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Published: March 24th 2012
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Today has been one of great contrast and it bordered on the emotional for part of it. Gordon our Tour Guide and Las Vegas resident said as we left Ruby’s Inn that today at 8am we would be surrounded by natural beauty and twelve hours later we would be in the most plastic city in the world. You don’t get a change like that too often. Our ultimate goal was to be in Vegas by 4.30pm but it was our trip to Zion National Park that will dominate today. If I said that the Grand Canyon was a “wow” day then today needs greater adjectives as I am not sure I have seen a more fantastic vision of natural beauty. I already know I will return one day.
It was so good that I find it hard to describe the drive in through Red Canyon where we stopped to take photos of the famous Salt and Pepper Shakers rock formations – the sandstone in this area is so very different and for some reason these two shapes defy gravity and sit above the ridge. The Tour Guide is very considerate in how he has approached our trip and through experience
he has foreseen just the right times to play music or movies. I have now watched two movies that I would likely have forgone if I was at home. I mentioned the Marilyn Monroe classic the other day and today’s movie was “The Harvey Girls” with Judy Garland; set in the burgeoning west near Flagstaff. It may have only been a set drop but it was easy to take the scenes from the movie and transfer to what we could see through the bus windows. Not all tour guides stop at the salt and pepper shakers – this was underlined by a bus going past us at a good rate of knots with no chance for a photo.
And so to Zion. If I can set our scene I can only compare to a team taking the field through a tunnel with music to accompany it. Perhaps Richie McCaw got the same goose bumps I did today when he went onto Eden Park last October – perhaps that is stretching it a bit, in all probability goose bumps are scared of Richie! When we entered the Zion Tunnel, which was drilled decades ago through the sandstone, we were cast
into the dark 2000 feet and over a mile before the canyon. We caught tantalising glimpses of the canyon through arches in the side of the tunnel – I thought that was as good as it would get. Then accompanied by Josh Grobin singing “You raise me up” we emerged into the canyon and the “wow” description became not enough. Towering above us were walls of sandstone and immediately you could get the feeling of a temple – Zion is described as a temple with rock formation sresembling altars and prophets. I spoke to a man from Adelaide outside the bus; he was wiping away tears – he said exactly what I was feeling. At a moment like this you realise mans’ insignificance in the whole scheme of things. We can construct monuments and buildings but when it comes to Mother Nature’s ability to do the same there is no comparison; we are but a cog.
Zion is a box canyon in that there is no way out at one end and this is where we headed until we reached a rock wall. You could walk on but you would end up in an area called The Narrows. It
is not rocket science to realise why. The cliffs come in and the walls are only metres apart; rife for flash flooding you leave as soon as you hear the thunder. The Virgin River runs through this canyon and in difference to the Colorado, which is thousands of feet below you this river is right there for one to touch. This is the great contrast for today as we have driven along the canyon floor not looked down from the rim. We lunched at Zion Lodge, which is the place I would like to return to. There are small cabins set along the valley floor amongst cotton trees. It is private, it is tranquil, and it is picturesque. We walked along the river a few hundred metres and came across deer that were not perturbed by us at all – life must be pretty good for a deer in the National Park and thousands of feet below hunters’ guns.
And then all of that was suddenly behind us and very quickly we re-entered normal life and traffic. We followed the interstate through the last of the staircases on the Colorado Plateau, had a brief look at Arizona for one
last time and then entered Nevada on route to Las Vegas. I grabbed a beer from the cooler, put my earphones in and sat back and watched the world pass by and all too soon we found built up areas and in the very distance that gaming mecca of the desert came into view. Hotels dominated the skyline and we knew we were nearly there. Many of the ladies on the trip have been looking forward to this moment since we gathered last Saturday night – for one it is her 26
th visit. I did think that they may throttle Gordon when he said one last stop before the hotel but all was forgiven when they disappeared into the casino on our arrival.
We ended our night with a trip on the Monorail, drinks at the Bellagio and dinner at Bally – it could not have been more removed from where we had our breakfast. The Strip is amazing and I am so looking forward to tomorrow as we explore more of this city. It will be a day to ourselves but shared with many.
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