Roadtripping USA

DAY SIXTEEN: ROADTRIPPING USA

Published on by Kathy Baker

St. George, Utah was an impressive town and we had an even more impressive meal at the Cliffside Restaurant. We ate from a wonderful menu, with a view overlooking the St. George Valley. They won the best of Utah in 2019 and the chefs studied culinary arts at Florida Atlantic University. It was a great ending to our day before we settled into our hotel for the night. We needed our rest for the day at the northern rim of the Grand Canyon.

As Bill remarked, “It is a postcard view in every direction”.  We passed tabletop mountains near Pipe Spring, layered in colors of red and tan rock. Passing through the Paiute Indian Reservation, the Vermillion Cliffs defy description. What a scenic highway to the Kaibab National Forest! We stopped at the LaFevre Outlook, where a fire in June of this year scorched acres of beautiful forest. It did not diminish the view of the multi-layered rock of the Grand Staircase. Hundreds of miles of geological awe off Hwy. 89. Copses of golden yellow aspen dotted the charred landscape.

One of the favorite stops on our Grand Canyon day of scenery and hiking included the Walhalla Outlook, where we viewed the Pueblo site across the road. Over 100 farming sites were situated on this plateau, over 900 years ago. About 20 people were housed on the site we visited, with very small rooms.

We hiked many different trails to scenic outlooks and were treated to indescribable views. Vast panoramic vistas, indigo blue skies. perfect hiking weather, great roads for all our scenery, and groomed trails made this day exceptional. It was great sharing with Brooke and Gage, who were just as awed as we were.  It wasn’t over at the end of the day either, as we drove the most beautiful highway I have ever traveled. Highway 89 at dusk, past the Vermillion Cliffs on the opposite side, past Soap Creek that can only be described as a lunar terrain, with huge boulders that were almost cartoonish in their aspect!

We ended our night, after the red rock views at sunset, at the Moenkopi Legacy Inn in Tuba City, Arizona. It has an interesting and questionable history to the name, but the hotel is located on the western gateway to the Hopi tribal lands. No liquor is allowed in the rooms, no restaurants are open, but it is amazingly clean and comfortable. They had an outbreak of COVID among the Navajo nation in August and have taken huge precautions to prevent any further outbreaks.

DAY FIFTEEN: ROADTRIPPING USA

Published on by Kathy Baker

I don’t know which was worse– our hotel room in Bryce Canyon or the debate. There were two floors to the Best Western cabins, and none of us slept due to someone having too much fun with their partner above one room and a herd of buffalo above us. Tonight, we are settled into a wonderful hotel, resting after our weary selves, researching our next stops, and doing the never-ending laundry.

Our travels took us on the Red Canyon Highway, which is part of the Dixie Forest and a hiker’s paradise. First, we stopped to see a large herd of buffalo behind fencing and were able to see them up close, which was exciting. We passed through tunnels, and sweet-scented cedar/sagebrush groves, where we hiked a short distance through the red dirt. It was another blue sky day with no humidity and warm temps, so we pulled over for a tailgate lunch before entering Zion National Park.

I have run out of superlatives. All our friends who have been out this way told us Zion would blow us away and it did! The tan, red, and pink sandstone hills and mountains, with their scooped-out basins, deep canyon walls, and jutting rock cliffs were spectacular. We entered on the east side and passed through the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel, which had carved windows to view outside the tunnel as we passed. At the end of the tunnel was the Checkerboard Mesa, with striations in the rock-forming a grid resembling a checkerboard.

We are settled into a beautiful hotel in St. George, Utah, with the Grand Canyon awaiting our oohs and aahs tomorrow. We all agreed, this was the best sequence to view these parks. First, Bryce, then Zion and las,t the Grand Canyon, for despite their grandeur, it seems to get better with each park!

DAY FOURTEEN: ROADTRIPPING

Published on by Kathy Baker

I should have written the blog yesterday, but instead, I watched the debates. What an embarrassment. Thankfully, it was eclipsed by a wonderful last-minute meet-up outside Salt Lake CIty by daughter Brooke and her husband Gage, who drove from San Francisco until 1:00 in the morning to join us for the great park tour. I love spontaneity!

We followed each other past Provo, and Y Mountain through the hilly mounds of rocky ground dotted with sagebrush along SR 62, flanked by cedar-covered mountains. At one point, we stopped to stretch our legs among the yellow sagebrush, toasting each other with plastic cups of Pinot Grigio, masked and laughing.

