Zion National Park, Salt Lake City and Shark Fins

A well kept secret is the incredible beauty of Zion National Park. At least it was a secret to us. It is a part of the Kolob Canyons, the sheer cliffs and the colors are just incredible. Even the road through the park, which is made from the local sandstone is a deep maroon color, and it is beautiful. The park ranger explained that this area of Utah has been subject to earthquakes and volcanic activity of immense power and in geological historical terms, the activity has been recent, say within the last six million years. The result has been these immense cliffs and jagged mountains that vary from six to eight thousand feet and are colored bright reds, oranges and shades of yellow. Much of the area is covered in small trees and there is a lot of vegetation, not at all like I had imagined. I had pictured an area basically devoid of plant life and almost desert like. Wrong again, the back sides of the mountains are green giving away to sheer drop-offs that remind me of El Capitan in Yosemite. Throughout our trip I have been reminded of what American pioneers faced and for the life of me I cannot imagine how they made their way across the country. I would have taken one look at these mountains and said this looks like a good place to stop.

We have made it to Salt Lake City and once again made our stop at a Diner, Drive-in and dive. I am not sure of the specific designation I would place on "the Lone Star Taqueria" but they had a drive-in window so I guess that makes it a drive-in. Not really, but what the hell. Whatever the type eatery it may be, they have great Mexican food. Their speciality is fish tacos. Outside the restaurant there is an old station wagon covered in bumper stickers, with four flat tires and a large wooden shark fin atop the vehicle advertising their house speciality. There were five people working inside and none spoke more than a smattering of English. However, we managed to place our order and when it came they had gotten three of the four items correctly. I finally found a good tamale, a real gooood tamale. Jeannie had two carne asada tacos and later we ordered a and carne adovada taco. Every thing seems to come with rice and pinto beans. No refried beans, these are pinto beans with onions, chopped tomatoes and green peppers. I love the taste of the beans but they do not love me. They also had a salsa bar with six different salsas. All were excellent but the one labeled "hot" I should have left alone. Although I just had a tiny taste it was liquid fire. Shands hospital has never found anything that could open my sinuses like this molten combination of habernos. Whoa! it was warm and I mean instantly, lips, the roof of my mouth, my throat...all went up in flames. Jeannie said she had never seen my eyes so wide or a look of such utter surprise, I told her it wasn't surprise it was terror. I survived, we had another great meal and made it back to our hotel.

It is Thursday morning and we are about to make the final push to Glacier Park, Montana. We expect to arrive around 7 PM and should be able to look across the lake and see the Canadian shore. I am hoping we have an Internet connection so that I can update you all on where we are. Until then take care.

Las Vegas

Vegas just ain't for the sober

I first went to Las Vegas in 1969, I was enroute to see my brother graduate from Stanford. Driving into Vegas from Arizona you could see the glow from all of the neon lights from at least a 100 miles out in the desert. There was the strip with Caesar’s Palace, the Dunes Hotel, the Flamingo and all the other famous old gambling spots. Then there was downtown with Binions, the Four Queens and the giant neon cowboy smoking a cigarette. Other than that there was not a hell of a lot, no industry to speak of and a relatively small population. It was a strictly adult playground. Over the years I have been back maybe a dozen times, usually with a bunch of air traffic controllers attending our union's convention. We tended to start drinking around 10 in the morning and kept at it until our bodies gave out which was usually in the wee hours of the following morning. We were usually there for about three days and that was about the right amount of time to beat us up mentally and physically but not to kill us. We left hung over, broke and tired and talking about what a wonderful time we had. Those days are long gone and in some ways I think the Vegas of that era is gone also. Present day Las Vegas reminds me of going to Atlanta more than going to an oasis in the desert. It is a metropolis with a huge highway system and a large downtown area with the required glass and steel high rises. For sure there is still gambling and partying but it seems incidental to the overall city. Over a decade ago the city fathers made a concentrated effort to attract families and they have succeeded. Strollers and crying kids are everywhere, it has morphed into Disney World with slot machines. I would say Vegas has lost it's soul, but I am not sure it had one to lose.

