Got up nice and early so as to get to the airport with plenty of time to drop off the hired car and then to the airline lounge, or so we thought. However, we arrived at United Airlines check-in only to be greeted by a long line of people as the e-ticket machines had broken and each person had to be hand checked in. So we waited an hour to finally check in and after security, not so long a line this time, we arrived in the departure lounge with no time to hit the lounge. Ah the joys of airports!
The Airline was called TED, the last three letters of UniTED, it is their new low cost carrier and we were given good seats and the flight was ok. We arrived in Denver 100 minutes later and 25 degrees centigrade colder. Missing Scottsdale already.
Left the airport to the Doubletree Hotel in North Denver for two nights before heading for the mountains. Had dinner in the Italian styled Olive Garden chain, not bad for the price.
Lets hope it gets warmer soon.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Wednesday 3rd may 2006- Scottsdale/Las Vegas
Well, we are back on-line again. We had a great few days in the Hilton Scottsdale, the hotel was very quiet and the last couple of days there were only a handfull of people around the pool area.
During the last week we have been taking it easy somedays and on others walking for a few miles which is rather challenging as sometimes the temperature reached 98 degrees farenhite. We went to the cinema to see UNITED 93 ( the new film about one of the aircraft in the 9/11 episode) a great film and well put together, a must see. We also went to see Robin Williams in RV a film about a guy who takes his family on a two week trip to Colorado in a RV, quite funny really.
The trip up from Scottsdale was uneventfull and we passed over the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, an impressive sight which we have visited before. They are now building what looks like a new suspension bridge over the dam to improve the traffic flows, this should be an amazing bridge when complete but I guess they have a couple of years to go yet.
We appear to have done over 3200 miles in the last few weeks when covering Nevada, Arizona and Utah but the car has been very good for this purpose, so much so we have requested the same type of car for when we arrive in Denver tomorrow. The weather in Denver is currently showing at 12 degrees Cent and here in Vegas its 34 degrees Centigrade so I suppose we will need our coats.
I have added a couple of pictures of Scottsdale, but did not take many as we decided to take a break in the completion of the daily journal (blog) untill now. When taking pictures I used my little digital camera and have now just noticed that I set it to Black and White pictures. What a twit!! sorry.
Tonight we are on the outskirts of Las Vegas in a place called Henderson which suited our final drive back to Las Vegas and the airport where we have to be by 0730 tomorrow morning after dropping off the car.
During the last week we have been taking it easy somedays and on others walking for a few miles which is rather challenging as sometimes the temperature reached 98 degrees farenhite. We went to the cinema to see UNITED 93 ( the new film about one of the aircraft in the 9/11 episode) a great film and well put together, a must see. We also went to see Robin Williams in RV a film about a guy who takes his family on a two week trip to Colorado in a RV, quite funny really.
The trip up from Scottsdale was uneventfull and we passed over the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, an impressive sight which we have visited before. They are now building what looks like a new suspension bridge over the dam to improve the traffic flows, this should be an amazing bridge when complete but I guess they have a couple of years to go yet.
We appear to have done over 3200 miles in the last few weeks when covering Nevada, Arizona and Utah but the car has been very good for this purpose, so much so we have requested the same type of car for when we arrive in Denver tomorrow. The weather in Denver is currently showing at 12 degrees Cent and here in Vegas its 34 degrees Centigrade so I suppose we will need our coats.
I have added a couple of pictures of Scottsdale, but did not take many as we decided to take a break in the completion of the daily journal (blog) untill now. When taking pictures I used my little digital camera and have now just noticed that I set it to Black and White pictures. What a twit!! sorry.
Tonight we are on the outskirts of Las Vegas in a place called Henderson which suited our final drive back to Las Vegas and the airport where we have to be by 0730 tomorrow morning after dropping off the car.
April 28th until 3rd May 2006
Well after 35 days on the road, driving 4800 miles and staying in 17 different Hotels, we decided we needed to take a rest before we embarked on the next part of our journey from Denver on the 3rd May. So after almost 9 days at between 7-9000 feet above sea level which definately affects you and makes you feel rather tired etc we decided to take a break for a few days.
