Day 63

I'm a Catholic, get me outta here!

I woke up and went for a really long run. 54 minutes to be exact. And I suffered. The whole way. Partly because I was tired and partly because I was dehydrated but mostly just because I am not training very much and every time I go out it is a bit of a shock to my system.

I met Paulo back at the gaff, checked out and we went to do our laundry.

Then it was time for lunch, so we went to the only place you should go in St George, Utah - the Bear Paw Cafe!



Don't get me wrong, the sambos were great, the service was good and the coffee was brilliant but we should have known that the bitterness would follow. And it did.

We got back on to 15 and continued north, hoping to make it past SLC and into Ogden for the night. We drove for several hours and stopped at Applebees to eat as it was the most healthy option.

Now, I am used to being carded a lot over here, especially in restaurants. And I understand why they do it. But in Applebees in Utah, you get carded twice. Yes, twice. We sat down, I asked for a run down of the beers and ordered one. The guy asked me for my ID. No bother. He goes off to get the drinks and a girl comes up to the table and asks for our IDs. I told her that we already ordered and that the waiter had checked my ID. It didn't matter. She had to check it again - the auld 'double card'. I couldn't let that go and had to ask her what the f*ck was going on. It seems that Applebees in Utah have had a lot of problems with under age drinking and a few of them even lost their liquor licenses so now you get carded twice. What a ridiculous state.

We managed to eat and get back on 15N (not a second too soon) and drove some more. The sun set and we kept driving. We past SLC and were about 40 miles from Ogden when we hit something with the car. Something big. Really big. And it made a really loud noise, scaring the bejaysus out of both of us. I was pretty sure there were no deer on I-15 so I figured that it must have been a flat tire. We pulled over immediately to check it out. All the tires were fine. We walked around to the front of the car and saw that the plastic tray under the engine had almost been ripped off completely and the bumper was cracked. WTF!? Two other cars had pulled over in front of us and then two more pulled over behind us. We were baffled. What the hell was going on? Then the police arrived. It turns out that some douchebag had two mountain bikes on a bike rack on his car and the rack snapped. The bikes fell onto the motorway and we (along with about six others) ran over them. Pity too, because I later heard that they were both worth about 2000 dollars. And just to add insult to injury (literally) the owner had wrapped one of them around a tree earlier in the day.

Fortunately, we were both totally fine. But we were a bit shaken up. Paulo got on to Dollar straight away and we had to drive the car another mile to the nearest petrol station to fill out a police report. Long story, short - more hassle with Dollar. But in the end Paulo managed to get through to someone with some intelligence and some authority who told us that a new car would be sent to us tomorrow. She also agreed to have Dollar foot the bill for our hotel room for the night. While we would have both loved to large it up and stay in a palace, we weren't in the form. So we settled for a Best Western.

One of the police officers gave me a mini Rambo knife and I cut the rest of the under tray off and threw it into the back seat. We drove there very slowly to the hotel and checked in for the night. We were both exhausted and fell asleep almost straight away.

Day 62

Today was a 'grand' day.





We woke up, had breakie, bought some provisions, fuelled up the Avenger and set off for the Grand Canyon. Leaving from St George, we were much closer to the North Rim, which offers very different views than the more popular South Rim. The North Rim offers three viewpoints including Cape Royal, Point Imperial and Bright Angel Point. The walls of the North Rim are more eroded than the South Rim, making the Colorado River visible from some of the overlooks. It is also a much higher elevation - an average of 8000 feet with a maximum of 8803 feet at Point Imperial. The higher elevation and cooler temperatures have enabled large sections of forest to flourish. It's a lot more remote and less visited than the South Rim. And I'm glad it is the one that we chose to see.

The Grand Canyon is obviously big but I couldn't fathom just how big it is until I saw it with my own eyes. I still found it hard to comprehend. The crevice that runs through it is over 275 miles long. The entire park is more than 1,200,000 acres and can be ten miles wide in some sections. The canyon itself (as it appears today) is about six million years old and consists of buttes, plateaus and mesas. But these all cover igneous and metamorphic rock that is almost two billion years old!

The amazing thing is that the entire formation was created by water. I read that the goal of every raindrop, rock and grain of sand is to return to sea. Water draining off the Rocky Mountains and across the Colorado Plateau carried sand, gravel and rocks and over millions of years cut and eroded the layers of the canyon. Water freezing in cracks of rocks also forced them apart, causing erosion and eventually collapse of large sections of earth.

