USA / Canada, Newsletter 2 - June, 2012
Four
Corners Monument, the only place in USA where the borders of four states meet
(Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico) is part of the Colorado Uplift.
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| Four Corners - Four states |
It is in
the Navajo reservation, as was the spectacular Monument Valley (in Arizona),
made famous by John Wayne, who starred in many of his movies there.
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| Monument Valley |
Through
time, mesas, buttes and spires now form wondrous, natural structures and are
continually being eroded by wind and water. At over 5,000 ft we were able to
enter the park and drive a loop of 17 miles on rough gravel road, stopping to
take photos of the red rock monuments against a “so blue” sky.
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| Monument Valley |
Mesa
Verde, just out of Cortez in Colorado, was another National Park. We drove to 6000
feet onto a plateau and were able to do a guided tour climbing down (via steps
and ladders) into canyons where earlier, inhabitants had built homes in
overhanging rock ledges.
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| Down into the Canyon |
The ledges were carefully chosen as they took
advantage of the sun, warmed in winter and in shade for summer, and protected
from rain.
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| Mesa Verde dwellings |
So these mud brick structures have lasted for over 800 yrs.
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| Standing around the kiva (sacred place) |
And
now we turned east heading towards Bryce Canyon. The landscape continually
changed as “young” sandstone mountains had different forms depending on the
original colour and fineness of the sand, and the erosion of the area.
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| Unusual rock strata near Mexican Hat |
Near the
Natural Bridges the land looked fairly flat but had deep canyons criss-crossing
it.
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| Natural Bridges National Park |
The Colorado River crossing had sheer cliffs descending into the river and we
could not stop our “ohs and ahs”.
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| Natural Bridge - spectacular |
By-Way 12
road was built as part of the CCC (Civilian Construction Corps) scheme
initiated by the Gov during the depression. It connected farming villages, many
settled by Mormons in this area, whose families had fled from persecution in
Europe.
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| Along the CCC Road, By-Way 12 |
After seeing bare rock formations and uplifts for many miles the road
went up over a 9600 ft pass where green grass and pines were growing. The road
continued through more rocky canyons and there must have been unbelievable
amounts of dynamite used to construct the road.
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| Navajo Dome |
It was so spectacularly scenic and the colours
of the sandstone went from greys to yellows, oranges and red.
Nothing
could have prepared us for the erosion that formed Bryce Canyon. The National
Parks road goes along the rim but you don’t see anything except bush and pines
until you get out of the car and walk to the many lookouts.
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| Bryce Canyon's Hoo-Doos |
Once again
depending on the “hardness” of the sandstone, what was left were huge spires or
“hoo-doos”.
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| Walking trails through Bryce Canyon |
We walked for three hours into the valley which gave us a different
perspective looking up at them, taking our time as we were still over 7500ft
and found the walking a bit huffy and puffy.
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| Down in the Canyon amongst the hoo-doos |
The
next day, and only about 50 miles away, Zion NP was very different again. The
Virgin River had cut a canyon over time where sheer cliffs of 2000ft lined the
valley.
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| Virgin River through Zion National Park |
Shuttle buses take you deeper into the canyon where you can go on long
or short hikes to view Weeping Rock, The Grotto or many other sites.
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| Water seeping through the sandstone at Weeping Rock |
At 7000ft,
the road in from the east, also built by the CCC in 1930’s, wound between huge
rock formations and at the head of the canyon a one mile tunnel was made
through the mountain. Then the road with about eight hairpin bends, took us to
the valley floor. WOW!!
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| Road from Tunnel exit into Zion Valley |
And
so back to Las Vegas to return the car and catch up on the shows we didn’t have
time to see the fortnight before. The Titanic exhibition at The Luxor was
really well done with lots of “things” recovered, reconstructions of cabins,
the grand staircase, and stories, sad but true. Even a large piece of the ship’s
outer wall was on display.
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| Luxor at night |
The best thing that day was getting tickets to see
the Illusionist, David Copperfield (who wasn’t performing when we were last
here). The show was better than we’d hoped and made even more special when Jen
was able to go up on stage and be part of the illusion when a car appeared from
under the large sheet. We still don’t know how 12 people on stage could be contained
in a huge box and then appear at the back of the audience some minutes later.
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| Big Girls' Toys |
So
we said goodbye to Las Vegas and flew to San Antonio to meet Ross and Bev, who
have lived on and off in North America for many years. He is the brother of our
good friend Toni from Yass.
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| Everything's BIG in Texas |
We had a wonderful time with them, visiting the
Alamo, doing the red double decker city bus trip, having lunch and a boat ride
along the river walk, and meeting American friends of theirs in their homes.
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| The Alamo |
It
was 95-100F each day so would come back to the air conditioned house each
afternoon.
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| Boating along the river in San Antonio |
Ross suggested we try setting up a blog as it would be easier to add
to and the photos are there to see. So we hope you are finding it better.
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| Lunching at one of the many restaurants along the river walk |
We
also visited San Jose, a Spanish Mission from 1700’s that has been restored and
was made very interesting by the guide’s stories.
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| San Jose Mission |
To get a taste of motor homes
we visited a few RV saleyards further out of town but there were not many to
choose from. So we hired a car for the week, said goodbye to Bev and Ross, and headed for Houston.
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| Lunch on the River Walk with Ross, Bev and Julie |
We
looked carefully for two days and finally decided. We originally thought a 24
ft van would be adequate but quickly realised we’d have to go a bit longer.
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| Our RV in the Parking Lot |
Many
RV’s on the road are as big as buses towing small cars, so we feel we’re in a
medium to small RV range. Ours is a 28ft, 2004 model (48,500 miles on the
clock), on a Ford F450 V10 “gas guzzler”, but at between 85 and 90c a litre
it’s not too bad.
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| The Dinette (slides out about 70 cms) |
It has a “slide out” of the dinette which gives a little more
room in the kitchen area.
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| The Kitchen |
We think the previous owners had not used the stove,
oven or microwave – probably ate out while on holidays as it’s so cheap here,
and there’s barely a scratch on it. The bathroom has a shower, toilet and
washbasin, and the bedroom has small hanging cupboards with a queen bed. It has
just a “little” more room than the Kimberley.
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| The Bedroom |
While
waiting to settle on the van we stayed with (Jenny and George), sister and
brother in law of Vicki (whom I worked with at Rye Park School) and enjoyed their
lovely home and meeting their friends.
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| Saturn V Rocket at NASA |
We visited NASA and Brazos Bend State
Park to see the crocodiles in the swamps and the many birds.
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| Scaredy 'Gator at Brazos Bend State Park |
Did an overnight
trip to Dallas to go to the JFK Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza,
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| Texas School Book Depository- now JFK Sixth Floor Museum |
and paused
on the Grassy Knoll and wondered!
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| The Snipers View - note that x marks the spot |
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| The Grassy Knoll |
Did
a quick visit to the Capital of Texas, Austin. We walked along the river bank
in the Botanical Gardens and took photos of the city before heading back to
Houston to pick up the RV.
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| Austin, the capital of Texas from the Botanical Gardens |
It’s
taken a couple of trips to Walmart, Home Base and K Mart to set the RV up.
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| George, Jen and Jenny |
Said goodbye to Jenny and George and we
then headed off to New Orleans but that will be in the next installment.
Best
Wishes,
Jen
and Garry xox