So with the help of Company collegues, Greg Martin in K+N in New York and Juergen Gentzke in K+N Atlanta , I thank you both very much for your help, they secured for us a very good deal at the Hilton Scottsdale, Arizona. So we will rest up and sit by the pool, go for a swim now and again, occassionaly hit the Gym and have a few beers before we tackle the next part of our journey.
We have decided to take a break from photos and Blog's etc until we restart our journey next week. So the next installment for this log will on 3rd May until then we remain on email and usual phone numbers.
One thing we had not quite realised with this Blog thing is that it takes up a lot of time, but remains a great way of recording a diary and so from our point of view it has been well worth it.
Bi for now
So with the help of Company collegues, Greg Martin in K+N in New York and Juergen Gentzke in K+N Atlanta , I thank you both very much for your help, they secured for us a very good deal at the Hilton Scottsdale, Arizona. So we will rest up and sit by the pool, go for a swim now and again, occassionaly hit the Gym and have a few beers before we tackle the next part of our journey.
We have decided to take a break from photos and Blog's etc until we restart our journey next week. So the next installment for this log will on 3rd May until then we remain on email and usual phone numbers.
One thing we had not quite realised with this Blog thing is that it takes up a lot of time, but remains a great way of recording a diary and so from our point of view it has been well worth it.
Bi for now
27th April Grand Canyon to Scottsdale
An early morning start today, we left the Grand Canyon and headed towards Scottsdale, a suburb of Phoenix and our 6 night stay at the Hilton Resort at Scottsdale.
The journey from Flagstaff to Sedona on the 89A was brilliant, it was a bright clear day and the mountains, hills and rivers got better by the minute. We stopped in Sedona for a coffee and a few photographs, this place is quite commercial however it is a beautifull town surrounded by red rock mountains.. Great.
We left Sedona and travelled to Cottonwood for a Blimpie (American made to measure sandwich. you can have 6,8 or 10 inches)) before heading on the Interstate to Phoenix. The traffic on the Phoenix road 101 (equivalent to the M25 around London) was very busy at 1430, just what the people at Williams on route 66 would have made of this makes me shudder to think. There was more cars per 100 yards than Williams sees in a year.
We arrived and settled in to our new abode for a few days. A pleasant but not overlong journey. Lets hope the sun shines as promised tomorrow.
The journey from Flagstaff to Sedona on the 89A was brilliant, it was a bright clear day and the mountains, hills and rivers got better by the minute. We stopped in Sedona for a coffee and a few photographs, this place is quite commercial however it is a beautifull town surrounded by red rock mountains.. Great.
We left Sedona and travelled to Cottonwood for a Blimpie (American made to measure sandwich. you can have 6,8 or 10 inches)) before heading on the Interstate to Phoenix. The traffic on the Phoenix road 101 (equivalent to the M25 around London) was very busy at 1430, just what the people at Williams on route 66 would have made of this makes me shudder to think. There was more cars per 100 yards than Williams sees in a year.
We arrived and settled in to our new abode for a few days. A pleasant but not overlong journey. Lets hope the sun shines as promised tomorrow.
26th April To Williams and Back
We thought that we would do something different today and as we had discovered there was an Aircraft Musuem in the direction of Williams(famous for being on Route 66) so we headed south. The Musuem is still quite new and was in the process of growing but with an excellent collection of aircraft and cars.
They had the Lockheed Super Constellation of General MacArther which he used when travelling in his role in Japan following the collapse of this Country in the Second World War . There was also the only aircraft, a Pitts Special that could land normally and also upside down!!. There was also a great collection of Model T Fords owned by the same guy who owned the airport that the musuem was on. A very interesting visit indeed and much better than expected.
The airport was called Grand Canyon Valle Airport and is a private airfield. It only seemed to have two full time employees, and apart from the airline operating a single helicopter, not like Heathrow at all, this Airport was not troubled by noisy passengers.
Williams, what can I say, is a town which lives off the Route 66 image and is also the start point for the Grand Canyon Railway where the daily train schedule starts at 1015 and finishes back at Williams by late afternoon. This town was so laid back even the restaurants close for lunch.
