much of it, but the officer did, and had found us to present us with two official Junior Park Ranger badges.  It was a nice interaction to end the day.  We had a nice meal, went to the ranger talk to learn about nocturnal animals (we know more now about owls than we ever thought we would), and went to bed.

The next morning we again slept in until 7, and went for two hikes around 8.  One hike went along the river side of the Virgin river (where I managed to pet a rock squirrel), and the other took us to an emerald lake, i.e. one filled with algae.  We also visited the Human History Museum to watch a movie about the history of the area and park.

The rest of the day was spent around camp relaxing, resting, and reading.  The weather that day had been good, but near nightfall, as we were thinking about dinner, we heard thunder and dark clouds were above us.  We prepared the tent (Dad put a large tarp over everything inside), and took refuge in the car.  There was a large tree near our tent and Dad had visions of it falling on us during a storm.  It was eventually dark, and the rains had not yet come.  We saw our park ranger friend again (we unfortunately didn’t get her name), who advised that the storm was likely going to be south of the campground, but that could quickly change.  It was cold, dark, and possibly going to rain, so Dad advised we head into town for dinner.  We found a hip pizza place in town and enjoyed a vegetarian pizza together.

Zion had been all we had heard, and more.  It really is what it claims to be:  a canyon.  Steep, vertical walls stretching 1500-3500 feet above the ground, a narrow space between the walls and a river running along the floor.  It was also reasonably sized, at 13 miles long, such that we could experience its entire length.  We had a great time.  All of this would contrast sharply with our next destination:  The Grand Canyon.

Start: Yellowstone National Park, Madison Campground
Destination: Antelope Island State Park, UT
Odometer: 104,477 (start)  104,996 (end)   519 miles
Date:  Wednesday, September 7th,  2011

(Coming to you from Safeway in Estes Park, CO – Rocky Mountains)

Again, we had an early start on the day thanks to the weather.  This time, instead of wind, it was the cold.  Dad and I were up around 3:30 as usual, but it was rather cold and we had no interest in trying to go back to sleep in it.  So, we broke camp and were on the road, before the sun, at 4:40.  It was a good thing, because we had a long driving day ahead of us and could use the time.

The first stop was Craters of the Moon in Arco, Idaho.  The drive to and through Idaho was rather uneventful, aside from getting two state welcome signs, seeing some nice hills, and searching for available and inexpensive 87-octane gas along the rural highways of Idaho (what’s with the 85 octane gas out West?).   We arrived around 9am and I made use of their very nice bathroom facilities to change clothes and clean up a bit.

We were off to an interesting start when we went to pay our entrance fee, and were told to pay at the entrance gate, but there may not be anyone there yet, so just drive in and please pay on the way out.

Craters of the Moon, as we learned, is the remains of a 2,000 year eruption and the ensuing lava bed.  Usually, when these places say recent, they mean in the past few hundred thousand, if not millions of years, so this is a very recent geological event.  The remains of this eruption are wavy lava flows, i.e. cascades, sparkling lava cinders, lava “bombs,” colored rock formations, mountains/hills of pumice rock, and an ecosystem of flora and fauna that make their homes in this seemingly uninhabitable landscape.  Highlights of the stop were looking into and sticking my hand into various holes left from the erupting volcanic cones, learning that Aa (ah-ah) is a word for rough, jagged lava (though it apparently is not valid for scrabble or boggle, which spell it with an apostrophe: A’a). and asking a lot of question of the park ranger on duty who was happy to have someone genuinely interested and amazed by the park.  We stayed a bit longer than expected, but were on the road to the Great Salt Lake a little after 11.

The drive to the Salt Lake was great.  There was a nice mountain range to our left for most of the ride south and traffic wasn’t a problem.  We stopped for our first restaurant meal of the trip at a Subway in Tremonton, UT for lunch, where my Dad for the first time enjoyed the sandwich he got at a Subway.  I was able to check my email on the road and learned that I received a contract  to build a bill tracking and reporting system for a lobbying firm I interviewed during my dissertation research.  My Dad and I had some good discussions on the way, and the time went by quickly.

We arrived to the gate of Antelope Island State Park around 4 and after paying our entry fee of $3, had a scenic ride on a 7-mile causeway through the Great Salt Lake to the island.  I was disappointed to learn that, somewhat like the opposite of The Prisoner, you can leave The Island whenever you want, but can’t get back in after sunset/8:30.  My cell phone had lost power and wasn’t charging, so I was hoping to stop at a cell phone place that evening, but this curfew put the kibosh on that plan.