Just a thought, being sober is a tough road, seeing clearly is not always a good thing. In many ways I prefer the pretense. However, our time in Vegas was well spent. We had just a super room, large sitting room with a recliner and everything we could ever want. During our two day stopover we were able to rest and recuperate from our week on the road. If you ever think I am not getting old, that sentence condemns me. I went to Las Vegas to rest? Damn, Damn and Damn. Seriously, we did have a great time. Continuing our tour of places to eat we sought out the best breakfast in town. Based upon reviews and input from locals we narrowed our search to two establishments. The Egg and I and The Hash House A Go Go. After careful research, (in reality we flipped a coin,) we went to the Egg and I. Good choice, maybe even a great choice. Jeannie had an omelet that had to seen and tasted to be believed. It was four eggs, ham, cheddar, sausage, red and green peppers, onions and mushrooms. It was topped with pinon nuts. We had heard about their banana nut muffin, fortunately it came with her breakfast. When the waitress brought our order, the muffin was still warm from the oven. Jeannie was in heaven. I ordered a breakfast burrito and it was excellent, but once again Jeannie made the better choice. It is kind of hard to explain the care and attention we received from the staff of the café. I am learning a new appreciation for small business owners who aspire to be the very best. When I contrast their work with most who just want to get by it is remarkable just how good some folks are at what they do. The Egg and I is a unique and wonderful place to eat.

Now lest you think we did not go out, we did and friends we were high rolling!! We went to Margritaville, played the slots in the Flamingo, went downtown to “Glitter Gulch” and played the slots in the Golden Nugget and ended up in a joint called “Terrible’s Casino” at three in the morning! Huh, how about that 3 AM and we old folks are sitting in the casino café doing a little people watching. Jeannie said, and I agree, there is no better place to watch people than late at night in a casino. Ever wonder what desperation looks like? Watch a woman ask her husband, “you lost it all?” and he lamely replies “well, that’s why we came here wasn’t it?” Then there are the little old ladies with their blue eye shadow running as they are robotically pulling the handle of the slot machine time after time after time. A stiletto between their false teeth ready to stab anyone attempting to take their slot machine. Now here is our definition of high rollers, Jeannie got up on the casino for a while, I never did. She ended breaking even and I think I may have lost twenty dollars. I don’t think any hotel is going to “comp” us our rooms next year.

We left Las Vegas at 9 AM and headed for Zion National Park and Salt Lake City.

Woman goes mad after seven Days of Larry, Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Boortz

Jeannie insists I post this in this manner. She said that anyone who knows me would find it perfectly plausible that she had finally had enough....OK, OK I get it less talk radio.... more music. It is eerie that it happened the day after we left.

Car Plunges Off Grand Canyon, Man Killed
(July 14) -- A man died after his car plunged 600 feet off the edge of the Grand Canyon's South Rim, authorities said Tuesday.
The Arizona park's regional communications center received several reports of a car driving off the edge about 6 a.m. Monday, according to a written statement.Skip over this content

Amanda Lee Myers, AP
A car plunged over the south rim of the Grand Canyon Monday, killing the driver inside. A portion of the canyon's south rim is shown above.
"Upon arriving at the scene, investigators found tire tracks leading to the edge behind the Thunderbird Lodge and received reports of a single occupant in a blue passenger car driving over the edge," the statement said.
Rescue personnel descended on ropes and found the vehicle about 600 feet into the canyon. The man's body was recovered shortly afterward, the statement said.
The incident occurred near the El Tovar hotel in a village on the canyon's South Rim, park spokeswoman Shannan Marcak said.
Authorities have not ruled the death a suicide, she said. "It has not been ruled anything at this time."
The statement said the National Park Service is investigating. Typically, Marcak said, such investigations take at least a few days
The man has not been identified, she said.
Marcak said that within the past five years, she knows of only one other time a car was driven off the edge of the canyon.
The Monday statement said plans were being made to retrieve the vehicle and the body.
The Grand Canyon, a world famous landmark, receives close to 5 million visitors yearly, according to the National Park Service Web site