We didn't buy the T-Shirt but we did walk around for perhaps an hour and tried to visit the Train Museum but yep, you guessed it, it was closed. There is also a small Wild West area where they stage, in the peak season, evening gun fighter shootouts (bit like Brooklyn-really)
It was also interesting that the local newspaper published the school kids menu for the next week, so news must be really tough to come by.!
We finally found a nice diner where we had lunch which was great and good value and then we headed back in the sun to our Hotel near the Grand Canyon National Park.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Scottsdale.
Sorry if there are too many pictures but we like them all
They had the Lockheed Super Constellation of General MacArther which he used when travelling in his role in Japan following the collapse of this Country in the Second World War . There was also the only aircraft, a Pitts Special that could land normally and also upside down!!. There was also a great collection of Model T Fords owned by the same guy who owned the airport that the musuem was on. A very interesting visit indeed and much better than expected.
The airport was called Grand Canyon Valle Airport and is a private airfield. It only seemed to have two full time employees, and apart from the airline operating a single helicopter, not like Heathrow at all, this Airport was not troubled by noisy passengers.
Williams, what can I say, is a town which lives off the Route 66 image and is also the start point for the Grand Canyon Railway where the daily train schedule starts at 1015 and finishes back at Williams by late afternoon. This town was so laid back even the restaurants close for lunch.
We didn't buy the T-Shirt but we did walk around for perhaps an hour and tried to visit the Train Museum but yep, you guessed it, it was closed. There is also a small Wild West area where they stage, in the peak season, evening gun fighter shootouts (bit like Brooklyn-really)
It was also interesting that the local newspaper published the school kids menu for the next week, so news must be really tough to come by.!
We finally found a nice diner where we had lunch which was great and good value and then we headed back in the sun to our Hotel near the Grand Canyon National Park.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Scottsdale.
Sorry if there are too many pictures but we like them all
25th April. The Grand Canyon Experience
We left the hotel around 0915 to join a Grand Canyon Airways flight. It was a great flight and you could see a long way as sometimes the canyon visibility is considerably reduced due to pollution mainly from Los Angeles and the visbility can be reduced from 80 miles down to 18.
The flight in a DeHavilland Twin Otter aircraft lasted about 45 minutes and took in the North Rim (still closed due to snow) and the South Rim which is open all year. As is usual with US based Airlines there was no cabin service...
The views were magnificent and it is difficult to explain and the photos can never represent the magnitude of the Canyon area.
After that we took the shuttle bus along the South Rim where you can stand only a few inches away from a one mile drop with no protection whatsoever. Around 5/7 people die each year from fooling around at the edge. It takes some time to reach the bottom and even longer to collect you.
We took many photographs, too many for this Blog and so will only put a few for you to see.
At the end of the day we walked along the rim for about 1.5 miles back to the car before a pizza supper, boy do we live it up!
This place is well organised and you can get to see quite a lot in a short time and the aeroplane ride is well worth the investment. You can also take a smooth-water raft ride or a white-water raft down the Colorado River but quite frankly the latter is not our scene.
As it will take some time to sort out which pictures to put on the blog I will leave the entry at this point.
The flight in a DeHavilland Twin Otter aircraft lasted about 45 minutes and took in the North Rim (still closed due to snow) and the South Rim which is open all year. As is usual with US based Airlines there was no cabin service...
The views were magnificent and it is difficult to explain and the photos can never represent the magnitude of the Canyon area.
After that we took the shuttle bus along the South Rim where you can stand only a few inches away from a one mile drop with no protection whatsoever. Around 5/7 people die each year from fooling around at the edge. It takes some time to reach the bottom and even longer to collect you.
We took many photographs, too many for this Blog and so will only put a few for you to see.
At the end of the day we walked along the rim for about 1.5 miles back to the car before a pizza supper, boy do we live it up!
This place is well organised and you can get to see quite a lot in a short time and the aeroplane ride is well worth the investment. You can also take a smooth-water raft ride or a white-water raft down the Colorado River but quite frankly the latter is not our scene.
As it will take some time to sort out which pictures to put on the blog I will leave the entry at this point.
