Now some of you may have noticed that we had already uploaded this post about two weeks ago and some were even kind enough to make comments.  However, due to the magic of the internet (which has been less than consistent in its coverage despite the most expensive data sim card to date!!!), it vanished leaving no trace of it’s existence in any way or form along with your comments

!!! So we are having another go and hope this one might stick around???

Take 2….

Travelling the length of the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park, south from the small town of Front Royal, Virginia, we enjoyed a relaxed pace along quiet roads. Overall however, the scenery was not on the scale of grandeur that I’d been expecting – just a nice pleasant route to follow and certainly better than travelling the interstate!!

What I was feeling vindicated about, however, was the decision to ship the Patrol into Baltimore rather than Halifax. The weather certainly had not made much headway toward the warmth we had hoped to encounter during spring.

Camping at a site called Lewis Mountain, we experienced -5.5 Celsius and winds approaching 70 mph! Rather unpleasant all around and that observation was easily backed up by the fact the almost full campsite the previous evening was devoid of patrons as morning broke!

As we continued south, the Skyline Drive morphed into the Blue Ridge Parkway Drive, losing its National Park status. As such, I was expecting a transit along less attractive countryside but was more than pleasantly surprised to find it quite a bit more scenic– well in my opinion anyway!

One of the more interesting experiences to date was a quick resupply at a Walmart, providing us with our first taste of American civilian gun culture! Certainly the first time anywhere in the world that I’ve travelled where I’ve observed a woman grocery shopping with her children whilst sporting a handgun on her belt! Nice to see it secured tightly in place, partly due to the fact her belt was a few holes too tight, but hey, I guess muffin tops are in fashion and can be useful!

Not being naive to the fact that such a culture exists in the US, it’s still quite odd for us, seeing firearms displayed in public in such a manner. It does sadden me to think that some locals feel so frightened within their own community that they feel they need to trust in carrying a firearm! I just can’t imagine loading and holstering a 9mm Glock before going down to Woolworths to pick up some milk!!

Off course there will always be conflicting opinions on this subject and it is every nations right to choose their own path.

Being in need of butane cannisters, we were on a little bit of a shopping hunt, which led us to an “Outdoor World/Bass Pro Shop”! Absolutely unbelievable!!! I’ll not even try to explain the shopping experience that awaits consumers in such establishments. The pictures might help a little…

We headed westward toward Daniel Boone country and Cumberland Gap National Park. The Park encompasses the aforementioned “gap” in the Appalachian Mountains where Daniel Boone managed to find a passage west after following the native Indians along a trading path. It was at this park that we found ourselves in stitches of laughter as a Park Police Officer entertained us.

Before I go on, I’ll have to explain the Park Police idea here in the US. Along with National Park Rangers, these guys provide a Police Service to the National Parks. As they are Federal officers rather than state, they have powers on a national level and across state borders. Having police cruising campgrounds whilst armed with Tazers and handguns, hand cuffs and protected with bullet proof vests (we should note here that he pointed out that wearing his bullet proof vest inside his shirt avoided assailants knowing that they should shoot him in the head!!!), oh and not forgetting the AR15 assault rifle, pump action shot gun and the considerable armoury of ammunition preloaded in clips in the police vehicle along with who knows what else, is also a surprise to us Aussies!

Imagine that at Kakadu or on Fraser Island?? Still I guess we’d have less people dodging the honor box at some campsites!! Hahaha

Anyway this guy was hilarious. His animated description of the local hill folk along with so many other dissections of some portions of American life and personal experiences made for an entertaining afternoon!!

Great Smokey Mountains National Park was next in our sights and finally we had the chance to travel some dirt roads within the park and walk some interesting hiking trails

There is an obvious gap between the haves and have-nots as you wander the backcountry. From magnificent log mansions nestled amongst acres of stunning green undulating terrain, to the other end of the spectrum – acres of stereotypical trailer park homes with corrugated iron fixed in various ways in an attempt at covering the chassis to conceal their mobile beginnings I guess.

They come in all shapes and sizes, some quite attractive and modern along with those examples that haven’t seen any form of maintenance since they departed the factory!

Many are obviously not weather tight and many have sunken and degraded foundations causing them to be far from level platforms to live in (guess the rain runs off better that way!!) Much of the time, even the most derelict building that you’d surely think condemned, will show the obvious signs of habitation, generally demonstrated in the form of a very expensive or late model car out front or maybe even a classic American Muscle car completely restored! Initially I wasn’t sure if my observations were just, however I’ve had it confirmed to me on numerous occasions by locals, that yes, a $60 000 Dodge Ram is far more important than a watertight healthy living space!

