Road Trip part 1
Aug. 6th, 2011 11:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forestofgloryOn the first day we got an early start. R's mom cooked us breakfast and gave us a nice send off. We drove out through Altamont Pass. All the windmills where still but it was lovely to see the central valley opening before us. Driving on the 5 wasn't that exciting though. It is long strait road through agriculture. Every now and again you see the irritating sight of crops being watered in the middle of the day.
We forgot our packed lunch and so stopped a dinner at a gas station. I had grilled cheese and R had a club sandwich. The cheese was American (ick). We kept on 5 till Bakersfield where we stopped and bought groceries. Soon after that we drove up into the Mohave -- a vast hot and flat plane full of dry grasses and Joshua trees. I thought it was beautiful. We stopped at some little towns, one had little museum, but it was closed before we got there. Another town had a "Shopping Center" that consisted of one building in with 3 store fronts, one was gov office one was a restaurant and one was market.
We stayed in Barstow which is about halfway between LA and Las Vegas on 15. The Motel we stayed at had a colony of feral cats living near it, mostly half grow kitten. Most of then had where orange tabbies.
The next day we drove through the Mohave some more. We had been thinking of stopping to hike but it was so hot, we decided to take our break in Vegas instead. Vegas is a strange juxtaposition of things. It is the commercialization of everything it touches. Most notable was all the water there in the middle of the desert -- we watched the fountain show (in the middle of the day it there weren't many people there) and an indoor thunderstorm. There were pedestrian bridges over all the streets -- with escalators.
Later that day we dipped into Arizona on the way to Utah. I drove a terrifying pass between Arizona and Utah. It was really twisty and full of trucks and the speed limit was like 70. That was the most awful bit of driving on the trip.
The Next day was set aside to visit Zion National Park. I was there once on a family camping trip as a kid but since then they have put in a shuttle bus so you can go up and down the canyon and stop at pretty places and take short hikes. Which is what we did. It was still very hot and dry there, but most of the neat features of Zion are water based and so a bit cooler then the temperature with out modification. Our 1st stop was at the Court of the Patriarchs -- which just a short paved trail with a view. It was still shady so it was nice and cool. We saw a deer right on the trail. Next we walked to the emerald pool, where we got walk under a small waterfall which was very refreshing. The vistas continued to be great. We took the shuttle to the top of the canyon and walked along the virgin river up to the point where if we wanted to keep going we would have had to talk in the river (which some people do). On way down we stopped at the park museum, and saw a movie and a ranger talk.
We forgot our packed lunch and so stopped a dinner at a gas station. I had grilled cheese and R had a club sandwich. The cheese was American (ick). We kept on 5 till Bakersfield where we stopped and bought groceries. Soon after that we drove up into the Mohave -- a vast hot and flat plane full of dry grasses and Joshua trees. I thought it was beautiful. We stopped at some little towns, one had little museum, but it was closed before we got there. Another town had a "Shopping Center" that consisted of one building in with 3 store fronts, one was gov office one was a restaurant and one was market.
We stayed in Barstow which is about halfway between LA and Las Vegas on 15. The Motel we stayed at had a colony of feral cats living near it, mostly half grow kitten. Most of then had where orange tabbies.
The next day we drove through the Mohave some more. We had been thinking of stopping to hike but it was so hot, we decided to take our break in Vegas instead. Vegas is a strange juxtaposition of things. It is the commercialization of everything it touches. Most notable was all the water there in the middle of the desert -- we watched the fountain show (in the middle of the day it there weren't many people there) and an indoor thunderstorm. There were pedestrian bridges over all the streets -- with escalators.
Later that day we dipped into Arizona on the way to Utah. I drove a terrifying pass between Arizona and Utah. It was really twisty and full of trucks and the speed limit was like 70. That was the most awful bit of driving on the trip.
The Next day was set aside to visit Zion National Park. I was there once on a family camping trip as a kid but since then they have put in a shuttle bus so you can go up and down the canyon and stop at pretty places and take short hikes. Which is what we did. It was still very hot and dry there, but most of the neat features of Zion are water based and so a bit cooler then the temperature with out modification. Our 1st stop was at the Court of the Patriarchs -- which just a short paved trail with a view. It was still shady so it was nice and cool. We saw a deer right on the trail. Next we walked to the emerald pool, where we got walk under a small waterfall which was very refreshing. The vistas continued to be great. We took the shuttle to the top of the canyon and walked along the virgin river up to the point where if we wanted to keep going we would have had to talk in the river (which some people do). On way down we stopped at the park museum, and saw a movie and a ranger talk.
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no subject
Date: 2011-08-07 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-07 08:29 pm (UTC)An indoor thunderstorm? That sounds really bizarre. (I find fountains easier to understand)
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Date: 2011-08-08 12:03 pm (UTC)All of Vegas is bizarre. The thunderstorm was created by water coming out of the ceiling with noises and lights. It is all very strange.