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Published: August 14th 2012
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It was noted today that we had used many forms of transport thus far: obviously we had flown out, then 3 boats in NYC & the train to DC….& now Winifred (6WNF999), our Jeep 4x4. Never fails to amaze me how car companies make such large waggon’s with so little real space inside….& in the US case, such rubbish MPG from the puny petrol engine (24, even allowing for US:UK gallons)....but at least our bags crammed in okay.
Sunday 12th. Salt Lake City. After a nice night in our largest room so far, we decided to cram some local stuff in and do a little worshipping in this most religious of states….at the Church of Walmart.
But first, a quick jaunt around the corner to Temple Square to seek wisdom at the visitor centre. I took some pictures for a nice Chinese group on their way to Yellowstone. Friendly soporific Mormon’s started to approach but realised we were not to be messed with.
After 15 minutes, we knew we were done, and needed to check in to some regular Capitalist Culture…so we stocked up on a cool-box, a BBQ and some food. Bumped into our Chinese friends again
(told ‘em I was stalking them…)….then ticked off McD’s on the list, since it was right there.
It seemed a shame to visit Salt Lake City & not see the great Salt Lake, so we headed to a park marina 15 miles west. A bit hazy, nothing too much to see other than a wide expanse of moderately smelly water, so we moved on….
…..to the
Kennecott Bingham Copper Mine. Wow. Just
WOW! okay, so we got a bit lost finding it (I decided foolishly to over-rule the brown road signs!), but what a HUGE hole. A great little visitor centre, very informative, and (cue Clarkson voice) the biggest pit…..in the world! If it was a stadium, it would hold 9 million people, and it works round the clock to let you, dear reader, enjoy many of the items around your home…..copper rocks, & indeed, 99.99%!c(MISSING)opper
from rocks J
After that top attraction (thank you
RoadsideAmerica - there is a useful resource for finding weird stuff!), we headed on our first serious driving South. The weather was weird: over 90 degrees for much of it, but a big storm (lightening in the distance & mucho rain) dropped it to
In the magical Bryce Canyon
Several hikes from ~1hours up take you right into the canyon, surrounded by the "Hoodoos" ! low 60’s at one point. & on to
Mystic Mike’s Hot Springs . Certain to be
the weirdest place we will stay this trip. Not so sure the ladies were overly impressed with the somewhat ramshackle appearance of the place, but duuuude, it’s so cooooool !
Natural hot springs funnelled into a couple of large pools on a hillside and half a dozen bath tubs further up…..our room for the night was a “Pioneer log cabin”. Clean, tidy, but the upstairs “bed in the roof” was
very warm: worth visiting in autumn or winter. Met a touring rock’n’roll band from Florida (
Thomas Wynn & The Believers, nice bunch), an Israeli couple, some folk from Boise Idaho (where I once bought a Honda 400….another story for another day) as well as some locals, all very friendly and chatty (as was Mystic Mike!).
I had a pretty bad night….having given up on the attic oven, I slept (badly) on the floor, woke with a headache, so spent a couple of delightful hours dozing gloriously in the hot springs as the sun rose….and after breakfast, we bade farewell to Mystic Mike & his girlfriend Aubrey to move on South.
Mileage for the day: 220
Monday 13th: on to Bryce Canyon. We were only facing a couple of hours driving, but decided to stop at a proper rustic coffee shop – Circleville, where Sam served up proper American fare including a short stack, French toast, biscuits & gravy and endless coffee. Very nice !
A stop at Red Canyon was extended when the heavens opened, but soon we were on our way and by 3pm checked into our lovely lodge, room 517, less than 100 yards from the rim of Bryce. Fabulous!
We unloaded and decided to take an immediate hike down into Queens Gardens. This extended to take a hike up Peekaboo Loop (“collecting” medals!) before splitting up to take both sides of Navajo Loop and meeting back at the top, over 3 hours hard walking & photography!
Bryce really is a
spectacular place, my favourite spot in the USofA :-)
We then relaxed for a while before checking out a nice sunset, and then to the Lodge for beer and v e r y s l o w internet to post this....
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Meg
non-member comment
Your favorite spot because you didn't visit our home! We could have supplied you with a dirty bathtub, a hot bedroom and a short stack...