After getting on the island, a few wrong turns, and a stop at the visitor center, we arrived at the island’s campground.  At first, we were concerned by the dozens of teenagers gallivanting about.  Honestly, I thought we were going to be camping next to a Mormon-teen camping retreat or something, but it turned out to be kids hired for summer labor to trim the outgrowth of sunflowers around the campground.  They were gone by the time we returned that evening.

We had been looking forward to relaxing in the Salt Lake all day, and so we speedily setup the tent, though with some difficulty due to the gravel base which the tent stakes had to pierce, and prepared to head to the beach.  This campground had vault toilets, i.e. no flush, just a toilet cover to a hole of sewage, and no showers, so rather than going down the path to the beach by the campsite, we drove a bit down the road to the main tourist spot which had flush toilets and showers.

Until this point, my image of the Great Salt Lake mainly consisted of seeing it on maps of the country and my experience at the Dead Sea in Israel.  I actually didn’t know that the Great Salt Lake also had the salinity to create the forced-floating effect most associated with the Dead Sea; however, even the ranger at the visitor center admitted the lake was not up to the salinity of the Dead Sea.  Nonetheless, once its floating capacity was realized, our excitement for getting in the water increased further.

We arrived at the beachhead and were glad to see that there were only a few other people at the beach within site.  We carried our chairs and towels to an isolated spot, put on our suntan lotion, and ventured forth.

The first thing that puzzled us was the structure of the beach.  Back on the east coast, and most beaches we’ve been to, there’s just the sand and then the ocean/sea/lake. Here, there is a lengthy beachhead of sand with many rocks within it.  This leads to a pool of water a few hundred feet out that leads to a sandbar island.  Then, beyond the sandbar is the whole Salt Lake.

We were also both rather naive/uneducated about how to enjoy the Great Salt Lake.  In our minds, this spot would be like a beach.  And like at a beach, one can, and usually would, walk to and into the water in one’s bare feet, and so that’s what we did.  With each successive step however, we regretted and experienced the pain resulting from our naivety.  In short: the floor of both the pool, the sandbar, and the lake, is covered by rocks that are either large, sharp, or both.  We kept thinking this would be a temporary condition, so we continued forward, not wanting to have to return to the beach for my sandals or the campsite for Dad’s shoes.  Aside from the pain on our feet, there was also the related issue of stability and falling, so we each leaned and held onto each other as we walked on the rocky floor.  In addition to the rocks, there were the bugs.  We think they are called Brine Flies, but regardless, they are incredibly small, but travel in swarms of what must be thousands on the edges where the water and sand meet.  They did not bite, but we had to step and tolerate their swarms as we advanced towards our goal of enjoying the Great Salt Lake that we had been looking forward to.

 

After what seemed like an hour, if not an eternity, we crossed the pool, passed the sandbar, and were in the Great Salt Lake. Again, our expectation of the lake was incorrect.  The pool by the beach was shallow, but that didn’t seem unusual.  When we first entered the lake, it was also shallow, which was not unusual.  However, when one has walked out nearly 100’ into the lake, and the water is barely at one’s knees, that is unusual.  We weren’t sure if we were in the right spot, if we could float here, or what we should be doing.    So we took our next cue from a couple a few hundred feet to the right of us.  The husband was floating in the water and seemingly having a good time.  So we walked back to the rocky sand, and walked barefoot again to where they were to ask for some guidance.

First, we were told what we had already learned by painful example:  you’re expected to wear shoes (the guy offered to sell us his for $300).  Second, the water is not deep and it wasn’t just our section.  Third, despite the shallowness, one can and is expected to do the salt-water float in that limited depth.  Fourth, there were fewer rocks in his section of the lake about 20’ into the water.

Newly wiser, we again walked into the water leaning on each other for support and finally arrived at a minimally rocky part of the lake and attempted to finally enjoy the water.

As I mentioned in the post about our stop in Thermopolis, my Dad is not a water person.  He dislikes getting wet and losing control of his body to the waves and the salt.  However, he was excited to be in the Lake.  I don’t share this aversion, so I tested out the water for us.  Sure enough, despite the water being maybe a foot or so deep, I could lean back, my legs were pushed up by buoyancy, and it was like I was in the Dead Sea again.  Seeing it could be done, the next challenge was getting my Dad as close to floating as possible.  We crafted a support system where he felt comfortable leaning back while he could hold on to me, and a few seconds later, he felt the effect and was laughing with joy.  Despite the hardship of getting out here, it paid off and we had a very enjoyable and memorable few minutes in the Great Salt Lake together.  This helped mitigate the pain we had to endure as we again walked the distance back to the beach.

