Day 11 - The Grand Canyon

Back in Arizona today.

Had a great day at the Grand Canyon today, but before we left Monument Valley we saw a beautiful sunrise, thank goodness the weather was so much better today.  Hubbie took a lot of photographs so can't wait to see them.  Had a bit of an emotional moment wishing our daughter Louise had been wth us to see it.

Gained an additional hour in the day today because we are now back on Arizona time

Found a gorgeous little hidden point called Shoshone Point, it is a walk of about a mile through a ponderosa Forest until you meet up with the Grand Canyon, it is a place where they hold weddings and what a fantastic backdrop it is, there was only me and hubbie who had the whole place to ourselves because it is not signposted or anything, it was just something Martin had read about on one of his photography sites.  We met quite a few people as we were walking out, so we got there just at the right time.

 

There was a young moose just merrily chewing on some bushes at one of the points we were at, not bothering at all about the people taking photos of it.

Last day on the road tomorrow, I think we are driving back via Sedona but should be back home around 2ish.  I think Hubbie will be glad to get back, he is tired now after all the driving, but we have had a brilliant time.

We are going to Black Bear Diner on Friday morning for breakfast and then Keith and Leisl's for dinner and then in their hot tub, should be fun, then Saturday I think we are going to some barbecue place.  I feel like I have already put a stone in weight on, after the Labour Day weekend I am going to stop eating!!!

Hope you have enjoyed following us on our travels.  We are now looking forward to some rest and relaxation!

Love from Joan and Martin xxxx

Day 10 - Monument Valley

As we were so early getting up this morning we decided to do a quick trip up highway 28 to Fisher Towers, the dive up along the Colorado river was very nice with huge canyon walls on either side.  Fisher towers was a little disappointing and nothing like you see in the pictures.

Driving along the road out of Moab we passed Wilson arch which is right alongside the road, the picture doesn't do justice to the size of the arch.

On the way to Monument a Valley we stopped at Goosenecks were you can look down 1000 ft to where the Colorado River meanders through 5 miles of canyon whilst progressing westwards only one mile.

Drove on to Monument a Valley, the signs for the place are ridiculous, I'm sure most people drive past and have to turn around and go back!  The weather is pretty grim and began raining quite heavily shortly after we arrived, however we got straight to our room and hubbie managed to get some decent pictures before the weather closed in too much.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a much better day, so here's hoping!   You can see the 13 mile drive in the picture blow but we decided not to do it in our hire car because it us full of large stones at the start of the trail and we didn't walnut to puncture our tyres.

Day 9 - Arches National Park

We were at Arches National Park at 07.40 this morning, hoping to beat some of the people and some of the heat, we were wrong on both accounts, not only was it a fee free day, but it was boiling hot as well!

What a fantastic place, everything about it is just awesome!  The highlight of the day was Delicate Arch, however to get to this amazing scene you have to do a strenuous 3 mile walk there and 3 miles back, but was it worth the effort, the sight when you turn the final corner is amazing.  Fortunately we took two large bottles of water with us, otherwise we would never have got there, it is all uphill all the way there.

Another arch we did was Double O arch, you can walk right up to it and walk around.

This is balanced rock, which I am sure one day will just fall over, although it seems pretty securely attached just now.

This is the road in or out of the park, the formation is called Park Avenue.

There are lots and lots of other arches, all of which you cannot possibly do in one day, so that's for another time!

Off to Monument valley tomorrow, although the weather is looking rather stormy, will have to see how it goes.

Day 8 - Canyon Lands

Picked the car up this morning and we then drove the 240 miles to Canyonlands.  Once we arrived at Canyonlands it was around another 60 miles round trip to see all the sights.  We had a great time, Mesa arch is just brilliant, we took lots and lots of photographs.  Drove right to the end of Canyonlands to see "the grand view".  It was pretty remarkable.

Arrived at the Holiday Inn in Moab after a very long day, got some beers and salad from a nearby garage shop and just spending the evening relaxing before getting off for an early start to Arches National Park tomorrow.

Day 7 - State Capital Building

This morning we called at the Post Office to send a card home then walked on to the Gateway Shopping Centre.  The frontage to the shopping mall is the old Union Pacific depot.  Caught a bus to the State Capital Building , although being a Saturday it couldn't take us all the way so we ended up walking up a very steep road to the top, but you are met with the awesome sight of the State Capital Building.  This building of this commenced in 1912 and  took 4 years to build, however, it was renovated in 2004-08.

From here we walked back via State street and saw the Eagle monument which was erected in 1859 and commemorates the entrance to Brigham Young's property.  It was originally topped by a wooden eagle, refurbished several times and eventually replaced by the current 4,000-pound, bronze eagle, with a wingspan of 20 feet.  The eagle monument is located outside of Brigham Youngs Beehive House property. 

Spent the remainder of the afternoon at Squatters Pub, had some very hot buffalo wings, 3 pints of beer for Martin and 2 glasses of wine for me.  Off to Olive Garden later for a meal before picking up the car tomorrow morning for the long journey to Canyonlands and overnight in a Moab.

Day 6 - Temple Square

Went to the Olive Garden last evening for dinner, had a very nice meal off the specials menu - a starter of soup or salad, Martin had the soup (unlimited!) which was called Zappa toscana, which is spicy sausage, fresh kale and potatoes in a creamy broth.   And I had the garden salad which came in a huge glass dish.  With this came an endless supply of freshly baked "sticks" of bread.  We then had meatball pasta diavolo, everything was very nice and the whole lot cost $26.

Did the grand tour today, got a blister on my toe but it was worth it.  We went up to Temple Square and did all the LDS buildings - the Temple itself is very impressive, built of granite it took 40 years to complete.   Lots of weddings taking place today and the grounds were full of brides and grooms.  What a beautiful place to get married!  

The Church Office buildings are the tallest structure in SLC.  We went up to the observation deck on the 26th floor for some great views.  

the LDS Conference Centre was probably the highlight of the day, constructed in only 3 years, it is believed to have the largest auditorium in the world, seating around 22,000 people.  It has a 7,700 pipe organ and we went back in the afternoon to listen to a recital - it was impressive.  However, this is not the largest organ on Temple Square, this belongs to the Salt Lake Tabernacle which has 11,623 pipes and is home to the world famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir, who unfortunately we didn't get to hear.

The weather turned rather stormy in the middle of the afternoon so it was a quick dash back to our hotel for some rest and relaxation.  Probably going to Squatters later for something to eat and drink.

Day 5 - Flying to Salt Lake City

Finally arrived in Salt Lake City after a delay of about 30 minutes because the plane we were due to catch was hit by lightening on the way in, so they had to bring in a reserve plane!  Flew over Bingham canyon copper mine on the way in, it was massive.  The mine has been in production since 1906, and has resulted in the creation of a pit over 0.6 miles deep, 2.5 miles wide, and covering 1,900 acre

Salt Lake City is a mix of both old and new, some really interesting old buildings mixed in with new high rise. We called into City Creek which is a brand new shopping centre for a bit of lunch, then had  a walk around the area near our hotel and ended up at a pub brewery called Squatters.

Looking at having a big walking day tomorrow going round the Temple Square area.