Our 1996 Trip Across the USA Page 18
Back to Jon Vermilye's Photo & Trip Page


Page 1 & Index
Next
Previous


A note on Photographs - All of us are taking pictures - I'll do my best to give photo credits with an initial, but if I miss one be sure to let me know! J = Jon, D = Don, A = Anne & C = Carol. You can usually tell Anne's - her camera puts the date on the image! Also, most of the images are scans of old & faded prints, so the quality may not be all that hot.

July 11 - The Grand Canyon, North Rim, AZ (228mi)

This morning we headed down AZ 67 to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. This is definitely a quieter & less developed part of the canyon, at least compared to the South Rim. The view from Point Imperial, the highest point on the North Rim is incredible. We walked around, took pictures and were suitably impressed. We also went to Bright Angel Point at the end of the entrance road.

Grand Canyon (J)
Grand Canyon (J)
Grand Canyon (J)

Jon & Carol at Grand Canyon (A)
Grand Canyon (D)
Don at Grand Canyon (J)
Grand Canyon (A)
Grand Canyon (A)

After being awed by the canyon, we headed for Utah & a new campground for the night. We stopped outside Bryce Canyon at Ruby's Inn Campground. A very large place with lots of activities, including a hotel & dining room. We stayed in site 119 for two nights. A nice corner site - they are pretty close to each other, but the sites are large & the corner ones have roads on two sides rather than RVs. A bit longer trip to the restrooms than we have been used to, but very clean, including the showers. One thing - if you are in a large campground and decide to make a 3:00AM trip to the bathrooms, be sure to either keep track of where you came from or leave a breadcrumb trail! Carol & I were talking on the way back (quietly) and after a while realized that we had walked much further going back than we did going. Now it should be impossible to get lost in the equivalent of a tent city, but... Of course we had a flashlight, but we didn't want to shine in into all the RVs & tents. We couldn't decide whether to laugh, or send up flares. Eventually, we found our way home.

Another important announcement - today, after seeing a Montana plate, we hit 50 states on our license plate list. Not too bad for driving 7,555 miles. We were surprised to find a Hawaii plate, but we saw one early in the trip. We also managed to find a Virgin Islands plate as well as Mexico & most of the Canadian Proviences. Time to start list 2.

July 12, Bryce Canyon, UT (91mi)

We hung around the campground for much of the morning doing laundry, and just goofing off. Once we got our act together we headed to Bryce Canyon National Park. We decided we would go to either Bryce or Zion, and Karin (our daughter) thought we would enjoy Bryce more. I can't compare them since we saved Zion for another trip, but Bryce is amazing. You drive along the rim of the canyon & look down over the "hoodoos," spires formations that cover the floor. There are many trails 2000' down into the canyon bottom as well as along the rim. Only problem with the trails into the canyon is you have to come back up!

Bryce Canyon (J)
Bryce Canyon (J)
Bryce Canyon (J)
Bryce Canyon (J)
Bryce Canyon (J)

Bryce Canyon (J)
Bryce Canyon (J)
Bryce Canyon (J)
Bryce Canyon (A)

After driving & hiking around the park, we headed back to Ruby's and ate a hugh buffet in the Inn as part of Don's Birthday celebration. Don & Anne went for a horseback ride - Carol & I vegged out in the van. That evening we went into Panguitch for gas & ice. Carol bought a necklace from a Native American woman on the way back. Tomorrow we are heading to Moab, UT.
Next
Previous


This page is maintained by: vermilye@oswego.edu
Last Update: March 21, 2012