When we returned to the car, I kept thinking that we had gone to the wrong part of the island, and that there was a nicer, more typical, beach-like area.  The map didn’t indicate that there were any other areas for swimming, but I was undeterred and also intrigued to see the rest of the the island.  We dried off a bit and started to drive.

The island is long and narrow, and offers many great views of the lake, some nicely colored salt beds, wild flowers, some wild animals (including of course, what any island in the middle of a salt lake would be expected to have:  buffalo), and nice hills/mountains.  We drove for an hour or so, but had to turn back early, since several sections of the road are gated at dusk and we did not want to be locked in.

And so, we drove back to the beachhead to shower and prepare for bed.  Being back at the Lake, I couldn’t resist returning to the waters one last time, being better prepared.  While my Dad organized his things and took the first shower (at a cost of $1/4-minutes), I walked back to the water.  I must admit that the Lake is quite enjoyable once one has the proper footwear.  I could quickly walk through the pool, over the sandbar, and into the Lake.  I walked several hundred feet out, floated, dunked myself a few time and enjoyed the sting of the water in my eyes, and appreciated the landscape around me and the experience of the island.  This time, I also brought my camera and was able to capture the beautiful sunset, which aside from having very nice shades of purple, occurred very quickly, as if the sun was dropped and free falling into the abyss.

I returned to the beach, had a nice warm shower, and we returned to the campsite after dark to have a late dinner.  We went to bed exhausted after a full, fun day in four different states, and looking forward to having sanctuary for three days in Zion National Park.

Start: Alpine, WY – Greys River Cove RV Park
Destination: Yellowstone National Park, Madison Campground
Odometer: 104,189 (start)  104,477 (end)   288 miles
Date:  Tuesday, September 6th,  2011

Again, nature can be the best alarm clock.  Thanks to some strong and persistent winds, and our general sense of alertness at the hour, we had broken camp and were on the road to Yellowstone around 5:30 in the morning.

To get to Yellowstone, we went through Grand Teton National Park, instead of along side it as the day before.  We were able to see some beautiful landscapes during sunrise, see the roaming buffalos at Moose, get a closer view of the Grand Teton Mountain range, and cross the continental divide.  It was a pleasant, quick, and rather uneventful drive through mostly thick forests.

We reached Yellowstone a little after 8 and asked the ranger at the gate when the next eruption of Old Faithful would be.  We were informed there’d be one around 9, so we headed straight for the Old Faithful geyser. Despite our efforts, we were stymied by a slower moving car that could not be legally or safely passed.  We arrived at the Old Faithful visitor center to see its 9:07 eruption from the distance.  We’d have to wait another 90 minutes or so for its next performance.

Rather than leaving to go set up camp and come back, which would be a 30 minute drive each way, we decided to have breakfast at the visitor center, check out the post office and exhibits, and try to get a good seat.

Old Faithful is not the biggest geyser around, but its certainly the most famous.  It gets its name from the fact that its eruption is frequent, occurs roughly every 90 minutes, and has been keeping the same schedule for decades.  As such, an old and faithful tourism industry can, and has been, built around it.  The park contains hundreds, if not thousands, of geysers, which dot the park both along the road and in the distance.  Seeing steam coming from the ground is a normal occurrence that is part of the landscape.  I did not realize that Yellowstone, and much of the region surrounding it, used to be a volcano and is still thermally very active.

Waiting for Old Faithful to erupt was a somewhat odd experience.  Everyone knows what will happen, and has seen/heard about it, but wants to experience it first-hand.  The anticipation for what amounts to an event of a couple of minutes has been building for minutes, hours, days, or a lifetime, depending on the person.  However, before the eruption, there really isn’t much happening: just steam coming out of a hole with a whole lot of people watching.  As such, most people are just sitting around waiting, and waiting, and waiting.  This wait however is punctured several times by teases, as some extra splashes of water emerge from the hole in the ground or the steam rises a few additional feet.  Then, finally, without much warning: eruption.  Water is shot over a hundred feet in the air, and its vapor continues to rise, as if a cloud, into the sky.  While I had thought everyone would be standing up and pushing to get a better view, I was pleasantly surprised by the rather silent awe that came upon the crowd as most sat and gazed at this spectacle of nature. The design of the viewing gallery also helped, by only being two rows deep, but encircling the geyser wide enough for everyone to have a good viewing angle.