I loved the open range, where cows grazed and sometimes blocked our travels, as they crossed to find where the grass might be greener on the other side:) Red earth was the indicator that we were entering our next destination, and what a mesmerizing day of beauty we experienced!

Bryce Canyon’s “hoodoos”, formed by years of rain and erosion, were communities of rock in irregular shapes. We stopped at every pull-out and laughed at one touristy couple. (Picture the kind seen in movies in Europe with cameras around their neck.) Video on their phone, talking loudly to a daughter while agreeing, “Kitty, once you seen one rock, you seen ’em all.” It was to become our byline for the rest of the views.

We left the national park with smiles on our faces, a lot of photos, and checked into our lodge, where we sat outside eating pizza, wondering why we were watching the debate:)

DAY THIRTEEN: ROADTRIPPING USA

Published on by Kathy Baker

OK, today I will admit that my brake foot was working overtime and I could not look over the edge of the mountain because there were no guard rails and Bill warned me not to look, so we did not stop at any overlooks and I took many photos from the car. Who can live up here on this mountain outside Park City, Utah in the winter? You would have to stockpile food for the winter if it snowed! It was beautiful, but treacherous, as we came in from the south side of Salt Lake City. He wanted to see his old skiing slopes in a different season and I humored him, but I was glad to get out of there. The town of Park City was cute and I can see the appeal up there, but NO!

We left Idaho Falls, Idaho, through sagebrush and cedar trees, through the Blackfoot Mountains, passing the Potato Museum with no regrets. (Worried we would become double Baked:) There was frost on the ground through Idaho, and some crops were under spraying to save them, but we never figured out what crops they were. It was south of Pocatello, and there were acres of frozen crops, but deliberately under the ice.

The villages along the way from the highway appeared as toy villages, with so much land in between each ranch. Prairie, then a ranch with trees and dwellings, then more land. It was like we watched miniature towns fly by. But, the landscape changed as we climbed the mountains into Park City. I am resting my brake foot tonight:)

We spent the afternoon walking the impressive city of Salt Lake, wandering around Temple Square. The complex is owned by the Church of  Latter Day Saints. All of the buildings were closed due to Covid, which was so disappointing, but we met two volunteer Mormon girls who educated us on the interiors and allowed us to see with their photo clipboards. It was not the same, but it was delightul talking to them. (One was from Michigan!)

The building I most wanted to visit, with my interest in genealogy and history, was the Family History Library. (It was also a wish of my Mom, who never got to visit.) My good friend Joan Brown has been an influential source in the teachings of her Mormon religion and their love of family values. We have many things in common, despite our different faiths. We share the love of family and friends, our devotion to our faith, our dedication to helping other and even our “hobbies” of art, writing, etc. It was a thrill to see the buildings of importance here in Salt Lake City.

We are settled into the Grand American Hotel, with appointments of grandeur unlike our cabins of the past weeks. We received a special deal from Priceline.com and feel like we are in Europe with the gold faucets, marble bathroom floors, and views of the mountains. We are so worth it.

DAY TWELVE: ROADTRIPPING USA

Published on by Kathy Baker

With over 3,000 miles logged on our trip, we have been on the road for almost two weeks. We have had great weather and today was no different. We even encountered snow on the mountains and wished (again) we had gloves and hats, especially when we stood for an hour and a half, waiting for Old Faithful to be faithful and perform. She did! We walked the boardwalk around the geothermal sites and loved coming into the park past the steaming basins.

We had to see the west side of Yellowstone Park, so we left Great Falls, Montana this morning on a sunny and cool day, travelling through beautiful ranches and quaint towns that had backyard views of majestic mountain ranges, covered in snow. Most of the homes are dark wood or log, roofed in metal, and their ranch entrances have huge log structures with their ranch names.

Leaving Yellowstone and entering the Grand Teton National Park was another stunning spectacle. Around every corner, views of glacier topped mountains, pines, and neon yellow and orange aspens.  Many tourists were stopped on the byways to photograph the foliage, as much as the scenery! Despite warnings of bears, we never spotted any.

Driving through Jackson Hole, Wyoming was wall to wall people and traffic, and the hotel room prices were astronomical, so it was a long 12-hour day of driving to Idaho Falls, Idaho, where we are for the night. Tomorrow, Salt Lake City, Utah.