ROCKS AND FAMILY

Utah.... National Parks and Salt Lake City

So, having taught American West 1840-1895 as part of the History GCSE syllabus for many years, I was really excited to check out Utah. For those of you who don't know, the Mormons, led by Brigham Young, were the first non-native Americans to settle the area of the Great Salt Lake. Their settlements then spread out across Utah. One member of the pioneer group who reached the Great Salt Lake alongside Brigham Young was heard to say ''I would rather walk a thousand miles more than stay in such a desolate and foresaken place as this''. In many ways he was right.... Utah is an empty desert, sparsely populated to say the least but my goodness it is breathtaking!!!!!! It is home to some of the best National parks in the USA and probably in the world: Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon and Zion National park. It is also home to some beautiful settlements, the main one of which is Salt Lake City.  Mike here in ITALICS It should also be noted reader that not only is Utah sparsely populated with humans, it is also sparsely populated with liquor stores (they are state operated at the edge of each town).  You can buy 3.2% beer in the big stores (basically mormons pee in bottles and sell it as beer - not that I am complaining of course). 

The last two weeks has seen my love affair with all things rock re-ignited.  It has also allowed us to spend time with family we haven't seen for years... precious. Here are the highlights:

Arches National Park

• What a spectacular place! The red rock formations are just beyond description. You literally drive around with your mouths wide open at the sheer scale and shape of these rocks and arches. We were able to do some great hikes and got some great photos.... we won't include the shots we named ''Dickhead'' and ''Wanker'' and for those wags amongst you these were not selfies.....

Canyonlands

• We were advised by a former colleague of mine- Justin Kellett- to get out to Mesa Arch in Canyonlands for sunrise. We left at 5.30am for the 40 mile journey that culminated in a 1/3 of a mile hike in the pitch dark to the site of the arch. It was such an eery experience but one which resulted in some breathtaking views and pictures. Please note that Mike had all his flashy cameras... the money shot came from an i-phone.... just saying.  and please note that Mike would indeed have been able to get the money shot with his wide-angled lens if the pillock from Nebraska who arrived five minutes before us had not plonked his gear in the way....Once the sun had risen we explored the rest of the Canyonlands park... a stunning area of incredible natural beauty.

Moab and Airbnb

• So it turned out that it was ridiculously expensive to stay in a hotel in Moab so we checked out Airbnb and found a little beauty. We stayed with a couple who had so many stories to tell... they were fascinating. They also had a grandson who lived next door who stole my heart....he was four and along with his cat Lucy, would come over every day to chat and ''hang out''!!!!  If anyone is heading to Moab then give us a shout... it's such a great place to stay.

Bryce Canyon

• Originally we weren't going to head down to south Utah but SO MANY people along the trip had said to us that it was a must. So, staying in Cedar City, we drove up to Bryce Canyon. Some people said that they thought it was better than the Grand Canyon; it wasn't but it was another incredible example of physical geography. The Canyon was filled with ''Hoodoos''- see photos- that were formed as a result of water erosion. All very fascinating but the trail that allowed you to see these ''hoodoos'' was narrow and without any sort of fencing so you never quite felt relaxed.... one small trip and..... I was comforted by the fact that Mike was insured and I was comforted by the fact that we were holding hands and the scouser was nearest the canyon

Zion National Park

• So this was the reason why we changed our original schedule... so many people we met told us that we had to visit this park. So we did. We weren't disappointed by the additional 296 miles we had driven to see it. OH MY GOD. In addition to the huge rock formations you had the beautiful creeks, the streams, the flowers and plants, the deer, the trees which were in full ''Fall'' colours.... MAGICAL. 

Salt Lake City and its surrounding area

• We used Airbnb again and were served up a real treat with a basement apartment, right at the foothills of the Wasatch mountains. We explored Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood Canyons, Park City- used for the Winter Olympics in 2002- the Great Salt Lake, and Temple Square in the City centre.  Disappointed that we weren't able to go in and check out the Mormon temple - we aren't Mormons... I was of course going to sneak in but wasn't wearing the required suit  but Mike did get to speak to a guy in the Family research centre who gave him a heap of tips on researching his family tree - please note that I discovered that Wendy is a distant relation to Donald Trump which explains a lot

Spending time with family

• It was so great to spend quality time with my cousin Steve, his wife Von, two of their children and their husbands and four of the grandchildren! Hadn't seen some members of the family for  seven years so it was wonderful to have a good catch up.  Our time together was filled with laughter which is always good for the soul - you will spot the preparations for Halloween below.  Good to see that Wendy is prepared and waking up each morning with her scary face on......

Have simply loved every minute of our time in Utah. We now head to Wyoming and Montana to do different sections of Yellowstone National park and the Glacier National park on the border with Canada- weather permitting. The summer suitcases have been packed away as we head into some very cold temperatures. Can't wait!!

50 days gone, 38 days to go. Feeling blessed.