The drive to the canyon through Fredonia was quite scenic and surprisingly green just before we reached the Canyon.



We stopped at a patch of forest and learned that fires are sometimes started purposely and allowed to burn for the benefit of resources. Patterns are created by the fires that allow for a greater diversity in wildlife.

The first place we stopped to view the Canyon was Roosevelt Point named after the 26th president Teddy and his efforts to preserve the Grand Canyon. In 1903 he called the Canyon "one great sight which every American should see."







The next stop was Walhalla Overlook, which offers more dramatic views and a path to Angels Window.









Angels Window refers to a hole in a rock that provides views of the Colorado River from the Walhalla Plateau. During the uplift of the plateau, stress caused the rock to fracture forming joints that intersect the planes. Water activity (rain, freezing and thawing) along the joints and planes created a hole and time has enlarged it to a 'window'.



We walked out to the edge of the rock to have a look around (and down).







The next viewpoint that we went to was Cape Royal. This vantage point provides amazing views down and across the canyon. Most of the places that we stopped are better for viewing the unbelievable expanse of the canyon as opposed to the depth which is more apparent from the South Rim.





The last place we went to was Point Imperial, the highest point on the North Rim at 8,803 feet. This viewpoint is unusual for several reasons. First, the South Rim drops abruptly to the Colorado River directly opposite and is only 3/4 of a mile away. Whereas, the North Rim at this point is over ten miles away. Secondly, the canyon begins to transform and the narrow walls start to open up dramatically, creating a layered effect and offering a stark contrast to the layers of red rocks. The large rock in the forefront of this view is called Mt Hayden. Since it was late afternoon and some clouds had formed it was even more atmospheric. I can only imagine how amazing it must be at sunset.













Unfortunately, we had to leave and make our way back to the hotel. I ended up driving home because Paulo had gotten sun burned, actually more like scorched and he was exhausted. The sun was starting to set and the views of the forested area leaving the canyon were excellent.





There were a few thunderstorms along the way but it was a brilliant drive back as the scenery and landscapes were unbelievable the entire way.

Back at the hotel, Paulo hit the scratcher straight away. I went to Goodbye for a bite to eat. Ruby Tuesday on a Monday night - there was nahbody there. It was so quiet that it was a bit creepy. I kept my head down, ate my salad and legged it as quick as I could.

I drove back to the hotel and went straight to bed as well, thinking about a truly amazing day.

Day 61

This morning started with a coffee and a pain au chocolate from Starbucks. Then we checked out and collected our next car (number six for those of you who are counting) - a Subaru Forester. I waited with the bags out front while Paulo went to pick it up in the garage. It was a great car. Except for one thing - it didn't have a license plate! After a half hour discussion with the Dollar guy, he drove us up to the carpark and gave us a different car (number seven). Another Dodge! But this time it was an Avenger.

We threw all of our gear into the car and drove up the Strip to the mall across from Wynn. We had a look around and a bite to eat in Subway before setting off again.

We got back onto 15 and drove north to St George, Utah. I found a Days Inn with a decent rate so we booked in for two nights.



We went to Chilis for a bite to eat. I drank a 3.2% ABV Corona and got carded when I ordered it. There probably would have been more alcohol in a spring water, if I had ordered that.

As most of you probably know, Utah is a conservative state. Very conservative. It is the Morman capital of the world. Mormans are a bit fanatical (to say the least) and they tend to believe every single word in the Bible. They don't interpret it like most Catholics do, they think every word written is (pardon the pun) the God honest truth. They enjoy their temples, worshiping and going door to door trying to collect money from people, while telling them how much they have sinned in their lives but that Jesus can save them.

Utah became the 45th state in 1896 but it wasn't easy for the Mormans. The US bought (what is now) Utah from the Mexicans and all the Mormans wanted to have their own state. But there was one problem - they liked polygamy and that was outlawed by the government. So, after a lot of petitioning and arguments, the Mormans finally agreed to give up the idea of several wives and Utah was made a state.

Today it is really conservative. You can drink beer in the state and you can buy beer in the state. But it is watered down and you can't just walk into a bar and start drinking. You have to become a 'temporary member' of a 'private club' (ie bar) or be sponsored by someone who is a 'member' and that costs five bucks for two weeks. You can also buy beer in shops and restaurants but you will be carded not matter how old you look.

After dins, we chilled in the room (without beers) and watched the final stage of the Tour de Farce on TV.