24th April, Cedar City to The Grand Canyon
When you think it can't get any better, it does. The journey started with a challenge as when we went to bed on the previous night it looked like a heavy mist descending on the mountains. This morning it became very clear that this was not mist but snow, yet again. The roads on the pass were a bit difficult but it all adds to lifes little challenges.
We left on US 89 and what an oustanding drive this is. The mountains, plains and colours combined to make this a memorable road journey and one to travel again. During our journey we started to see little groups of vintage cars, we thought at first it was a few cars on a drive only there was more and more. There were Ferrari's, Austin Healey 3000, Triumph TR3, Maseratis and Jaguar E types and many more. This was the 2006 Copperstate 1000 which is open to cars born before 1975. Worth looking at the web site. The Rally is fully supported by Lexus.
Later in the day we stopped at a viewing point and discovered that Harley Davidson were filming some bikes with a back drop of Lake Powell near a place called Page. As the view was quite stunning I took a succesion of photos to get an impression of the view. Hope it works. I also took some pictures of the bikes.
We arrived late into Grand canyon and our first views were stunning... and we are hoping to catch a flight tomorrow morning to get even better views. We also watched the IMAX film of the Grand Canyon, a good film but still not as good as the 'Mysteries of the Nile'
We are staying at the Holiday Inn at The Grand Canyon, its very close to the park but the most expensive hotel so far. Dinner at a Steak house was Ok.
And so to bed...
We left on US 89 and what an oustanding drive this is. The mountains, plains and colours combined to make this a memorable road journey and one to travel again. During our journey we started to see little groups of vintage cars, we thought at first it was a few cars on a drive only there was more and more. There were Ferrari's, Austin Healey 3000, Triumph TR3, Maseratis and Jaguar E types and many more. This was the 2006 Copperstate 1000 which is open to cars born before 1975. Worth looking at the web site. The Rally is fully supported by Lexus.
Later in the day we stopped at a viewing point and discovered that Harley Davidson were filming some bikes with a back drop of Lake Powell near a place called Page. As the view was quite stunning I took a succesion of photos to get an impression of the view. Hope it works. I also took some pictures of the bikes.
We arrived late into Grand canyon and our first views were stunning... and we are hoping to catch a flight tomorrow morning to get even better views. We also watched the IMAX film of the Grand Canyon, a good film but still not as good as the 'Mysteries of the Nile'
We are staying at the Holiday Inn at The Grand Canyon, its very close to the park but the most expensive hotel so far. Dinner at a Steak house was Ok.
And so to bed...
23rd April 2006 Bryce Canyon
We left the Hotel on a grey overcast morning and as we started to climb the mountains it got darker and darker and then it started to sleet and snow. At 9400 feet it was 29 degrees Fahrenhite and so we had to look out for ice on the road as well. However, once we reached the top the weather changed and it was great for the rest of the journey.
As you arrive into the Bryce Canyon area , the drive is past Red Rock Canyon for about one mile. The colour of the rock is a bright maroon/red colour, it must look beautifull in the sunshine.
We arrived in Bryce Canyon, which is actually a series of canyons which stretch for about 18 miles with the highest peak being about 9400 feet. This peak has over 200 days per year of below freezing temperatures.
It is quite an amazing sight to behold and whereas with Zion National Park you can walk through the bottom of the Canyon and look up, here you drive on the top and look down although there are hiking trails lower down. It is still early season for this National Park and so it was rather quiet, which was nice.
I am afraid that the pictures from yesterday in Zion National Park and also today's of Bryce Canyon cannot really do justice to the size and grandeur and space, however we did our best.
Bryce Canyon is named after a Mormon Settler who built a small house in the shade of Bryce Canyon. Apparently the only problem with being there was that he kept losing cattle in the canyon...
There is a view site at Bryce Canyon where you walk out for 100 feet with a path 6 feet wide but either side there is a drop of several thousand feet, we think, as it not possible to get the ruler out and check. Good place for suicide though!!!
Hope you like the pictures. We are off to Grand Canyon tomorrow, another 300 miles on top of the 2100 we have done here plus the 2200 in the Carolinas. I should have bought some petrol shares (gas to you Americans
As you arrive into the Bryce Canyon area , the drive is past Red Rock Canyon for about one mile. The colour of the rock is a bright maroon/red colour, it must look beautifull in the sunshine.