Still the Americans certainly are a very patriotic bunch with the Red White and Blue proudly displayed no matter the home. I haven’t seen such open patriotism since our travels in Russia.

Another observation is the amount of dead and decaying cars scattered amongst not only these lower economic areas, but also regularly viewed on expensive acreage, to the point where the quantity of wrecks must almost be viewed as some sort of status symbol.

Onward through Cherokee Indian Land and our first observation of how the Casino Industry has transformed the freedom to gamble on such native lands into a multi million-dollar venture! Huge hotel structures with “—- Casino” emblazened across the facade and in most cases RV parking right next door crammed full of fifth wheel’s and motor homes – shuttle buses running the hopeful punters back and forth as they pursue their chance at the big time…

Following the very scenic Ocoee River, we were rewarded with gorgeous views and watched on as large groups of white water rafting enthusiasts bobbed along. I could only guess at the competition between the many companies advertising adventure sports and rafting as we traversed the valley – how steep the competition must be during those few months of activity.

Spotting a supermarket called Piggly Wiggly and needing a few items, we just had to try out a store with such a name! Turns out that in 1916 it was dubbed the world’s first “supermarket” by offering self-service shopping such as we all enjoy today! Just a little trivia to keep you enthralled…

Through Chattanooga (choo-choo) and, well, that’s about as exciting as we found this well-known town.

Lynchburg, home of Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey, was next. We enjoyed a tour of the distillery and a wander around the historic town, which was really nice.

I do have to recount one conversation that we had at the distillery however. We purchased a bottle of “Gentleman Jack” at the cellar door where they offer a service where by they can etch the bottle with text and or a logo. Of course we opted for GLOBATROL as the text and were perusing the clipart with the assistance of a young sales girl, looking for something that might enhance it further. The sales girl suggested an outline of the State of Tennessee and we considered the fact that it might look quite good!

Jen pointed out, however, that just an outline of the State wouldn’t be obviously recognizable to anyone at home as being the State of Tennessee to which the sales girl replied – “well I don’t know what it’s like in your country, but here we have to learn that in school so everyone will know it’s the outline of Tennessee!” Now had I been a little faster off the mark, instead of staring at her and wondering if I’d heard correctly, I’d like to have suggested she draw the State of Western Australia for me! We can all guess the result that would have had!

I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt though, as she was quite young and hopefully will come to understand that there is a wide world out there full of other wondrous things!

Continuing west we visited many quintessential American towns and ended the day camped on the Natchez Trace Parkway, An historic Native American Indian trading route, camped at a site called Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clarke expedition notoriety. The expedition basically opened up the country west of the Mississippi.

Arriving in Memphis and it was straight to Graceland, home of the King, which was far better than I’d expected, as I’m not a huge Elvis fan. I do have a lot more admiration for his career and the man himself now that I’ve enjoyed the experience.

There is also another Bass Pro shop in Memphis – unbelievable and there are others yet to visit!

Trusting our SatNav to Guide us south, led us through some less than desirable suburbs not far from downtown Memphis and was the first time since leaving Australia that we felt it prudent to lock the doors on the car as we transited.

Having survived the foray into dodgy territory, we couldn’t visit Memphis without sampling some famous Memphis BBQ and we chose Marlowe’s, which we had seen on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives.” Disappointed we were not! Delectable dry rubbed bbq pork ribs, coleslaw and baked beans the likes of which we had never tasted before! We crawled out the door a while later and no – we didn’t finish it all but they obligingly packed the remains into a doggy bag for us to enjoy later!

South along the grand Mississippi River and I was surprised to find that viewing this snaking body of water is all but impossible as it’s bordered both sides by a levee bank to provide flood defences – guess I should have researched it a little better! It wasn’t overly easy finding campsites either as we descended south. There had recently been very heavy rains and flooding in the area and as such nearly all of the small campgrounds along the route were well and truly under water. It did however provide us with the opportunity to camp in a bayou and experience some very loud splashes and unusual noises during the hours of darkness – I locked the back door that dark night.

Vicksburg and Natchez were inviting towns along the drive south and afforded us a nice glimpse of southern life before we made our way into New Orleans.

We caught the historic Algiers Ferry across the Mississippi and arrived right in the heart of the downtown New Orleans.

Now this is a district that I’m sure if you’ve not visited, you’ve probably heard about. Bourbon Street, in the French Quarter, is supposed to be the main attraction but personally, I couldn’t get out of there quick enough – nothing like the stench of stale urine, homeless folk everywhere and a sleezy bar scene, mixed with a good percentage of weirdo’s and those only interested in separating you from your cash! A tourist destination not to be missed??

