28/09/12: Cedar City

We went to bed last night with news of bomb threats a few blocks away on the TV (later still we found the instigator had been shot and put in hospital). Surprising, since Salt Lake City seemed quite peaceful and nice in the time we spent near its centre.

Sadly we've not been able to see more of the city by day as it was another dawn start this morning. No big kilometers today, rather we were taking the long way ‘round to Cedar City.

Moving south along the edge of the Rocky Mountains we saw some delightful countryside – even if there were very few trees.


We spent most of the afternoon checking out Bryce Town (lunch) and Bryce Canyon, with its “Hoodoos”:

We've like immensely the mid-Western states we've visited. The people have been wonderful and the countryside spectacular.

Tomorrow we visit Zion National Park before making our way into Arizona and the Grand Canyon for sunset and sunrise. Hmmm…better make sure camera batteries have enough electricals in them – do not want to miss it!

Not sure about the next post - no idea if the Grand Canyon has interwebs and our first night in Vegas promises to be a big one...

27/09/12: Heading South–Salt Lake City

Last night in West Yellowstone brought a thunderstorm, and this morning quite a bit of fog as we worked our way out of Yellowstone southwards to the Grand Tetons. In a nutshell, the Tetons are amazing. We were left wondering how much our homes would sell for and how long we would be able to stay…


Lunch arrived with Jackson Hole, a little tourist town a bit more upmarket than what we've seen previously but with planked sidewalks and swinging saloon doors. Still a very nice place, where we found some new sights and a sensational deli…


Too soon we were back on the road. The trip took us from Montana into Wyoming, Idaho, Wyoming (again) and finally into Utah. Northern Utah is fairly flat and sparse, but as we got closer the Salt Lake City the countryside became more rugged and green.

We arrived with enough time to change to have dinner at the Rooftop Garden followed by a short visit to listen to the Mormon Choir practice in the Tabernacle – all within Temple Square. Needless to say the dinner, view and choir was pretty good.


So far on the trip we've been heading north and west and today was the beginning of our run south and west, where the tour (but not our trip) will end in Los Angeles. Tomorrow we are heading for Cedar City via Bryce Canyon and a couple of other stops. The weather is beginning to warm up finally, so we are now unpacking our summer clothes.

26/09/12: More of Yellowstone

Our second day in West Yellowstone started with a very heavy fog, following some rain (apparently not expected, but much needed) last night.

Yesterday we had a look around the northern half of the park, and today we wandered out to look at the southern half.

First stop along the way was the Paint Pot Fountains, basically a field of steam and hot mud where water, superheated by lava, breaks through the ground.


Next stop was West Thumb, geothermal vents on the banks of Yellowstone Lake:


Our last stop in Yellowstone is probably the best known: Old Faithfull. This geyser goes off about every 90 minutes or so, and we were around to see it go off twice.


Even the buildings (Visitor Centre and lodges) were impressive in their scale:


On the way home we came across some more of the wildlife:

While we saw a black bear (well, a dark smudge in the distance) we’ve not seen hide nor hair of Yogi or Boo Boo, even though this is the time of year bears are out and about fattening up before winter hibernation.

Our next leg begins tomorrow, taking us through the Tetons (highest mountains in the US) to overnight in the capital of Utah – Salt Lake City.

25/09/12: Yellowstone Day 1

A slightly later start today, and a shorter trip that took us into Yellowstone National Park.

Last night we stayed in our first log cabin.  As you can see they a quite compact.  After repacking our goods and chattels (seriously, one of the more trying aspects of tours is the endless packing, repacking and forgetting where you put stuff ‘cos you keep moving it).

A short time later we followed the River up past Cody Dam, and then on to Yellowstone, where we spent the day. OMG - amazing scenery and the occasional wildlife.

There really is not a huge amount to say, so hopefully the pics will do the talking:

We are now in the little town of West Yellowstone (which seems to exist just to support visitors to the National Park), we have another night here after returning to see more of the park tomorrow.

24/09/12: Deeper into the Old West – Cody

Before getting into today’s events (we have time and free - but slooow - interwebs again), here are some photos from yesterday’s adventure:


Anyway, about today. Another dawn start, and we kept on heading west, crossing into Wyoming and the home of Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, and Buffalo Bill Cody. Most of the country side is flat or rolling hills – except for the grass it would be pretty desolate (hardly surprising as it will soon be covered in several feet of snow). The exception is the Big Horn Mountain Range - which rises up out of nowhere - with its incredible vistas.


Not many stops today, as we racked up the miles (400-odd miles/650-odd kilometers). We rolled into Cody with a bit of light left, and ended up stuffing ourselves silly on Mexican food and alcohol (rather modest, yet sufficient amounts in our case). Now the tourist season has finished, there is not much happening in downtown Cody - other than traffic. We've now retired to our cabins…rough around the edges is a description that readily comes to mind.


We seem to be coming to grips with American currency (which can also disappear out of the wallet/purse at an alarming rate)...almost unloaded all of the pennies. Our immunity to the lure of souvenir shops is growing steadily, even though - spookily - they always seem to be in our path.

Tomorrow and we are off to Yellowstone for two nights. Not sure about interwebs out in the woods, so our next post could be a couple of days away.