What was odd about this experience was the sense that this was nature, but it was also a somewhat human-produced show, like a play or skit we’d all come to see.  The ways that people and parks civilize, control, and commercialize nature is something that I’ll be thinking about during this trip.

After Old Faithful, we headed over to our campground to get set up.  But first we took an unplanned stop at the Black Sands Basin.  This was a highlight of the trip, I dare say more than Old Faithful.  The Black Sands Basin had waters of light blues, steam of bright white, sands of tan and yellow, and wild ducks of a shade of grey we had never seen.  It was great just walking around the pools and sands and feeling the hot mud.

The campgrounds were also quite nice.  The check-in process was longer than desired, but we’d highly recommend the Madison Campground.  Our campsite was large, we were next to the bathroom, and there was a path to the river behind our site which we were able to take.

After setting up our campsite, we headed off to start the Upper Loop of the park.  There were so many great sites along this road, but a few stand out.

First, are the Artists Pots.  We didn’t really know what these were, but had heard that they were a key place to visit.  Initially, we were quite disappointed.  There was a long walk to the area, the length of which we were not aware of.  We came to what looked like a few pools of water on a hill, and were unimpressed, especially after seeing the Black Sands Basin.  You can’t go this far and not go farther though, so we went to the right and started on the loop around the hill.  We’re glad we did, because the Artists Pots got better the further along the path we went.  The array of bubbling colors, from oranges to whites to blues, and the whole panorama when one reaches the top of the hill are quite a scene.

The next stop was the Virginia Cascades, but the cascades ended up being the side story of that stop.  The road to the cascades is a one-lane, one-way road that travels along the river, and as such has many turns to it.  The drive was pleasant, but then, coming around a bend, there was something coming down the road, going the wrong direction on the one-way road:  a buffalo.  We had been warned that buffalo are rather docile, but can become agitated and can travel up to 30mph.  I managed to stop the car a fair distance away, but was concerned about the cars I knew were coming up behind me being able to see and stop after coming around the turn.  Also not helping was the emergence of a second buffalo from around the bend.

The first rule in a situation like this is:  Don’t Panic. The buffalo were moving slow enough, so I focused my attention on the cars coming from behind me.  I prepared to have to drive forward, but readied myself to honk the horn for when they came around the turn.  Fortunately, the horn did not startle the buffalo and the car behind us was able to stop and pull to the side.  I then proceeded to go in reverse to park on the side of the road.  The other car seemed awed and unconcerned, so I backed up behind them and the second car that arrived, to be the third in the line (I had no interest in being the first car they’d meet and was reminded of the saying about bears and just having to be faster than the slowest person in the group).

I’m glad to report this situation passed without incident.  I was able to snap some up-close pictures of the buffalo, the car was undamaged, and we had a cool story to tell.  On the downside, we ended up missing the good viewing spot for the cascades. Oh well, we’ve seen cascades before.

After the cascades came the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River.  At first, I thought this was going to be a cheap attempt at gaining attention by throwing the Grand Canyon in there, sort of like a place being the New York City of Nebraska (no offense intended to Nebraska).  Again, our low expectations turned out to be completely incorrect.  This is an amazing canyon (and since I’m writing this after leaving the Grand Canyon, will add that we appreciated this canyon much more).  This canyon has a huge waterfall of light-green water, with canyon walls of 800-1200 feet high, containing an array of colors and textures throughout.  Each viewing spot offered a new and impressive view of the canyon.  We did both the north and south rim, and were continually awed.  I had not heard of this canyon before, but it should be on everyone’s site-to-see list.

Further along the loop, we came to a drive that led up to Mount Washburn, which is the tallest mountain in Yellowstone, more than 10,000 feet high.  This “road” is a turn that needs to be taken while already on a sharp turn, is more gravel than road, and more steep than flat.  This turn-off was my idea, and I was starting to regret it, for fear we’d end up with a flat tire.  I remembered seeing other cars of less quality than ours go up and down however, so I relaxed.  That was until, again, there was a buffalo in the road walking down towards us.  While there was no one behind us, there was also no one around us in case something happened.  Falling back to what worked before, I stopped the car on the side, made no sudden movements, and let him continue on his way; which he did.  (We had a discussion later, with no solid conclusion, on whether, if a buffalo charges, it would be better to:  a) stay still b) accelerate towards it c) put the car in neutral d) speed backwards in reverse…what would you advise?) We finally made it to the top of the hill, and were glad we did the drive.  The view of the planes and mountains of Yellowstone were unparalleled.