However just south of this tourist trap street, there are some exquisite historic streets lined with lovely architecture toting café’s and quaint little shops and galleries and an open air plaza providing a space for artists, street performers and musicians to captivate you as you wander around. So in the end, the French Quarter in New Orleans was well worth the effort but I expect it will be my only visit.

North of New Orleans along the Mississippi sits a string of grand houses from the days of slavery and sugar cane plantations. Most have been restored or converted into upmarket venues or period tourist attractions, whilst some still remain in private hands as residences.

Evergreen is one of the few more original plantation houses and also has the largest surviving group of original slave quarters. We ended up being on a tour with a group of school students and were the only ones not associated with the school! I was less than excited about that idea when we bought the tickets but as it turned out, they were not only extremely well behaved, but we were able to glean a little more information than the general tour as the guide and teacher went to great depths to explain the goings on in those days.

Evergreen is also a favourite film location for film-makers for films such as Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” due to its original state. Evergreen had only just reopened after filming a remake of “Roots” with Forrest Whitaker. As the crew were just cleaning up when we arrived, we enjoyed an interesting chat with some of them.

Onward thorough the land of the “Swamp People” (yep, where they actually live!) and a deviation allowed us our first view of the Gulf of Mexico and a look at some amazing homes erected on hefty stilts due to the obvious flood risk and built along small waterways that provides them easy access to the sea.

A brief stint on the Interstate (not a pleasurable way to travel) as we made for Texas and the sky told us that a change in the weather was imminent – from blue to black with solid rain and heavy winds. Thankfully we dodged most of the nasty weather that tormented Houston with flooding and it was a reminder of how nasty the elements can be!

In East Texas, we had a terrific encounter with first hand UFO witnesses and a discussion on Satan’s army and his plans for sapping strength from the USA with his gang of Giant Fallen Angel beings!

I kid you not……..Stay tuned for details but before we sign off here are some random snaps to keep you entertained…

Cheers for now

Justin…

 

Firstly, I always re-read my previous post before beginning the next in an effort to ensure some form of flow and continuity! Having done this, I felt it came across with an air of negativity toward our time in the US to date – polar opposite from the reality of it… In an attempt to dissect why that may have been, I can only surmise that with such strong similarities between our two nations (Australia & USA), I’ve found the most fodder in those experiences that differ, hence providing an edge to pick at and muse about, not forgetting my love of sarcasm!

So for my American friends out there, of which the number is growing exponentially, I hope you can laugh along with the observations from a convict descendant that calls an island a long way away his home as we indulge ourselves in the fabulous land you call home.

Now for the close encounters!

On the aforementioned island home of ours, we’re no strangers to out of this world contact. Unfortunately, these remarkable happenings generally seem to occur to people whom don’t like to visit a dentist and for some reason are always on a lonely stretch of highway where along with their toothless kin and unfortunate lack of skill with a camera they become first point of contact for these interstellar visitors. Travelling distances that we are unable to comprehend, I imagine there must be a rather large collective sigh and shake of the head and/or appendages within the cockpit as a gloomy acceptance dawns –“what a waste of time and wear and tear on the warp drive that journey was!”

So now in East Texas, we found ourselves camped on a fishing lake with a boat ramp and enjoyed watching the local comings and goings.

They launched their craft and opened the throttles as wide as they would go, heading off to their secret fishing spots. The noise of the outboards and Airboats on their rev limiters, the local landholder about a hundred metres in the other direction with stereo blaring and unloading every firearm he had in rapid succession, really made for a lovely relaxing atmosphere!  It was pretty relaxing actually!!

With a few lines baited and taught in the lake, a couple fishing just near us made comment that it’s illegal to shoot out onto the lake as they had also noticed the D-day re-enactment close by! That comment provided the catalyst for them to engage us in conversation! The first question was:

Where are you from?

“Australia”

Question number 2 – “Y’all Christians?”

I did think about responding that well… “We’re people of Science, really” (as taken from the movie “Paul”) but hey, we were in East Texas with D-day playing out in the background so…

“Yes! Absolutely” was the appropriate answer!

Anyway we chatted for quite a while and at the conclusion of the discussion, I made for the Mac and quickly typed the general content of the conversation so as not to forget anything! It’s a bit wordy and excuse the lack of flow, but here it is roughly verbatim! Whilst I found it fascinating you may not! So if you’d rather move on, then scroll down to the dot point to skip!

Lake Limestone Experience!