We arrived in Bryce Canyon, which is actually a series of canyons which stretch for about 18 miles with the highest peak being about 9400 feet. This peak has over 200 days per year of below freezing temperatures.
It is quite an amazing sight to behold and whereas with Zion National Park you can walk through the bottom of the Canyon and look up, here you drive on the top and look down although there are hiking trails lower down. It is still early season for this National Park and so it was rather quiet, which was nice.
I am afraid that the pictures from yesterday in Zion National Park and also today's of Bryce Canyon cannot really do justice to the size and grandeur and space, however we did our best.
Bryce Canyon is named after a Mormon Settler who built a small house in the shade of Bryce Canyon. Apparently the only problem with being there was that he kept losing cattle in the canyon...
There is a view site at Bryce Canyon where you walk out for 100 feet with a path 6 feet wide but either side there is a drop of several thousand feet, we think, as it not possible to get the ruler out and check. Good place for suicide though!!!
Hope you like the pictures. We are off to Grand Canyon tomorrow, another 300 miles on top of the 2100 we have done here plus the 2200 in the Carolinas. I should have bought some petrol shares (gas to you Americans
22nd April Zion National Park
Just when you thought it couldn't get any better it just did. This place is amazing and although we thought Yosemite was great this place is fantastic. Not sure what we can say in future re Bryce national park and also the Grand Canyon-let's see.
We arrived around 10 am as the sun was beginning to pour through and it got really nice and warm. We left the car at the visitor centre in Springfield and took the shuttle bus throught the park, jumping off every now and again for a looksee and photos. As we got deeper into the valley the views became even more wonderfull. Then we saw some climbers several hundred feet up a sheer cliff face. Don't think I could do that..
We also went to the 40 minute Imax film which from a photographic perspective was great but they got lost somehow on what they were trying to produce. However, as a senior I should not complain at USD 5.50 for the ticket.
We took the scenic, long route back to Cedar City over the top and throught Cedar canyon. We climbed (drove) to almost 10000 feet where the snow still lay very thick indeed.
Anyway, re the pictures we are not going to add comments as they are self explanitory and I would not know what to add anyway. We did not take pictures of the snow as in previous shows we have many pictures of snow etc.
This place is really worth a visit, it is well organised and spectacular. Not sure how we can adjust to Weybridge after this visit.
Tomorrow is Bryce Canyon and we look forward to that with great interest.
We arrived around 10 am as the sun was beginning to pour through and it got really nice and warm. We left the car at the visitor centre in Springfield and took the shuttle bus throught the park, jumping off every now and again for a looksee and photos. As we got deeper into the valley the views became even more wonderfull. Then we saw some climbers several hundred feet up a sheer cliff face. Don't think I could do that..
We also went to the 40 minute Imax film which from a photographic perspective was great but they got lost somehow on what they were trying to produce. However, as a senior I should not complain at USD 5.50 for the ticket.
We took the scenic, long route back to Cedar City over the top and throught Cedar canyon. We climbed (drove) to almost 10000 feet where the snow still lay very thick indeed.
Anyway, re the pictures we are not going to add comments as they are self explanitory and I would not know what to add anyway. We did not take pictures of the snow as in previous shows we have many pictures of snow etc.
This place is really worth a visit, it is well organised and spectacular. Not sure how we can adjust to Weybridge after this visit.
Tomorrow is Bryce Canyon and we look forward to that with great interest.
21st April Fallon to Cedar City, Utah
Today we had a very interesting drive for 450 miles on route US 50, called the loneliest road in America. I tried to buy the T-Shirt but there was no stock due to lack of interest.
We went thro' hills, mountains and valleys. Some roads were 80 miles long where you could use cruise control from start to finish. We passed the remains of the old Pony Express ( still faster than the British post office) and the Stagecoach overland stage stations, some were just piles of rubble, but showed the history.
We passed through towns called Austin, Eureka and Ely. All pretty much one horse towns but still complete with a Casino. We also viewed enroute further powerfull examples of the poverty that exists in this Country. Someone should address this instead of the stupid war games. (Get off your high horse Noel!).
