Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore

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Into Utah 24-25/10/05

We drove into Utah, heading towards Bryce Canyon. I don't know what I was expecting, but everybody is exceedingly friendly and children are incredibly quiet (is it Mogadon?). We ate in a pizzeria in Logan which was full of kids from the very small (a few weeks old) to late teenage and all that we could hear was quiet conversation - WIERD! Even the stroppy teenagers smile at strangers.

Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park 26-27/10/05

The story is that Ebenezer Bryce looked into the canyon and said "That's one hell of a place to lose a cow" and it is!
The canyon is full of spires of rock called Hoodoos, left after water erosion washed away the surrounding rock. It's best if you look at the photos, I can't explain it very well.
You need a good head for heights at Bryce as the view points are generally above the canyon and the paths are gritty and narrow with vertical drops and don't always have fences. I chickened out at a couple of points and sent Vernon to take the photos, not sure how much longer I can blame the head wound.
We drove on to Zion National Park in the evening and stopped at Springdale for the night. We found a restaurant which served alcohol, but the waiter forgot to bring our drinks and also mixed my order up - we got free apple pie for that!
In the morning the waiter in the cafe (a different one) where we had our breakfast forgot to put our order in to the kitchen - we got a free bowl of very good, fresh fruit salad for that. We're beginning to think that it must be us!!
We spent the day in Zion, they operate a shuttle bus service so there are no private cars in the park which is a GOOD THING. We did a few walks and took many photos.

Things you should know about Utah

1. All towns are built on a grid system and the roads are always numbered in the same way. Main Street runs north to south and Centre Street is east to west, all the streets north of Centre are numbered 100 North, 200 North etc, while those to the south are 100 South and so on. You should be able to work out what's east or west of Main. If you are looking for 750 North 400 West Street drive to midway between roads 700 North and 800 North on 400 West and you should be there. It all makes sense after a while - honestly.
2. Utah is a dry state - eeeeeeeeeeeeek. Actually you can get alcohol from State Liquor Stores, some gas stations and supermarkets and also certain restaurants are licensed.
3. People are unfailingly friendly, this can be a bit "in your face" sometimes, but they are being genuine. This resulted in us getting four different recomendations from people in the queue at the pizzeria, and they all agreed that the other choices were the best.
4. Altough Utah was developed because of a specific religious doctrine, if you didn't know that before you arrived you probably still wouldn't when you left. The only nod to Mormonism that we found was a Book of Mormon next to the Gideon Bible in our motel room (and they were both hidden in a drawer). Of course if you go looking for Mormonism you will, most definitely, find it
5. Bring your mountain bikes when you visit, we will next time!!

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Photos

Bryce Canyon
Notice the person sitting on the rock on the left hand side, that gives you an idea of scale.

Bryce Canyon
Now where did I put that cow?

Bryce Canyon - Natural Bridge
The middle will eventually fall down, leaving two spires of rock.

Bryce Canyon
Another view

Bryce Canyon
The view from inside the canyon

Zion National Park
Autumn colours in the canyon

Zion National Park
The view from Middle Pool

Zion National Park
The Pulpit

Zion National Park
The view down the canyon

Comments

[Gary]

Progress
Still in America? Pull your finger out! Glad you are feeling better after the tyre incident, it looked nasty. Your photos certainly put across a side of america I havent seen much of, they look very impressive. Gary