Met a couple fishing, he is 63 (2016)

When he was 15, he got up early to go hunting between the house and the barn. (Liked it more than his brothers and they wouldn’t get up early) He heard the chickens going nuts and looked around – a bright light appeared like a beam of white along the ground but you could look right at this really bright light and it didn’t hurt your eyes. It was 3 UFO’s; as they flew above him absolutely silently he could see the upside down triangular shaped windows and lights that appeared from a control panel inside. Couldn’t make out the occupants however and after a brief period of time, the light disappeared and they flew away absolutely silently.

*****

Down along the river one night they were fishing. Upstream a little, there was some chanting coming from a group of people around a massive fire – Satan worshippers most likely – (apparently there are huge trees in the area and they were burning one or more) and they were speaking some sort of foreign or other language.  After a while the massive fire was extinguished absolutely instantaneously – I mean instantaneously! Then suddenly a huge UFO around 100 yards long rose from the site and hovered in a spot in the sky absolutely silently for some time before he noticed another UFO coming from the opposite direction and they both met and joined in mid air before instantaneously, silently departing together.

*****

The Giants mentioned in the Bible have been breeding! Each time they breed, their offspring are smaller and smaller until they are able to mimic humans, then they breed with us and slowly they have been able to dilute our pure blood – this is Satan’s army of sorts, for God needs pure human blood to defeat Satan. Any contaminant in our bloodline renders us unable to fight Satan’s army.

Aliens are fallen angels! They are also the offspring of the Giants and that’s why the ones found at Roswell are so small – it’s taken generations of giants breeding to create such small alien looking offspring. The only reason they are able to die is because they are part human due to their interbreeding with humans and dilution of their blood with human blood. Otherwise we would not be able to destroy them. He has seen thousands of UFO’s flying in Vic formation across the skies!

*****

Satan’s goal is to suck the power out of the United States.

Barack Obama is a Muslim and sits on some sort of iron throne along with some sort of chalice – (he was losing me by now…)

*****

God flooded the earth to kill the fallen angel half-breeds (Noah’s ark)

Apparently the word Giant hasn’t been translated correctly from (we think she said Hebrew Bible) but it actually means fallen ones – ie – Angels.

Webbed feet and suction cups on the hybrid Angels by the way (i.e. aliens in the spacecraft).

The UFO’s are demonic activity (hence piloted by fallen angels).

His wife wasn’t afraid of Satan’s army because her belief in God protects her from Demonic activity and that the Masons believe that Lucifer is the true Son of God!

*****

The aliens have been abducting thousands of Americans and impregnating them with their demon babies before re-abducting them to remove the foetus so that they are able to dilute the pure human blood line and reduce the amount of warriors against the small giant fallen angel demon army.

*****

US Air Force Colonel Willingham, on an escort mission in 1955 in Langtree (“the second Roswell”), was alerted to an incoming aircraft travelling at 2000 miles an hour and was tasked with observing it – he saw it crash and was told to break away from the bomber escort and investigate. He saw a half buried disk that had crashed and went on to report that. His life was threatened in order to maintain the secrecy. However he and another pilot took a private aircraft and landed at the site but there were Mexican military all around the crashed craft with guns. He managed to talk his way out of being shot and even managed to souvenir a small piece of the alien craft along with a quick glimpse of the small large-headed, thin-armed dead creatures in the craft! He later tried to destroy this small piece he ‘d souvenired by burning and angle grinding with no success (I’m not sure how he managed to obtain the piece! If it was that strong how did it separate from the main craft???) Anyway later on in 1969, he was in Japan with the Air Force and decided to make everything public and subsequently had his military records expunged as if he’d never existed along with him losing his entitlements and pension. (It’s worth a Google!…)

*****

Those con trails you see appearing behind jet aircraft – well, they are actually trails of chemicals being sprayed all over the population in order to control and manage them. Along with fluoride, it is another contaminant designed by the government to poison us! Even with a filter you soak it up when showering!

*****

Well that’s a quick assessment of our chat! They were really nice folk and invited us back to their ranch to stay with them, a lovely offer! Unfortunately we weren’t going in that direction – I don’t know which direction their ranch was, but it wasn’t where we were going!!

• Phew!! That was intense!!!!…You can Rejoin Now!!!

Departing Lake Limestone it was easy to forget where we were, with flattening dry terrain and long stretches of empty tarmac you could easily have been forgiven for confusing our location with outback Western Australia or Central Queensland!

I’d been noticing for a while now that our solar charge was down quite substantially and with full sunshine there was obviously an issue somewhere! That’s the problem when you build things yourself – you can’t blame anyone!!

After spending some time diagnosing the problem, we found the fault. With diagnosis complete, it took about 2 minutes to sort it out and electricity from the sun flowed freely again! A mandatory requirement if you like cold beer and prefer to camp quietly…

Palo Duro Canyon State Park for a night was our next stop before heading into Amarillo.

