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         Then we drove to Zion National Park, about an hour south.  Unlike the other three parks that we had just visited, Zion had tall evergreen trees growing everywhere out of the mountains, like in the Black Hills.  Also unlike the other parks, tunnels had been blasted through the mountain rocks so we could get from one side to the next.  One of the Zion tunnels was 1.3 miles long with single lane traffic.  Built in 1930, the tunnel once accommodated two lane traffic, when cars were built narrower.  More patience is required in 2015 than in 1930.

         Most of the roads at Zion were constructed along the sides of mountains, and that meant steep cliffs and hairpin curves.  Allan was impressed with the engineering.  I am personally tired of roads built on the very edge of steep cliffs, one after the other.  Let me live near a flat road on flat land with wide shoulders and shallow ditches.  We stopped at a cute tourist shop in Virgin, Utah, where I bought a bag of the largest jelly beans I've ever seen, just the opposite of those multi-flavored little jellie bellies we buy at Costco.  Seems we're always looking just for desserts.

         We did a wine tasting that afternoon at the Iron Gate Winery next door to our Bed and Breakfast and enjoyed the wonderful outdoors, where we were served on a patio with umbrellas to protect us from the bright sun.  We then found the 5:30 Mass at Christ the King Catholic Church in Cedar City.  Our penchant for familiarity when it comes to restaurants led us after church to tostados and a side salad at Chili's. 

         Donna served Cherry French Toast Souffle the next morning.  Just delicious!  Then we finished packing our suitcases and left for the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas less than three hours southwest of us.  The landscape changed from red jagged mountains to black and gray pointed mountains like we drew when we were in elementary school. We spied a few grazing animals but continued to remark on this vast unpopulated part of the country.  It is the total opposite of Victoria, Minnesota, our City of Lakes and Parks.

         On occasion we saw a lone Joshua tree, whereas we had only been seeing juniper trees, most with leaves, and sage brush.  We crossed over a small corner of Arizona before entering Nevada.  When billboards began to appear, we knew we were almost there.

         As we left Utah and entered Nevada, not our first time there, we drove to the Hoover Dam to see the new highway bridge, an incomparable engineering feat that Allan, a Registered Professional Engineer, has wanted to see firsthand.  He recalled the bottleneck and small two-lane bridge in that area when we first visited years ago.

         The only parking space left for us that afternoon was at the top level of big four-level ramp.  Hotter than hot, we embarked on a hike to view both sides of the dam from the top of the dam.  Wow!  The Colorado River is 100 feet lower than normal.  Built in the 1930's, the Hoover Dam is a remarkable construction.  The view of the new arched bridge was breathtaking.  The supporting columns are larger and taller than Bernini's at the Vatican or those at the Roman Colosseum.

         We stayed the next two nights in an elegant suite at The Luxor where the Sphynx sits next door to Lady Liberty, both stone-faced about the whole situation.  Temperature was 96 degrees and we spent two days in it before flying back to Minneapolis.  It was an outstanding educational and exciting trip where we each gained three pounds because of the just desserts we encountered for our week in the desert mountains of Utah.  Pretty amazing in every way.

 

 

The story in photographs is located in Sue’s Album

at Just Desserts in the Desert Mountains.

The Victoria GAZETTE

Just Desserts Continued

October 2015