Ely, NM, Wendover, NM, and Salt Lake City, Utah

So after the Grand Canyon our trip got a bit quieter.

Ely, NM is a quiet, peaceful campground in north NM.  It's cooler than Las Vegas but that's partly due to it's elevation.  There wasn't much there to do or see.

Wendover, NM is only about 2 hours from Salt Lake City, Utah.  (But still Nevada...so lots of Casinos and other sinful stuff).

The cool part of Wendover is that it's (practically) home to the Bonneville Salt Flats  (yeah, Utah claims to be home...but I think Wendover has them beat.)

But if it's not speed week at Wendover - it turns into a quiet little town.  (We couldn't arrange to be there when they were doing speed runs).

Salt Flats directly ahead

Salt Flats

You can go out on the flats - but it's at your own risk.   We thought about taking Watson and Moriarty and seeing how fast we could go....but....decided not to.

Salt Lake City, Utah  We actually stayed in Draper (just south of Salt Lake City).  But you can definitely visit and see the Great Salt Lake.  I didn't get any photos and we didn't visit long.  

People have talked about swimming in Great Salt Lake.  Some have.  Apparently it's known for the salt reminding you of very single cut/scrape you have ever gotten.  We decided NOT to swim.

But we did briefly visit....and the other thing Great Salt Lake is known for is it's black flies.  We can attest to their presence - we stopped for a total of 15 minutes, tops.  There were no flies to start...and we were fighting them before we left.   They didn't seem to bite (which was good)...but they were everywhere.

Draper at least allowed us to get more civilization; we could easily shop and get supplies and wasn't as terribly as hot as Las Vegas.  However we still were higher up than we liked (4500') and still wanted to head north.   Next town is Glenn's Ferry, Idaho.  It's lower and we're hoping it's cooler.

Grand Canyon - North Rim

Our trip has had some trials and tribulations.  Some things have gone well...others, not so much.

Today, in my opinion, this trip became worth it all.

First - let me state that our campground is a little higher than we estimated.  The local town, Fredonia, is approximately at 3500' elevation.

Our campground, Kaibab Camper Village is approximately 7500' elevation.

The North Rim elevation is 8297' (according to google) and we actually had to go up to 8820' on the way there.  The route is a bit...er...interesting.

We were just driving along...

and suddenly we're in a mountain pass

Eventually you feel on top of the world

Second - I strongly recommend a National Park Pass.  To get into the park it costs like $35. National Park Pass - and there was no cost.  (Between Carlsbad Cavern and Grand Canyon - this pass has paid for itself)

Would you believe the park ranger was from Daytona Beach (40 years)?

Third: Buffalo.

It's amazing (to me) that there were so many huge meadows up near the Grand Canyon.  So I figured there was probably cattle.

I did not expect Buffalo.  2 herds of buffalo to be exact.

And yes, I'm not crazy enough to get out of the car

And calves

Finally: The Canyon.  Photos just don't do it justice.

BTW: If you ever go to the Grand Canyon - I cannot recommend the North Rim enough.  According to our sources, it's cooler, less crowded and has more rainfall (for more trees and vegetation).

From here we're headed up to northern Nevada and eventually to Salt Lake City, Utah to try and find some cooler weather.

Leaving Las Vegas

So our travels took us to Las Vegas.  Our goals were to see the Hoover Dam and prepare for a trip to the Grand Canyon.  (Believe it or not - we didn't have any interest in casinos or "the strip".  We are weird tourists)

We did NOT drive over see Hoover Dam.

Why?

Well, to start with - Las Vegas is HOT.  106 degrees F.  (Friends recorded - after we left - a temperature of 114 degrees F).  Our campground had a pool which we looked at.  The pool desperately needed cleaning and was full of kids, thus, we did not use it. (Thomas went for a short swim - once.)

So, what did we do?

Thomas went flying.  Trike flying....and saw Hoover Dam from the air.

A trike is a powered-hang-glider.  Rather than sitting in a harness, you sit in a small carriage on three wheels.  It offers greater visibility than say a helicopter or airplane as you can lean over and look STRAIGHT DOWN. Here are some of the views:

A "created" lake for high-end homes

The drone-car facility was also on this lake (barely visible)

It feeds down to Las Vegas Bay (and into Hoover Dam)

Water levels are very low.

Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam (different angle)

So after some flying and a lot of heat; we're headed offer to see the Grand Canyon - North Rim.  Stay tuned.

Arizona

Arizona is the Grand Canyon State - and we will be visiting that soon....

On our way there - we stopped at Meteor Crater.

Roughly 50,000 years ago, a mostly iron-ore meteor crashed here.  It was about 150' wide at impact.

If you look at the white spot to the center right, there's an image of an astronaut (6' tall) and an American Flag (3'x5')

This should give you a nice all around look

And a panoramic

Remember that little platform you can stand out on?

This is from the very top - looking at that platform

And another panoramic!

We also stopped by Winslow