We also stopped at some water falls, at some viewpoints of misc. mountains, at a petrified tree, and at a herd of buffalo crossing the road.  These were all on the way to our intended destination of the Mammoth Springs, which was the last main stop-off on the loop.  I knew little of this place, and in my head had the image of a large hot spring were one might bath again, similar to Thermopolis.  While the resort area built up around this Spring may have had a bath house, the free public attraction was just a hill with a lengthy boardwalk that took one up to the top of the Spring.  We were both tired, so we started at the bottom to see if it would be worth our time and energy.  We were impressed with what we saw.  There was an exhausted mineral fountain and what looked like ski slaloms and platforms of white, grey, and various shades of brown formed by the mineral deposits. This was the bottom, so the top must be better, right?  Well, not really.  After a steep walk 300 feet up the hill, and probably a mile long, with a few terraces along the way, we came to the peak to see a dried out pool of white minerals and a view of the resort.  Unlike the Artists Pots, this Mammoth Springs started strong and ended weak.

On the plus side, Mammoth Springs was a few miles from the border with Montana, so we took a detour north to add the envisioned “Welcome to Montana” sign to our collection.  After a few steep, winding roads, we came to a river with a little bridge and a sign we almost missed: “Entering Montana.”  It was a bit anti-climatic, but we got the picture, crossed the line, turned around, and started the journey back to our campsite.

Our journey back required us to go back again through Mammoth Springs, but this time, as we went around its traffic circle, we were greeted by, what we think are, elk, grazing on the grass in the center.

After gawking and snapping pictures along with a few other cars for a few minutes, we continued on our way.  By this time, the sun was setting and we were racing it back to the campground.  We lost that race, but were glad we did, because we were able to see some great sunset landscapes containing a marvelous spectrum of purples and pinks.

We arrived at our campsite around 8:10.  We had been traveling the Upper Loop for about 9 hours, but the time flew by.  We bought a nice block of ice from the automated ice-vending machine, had a late dinner, and went to bed.

We were only spending a day in Yellowstone, but we could easily have spent several.  It is an amazing place, and we made the most of our day in it.  We saw famous and not so famous geysers, more buffalo than we’d have liked, and beautiful mineral pools and formations.

Tomorrow, we head into Idaho to visit Craters of the Moon, then south to visit and camp at Antelope Island State Park, in the Great Salt Lake of Utah.

Start: Thermopolis, WY – Eagle RV Park and Campground
Destination: Alpine, WY – Greys River Cove RV Park
Odometer: 103,909 (start)  104,189 (end)   280 miles
Date:  Monday, September 5th,  2011

The previous night in the cold caught us unprepared, but this night/morning, we fortified ourselves.  The insulated blanket on the cot was a big help for my Dad, and my sleeping bag provided adequate warmth (my sleeping bag has been in our family since I was a kid and I have gotten great use from it…I think Gail (a friend of mine and of the family) gave it to us.  On the other hand, my Dad’s sleeping bag I got when I opened an account at a bank a few years ago).

We left the campground around 6:30, and headed down the road a couple of miles to the Thermopolis Hot Springs State Park, the “World`s Largest Mineral Hot Springs” (it’s written on a mountain, so it must be true).  It being Labor Day, we were concerned there would be crowds.

The park is always open for people to walk around, but the bath house didn’t open until 8am.  We took this time to drive around looking for the Buffalo they apparently had in the park, walking over the intentionally wobbly suspension bridge over the Wind river, and checking out the various mineral springs that dotted the park.

We didn’t see any buffalo, despite several loops around the drive. Turns out they don’t really come out until later in the morning when they are fed.  Little did we know, we would soon get to the point where seeing buffalo would become mundane, if not annoying (more on that in future posts).

The walk over the bridge was a short, but pleasant walk, with a nice view of the river and park.  I had fun rocking the bridge through some simple harmonic motion vibrations while my Dad and I were on it.  He became a might nervous, but it was all in good fun.

