Rocks, Rocks & More Rocks

For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been hanging out in the wild west…

With Nevada being the first stop, it wouldn’t have been right to bypass Vegas, so with that being enough arm-twisting, we took a rest break for a few nights to check out this seedy town’s delights… And managed to walked away unscathed with some modest winnings.

Outside the Bellagio on The Strip after a lovely dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary

The Fremont Street Experience (another cool area of Vegas)

And then leaving the pretty lights behind, we headed into the desert – more specifically into Southern Utah, Colorado and Arizona to check out rocks. Lots of them. Big ones too. Some colourful. Some in funny shapes called Hoodoos or Arches. Some really ancient. Some with connections to Indian history.

Zion National Park, Southern Utah

Zion National Park, Southern Utah

“Daisy”, sleeping at Red Rock Canyon, Southern Utah

Bryce Canyon, Southern Utah

Bryce Canyon, Southern Utah

Mule Riding at Bryce Canyon, Southern Utah

Bryce Canyon, Southern Utah

Ancient Indian Petroglyphs at Capitol Reef National Park, Southern Utah

Capitol Reef National Park, Southern Utah

Arches National Park, Southern Utah (you probably can’t see me, but I’m the blue dot to the bottom right of the lower arch)

Arches National Park, Southern Utah

“Spruce Tree House” ancient Indian pueblo in Mesa Verde, Colorado

“Cliff Palace” ancient Indian pueblo in Mesa Verde, Colorado

Gooseneck State Park, Southern Utah

Monument Valley, Southern Utah

Spider Rock, Canyon de Chelly. The Navajo people think this is where “Spider Woman” emerged from the earth and taught the Navajo people how to weave…

Grand Canyon, Arizona – a geology lesson in action!

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Needless to say, we have now seen more rocks in the past few weeks than what a normal person would see in their lifetime. Averaging 3-6 miles hiking (read: 5-10 kilometres bushwalking) a day, we’re well on our way with our get-fit-quick regime!

And true to Mike’s promise, we’ve been getting an eyeful of American wildlife. Besides all the usual animals like sheep, cattle, horses, dogs, cats, ducks, rabbits, swallows, crows, ravens etc, we’ve also seen a wolf, coyotes, deer, mule deer, elk, bison, mules (half horse, half donkey), burros (wild donkeys), squirrels, albert squirrels, chipmunks, a bull snake, leopard lizards, a wild turkey, eagles, turkey vultures and California condors! We also saw some wild holly and wild mistletoe – which was cool, although the wrong time of year.

Bison in southern Utah

Bull snake, in southern utah

California Condor – one of only 100 left in existence. It’s wingspan is 9.5ft…

California Condors with Grand Canyon in the background…

Wild Burros in Oatman, ghost town on Route 66

So with a thorough cleanout of the campervan that Nat would have been proud of, we are leaving the dust behind us and now heading back towards the coast. First stop is Santa Barbara for her wine county – somehow I think that’s not going to take too much arm-twisting either!

Over and out,
Danya & Nathan

PS: if you would like to see even more photos, check out our webalbums on facebook or at http://picasaweb.google.com.au/danya.webb