IN THE MOUNTAINS

The last eight days have confirmed our view that when we win the lottery we will definitely buy a house in Colorado - without doubt one of the most beautiful states in the USA. We took three days to get here from Dallas, stopping at Oklahoma City again - where we had great sushi - and then Dodge City in Kansas. Not going to lie…driving through Kansas had me worried that we had made our first mistake as we had booked two nights in Dodge. Kansas consisted of oil fields, corn fields and cattle fields - the smell of methane that came out the arses of the cattle was enough to make you gag! Mike here- Very useful for Wendy who had someone to blame the smells on. However, we found a great walk, went to the fabulous Boothill Museum and ate the best steak of our lives so all was well with the world.









We arrived in Colorado Springs on Monday 9th October to a temperature of 2 degrees C. The day before it had hit 29 degrees C in Kansas. Imagine the surprise on the hotel receptionist’s face when we turned up in shorts and flip flops…..

Colorado highlights:

• Driving up Pike’s Peake- ‘America’s mountain’. Snow had fallen the day before so when we arrived at the park we were told that we could only go up as far as the 11 mile marker- the top was at the 17 mile mark. However, the combination of Mike learning to be patient and the strength of the sun, meant that within two hours we were allowed access to the top of the Peake. This also gave us time to explore the lower section of the Peake. Both areas were breathtaking- although the top was very hard on the lungs because of the altitude. 

• Walking across the Royal Gorge near Cannon City- built in 1922 and a real feat of engineering. We were 1250 feet up from the river and canyon below so the views were spectacular 

• Meeting up with Mike’s pals from when he lived and worked in Denver as a teacher in 1990- John and Melissa, Dan and Margaret. Mike said he wanted to take advantage of the 3 dollar pints of Coors before 6pm… I got all excited and thought that the Coors I was drinking was weak.....schoolboy error....funnily enough he continued to sink them after the 6pm deadline….. a wonderful evening but someone felt like shit the next day. 

• Spectacular trees. We had heard that the Aspen in the Fall were something to see but we did not expect the colours to be so beautiful. Ever sat in a car and all you can hear is Mike, stop the car and take a picture? There were times when my legendary patience almost ran out. We drove up hoping to see the Aspen forests at Konesha pass but we were probably a week too late as the leaves had fallen so we decided upon a change of plan. Or maybe what she meant to say was that we were the only people on this trail..."Mike can you hear that? I think it is a rattlesnake. Mike... how many mountain lions are around here" and so on..."let's go back cos it's really scary" So, we went for a walk along the Clear Creek trail where we got to see the amazing colours of Autumn- and also on a housing estate near to our hotel. 

• Coors Brewery Tour in Golden. The tour itself only takes 30 minutes but most people, it seems, just ignored the tour and took themselves to the sample room! We read and listened to everything. This way we felt we had earned the right to our three free half pint samples of Coors beer. Met a fabulous foursome - including Alicia who requested our blog - who we had great laughs with. Apart from when Mike said that baseball was a girl’s game…. this caused an uncomfortable moment. I thought of this as an opportunity to educate my transatlantic neighbours. I had to put my hand over his mouth in the end to stop him talking. Fortunately, most of the time they had no idea what he was saying…..says the scouser with an impeccable English accent… 

• Going to see the Colorado Avalanche Ice hockey game against the Anaheim Ducks. Met up with my lovely cousin Andrew Wesolowski who, as an ice hockey player, was able to explain what the hell was going on. Loved it. Great to spend time with WesoA and have dinner with him the next day. Love the fact we are getting family time in on this trip. 

• Hiking the ‘Hanging Lake’ trail. So.. please understand that, before Mike starts adding his little quips in, I had expressed concern over the difficulty of the hike. I had read heaps of reviews on Trip Advisor that suggested the hike was for experienced hikers and ‘’in-shape’’ people…. NEITHER of which applied to us. I read one review that described the hike as ‘’1.5 miles up a steep set of rocky stairs’’. Let’s just say that I nearly died doing it but…. it was worth the pain. Hanging Lake was breath-taking. Here is what really happened: we arrive in the car park and Wendy starts filling the backpack. There are members of the SAS who train with lighter packs! We disagree on whether six bottles of water are really needed for this arduous journey. I lose. We proceed up the mountain- I'm carrying the heavy backpack. Wendy's method was to stop every 100 metres. Two hours later we are up and it was spectacular. 

• Glenwood Hot Springs Pool. We spent two hours here on Monday evening, having done the hike earlier in the day. The idea was that it would help to ease any aching muscles we might get the next day… if you could see me walking now then you would know that the beautiful hot mineral waters failed to achieve this. 

• Driving through Colorado- its mountains, its canyons, alongside its rivers and creeks, visiting its beautiful towns like Golden and Breckenridge. No pictures can truly sum up its beauty. 

• Dinner in Glenwood Springs. Our waiter approached our table and shouted ‘’Hi, I’m Randy… When he said if we needed him we should shout out his name. I look at Wendy... We didn't get a picture of Randy. 

Today we drive to Utah where we will spend the next 10 days visiting Moab and various National parks including Arches, Canyonlands, Zion and Bryce Canyon. Then we will hook up with the Utah branch of the Wesolowski family in Salt Lake City.

36 days down, 52 to go. Feeling blessed.