It was around 8, so we headed over to the mineral bath house.  We met up with a local who had returned after several month away who educated us.  Amongst other things, we learned a reason that the bath is free, is that this was part of the deal they signed with the Indians when acquiring the land.  (The water slide park however was not free.)   He also knew the staff people, and we were able to get in a few minutes early.

Neither of us has been to a mineral hot spring before, so we didn’t know what to expect.  I am used to, and enjoy hot tubs, but my Dad is water averse, and made an exception for this park.  At first, I was annoyed that we were supposedly only allowed to stay in the water for 20 minutes, so we quickly readied ourselves in the bathroom and went to the outdoor pool (there’s an inside one too).

We were both glad we made this stop on the trip.  It was great.  The water is 104° and we could feel the difference between it and regular water.  There were stone blocks in the pool for sitting, and railings to keep from floating away or resting one’s head.  It seems there is quite a local community of bathers who come each morning, because before we knew it, there were near a dozen retirees in the pool with us.  I can definitely see why they would settle in this area.

After more than 20 minutes (they weren’t strict on the time, and it can be uncomfortable to actually stay in the water much longer), we showered off and got dressed.  We not only felt refreshed, but our skin complexion had noticeably improved.  We highly recommend you make this park a stop on your trip if you’re going to be nearby.  The GPS was set for Alpine, WY, and we were off.

There were more great landscapes along the drive in Wyoming, but the one that stood out was when we saw a mountain in the distance, behind some mist.

At first, I thought they were the Rocky Mountains, but Dad was better aware of geography, and dissented.  We eventually realized that they were the Grand Tetons.  They are an impressive range of mountains, with peaks reaching over 10,000 feet and appearing to touch the clouds.  As my Dad noted, the surfaces are bare and the beauty of the mountain is not blocked by the presence of trees and other vegetation.  There also seems to be a constant haze around them, even when on the road right next to the them.  As described by a friend of mine who recommended this stop, they do rise majestically from the flat planes that surround it.

Also along the way, in Moose, WY we saw, a few hundred feet from the road, a herd of buffalo grazing and wasting the time of day.  We looked at them through the binoculars my Dad had brought, impressed by our first buffalo sighting of the trip.

We were also  fortunate on this trip to find, along the side of the road, a nice picnic area next to a reservoir.  We had some peanut butter and honey sandwiches, watched a family having fun on the water in their motor boat, and had a nice Labor Day picnic of sorts.

Now, we had originally planned to stay in Jackson (Hole), WY.  We soon realized that Jackson is an expensive resort town, where even a campsite was over $40.  As we drove through, noticing the fancy SUVs and stores, we realized this was not our kind of place and were glad we were staying elsewhere.

Our destination was definitely not of the Jackson, WY type.  The campground office is located in the tavern, the bartender handles the reservations, and there is a Family Dollar conveniently next door.  She was friendly and we were checked in without incident, but we were definitely in the more every-day sort of Wyoming.  The views and proximity to the river, the free WiFi, and hot showers were also nice features of the campground.

For dinner that night, I sauteed/fried the perogies with some spices (I wasn’t confident in my ability to boil water).  They turned out well, but we also finished off the apples and the Morningstar Maple “sausage patties” that had been sitting in the cold water in the cooler.  Everything turned out great.  It was nice having a good, full meal after the long drive.

After dinner, I had a much needed shower, and we went to the Family Dollar to buy some misc. items, namely a gallon of water, some metal forks, and paper towels.  I made use of the internet to send some emails and post on the blog, while my Dad relaxed in the tent.

We went to bed as the only campers in the site (there were RVs along the perimeter), ready to experience Yellowstone in the morning.  The 40mph winds during the night ended up giving us an early start on that journey.

Start: Badlands National Park, Interior, SD
Destination: Thermopolis, WY – Eagle RV Park and Campground
Odometer: 103,400 (start)  103,909 (end)   509 miles
Date:  Sunday, September 4th,  2011

Well, two out of three ain’t bad.  For the first time this trip, we had a night completely without rain and without wind.  However, it was our first night of cold weather:  around 40 degrees.  Neither of us slept particularly well, but my Dad’s sleeping bag wasn’t closed around him, and the cot surface was cold as well, so needless to say, he had a cold, uncomfortable night.  I didn’t realize how bad he had it until the morning, but once I knew, was able to educate him about the need for insulation under him and a sealed sleeping bag.  We found the extra blanket when we had packed and set it aside for use the next night.

