Zion!!

After saying  goodbye to our friends in Vegas we headed for Utah to Zion National Park.  Entering via the Virgin Pass, some might describe as a "white knuckle drives".  This picture doesn't do it justice.

The weather was hot (again) and we checked into a very nice RV park in Virgin, UT.  The RV's fresh water pump was giving us trouble and I had arranged for a replacement to be sent to us there. 

We decided to start with an easy hike (yeah right) up the Watchman the next morning.  It was described as a "moderate" 2.7 mile trail reaching up to a Mesa offering a splendid view of the surrounding area. The rock formations are very impressive and beautiful (in a rugged way).

We reached the summit and as advertised, the vistas were excellent.

Our day's excitement happened on the way down.  I was leading the way, which turned out to be a mistake.  As most of you know, I'm a little hard of hearing (deaf) and never heard the warning of the snake.  Diane shrieked  (shouted) several comments.  Look out!  No,no, don't back up!  Forward! Run!  Turns out I had walked by about a 3' Rattlesnake.  He warned me of his presence but I never heard him.  When I turned around he was all coiled up with his rattler activated!  Holy s**t!    A little too close for comfort.  We waited until he had crossed the trail and continued on his way.

We made it to the bottom and sat for a while soaking our tired feet in the cool waters of the Virgin River while waiting for our heart rates to normalize.  

There are so many fascinating, diverse and beautiful sights, I picked just a few to share.

The Checkerboard Mesa:

The Temple Cap:

The Tunnel:

 

And finally, another thing we noticed were some of the diverse plantings that the local farmers were cultivating. 

The Shoe Tree:

and ....The Bra Tree:

Las Vegas!

Our trip out west wouldn't have been complete without a visit to some very old friends I haven't seen for decades. 

Left to right:  Pete Ward, Chris Carlton, Jim Kelly and yours truly with Tink.

Pete is the editor of Drag Racer Magazine.  Chris, when I first met her, was married to the late Leroy Goldstein, affectionately known as the "Israeli Rocket", was a hard charging competitor and good friend,  Jim was a struggling photographer when I met him.  He has since been inducted into the "International Drag Racing Hall of Fame", an honor he truly deserves. 

Chris, and her husband George (another good guy) hosted a awesome dinner party so we could all get together and reminisce (swap lies).  It was great seeing them all again.

The Hoover Dam

Departing the Grand Canyon we headed for Las Vegas to visit some of my old friends.  Somehow, a lot of my friends are "old".  Go figure!  Anyway, we took a side trip to see the Hoover Dam. 

We took a tour of the dam, descending by elevators deep into it's core.  A few facts we learned as we walked, and walked...  It's 726 feet high and 1244 feet across the top.  660 feet thick at the base and 45 feet thick at the top.  4,360,000 cubic yards of concrete was used in it's construction and 96,000,000 pounds of steel.  Surprisingly, to me anyway, NO STEEL was used IN the dam!..It's a "floating" structure, meaning each massive block of concrete making up the structure can move making it earthquake proof.  It's already experienced a couple, one of which was measured 5.2.
Construction began 9/30/1930 and last concrete was poured in 1935. 

We walked down this air shaft, which is pretty close to the bottom.  On the sides of the walls are notations dating back to the 40's and 50's where cracks are routinely monitored.

I was able to put my camera through the grate at the end of the air shaft and took this picture looking up.

There are stairways to the top of the dam in case of emegencies.  This is looking down and the next picture is looking up.  We can't remember the exact number of steps the guide said there is (it's thousands) , but he had to walk it once and had leg cramps for days.

 This is one of the electric power generating room.  There are 17 generators inside the dam producing 4 Billion Kilowatts of electricity!

The picture below shows one of the water intakes that supplies water to power the turbines that power the generators.  Half of the intakes are on the Arizona side of the reservoir and the others are on the Nevada side.

Finally a picture of a picture of a group of Native American Indians, Yaqui, Crow, Apache and Navajo's who did what was considered one of the most dangerous jobs.  Hanging from the canyon walls on ropes, no nets, drilling holes with steam powered jack hammers to place Dynamite charges to blast away the rock.

We very much enjoyed the experience of exploring and learning more about one of the world's largest dams.

The Grand Canyon

We said farewell to Mark and Winnie and pointed the bus toward the Grand Canyon.  We had a reservation at a well reviewed RV park in Williams, AZ.  Once we arrived and checked in, I purchased tickets on the Grand Canyon Railway for the 68 mile trip to the entrance to the park.  Once I had that completed we took a stroll into town.

It wasn't long before we encountered the town marshall who had caught up with a horse thief.  The culprit was not willing to be captured so the marshall went to plan B!

The train ride was most enjoyable.  The stewardess plied us with tasty treats and refreshing beverages.  She also entertained us with historical facts on the Canyon.

It's 277 miles long, 18 miles wide and 6,000 feet deep.  The Colorado River is estimated to have carved its course through the Canyon at least 17 million years ago.

For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon ("Ongtupqa" in Hopi language) a holy site and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.

It is considered one of the seven natural wonders of the world!

When the train pulled into the station we boarded a very nice bus for a narrated tour of the the Canyon rim.  It was another good decision.  It drove us to some of the best views in air conditioned comfort.

The vistas are spectacular but a challenge for a novice (me) to capture in all their glory.

We also encountered a group of Hopi indians in full regalia performing dances.  This young man was excellent!

We boarded the train for the return trip with great memories stored in our minds and camera.  Cameras are a good thing!  LOL!

Our stewardess mixed me a excellent Blood Mary and a glass of Champange for Diane.  A couple of traveling minstrels entertained us with songs and humor as we chugged back towards Williams. 

Then the unexpected!

Train robbers had boarded us.  Luckily there was a US Homeland Security Train Marshall sitting in our car and he drew down on the dastardly crook and disarmed and cuffed him.

To calm our nerves, our stewardess rushed to us with more cocktails.

It was a treat to see the wonders of the Canyon and experience some of the local color as well.



Sedona, AZ

We returned the grandkids safe and sound to their parents and pointed the bus west again.  Diane had never visited Sedona although I had a few years ago.  Also, about 12 years ago I crewed for a couple, Mark and Winnie, in the Caribbean 1500, a 1500 ocean race/rally starting in Hampton, VA and finishing in Virgin Gorda. Mark is a retired attorney and Winnie is a former Ballerina!  Their boat, a 47' Tayana is named the Gran Jete!  I'd never met them prior to the race and we hit it off quite well.  They had sailed on to Europe after the race and for the next ten years sailed to exotic places in the Med like Greece, Israel and Malta just to name a few. We had exchanged a few emails over the years and a couple years ago they returned to the states and bought a lovely home in Sedona.  We all agreed it was past time for us to get together again.  The drive out was uneventful other than some rather windy days, but we very much enjoyed the scenery.  Mountains!  All shapes and sizes.

One day I took Diana to see Montezuma's Castle.  It is estimated to have been inhabited from about 1200 to 1450 AD.  Pretty amazing.

Mark and Winnie were excellent and gracious tour guides.  They introduced us to a most interesting town...Jerome, AZ.  The drive up was an event to remember, climbing about a 1000' up a winding, twisting road to this little town carved into the hillside.  It has many art studios, unigue restaurants, antique stores and interesting homes.

The vista looking out from town:

A little church in the midst of an array of shops:

An interesing item outside an antique shop...an ancient movie projector:

Winnie and Diana "hat shopping":

It was great to see Mark and Winnie and meet their new dog Jake.  We'll be expecting them in Vero sometime soon we hope.  Great people!