Amarillo is famous for wind and we weren’t let down. I was expecting to see children flying vertically towards the ionosphere given the strength of the gusts, but after enquiring with a local, he replied that it wasn’t really windy, just normal and pointed out that if it’s not windy in Amarillo, you should be worried!!

An unusual city – it has the feeling of having been plonked in the middle of a very big and extremely flat paddock – guess that’s part of the reason for the windy lifestyle.

Checking out “Trip Advisor” and looking at the top 10 things to do as we enter a new area, generally reveals “visit the Museum” as number 1 followed by “the Aquarium” then the “Old Town Centre” and generally goes down hill from there! Well we chose to visit the “Jack Sisemore’s RV Museum” in Amarillo and whilst it might not be to everyone’s taste, it proved to be quite an outstanding collection!

Leaving Amarillo we went west on Old Route 66 and completed the mandatory graffiti session visit at “Cadillac Ranch!“

The skies looked extremely ominous and a check of the forecast revealed active tornado warnings further east and that was the only catalyst required to get us moving west!

A visit to Fort Sumner and the Grave of Billy the Kid! An odd thing to do possibly, as I was under the impression he was a rather ruthless murderer, but sometimes you have to be tourists!

We detoured a considerable distance south to visit Roswell and while you’re probably over alien stories by now, I’ll throw in some pics and stop typing for a minute.

Roswell is certainly a city living vicariously through its past but it was a hoot!! Reminds me of Silverton in NSW where Mad Max was filmed – draining it for every last dollar!!

We had a couple of really interesting campsites around the area however and one night in particular ,we were enthralled by the howling of Coyote’s, quite spooky in the darkness!

We continued on to the touted “most original wild west town in the US”of Lincoln, New Mexico and we were still on the trail of “The Kid!” Lincoln is the town where the young outlaw began to achieve his notoriety.

As you wander the town, information boards provide great insight into the goings on during those days. It would seem that “Billy the Kid” was rather harshly dealt with by an extremely corrupt system back in those days and may well have been justified in some of his actions – in my quick assessment anyway! Certainly a much deeper background to his story than I was previously aware.

Leaving Lincoln, we made west then north through New Mexico and while sticking to dusty trails, you could almost feel the gunslingers presence as the odd ruin appeared on the landscape. Colourful streetscapes, ancient ruins and even a lava field were to feature in our travels.

Here we came head to head with an old 45 Series Land Cruiser from Queensland, imported to the US by it’s current owner, Carter, whom was just as surprised to see our Aussie registered Patrol as we were to see the US tag on his old girl!

We found some great campsites as we ventured northward, but it was quite early in the day and with a harsh wind laden with dust, we decided to move on!

What may be obvious to those of you whom live in the shadow of snow and the weather that creates it, was not overly obvious to us sun bathed Sand Gropers!! Gaining in altitude and noticing quite unusual cloud formations cutting our path, we carried on none the wiser and even decided to head up into a mountain range to camp! In fairness we were looking for a little cooler mountain weather as who doesn’t prefer the “snuggled up under the doona” feeling to the musky odour of sweaty pheromones all night!

Anyway no sooner had we arrived at a suitable campsite and the small hail began! Very blue sky and shorts an hour earlier, we were now looking for thermals whilst the dusty wind of the lower lands a few hours earlier, now seemed a little more alluring.

By far, however, the most interesting part of the evening was at the point we were about to retire. With the heater running, we’d been engrossed in our little habitat and remained completely ignorant to the state of affairs outside our little house and upon opening the curtains and flicking on the outside lights, were staggered to see what was nearing a blizzard of snow swirling around in the light! With a couple of inches of snow now on the bonnet and the land taking on the appearance of an Alpine Mountain in mid winter, closing the curtains and worrying about it in the morning seemed the best option!

We stopped by Albuquerque for a wander of the old town! Turning right at an intersection here and having right of way (I checked the rules again afterward to make sure I was in the right) a rough looking pedestrian walked straight out in front of us and proceeded to pull a hammer from his slightly stained gym shorts and began brandishing it toward us! I guess he felt empowered to cross at will regardless of the lights and I was more than happy to let him have his way! Maybe he thought better of it when he saw the crash camera recording his actions!!! It’s quite amusing to watch back!

The old part of Albuquerque was rather attractive with strong Mexican influence in the architecture and in many of the food options on offer. Flat roofed earthy buildings with exposed beams protruding from the render. I suppose why it’s called “New Mexico”

A visit to the acclaimed petroglyph site near town proved utterly disappointing but was soon made up for after we departed Albuquerque.

