Touring Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Bryce, and Zion National Parks - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We are up and getting ready to go again. Today's drive is about 7 hours, not too bad. From previewing Cheryl's report from last year, it probably won't be as scenic as yesterday, but still interesting.
I imagine my daily updates will get less complete as the trip goes on, but I'll try to include at least a short update each day, and follow up at the end as needed.
I couldn't help but think about today's journey as I read your last installment and how boring we found it... I hope it's better for you guys.
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I couldn't help but think about today's journey as I read your last installment and how boring we found it... I hope it's better for you guys.
I think we got lucky ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Beautiful pictures from your drive!
Thanks!
Day 2 - Part 1, Driving through Utah
We left the hotel in Fillmore, UT at 8:30 am, after taking advantage of the free hot breakfast that came with our Best Western room. We did arrive at Grand Teton National Park at around 4:30 pm. In this post, I'll report on the drive from Fillmore to Wyoming. I have too many pics, and too little energy to do the rest today.
Perhaps my expectations were set low, but I will say that today just blew us away. The drive was not as scenic overall as yesterday's, but there were many areas we drove through with our mouths open. As in, "Wow," I didn't expect to see this. It probably helped that we were relatively fresh, going to our National Park destination, rather than coming back after a tiring week.
Lou topped off the gas after breakfast, at the Chevron station next to the hotel. Here he is, squinting to see the display - this would be repeated 2 more times today in the glaring sun.
We entered Intestate 15 and drove North for about 100 miles. This was not exciting, good thing it was at the beginning of the trip.
Just before Provo, we passed the exit for Springville. I had to take a photo, since Springville is the name of the town where I was born and raised - except in California. I remember as a little kid - how astounded I was to find out other towns could have the same name as MY town ...
Soon we were driving through Provo, taking Hwy 189 to bypass Salt Lake City. Provo is such a beautiful college town - home of BYU.
Leaving Provo, we saw some mountains. I thought, "Oh, at least we'll see some type of scenery" (unlike I15).
Little did I know ... as we wound our way through Provo Canyon, we had such a treat! The canyon walls were alive with color.
And, I managed to get a few photos of Bridal Veil Falls - a 607 foot double waterfall. Woot! Certainly not a masterpiece, but since I had forgotten it was even there, I was happy.
We continued navigating through some construction, checked out the river in the canyon, and went through this cute tunnel:
Continuing a short ways on 189, we came upon a dam
Which, amazingly, had a large body of water on the other side Deer Creek Recreational Area may not be Lake Powell, but there were many people out cruising around, enjoying the water and the beaches.
We continued driving and reached the Utah Ski area turnoffs. We actually drove right through Deer Valley - you can barely see the top of the chair lift in the second shot. And the color! Again, I was just amazed.
We had about 55 miles on Interstate 80, towards Cheyenne. The views were nothing to write home about, but we really couldn't complain.
I was like the little kid in the back seat, "Are we there yet?" I was anxious to get to Wyoming!
"Just be Quiet, and look at the pretty rocks (buttes? bluffs?) in Utah"
And then, the moment we'd been waiting for ... we were in ... WYOMING! Yay! The sign itself was a bit of a letdown, but we laughed when we saw the Best Western billboard behind it.
And, my favorite horse shot from today, taken as we passed a ranch just on the other side of the border.
That's it for this post. It may look like the drive was all beautiful, since the number of photos for each area are in proportion to how much we liked it, and I didn't post every boring I15 or I80 shot I have
We don't have internet from the Hotel in our cottage - it is available in the Main Lodge. Tonight I cheated and used our Verizon mifi, but I'll have to be careful to not max my upload limit. I will be trying to do a daily check in, even if it's just to add a few pics.
It does look like an interesting and varied drive! The shots of the splotches of color on the hills-- beautiful. And, again, a sunny but interesting sky.
You definitely saw much better scenery than us. It helps you're a week or so later, as the trees are turning, which is beautiful to see. I also think going out through Provo gave you some lovely views too - by the time we made it that far, it was starting to get dark, so we didn't see some of that too well.
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It does look like an interesting and varied drive! The shots of the splotches of color on the hills-- beautiful. And, again, a sunny but interesting sky.
Yes - it definitely was varied. I was expecting dull, so any splash of color was appreciated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LLaffinPlace
Beautiful pictures and a great start to a very promising trip.
I'm excited to see all these places--it's been forty years since I was in that area and visiting those parks. Thanks for writing this up!
Thanks, Larry - we'll be getting to the parks soon!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
You definitely saw much better scenery than us. It helps you're a week or so later, as the trees are turning, which is beautiful to see. I also think going out through Provo gave you some lovely views too - by the time we made it that far, it was starting to get dark, so we didn't see some of that too well.
Yes, and you guys had already been touring and driving for so long - seeing so many wonderful things. That would definitely take the excitement down a notch for this part of the trip.
I left off when we were half way to Grand Teton, so I'll post some photos from most of the rest of the road trip. Finally managed to get them uploaded with our dodgy Internet Access.
I'll comment on the first photo, and just post the rest, as I think they are self-explanatory - as in, they are photos taken from some crazy women driving through Wyoming to get to Grand Teton National Park.
About the first photo - I thought we found a hidden Mickey. But, on second look, maybe it's Goofy?
Coming up Next: We might actually get to the Jackson Lake Lodge...
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I cannot get over the fall colours - and literally you're just a week after we were last year. Just goes to show how a few days can make all the difference.
I can't wait to see your photos of the National Parks. They are all so beautiful-even my pictures came out stunning and I don't have nearly the eye you do,
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Deer Creek Recreational Area may not be Lake Powell, but there were many people out cruising around, enjoying the water and the beaches.
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