We were both anxious to get out of the cold and on the road, so we were out by 6:15 and planned to have breakfast at our first stop of the day: Mt. Rushmore.  We arrived a little after 8 and finished off our bagel and lox supply, under the watchful eyes of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln (Teddy and Tom apparently had something better to look at).

Mt. Rushmore is an impressive engineering and artistic accomplishment.  In my head though, it was always very large.  Now that I was seeing it in person, it seemed kinda small (each head is “only” about 60’ tall) and Jefferson’s skin/stone wasn’t lookin’ too good.  In addition to getting our standard tourist photographs, we learned that those presidents were chosen to represent a characteristic of America in its first 150 years:  Washington-Birth, Jefferson-Expansion, Lincoln-Preservation, and Roosevelt-Development.  We opted not to walk the Presidential Trail leading to the base of the mountain (to look up Washington’s nose), but I would have done a longer walk if it took us to the top of the mountain.  After getting a picture near the NH state pillar and filling our water bottles with water that was recently found to be above the EPA’s new arsenic level, we headed back to the car around 10am to depart on the roughly 6-hour drive to Thermopolis, WY.

The drive through Wyoming was/is amazing.  The sky really seems bigger there and every stretch of road had a new mountain, rock formation, or cliff to gaze at in wonder.  The traffic was light, but we were delayed by frequent stops to take photographs of the landscape.  We’re looking forward to our future drives through the state.

We arrived around 4 at Eagle RV Park.  This campground seemed tailored to motor homes, but had a few tent sites.  The presence of WiFi and a laundry room were very welcome amenities.

After the past several days, my Dad and I are pros at setting up this tent.

We quickly did so and I made veggie burgers again to use them up and use up our remaining bread.  We decided that today was the time to clean out our coolers, restock, and figure out meals for the next leg of the trip.  Also on schedule was:  doing laundry and taking a scenic drive through Wind River Canyon.  Our initial attempt to start laundry was foiled by other campers who had just filled the three washers, so we opted to do the drive first, stop at the local supermarket, and then run our loads.

I had never heard of Wind River Canyon, and so when my Dad mentioned as an aside that there was a short drive he wanted to do near the campground, I had minimal expectations.  Well, it turns out any expectations I had would not have been high enough.  It was a beautiful drive on winding roads along a wide, flowing river, at the base of 4,000’ mountains shooting straight up, that took us through mountain tunnels, giant boulders, over 60 million year old granite, and immense caverns and canyons.  We were continuing to be awed by the landscapes of WY.

It was an interesting contrast going from that scenic drive to downtown Thermopolis (population around 600) to visit the supermarket.

Dad wisely suggested we stay away from anything perishable, so we stocked up on tuna and beans, but also got a fresh bag of ice, some frozen peroggies, veggie burgers, an avacado (obviously for me, not for Dad), and some apples.

When we returned, we went back to the laundry room, and were able to run our two loads of laundry.  Mom had picked up all-in-one laundry dryer sheets before the trip, so we gave them a whirl.  We almost ran out of quarters, I had to run my load through the dryer twice (Dad wanted me to just take them, but they were fairly damp, so I insisted), but the machines and all-in-one sheets worked fine, and it was nice being in the warm, lit laundry room, with WiFi, away from the bugs, during the night.

That night, we talked a bit with our neighbors from Colorado who were on a several day fishing trip in the area.  Dad asked them about the Skyline drive in Canon City, CO we were thinking of doing.  It’s a one lane road with no shoulder and thousand foot drops on each side.  Their description of its narrowness did not lesson our concern about the drive.  We’ll have to decide whether to do it when we get there.  No view is worth our lives.

We went to bed shortly thereafter in anticipation of tomorrow:  a relaxing time at the Thermopolis Hot Springs and a long scenic drive to Alpine, WY.

We’ve been having fun (currently at Bingham Mine in Utah, one of the largest open pit mines in the world), and are doing well, but haven’t had WiFi, so I haven’t been able to post. Also my phone battery died and isn’t charging through the USB port. Dad’s iPhone is our only means of communication and Internet (and how I’m posting this).

We will be at Zion NP for 3 days, then the grand canyon, so probably won’t be able to post until sometime next week.

Best way to reach me will be at rich1@umbc.edu .

We look forward to sharing our stories and pictures as soon as possible.