Davidc313

2014 09 17 Day 16 Drove through southern Utah and northers Arizona desert to the North rim of the grand canyon. After getting up to the plateau the scenery change to lush meadows and forests. The GC is probably the most amazing thing I have ever seen. The other day when I heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, I thought that must be what angels sound like. Today I saw where they must live. Breathtaking, spectacular, magnificent, etc. etc. none of these words can truly relate what we saw. Some of the pathways were frightening, but worth it. Took about a million pictures, would love to see it at sunrise and sunset. Took the longer route to page, our next stop. Glad I did, saw some spectacular scenery. I'm glad I got to see northern Arizona. Made ... read more

2014 09 15 Day 14 Ate breakfast in HIE, checked oil – was ok. Left at 7:53 Lot of traffic going in the opposite direction into Salt Lake City. I'm glad I don't have to drive to work anymore. Utah is basically a very pretty desert with lots of mountains. We arrived at Bryce around noon and had a picnic lunch before sightseeing. Bryce is a canyon – there is a road that traverses the top for 18 miles and then dead ends. They suggest that you go to the end and sight see on the way back – that way you are only making right hand turns. We spent about 3.5 hours stopping at 13 of the 14 viewpoints (places where you could park) and viewed the scenery. Bruce is absolutely gorgeous I took about ... read more

2014 09 13 Day 12 Salt Lake City While visiting Salt Lake City we are staying at the Staybridge suites, very nice suite with full sized refrigerator, microwave, stove, sink, etc., very roomy and comfortable. Like the Holiday Inn Express, they provide a complementary breakfast bar. We ate there and then drove into Salt Lake City. When the map showed that we were only about 5 blocks from temple square we parked the car and began to walk to the square. It quickly dawned on us (as we became out of breath) that a Salt Lake City block is about the same size as three or four Philadelphia blocks. Of course it was uphill, too. We walked around Temple Square for a little while, taking pictures, then took a open-air bus tour of the city. The ... read more

2014 09 10 Day 9 There was 4 inches of snow on the car in the morning. The roads and parking lots were clear, but there was snow on the non-paved areas as well as the cars. The low tire pressure indicator was lit, so we drove to a gas station to get air. The nozzle to the air pump was broken, but you don't know that until you try to put air into the tire, so all I got for my seventy-five cents was four pounds less pressure. We went to the gas station across the street, and for fifty cents, were able to add air to the tire. We stopped at Burger King for breakfast and headed into the park. The roads were clear, but the bridges were very, very icy. I started to ... read more

Because we would be entering Yellowstone three separate days, (two to visit and one on way to Grand Tetons) I decided to take the scenic Chief Joseph road north to the Park's northeast entrance. It was a quite a bit longer than entering through the east entrance, but we would see parts of the park we wouldn't otherwise get an opportunity to see. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperative and we couldn't see very much during the first hour or so because clouds covered the mountaintops. The parts of the mountains that we were able to see were very beautiful. After we crossed the mountain pass the sky was clear and the view was breathtaking. We stopped at the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone river to take some pictures. To get to the falls we had to ... read more