Time to say goodbye...

Well thats the end our USA trip. Seems so long ago we started with our convention in San Diego. We were happy to see so many old friends and family and particularly for myself to make some new friends and to meet the extended family. Our highlights certainly has been the company of everyone we were able to spend our time with along with some of the spectactular sights we could share together :)

Until next time! Bye!

Bryce Canyon National Park

Our last stop our trip was Bryce Canyon National Park. The park is a visually stunning national park with lots of great trails and lookouts.

The trail down to the bottom. Very winding. Little did we realise you have to walk back up after you walk down!

The view. Wow.

Water and wind erosion and a combination of rock layers have form these interesting rock columns.

Zion National Park

About 4 hours from Las Vegas is Zion National Park. Located in Utah, the main attraction is a canyon but by water streams over thousands of years to form a canyon which exposes thousands of years of geological history. A shuttle bus will take to to all the main stopping points along the canyon and also gives you a brief description of each place to give you a better appreciation of what you are looking at. The area was first settled by Mormons and thus many of the names are Biblical in origin.



The Three Patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The water dripping down this rock face is the result of water which has seeped through the sandstone over 1200 years! Apparently it reaches a non porous rock at this point and seeps out sideways.

The shuttle bus. Propane fuelled to save the environment.

Food watch: We stayed in a little place near Bryce Canyon where we found a nice little restaurant who did amazing corn chowder and blueberry pies. Mmmm.

Who said there was a economic crisis?

Caesar's Palace.

Soem shots from inside the Bellagio.

There were literally hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people around. All the casinos were full. Arent we supposed to be tightening our belts?

More eye candy...

The Stratosphere. This is where we stayed. $20 for an all day buffet. Come back as many times as you want. Sweeet! There are some rides at the top of the tower too!

View from the top of the tower at night looking down the strip.

It just happened to be 4th of July when we were there. Fireworks all night.

Inside Caesar's Palace Hotel and Casino. The painted sky and statues were amazing. Almost as good as the real thing.

Eye Candy

Las Vegas is visually stunning. By day its a regular small city in the middle of the desert but at night it transforms into a city of lights and glitz like no other. Recreations of New York, Paris, the Pyramids and countless other casinos along the strip all try to out do each other and attract the shopping and gambling dollars of millions of people every night....(it seemed like there were a million people there all on the strip when we were there). This is one place where the harsh light of day reveals a more seedy and dirty city but at least at night the lights and attractions occupy your gaze and amazement.



A complete New York. Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Ellis Island.....

Looking from the south end of the strip.

Paris.

The famous fountains in front of the Bellagio. There is a fountain show every 15 minutes. Well worth hanging around.

KA!

The first night in Las Vegas we saw KA, a production by Cirque du Soleil. The show was absolutely mezmerising.



This is one of 5 different Cirque du Soleil productions running concurrently in Las Vegas. Because it is a permanent show at the MGM Grand Casino, the auditorium and stage were purpose built for the show. The stage extended out to the sides of the main seating area as shown below and the stage was made up of a number of huge moving and rotating platforms. The main platform could be lifted, lowered below the main level, rotated perpendicular to the ground and spun around 360 degrees...and the way they coreographed all the sequences and action around these dynamic stages was amazing. I havent even mentioned the amazing trapeze and athletic feats of the artists in the show. Definately worth travelling to Las Vegas even just for the shows!

Death Valley

Death Valley. Furnace Creek. Hells Gate. Dantes View. Desolation Canyon......Doesnt sound like a pleasant place. In fact its the hottest place in North America. It has reached 56.7 degrees celsius just short of the record (58 in Lybia). While we were there it cracked 45 degrees. A group of 49ers (gold miners) tried to cut through this place and the captain died. So although only one person died, the name Death Valley has stuck since then.



A view from Dantes View. You can see the minerals trapped in the valley with no way out to the ocean. The whole area from the coast of California to Death Valley and beyond has a mountain range to valley to mountain range to valley formation. This pattern is repeated almost continuously. It seems the techtonic plates have broken apart to be shaped like books which have fallen over to one side.

The long road down into the main valley.

Not much life out here.

Interesting but HOT. Take lots of water.

Yosemite Part 4 - The Other Side

There is a buffet in the valley where you can have dinner and/or breakfast. If youve ever stayed at the Station in Jindabyne youll know what its like. Convienient and the food wasnt too bad either.

On the way out the eastern gate we found some nice views of the other end of the valley. The variety of landscapes are amazing. You have giant sequoias in the south, enormous cliffs and rocky domes surrounding the valley and rocky hills in the eastern end of the park.

I think its a badger. Not so sure about native american animals. Correct me if Im wrong.

At the exit of the park we found this vista of the park. There was still snow on the tops of the mountains and even so some icy left over snow on the ground. Wow.

Yosemite Part 3 - Half Dome

An hours drive from the valley will take you to a lookout called Glacier Point, 2400 metres above sea level. From here you get a wonderful view of the valley which was carved out by glaciers and water erosion.



Across from the valley is Half Dome. This giant stone half dome dominates the skyline from most places in the valley. You can actually hike up there over a few days and to reach the top there is a rope which will help you not fall off the edge :)

The friendly ranger gave us an interesting history of the lookout.

The sunset is incredible.

Just before the sunset. Its at places like these you feel very small in comparison to the world.

Yosemite Part 2 - Wow Factor

This is the view as you exit a tunnel on the way into the Yosemite Valley. Fittingly its called "Tunnel View". The photo just doesnt do it any justice. You can almost see all the way into the valley and if you look closely you can make out a waterfall in the distance.



Speaking of waterfalls, there are several scattered around the valley. Mostly coming from melting snow from the winter. Some like the one below, Yosemite Waterfall, are easily accessible by car but many others are at the end of short walks up to a vantage point near the waterfall. But all are unique and spectacular in their own way and worth the walk.

Yosemite Part 1 - Giant Trees

Wow. This place is amazing. I think we could have easily spent an entire week in Yosemite National Park. Some really great hikes to do as well if your feeling like a few days in the bush. Unfortunately we hit the school holidays so there were heaps of people but it was still mind blowingly great. You can see why millions of people come here every year. Some highlights:

Sequoias. Commonly over 90 metres tall and thousands of years old, these trees are monolithic giants in the forest. When you look at the giant trunk and look up and see the enormous branches coming off them, you appreciate what amazing plants these are. The bases can be upto 8 metres in diameter. Theyre kinda like the giant grand daddy of all trees. Amazing. I think someone said that these are the largest living things on earth.

This one is called the Grizzly Giant in Mariposa Grove in the south end of the park.

There are lots of bears in Yosemite so they have these bear proof bins to throw rubbish in. We stayed in a tent which had proper beds in them. Each tent had a bear locker where you had to put all your food, shampoos, tooth pastes and anything else which would smell. You even had to take these items out of your car and tent and put them into the lockers. Apparently some of the bears had figured out how to get into cars!

There are lots of streams, rivers and stunning watefalls which are easily accessible. There are shuttle buses to almost all parts of the park if you dont have a car.