Plenty of Cattle on this route and we also saw Deer, one to be exact, in the middle of the road.
The price of fuel in this country is ridiculous and depends on the US State you are in. We have paid USD 3.30 per gallon and now in Cedar City its US 2.65. Don't know how to explain this USD 0.70 per gallon difference and assume it must be Tax.
There were many mining towns on this road until we reached the US 93 at Major's Place (no connection) and then off the US 93 on to the Utah 56. The town of Cedar City, Utah has a very active Shakespeare Experience? connected to the university. Tomorrow night there is professional Bull riding. Will need to find out more about this.
Tomorrow we are going to Zion National Park which we are looking forward to.
Cedar City is quite small whilst the roads are extremely wide and mostly covered with Ford Pickups and similar size vehicles (said as Vey-hi-culs), or something like this. We also saw some road works where they were resurfacing the road with tarmac, sanded oil, they call it- work that one out!!!.
We passed about 10 Walmart trucks, loads of RV's and the occasional car on this journey, the RV business is huge in this country
Anyway, things are going fine and we look forward to the next few days. On Tuesday thorough Thursday we shall be in Grand Canyon country complete with helicopter and light aircraft rides. Watch this space for pictures etc
I also forgot to mention that we have crossed the Stateline and moved from Pacific time zone to Mountain time zone and lost one hour. Can you believe it, there was not even a sign.
We went thro' hills, mountains and valleys. Some roads were 80 miles long where you could use cruise control from start to finish. We passed the remains of the old Pony Express ( still faster than the British post office) and the Stagecoach overland stage stations, some were just piles of rubble, but showed the history.
We passed through towns called Austin, Eureka and Ely. All pretty much one horse towns but still complete with a Casino. We also viewed enroute further powerfull examples of the poverty that exists in this Country. Someone should address this instead of the stupid war games. (Get off your high horse Noel!).
Plenty of Cattle on this route and we also saw Deer, one to be exact, in the middle of the road.
The price of fuel in this country is ridiculous and depends on the US State you are in. We have paid USD 3.30 per gallon and now in Cedar City its US 2.65. Don't know how to explain this USD 0.70 per gallon difference and assume it must be Tax.
There were many mining towns on this road until we reached the US 93 at Major's Place (no connection) and then off the US 93 on to the Utah 56. The town of Cedar City, Utah has a very active Shakespeare Experience? connected to the university. Tomorrow night there is professional Bull riding. Will need to find out more about this.
Tomorrow we are going to Zion National Park which we are looking forward to.
Cedar City is quite small whilst the roads are extremely wide and mostly covered with Ford Pickups and similar size vehicles (said as Vey-hi-culs), or something like this. We also saw some road works where they were resurfacing the road with tarmac, sanded oil, they call it- work that one out!!!.
We passed about 10 Walmart trucks, loads of RV's and the occasional car on this journey, the RV business is huge in this country
Anyway, things are going fine and we look forward to the next few days. On Tuesday thorough Thursday we shall be in Grand Canyon country complete with helicopter and light aircraft rides. Watch this space for pictures etc
I also forgot to mention that we have crossed the Stateline and moved from Pacific time zone to Mountain time zone and lost one hour. Can you believe it, there was not even a sign.
20th April Jamestown via Lake Tahoe to Fallon
Hope you all are not getting fed up with this information/Blog but we like doing it anyway.
Left the hotel in Jamestown and did the drive back to Carson City via Lake Tahoe. The route we took was the same as we used to get to Jamestown but in reverse. A really beautifull journey indeed, see previous entry. We arrived in Lake Tahoe and most of the snow has now melted and the the town looked very different and nowhere near as pretty as before.
En route we stopped in Sutter Creek for a few pictures which we hope that you find interesting. Most of the shops were selling antiques (that's what they thought but some was rubbish), but the town looks nice. The road from Carson City to Fallon is long and pretty much boring but you can see many areas with poor housing conditions, trailer homes and people living in RV's. Some were pretty bad indeed and you wonder how the people put up with it.