After quite a few U-turns and some creative map reading, we managed to locate an old section of Route 66 – a lesser known set of switchbacks dating to 1928 that ascended the ….. plateau. It was an extremely eroded track that had the Patrol doing what it does best! A real bonus to visiting this area was the discovery of vast numbers of awesome Petroglyphs just off the side of the trail!

Santa Fe saw us negotiating more airborne snow and further north, the beginning of the Colorado Plateau! Departing the red and brown hues of the landscape, the ascent north into Colorado quickly captivated the eye with a hint of snow once again sitting upon the mountains and the beautiful green that only dense forest can provide.

Mesa Verde National Park in Southern Colorado was truly outstanding! Ancestral Puebloan Indian houses and cliff dwellings litter the landscape all through the Four Corners region of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and undoubtedly elsewhere! Generally thought to be around 800 years old, these sites were not discovered until the mid to late 1800’s and were built under naturally eroded cliff overhangs. Due to their sheltered locations and frequent orientation away from the prevailing weather, many of the structures have been protected from the harmful erosive effects of the elements and are in absolutely remarkable condition.

BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and National Forest lands encompass an exhilarating range of terrains and in most cases allow what is called dispersed camping (camping in nature, on your own, with no facilities!). Finally we can once again free and wild camp in the manner that we love most, connect with the environment, spot the wildlife and soak it up! It is also a pleasant break from having to listen to other people’s generators (which I have a passionate disdain for), music and morning rituals in an RV park!

Praise where it’s due, almost every campsite we’ve used in areas belonging to the BLM or National Forest (the Australian equivalent would be State Forest or Crown Land) has been absolutely pristine, which gives way to an understanding that the American traveller is very respectful of his environment, which is really wonderful and heartwarming to see.

With such a strong ethos of pack it in and pack it out and leave nothing but footprints, I found it a little odd, however, that when you purchase groceries at an outlet such as Wal-Mart, the checkout operator will pack your bags for you and, should you not intervene, you’re likely to depart with close to a plastic bag per item! I’ve no doubt that, eventually, the US will fall in line with the no bag policies of Europe, as we’re doing in Australia!

Overland Expo was sneaking up on us and required our attendance in Arizona in the coming weeks. With no desire to rush our travels, we began to curve southwest so as not to be left with a last minute dash to meet the deadline, but not before we got our first taste of Utah!!! WOW!!!

Next – Landscapes that defy description as we make for Overland Expo and an unexpected rendezvous!

For now Justin…

I generally avoid answering questions regarding when we will be returning to Australia, as we have no desire to pinpoint an end date and then feel obligated to keep it. Hence a visit from my parents has diverted any feelings of guilt I may have felt regarding time between catch-ups and the possibility of missing my Mum’s 70^th Birthday! So thanks to their initiative we’ve dodged a bullet!!

They would cruise the Pacific for a few weeks before arriving in Seattle, have a wander around San Francisco and then head for a reunion with us in Flagstaff!

Sounds like a good idea!

I know I will sound spoilt, but we were quite envious of the few weeks my folks spent cruising! Yes, we spend time as ferals in the scrub, but we can also use cutlery in the correct order and have no problem undertaking the arduous task of eating, drinking and relaxing aboard a 5 star moving Hotel!!

Reunion hugs dealt with, we proceeded to smash our way through a mountain of smoked ribs and other samples of local cuisine at the “Bigfoot BBQ” in Flagstaff before the 4 of us headed out toward the Grand Canyon.

We had a lovely log cabin booked about 80km from the South Rim sporting great views across the Arizona plains and it proved to be an idyllic location to catch up and relax!

The next few days passed easily with another visit to the Grand Canyon South Rim, (which never gets old), along with a journey to the picturesque towns of Sedona and Jerome where we again practiced stomach extension exercises devouring lunch at the Haunted Hamburger!

 

Our time under one roof ended with a road trip to Seligman on the old “Route 66” and then into Las Vegas via the Hoover Dam.

Linq Hotel in Las Vegas had a perfect location and provided my folks with the next few nights’ relaxation whilst Jen and I settled into the Circus Circus RV Park within walking distance of all things bright and shiny on the strip!

I guess you could call Las Vegas a bit of a zoo but we absolutely loved it. From the tacky kitchiness of the souvenir shops to the upmarket hotel end of town it was a truly liberal party zone with entertainment to suit all expectations from the seediest imaginable right through to Broadway shows and 5 star cuisine!

People watching takes on an almost professional level of intensity, and at times the lack of clothing can be rather nice – at other times, however, it’s a little startling! Hard to believer that it’s possible to expose skin in such large cubic meterage but when you are 150kg, I guess the wrapper has to go with it! Goggling tourists and stress relief seeking locals had the overall effect of a pretty friendly vibe, maybe the giant Pina Colada was helping!

