Coast to coast in the US -third time!

[Whiskerfish]

Some record breaking heat out there on the national news. Y'all be careful and take plenty of water stops.

[gltriker]

Mrs. West, aka the Swedish hummingbird. perfect

[mrs west]

It was so hot in that desert stretch! We were going to just take 70, which in my opinion is still beautiful, but /// told us we had to do this desert run since it is so spectacular. And even in the heat, even though we have done it before, it IS so spectacular. It was nice to do it east to west since we did it west to east before. It was fun since KG recognized some things and I recognized others.

For example, the movie theater we went to was next to a hotel that we stayed at on the first trip! I remembered their famous bean pies. So on all three cross country trips, we actually rode on the outskirts of Capital Reef, on UT-24, the first time without knowing it. It's wild to me that we missed that whole wonderland of scenery and were just next to it on our first trip. On our second trip, we stopped at a strange brass sculpture place, that I didn't see but KG pointed out as he remembered one of the VW Beatle sculptures.

So! July 8th

We woke up at a beautiful campsite on the outskirts of Capital Reef. Just lovely red rock, red sand, desert scenery, with views all around. The desert wind was blowing so much, I have no idea how I slept through it. KG didn't, and he was luckily up early playing music in the desert sunrise. We managed to get up and on the road fast, stopped to get gas, then headed down 12 to Bryce. It was nice weaving in and out of Dixie National Forest. My grandparents used to live there so the smell of those trees always takes me back. We stopped for a nice view somewhere along the way, and made it to the town of Bryce for a cowboy buffet by 11. They had some great chili! We had discussed taking old timey pictures but a big family had just begun and we decided it would take too long. Maybe next time!

We rode down to Bryce Canyon which was really hot but nice views of course, then we made our way south towards Zion. On the way we stopped to lye in the forest just across the road from my grandparents' former cabin. It is always emotional to think about the past and times that are no longer happening. Remembering my grandpa's voice, and my grandma's whistle, and running around with my brother in the creek. Childhood memories are so strong and I'll always feel really connected to that place.

We stopped at a gas station at Mt Carmel Junction and I started to panic a bit that we would be stuck in the same Rockey Mountain situation with rooms/camping since it was a Saturday and all the campsites were booked at Zion. So we decided on a sweet hotel that had tons of availability Hurricane, Utah and drove west through the massive towering stones that make up the mountains of Zion. That park is really unmatched in its magnitude. We pulled over at one point and decided to do a short hike, which we have never really done on any of these trips. It was funny cause it was so hot and we kept our jackets and boots on, like idiots, but we made it to the viewpoint! parts of the walk had no railings and you could really just fall straight down into the canyon. Part of what made us go for the hike was the many people we saw that told us how dangerous it was. We had to see for ourselves.

From Zion we drove out just as the sun was setting I believe, and made it to the Hotel Zion Inn and each had well deserved showers and slept very well!

[mr west]

Yup I was up 3 am running around in my underwear trying to keep the tent from blowing by placing big rocks on it. But it was an experience as the desert wind was really hot and felt so nice. Then at 5 am I was up again playing sitar before sunrise but it was really cold then, sudden drop of temperature between 3 and 5. And also dramatic change of impression of the surrounding landscape from starlight to the first sunray coming over the horizon. But as you know, nonw of these things can be captured by camera....

[mr west]

Pics from Mt Zion hike.... First trip Bryce Canyon was really impressive and then we just went through Mr Zion quickly. This trip I was so tired and hot at Bryce but had a totally different impression of Mt Zion! Much bigger than I remembered!

[Whiskerfish]

My absolute favorite time of day is the first hints of sunrise as you can just start to make out shapes in the distance.

[mr west]

Pics

[Sagebrush]

Bryce and Zion are among our favorite National Parks. Here's a pick with some snow on all that red rock taken at Bryce. On another note, the wife and I used to have black helmets it didn't take to many trips in the heat to realize that it was a mistake. We soon switched to white helmets and light colored gear. It makes a difference.

[hmax]

Thank you so much Sagebrush for fixing all the pictures! I didn't know there was a person in those last few til they were right-side up!

[hmax]

Also, so gorgeous with snow! But was it cold??

[ritalz]

Want to thank you for sharing your travels with us. Love the pictures and happy to hear you are making friends along the way.

[sgwilly]

Here's my Mom and I at Bryce. As the youngest of 5 boys, I was a leg clinger.

[mrs west]

sgwilly, I love that picture of you and your mom!! She looks so cool!

& sagebrush, I kept wondering what those parks must look like in the snow! So cool!

Here are some pics from the Bryce/Zion day:

[mrs west]

July 9th!

We were on track to make it to our wedding! Totally couldn't believe it!

We woke up in Hurricane and went for Vegas! KG realized as he was packing the bike that his sleeping bag was missing. It was for the best, cause whoever grabbed it bust have needed it, and it was too hot the rest of our journey so our camping days were behind us.

We took Southern Pkwy around Sand Hollow State Park & St George and it was really pretty! The blue of the Sand Hollow Resevoir contrasted the red hills so beautifully.

We had discussed trying to swing by Joshua tree, but of course, there was a buffet we wanted to go to first. As a kid, driving up to my grandparents', I always loved the Excalibur in Vegas. I always thought it was a real castle and I wanted to live there. I have some memory of going once, and saw online that they had a brunch buffet, so we drove in to Vegas, hit horrible, hot traffic, and went to the buffet. Vegas was unbearably hot so after lunch we found the most inexpensive hotel in Downtown LV, the Downtowner. It was so nice! I would definitely stay there again! Great bar, service, and patrons! After hearing about our engagement, a man at the bar got us a round of drinks.

Downtown Vegas is so much nicer than the strip. Old historic vegas really. It's changed so much! That city is always expanding. We found the best place to eat. Atomic Bar, open since 1952. Great beer selection! I wanted something really specific and they had it. They also had the best cauliflower wings I've ever had. The honey bourbon bbq was so good. Took me back to college where we had the best chicken wing place! I would definitely return to Atomic for those! The bar had history as the first one of it’s kind in Vegas, a tavern that serves alcohol. The have the first liquor license in Vegas!

We got to talking about Montucky beer, as we learned about the name Montucky on a previous trip to Montana, and KG had seem the beer in the liquor store in CO. Miraculously Atomic Liquors had it! So KG happily got to try one of his new favorite beers

We slept real early and well that night with our alarms set for 5 a.m. and an L.A. trajectory on our minds!

[Whiskerfish]