Once we had packed all our house up into neat little boxes, quit our jobs, and handed over the keys of our house to the new owners we decided it would be fun to drive across the US to see the sights and visit my family on the East coast before heading down to New Zealand. The first leg of the trip was quite a long drive from Los Angeles, CA to Bryce Canyon, UT. We actually stopped for the night in Cedar City, UT but there's not much to tell about that place.
As a visitor to both the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon I thought that Bryce Canyon was going to be the ugly step-child to the Grand Canyon. I can say that I was pleasantly surprised. Bryce Canyon was extremely beautiful. The weather was perfect while we were there. Bryce Canyon is much more accessible than the Grand Canyon and allows for some good hikes down into the canyons. Here are a few pics from Sunset Point. This is just a general view from the lookout.
This one is of the amazing pinnacles that the rock has formed into over the many years of erosion.
We spent a few days in Bryce Canyon and it was well worth it. A little touristy to stay there but all in all it should be on your list of places to see.
After Bryce Canyon, UT we headed four hours North to Salt Lake City, UT. We stopped for lunch and were going to go out to the Great Salt Lake but then we thought about going to see a flat, dry lake-bed and didn't feel too excited about it. In the end we decided to move on. I can't remember if we drove to Green River, WY or Rock Springs, WY but it doesn't really matter since they were both very forgettable. Basically towns no bigger than a large truck stop. I would not have been surprised if we cam up on Motel Hello. For all of you that are not horror movie fans that's Motel Hell. Here is a photo that sums up 99% of Wyoming.
That's not really fair I guess. We did come across this old building built out of fossilized dinosaur bones.
It was cool until I started having visions of Leatherface busting out of the house and chasing us. We could have been chopped in broad daylight out there with no witnesses because there is absolutely no one around. Kinda freaky!
From No-Where's-Ville, WY we drove until we got tired and stayed in Gilette, WY. Again, not much to tell. The next morning we went to one of my favorite stops on the trip, Devils Tower, WY. I have to say this was much more awesome than the photo gives it credit. Not to mention I loved Close Encounters of the Third Kind and always thought it would be cool to see this place up close. It was formed by about a jillion (technical term) years of soil erosion finally uncovering a large pool of hardened lava underneath. Sweet! Here is Devils Tower in all its glory.
The actual Native American translation of this place is actually "Bear Lodge" not "Devils Tower". It is said that a giant bear clawed the sides of the mountain giving it the vertical lines along the sides.
From Devils Tower, WY it was just a quick jaunt over to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We stayed in Spearfish, SD the first night we arrived in town but left early the next morning for Deadwood.
Deadwood was a very interesting place and in its prime had an even more interesting cast of characters. Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, and Potato Creek Johnny just to name a few. They were all drawn to the Black Hills in search of gold. Legend is that Wild Bill was the fastest gun around and may have killed upwards of 113 people during showdowns with people wanting to prove how fast they were. Wild Bill was finally shot in the head at a card table with a Full House of Aces and Eights, better known thereafter as the Deadmans Hand. Wild Bill is buried in Deadwood along with other colorful folk of the time.
From Deadwood, we travelled South to see two of the largest sculptures around. The first stop was at Mount Rushmore. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be but don't get me wrong because it was plenty big. What really caught my eye was the amount of detail you could see standing there looking at it as opposed to looking at photos.
The sculptor, Gutzon Borglun, died and his son Lincoln was to continue on but they nearly ruined the whole thing when they ran into some soft stone so they left it as you see it today.
The next stop was the Crazy Horse Monument. I don't know how many of you have heard of this place but I hadn't until I was in South Dakota. It is going to be awesome if they ever getting around to finishing it. Unlike Mt. Rushmore where the carving is only on one face of the mountain, the entire mountain is being utilized for the Crazy Horse Monument. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski started this thing about fifty years ago by himself. Here is where the progress is today.
You can see the face of Crazy Horse and the white mark on the mountain is where the horses ear will be. Here is the scale sculpture that Korczak did to show you what the finished memorial will look like.
It is a herculean task to complete but his sons and daughters are continuing the quest. It's an interesting story so if you want to read more follow this link.
After a few other stops in the Black Hills of South Dakota we packed up and continued our drive Eastward along Route 90. We found ourselves pulling off of the highway to see the Prairie Homestead. One of the last remaining, in tact, homesteads still around.
This one is from 1862 and back then you got 160 acres for $18.00. You had to be on the property within 6 months of signing the deed and then had to plow 10 acres into crops and establish residence there for 5 years to be able to keep the property. I guess working at Boeing ain't so bad after all.
Here is a good photo showing how they used the hillside as part of the homestead. It helped to keep them warmer in the winter. They also grew cactus on the roof so you knew where it was and didn't walk on it.
We had a few VERY long days of driving through some flat landscape. Just when I was about to go mad, we finally reached Chicago. Home of Da' Bears, sausage, and the most complete T-rex skeleton in the world. We arrived July 4th so the place was crazy. There was a huge outdoor food festival with all kinds of yummy things. Here are a few photos of Millennium Park right next to the hotel we stayed in.
We went to the Field Museum of Natural History where they have "Sue" which is the most complete T-Rex skeleton in the world.
They also have a great Egyptian exhibit where they had quite a few artifacts and mummies as well. Here is one of the more interesting mummies.
After the Field Museum, since I am a big Blues Brothers fan, we had to find the Cook County Assessors Office. The square looks just like in the movie and the Assessors Office is right behind the sculpture.
To complete out 3 days in Chi-Town we had to go to the top of the Sears Tower. It took us about 2 hours to get to the top but the view was great. You can see the Field Museum off to the left and Soldier Field just behind it.
Well, after Chicago there isn't much about the trip to write home about. Any of you that have traveled that stretch of highway between Chicago and the East coast know that it's about as fun as watching paint dry. We passed through all kinds of small towns and farm country through Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut until we reached Rhode Island in our first stop on the Eastern seaboard. New Jersey was next on the list with quite a few visits to the Jersey Shore and lots of good Italian food. After the visiting was done we ditched our Volvo at the nearest dealer, which was hilarious, and flew back to LA to get ready for the long haul to NZ.
OK boys and girls, I think that this marathon entry should keep you busy for a bit. The next one will be the start of our life in Whangarei, New Zealand. Stay tuned!