The Bellagio Fountain gracefully enhanced the strip during its regular choreographed performances and The Venetian Hotel was another standout with amazing spaces created to replicate Venice! Some may think it’s a tasteless reflection of the real thing, but I beg to differ. It has the clear advantage that if you fall into the canals in Las Vegas, you won’t die of an incurable disease!

Hugs and sad faces were inevitable as our time together drew to an end! My folks continued their own adventure via Los Angeles and then made the long flight back to Australia. We had spent a great week together and despite the internet technology that keeps us so easily in touch, a personal rendezvous can’t be undervalued.

The mercury had been rising constantly whilst we’d been in Vegas and was pushing 40 degrees C when we departed. Adding to the oppressive heat, it had also been Memorial Day Weekend, which was reported to have brought in somewhere in the order of 330,000 extra hot and sweaty visitors to the desert metropolis! It was certainly packed and yet I thought the overall feel had been enhanced by the inundation of weekend revelers.

Departing Vegas and an hour or so later we were camped upon the shore of Lake Mead and by ourselves once more.

Zion National Park is a stunning gorge with sheer rock faces enclosing a lush, almost tropical, valley. Climbers dangle here and there from cams jammed into cracks as they defy gravity! You have to submit yourself to mass commercial tourism at this heavily visited wonder; an official bus the only way to access the numerous locations within the park assuming you can even find a parking space on the bus route!

It was all a little too much for me. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit but after a few hours of what was really comparable to wandering around a large supermarket on Christmas Eve trying to get those last minute items, we bailed out! I’d lost the ability to concentrate on the marvellous scenery, not able to see anything past the sea of “North Face” clothing being worn by the unquantifiable number of adventure seeking visitors.

I think I’ve had it on my own terms for far too long now. The smothering effect of the masses is something I need to prepare myself for. Visiting Vegas and other such destinations, you just expect it and I guess, as such, don’t really notice it. Then again, in those destinations it’s the people, in a way, that make the experience, where as a National Park for me is an interlude with nature and solitude rather than a trip to Walmart!

The drive east from Zion NP was spectacular. A vista of ancient creamy coloured sand dunes turned to stone with the obvious windswept patterns that we see so often in shifting sands, now laid bear after centuries of nature’s chiseling efforts.

Onward to the south through the rather attractive little town of Kanab and a stop at the visitor info centre bore fruit! On their advice we backtracked a few miles up the highway before we deflated the tyres and drove a long sandy stretch of arid landscape and descended into a dry riverbed. A little while later and we were camped right at the entrance to Peek-a-boo slot canyon! We had our own private slot canyon for the afternoon and relished in the cool environment that lay within.

National Forest camping is as easily located near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon as it is on the South Rim but with sites even presenting on the rim itself! At around 800ft higher than the South Rim, it does have a different feel! Having had the privilege of spending time at each geographic location, I’d have to say they both have their own attraction and if you’ve the chance and time, then I’d suggest you indulge in a visit to both!

Picking our way into the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, (GSENM) we were looking for Buckskin Gulch, a photo of which we’d seen on the cover of a Utah tourism publication! After a long dusty drive, we found the Wire Pass car park with a full quota of cars resting in the blazing sun whilst their occupants were out and about exploring various trails in the area!

Spellbinding is the only description I have for this treasure. I’ll admit it was quite difficult getting motivated to hike the exposed mile and a half to the start of the canyon after soaking in the Patrol’s icy air con whilst outside temperatures stayed in the high 30’s despite the late afternoon hour! We stood outside with solar radiation microwaving us as we loaded up the backpack and staggered off along the dry red sandy track in a style akin to Lawrence of Arabia!

After a couple of kms, the track narrowed and the sandstone rose skyward. Just like that, you’re in a slot canyon! Cool and shaded, it was like diving into a clear blue sea on a hot summers day! Ahead of us lay around 25km of the most stunning slot canyon in the US! It’s able to be hiked end to end if you’re prepared and have a ride organised at the other end, but for us a few km was enough to be subdued by it’s beauty.

Narrow and high, strewn with rounded formations along its sandy base, it twists and winds its way along the desert floor! From above it must appear as a maze, a groove threaded through the inhospitable red desert landscape whilst down below it’s truly magnificent.

A few hours later, the Patrol was a welcome site after the shimmering return stumble along the baked sandy track. In need of a campsite, we’d not seen much in the way of shaded offerings in the area, but fortunately a chat with a great BLM officer pointed us in the direction of Pareah Townsite a little further north!