Rattlesnakes, Andy Devine and Stromboli

Monday morning, we returned to the Grand Canyon. We arrived around 9 AM and went back to the South rim. Yesterday afternoon we had gone to the Eastern side of the South rim and today we went west. It was a beautiful clear day, super breeze and a really comfortable environment. The crowds were far less than I have ever seen in the park before. We saw lots of animal including several elk and mule deer. The size of the Canyon is mind boggling, over two hundred miles long, ten miles wide and a mile deep. The park rangers described the coming of the first Europeans. Evidently the first conquistadors arrived in 1540. After failing to get down the canyon walls, they only made it about one fourth of the way, they declared the canyon as impassable. Interestingly the leader wrote in his diary that the Colorado River was only six feet wide. I think that land surveying was probably not his high suit. The river was ten miles away and another 5,000 feet down. In crystal clear air distances can be deceiving at the point he described the river was in fact 400 feet wide. The ranger said the Spaniards decided that inasmuch as they had found neither gold nor the fountain of youth, they would wrap it up and go home. No other Europeans would see the canyon until more than two hundred years had passed.Leaving the park we took a short excursion along US Route 66. We saw some wonderful old cars and buildings. Most surprising of all, I stopped to buy gas and an attendant came out and pumped the gas and cleaned my windshield. Jeannie insisted on taking a picture of the old fashioned gas pumps and of the guy cleaning our windshield. She remarked that her children had not seen either the pumps or a full service gas station. Strange isn't it, the first self service station I ever saw was in Oklahoma, I was 26 years of age and never had a clue that full service would soon disappear.Las Vegas was a short three and a half hour drive. Along the way, we passed a dry river bed with a sign indicating it was called "Rattlesnake Wash" Jeannie was driving and asked if I had been able to read the sign, I replied that I had read it, but as far as I was concerned those bad boys would have to bathe themselves. Don't like snakes never have. About an hour later I found out Kingman, Arizona is proud of their favorite son, Andy Devine. There is an Andy Devine post office and an Andy Devine avenue. I don't know why it hit me as funny but it did. Every Saturday morning Wild Bill Hickok (played by Guy Madison) and his comical sidekick Jingles (played by Andy Devine) were brought to us by Kellogg’s Sugar Pops. I was about ten years old and was in front of that old black and white Zenith living every hokey adventure right along with them. Yep, back then, Sugar Pops were tops. Jeannie reminded me that some of you reading this were not even born then. Thanks for making me feel even older. Neither was I, but Jeannie has told me about it. This was a joke, I hope you are laughing, Jeannie is not.We arrived in Las Vegas around mid afternoon and checked into the hotel. It is a great room with wonderful facilities. After unloading the car and refreshing ourselves we went to another place recommended by the Food Network's Guy Fieri, the Four Kegs Sports Bar and Grill. When Fieri was a student at UNLV the owner gave him a job and fed him. The owner came to Vegas from Brooklyn 32 years ago. He was an Italian who had served as a chef in several New York restaurants. He opened Four Kegs and offered Stromboli as the specialty of the house. Jeannie and I both ordered the dish and it was everything it was cracked up to be. The secret is the crust; it is made fresh at least twice daily. It is also used in their pizza, I can't speak for the pizza but the Stromboli is great. The filling is comprised of Italian sausage, pepperoni, ham and mozzarella with a marinara dipping sauce, all of it fresh and good. As a result of this trip I continue to be astounded by the impact of the Food Network. The waitress at Four Kegs was typical of the people we have talked with. She said that after appearing on the network their business increased by at least fifty percent. Some places we visited said their sales doubled, three years later the increases have been maintained. As an example, the Four Kegs has a map with pins indicating where their customers come from. The map is covered, and I mean literally covered with pins. Additionally they have had people from over two dozen different foreign countries come into the bar and cite Fieri as the reason they are there. The waitress told us about Nine Japanese tourists who came straight from the airport to the bar. She said they all were clutching Fieri’s book and knew one word of English, "Stromboli". Is that an English word? Probably not. While we were there two different couples came in and took pictures of the large poster of Guy Fieri hanging in the restaurant. One year ago I had never watched the Food Network. I used to ridicule the whole idea of people watching other people cook. That was before I purchased a chef's knife, and had an inkling of what chipotle peppers in an adobe sauce can do for an ordinary cut of meat. I thought that a road trip of over six thousand miles tasting food recommended by a guy who wears flip flops and has spiked, bleached hair would strike people as being unusual…Instead the response has been “oh, you’re doing that too?” I said, you mean others have been in? Invariably they respond, “oh yeah, happens all the time.” Damn, damn, and triple damn I had thought we would be the only ones. Okay, it gives me something to shoot for, next year we have to be more extreme.

Michael Jackson

It just occurred to me that we left home last Tuesday morning a little before the beginning of the Michael Jackson memorial service. It was my understanding they were not going to bury him until the media frenzy abated. If we are to judge by Elvis, thirty years from now Michael Jackson may still be in cold storage. But, be that as it may, we have not watched television or listened to the news in a week. I have two questions. First, is the memorial service over? Second, is Michael still dead?

Route 66