Home - Mile 7295 - Route 89 - Mile 1394

You might be wondering what happened since our last blog. We'll explain. . . . . . .

Las Vegas - Mile 4381 - Route 89 - Mile 1394

On Saturday, September 13th we left Las Vegas for Lake Havasu City to visit Chuck and Marie.


This is the beautiful back yard of Mary Jo and Lon's home. You can see the mountains in the background.


This is Lon and Mary Joe just before we all left for Lake Havasu City.

Lake Havasu City - Mile 4596 - Route 89 Mile 1394


Chuck and Marie were wonderful hosts. As a part of their greeting are the "Chuckeritas" you see here.

Here's a picture of the desert sunset at Chuck and Marie's house Saturday night. The temperature was cooling down from 110 degrees earlier in the afternoon to around 95 degrees at this time.

Here's the pool we enjoyed twice before we went to bed.

Another Chuck specialty is Cherries Jubilee.

About 4:30 a.m. Sunday we received a phone call that a a very special uncle, Orielle, had passed away unexpectedly. After numerous phone calls and a quick breakfast, Sue and I decided we needed to go back to Minnesota. This is a picture of Chuck and Marie just before we left. We were sorry we had to leave so early but we promised we would visit them again.

We travelled west all Sunday and at Albuquerque, we headed north towards Denver. We spent five hours at a Super 8 near Fort Morgan and we continued on to Minnesota. We arrived at home about 10:30 Monday night. We got up early Tuesday to head towards Sue's parents in northwestern Minnesota. We attended the visitation Thursday evening and the funeral Friday morning. We arrived home Friday night.

So what were our "takeaways" from this trip?

• We traveled a total of 7295 miles; 1394 were on Highway 89.
• We wished everyone could have seen and enjoyed what we saw.
• The lifetime $10 "Senior Pass" for the national parks is a great deal!
• The (free) shuttle busses for three of the national parks were awesome.
• Route 89 was a wonderful road. It didn't seem very busy. You seemed much closer to nature. Seemed like much of it was along rivers. We will finish Route 89 through Arizona another time.
• If you plan to stay within a national park, book your room at least 6 months before you leave.
• We really enjoyed have a GPS navigation system. We used a "Tom-Tom". It wasn't always perfect, but is was really good.
• For the most part, we stayed in Super 8s. They were generally reasonable, clean, included breakfast and wireless internet. If you stay in Jackson Hole, be prepared to pay significantly more than most/all other locations.
• We really think it's important to enjoy things when you can; you can't take it with you (you don't need pockets in your last pair of pants), etc.
• The call of an unexpected death of a person dear to us is a reminder of how every day is precious; like time it needs to be spent wisely.
• For those of you who followed this trip, we are flattered. We took tons of pictures but only posted a few. If you want to see more, please let us know, we would be happy to show you. We have a spectacular country and we just saw a very small part.

We haven't planned out next trip but when we do, we'll let you know.

Bob & Sue

Las Vegas - Mile 4381 - Route 89 - Mile 1394*

Good Morning,

Yesterday morning we left Bryce Canyon headed for Zion National Park. It was 45 degrees. When we arrived in Las Vegas the temperature was 102. We are posting from Las Vegas. This is Mary Jo and Lon, Sue's sister and her husband. We are getting ready for a nightcap after having spent a few nickels at the Pilazzo. We left Route 89 at mile 1394 and jumped on Interstate 15. Zion is only about 150 miles north of Las Vegas.


Lon and Mary Jo

This is a picture from the patio of Jo and Lon's house looking across the golf course and the moutains in the background.

Zion National Park - Mile 4150 - Route 89 Mile 1350

Ahead of us on our way into Zion was a group of 51 Italian Motorcyclists, none of whom spoke English. The remaining pictures were taken at Zion National Park. You really should be a geologist when you visit these parks. Zion is best known for its Navajo Sandstone which composes cliffs 2000 feet high in Zion Canyon.

Today we are hanging out in Las Vegas, washing clothes, relaxing and not to much driving.

Have a great day!

The Travelers

Bryce Canyon National Park - Mile 3712 - Route 89 Mile 1270

Sorry the wifi system was pretty slow last night and we weren't able to send this. Hopefully we can this morning



Bryce Canyon is just over 100 miles from Capitol Reef. We chose to take State Highway 12 from Capitol Reef to Bryce. That entire distance could also be a national park; absolutely breathtaking the whole way.





Like Glacier National Park, Bryce has it's own (free) shuttle busses. Since we had been on the road most of the day, we were ready to sit on the bus. We got off three (of the four) locations to take pictures.


Bryce Canyon has been described as one of the

world's geologic masterpieces. This picture shows

examples pf pinnacles and spires and eroded stone

that stand as natural made statues.



Some of the areas like this are described as an

an ampitheater.




It seemed everywhere we looked there was a

different and beatiful geologic formation.



As we got off the shuttle bus to take pictures,

they reminded us to take it easy since we were

at 8000 feet.


So it's 8:40 p.m. and time to get some rest.

It has been another awesome day. Tomorrow we

plan to go to Zion National Park and then we will

see if we have the energy to see the North Rim of

the Grand Canyon before we head for Las Vegas.





We were saying today you could spend your whole


life traveling around the country and only see a


small part. We are greatful to be able to see what


we've seen.





Good night,





The Travelers

Capital Reef National Park - Mile 3587 - Route 89 - Mile 1145

We started our day at Capital Reef. More very beautiful sights, but different from any we have seen thus far. It was formed 65 million years ago and stretches for 100 miles across south-central Utah. We took more pictures today than we've taken in a single day so far on our trip. It was hard to choose just a few to show you.

These spires are common in the park. Many

seem to look like animals or faces.


This mass is called "The Castle".

The area has a desert feel and there are some

plants like cactus. There was also an orchard

in the park with apple, cherry and peach trees.

Yes, we stopped for pie and ice cream.

Signing off from Capital Reef.

The Travelers

Richfield, Utah - Mile 3443 - Route 89 Mile1020

We are currently in Richfield, Utah which is about 150 miles south of Salt Lake City. When we arrived in Salt Lake City yesterday afternoon the weather was rainey, windy, and cold. This morning it seemed nice and we decided to go to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. By the time we got there it was rainey, windy, and cold. We were not sure the Mormons were welcoming a couple of Lutherans from Minnesota. The weather cleared and we spend most of the day here.

This is the Salt Lake Temple; one of about 14 major buildings on a 35 acre site.

This is on the mall in front of the Temple. The value of the picture is to show you how hard the wind was blowing on this waterfall. You can see the wind whipping up the spray in front of the statues of Joseph and Emma Smith.

Inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building is one of the areas where you can do geneological research. They have folks that sit with you to help you find your roots. Sue and I each had someone helping us and we must have spent 2 hours just doing this. We ended up going to lunch with the couple that helped us. Lunch was on the top floor of this building which looked over the city as well as Temple Square.

Tomorrow we are planning to see two or three more national parks; Zion, Bryce Canyon and Canyonlands. We had thought about Arches but since it is kinda out of the way and since one of the arches has fallen, we will probably skip it. I do like the name; Fallen Arches National Park, however.

Hope you are all doing well.

Blog you later,

The Travelers