One sign on the road to here said ( Prison nearby, do not pick up hitchhikers) No Way Jose!!
This place is really only an overnight stop and its not a great place. The hotel we booked on the internent looked quite good , perhaps the picture was taken about 20 years ago as the Hotel when we arrived looked extremely dirty and surrounded by trucks. We decided to stay elsewhere..
Tomorrow we make an early start for the long drive to Cedar City where we will spend 3 nights
Left the hotel in Jamestown and did the drive back to Carson City via Lake Tahoe. The route we took was the same as we used to get to Jamestown but in reverse. A really beautifull journey indeed, see previous entry. We arrived in Lake Tahoe and most of the snow has now melted and the the town looked very different and nowhere near as pretty as before.
En route we stopped in Sutter Creek for a few pictures which we hope that you find interesting. Most of the shops were selling antiques (that's what they thought but some was rubbish), but the town looks nice. The road from Carson City to Fallon is long and pretty much boring but you can see many areas with poor housing conditions, trailer homes and people living in RV's. Some were pretty bad indeed and you wonder how the people put up with it.
One sign on the road to here said ( Prison nearby, do not pick up hitchhikers) No Way Jose!!
This place is really only an overnight stop and its not a great place. The hotel we booked on the internent looked quite good , perhaps the picture was taken about 20 years ago as the Hotel when we arrived looked extremely dirty and surrounded by trucks. We decided to stay elsewhere..
Tomorrow we make an early start for the long drive to Cedar City where we will spend 3 nights
19th April Yosemite National Park
What to say!!! except WOW. The views were magnificent and beyond anything we have seen before. The drive from Jamestown took us over extremely high mountains where the narrow roads, with the side a few feet away, had a drop of perhaps a thousand feet or more. None of the roads had guard rails and so it was not a good time to sneeze or look at the scenery otherwise....the end of the Groves.
The Park was not too busy however and so we could enjoy it to the full. All we can say is that you should, at some time in your life, visit Yosemite for a rewarding visit and scenery that cannot be forgotten.
Tomorrow we start heading for Bryce with an overnight stop near an Air Force base in Fallon.
The Park was not too busy however and so we could enjoy it to the full. All we can say is that you should, at some time in your life, visit Yosemite for a rewarding visit and scenery that cannot be forgotten.
Tomorrow we start heading for Bryce with an overnight stop near an Air Force base in Fallon.
Tuesday 18th April Lake Tahoe to Jamestown(Sonora)
We left Lake Tahoe in bright sunshine and headed west over the pass (Echo Summit) en route to Jamestown which is very close to Sonora. We went on the roads, California 50 and 49.They can be best described as dramatic rolling countryside. We passed through a number of historic towns including Sutter Creek where if you removed the cars it would look like the old wild west. We will take pictures of these towns on our return from Jamestown in the direction of Bryce Canyon which is some 700 miles away (Exxon will love us).
In Jackson we stopped for lunch in a layby overlooking two gold mines. This is where the local expression 'the mother lode' was coined.It refers to the very rich seam of gold bearing rock in the mines. The local bank managed over USD 100 milllion dollars of gold back in the 18 hundreds. The mines were deep, very very deep, one of them having a vertical shaft of over 5800 feet . Unfortunately one of the mines had a severe underground fire and over 48 mineworkers were killed, a very sad day for the small town.
It was a very nice journey with plenty of open roads and greenery the time passed very quickly. The evening was spent in historic Jamestown where we had a very nice, but rather expensive dinner in an old Hotel. And so to bed.
In Jackson we stopped for lunch in a layby overlooking two gold mines. This is where the local expression 'the mother lode' was coined.It refers to the very rich seam of gold bearing rock in the mines. The local bank managed over USD 100 milllion dollars of gold back in the 18 hundreds. The mines were deep, very very deep, one of them having a vertical shaft of over 5800 feet . Unfortunately one of the mines had a severe underground fire and over 48 mineworkers were killed, a very sad day for the small town.
It was a very nice journey with plenty of open roads and greenery the time passed very quickly. The evening was spent in historic Jamestown where we had a very nice, but rather expensive dinner in an old Hotel. And so to bed.
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