With a little maneuvering, we were able to camp within the limbs of a huge foliage laden cottonwood tree, even indulging ourselves with a swim in the clear running creek just behind the camper! We were grateful for the fortuitous meeting with Kara as a sun soaked campsite with glaring heat by 5 in the morning was not something we had been looking forward too! In complete shade with a cool breeze we’d arsed the perfect site!

Dusty washboard roads and capstone before again popping out on the black top – Bryce Canyon luring us in for a visit!

The professional pictures seen constantly in tourist brochures really do show many natural wonders in a manner that seems quite alien to their actual appearance – Bryce a victim of this style of art! Much like an airbrushed anorexic pale-faced super model that in person looks more like a starving homeless person than a sexy example of what we all apparently strive for!

Absolutely stunning and with amazingly eroded sandstone spires, particularly due to the light altering effects of sunset, but for me there was only really one overlook that made Bryce a must see.

Every location/state/country has it’s list of scenic attractions but when you put them all together in global terms, attractions that could be perceived magnificent in isolation may pale against greater world comparison. With the unfortunate problem of that perspective, it’s pretty easy to cherry pick the magnificent from the amazing and the “really? -that’s it?” When travelling for a shorter duration or to single destinations, I don’t really think the comparison angle comes into it!

We chose to drive the Burr Trail – around 100km of more ridiculously lovely natural landscape. I’ll have to lay off the descriptions as I’m running out of ways to describe such beauty without constant repetition!

Another lakeside camp, although on this occasion, found with a lot of U-turns and dead ends! It felt as though every gap along the shoreline of Lake Powell that was available to camp in was filled with some form of camping equipment!

Lake Powell is a large watery playground fed by the Colorado and San Juan Rivers in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and extends from the previously visited Page in the south, northeast for 185 miles. Houseboats tethered to moorings in their hundreds, jet ski’s and ski boats providing noise pollution like a swarm of hornets and kayaks in every nook and cranny! If the Bass Pro Shop sells it then it’s to be found here!!! With miles of navigable canyon formed by the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam, there is without doubt a truly relaxing waterborne journey to be had wandering downstream and exploring the water filled canyons. Might put that on the bucket list!

Swimming in the lake was akin to sensual pleasure as that evening, the mercury strayed no lower than 26°C! Our little “swampy” aircon in the camper, whilst a welcome relief against the stifling oppression, was providing a breeze akin to laying in front of an exhaust fan in a fish and chip shop!

Car ferry across the Lake and the journey led us onward to Natural Bridges National Monument.

We ascended the “Bears Ears” peak to find ourselves aloft the hot desert landscape in a cool forest respite perfect for camping. We explored a 4WD trail to Beef Basin for a bit more Ancestral Puebloan Indian history! A fairly rough track with constant rock steps requiring some concentration, I was rather keen on keeping the oil in my diffs rather then returning it to the earth via the actions of a rock encounter, so it was a slow journey and I wasn’t overly sad to complete it.

The heavens opened the following day with torrential rain and thunderstorms – care would be required whilst off the beaten path now as without doubt there would be inundation of tracks traversing low canyons and creeks!

Receiving our first taste of Canyonlands NP with a visit to the Needles District, it already seemed as if the descriptions of the inspiring terrain ahead were understated.

The storms vanished as quickly as they had arrived and the dust reappeared unfortunately.

Needles overlook pics cave houses pics and hole in rock bridge cave thing pic.

Approaching Moab, we again looked for high, forested ground for the night. The cooling effects of camping at altitude are addictive and fortunately the Manti La-Sal National Forest in this part of Utah provided the opportunity to retreat thousands of feet above the hot desert floor to camp providing a much cooler nights sleep.

The following day we continued up the scenic forestry track to around 11000ft with the cold demonstrated by a good covering of snow. Unfortunately the trail surrendered itself to a rather large snowdrift as we approached the pass that would see us descend into Moab on the other side. Judging by the lack of wheel tracks in the snow beyond our location, I felt we’d reached the limit of our travel on this trail and a U turn was required.

Walking the snowy section, I was quite relieved that I’d called it when I had. There was no way past the snowy blockage without shoveling for hours or foolishly trying to drive over the snowy obstacle no doubt resulting in an exciting slide down the near vertical pine tree laden scree that awaited.

I’m sure the intrepid driver before us found himself vacuumed onto his seat given the near death location of his tyre tracks. He’d obviously come to the same realization as I only 50 meters farther along the track before precariously reversing out!

We later discovered, via the Forestry Service Office in Moab, that all of the high trails in the area were completely impassable having received a completely unseasonal and late dose of snow!

Hmmm – that would have saved us some time! Funny how you always find out after the event…

Cya – Justin.