On Tour in the USA

[diminished]

A little too much adventure for us today.

We went to Horseshoe Canyon,to see ancient pictographs,which were astounding (there are 4 panels of them,culminating in what is called 'The Great Gallery',a 200 ft-long freize of figures estimated to be between 2000 and 8000 years old).
But foolishly we took rather less water than was recommended (about half of what we should have carried).We didnt realise that when the sun finally burned through the clouds that the termperature in the canyon would pick up so quickly.
We made it back to the climb back out of the canyon with only about 500ml left between us.The climb back out was interesting (in a horrible way),and we staggered back into the car-park with nothing but empties,and throbbing headaches.
Our own stupid faults,of course ,but next time we do anything like that,we'll pay more attention to the suggested safety rules.Fortunately we had more water back at the car.
It was a moderately strenuous hike,but I'd tell anyone who was thinking about doing it to go for it.

[monster]

you pillocks. don't eat a big breakfast, unless you fancy revisiting it. Dehydration can have that effect....it's sort of lke excessive boozing without the fun the night before.

[monster]

ooh I can't remember that last time I called anyone a pillock ...what fun!

[ZenGum]

Bloody dopey pommie tourists.... so many anecdotes ....

[diminished]

I refute the fact I'm dopey,I've been without long enough to pass a urine test now :p
We passed a drug testing agency place the other day,I was tempted to go in to prove my cleanliness

I'll concede to pommie and pillock,with an occasional limey on the side

We originally thought we'd be a bit Lewis and Clark on this expedition,but we're more Lewis and Martin I think.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by diminished

Monument Valley was astonishing.
~snip~
Having said all of that,I turned to Persistence and asked,'How on Earth are we meant to explain this place to people back home?'.

Show them John Wayne movies.

[diminished]

Today,we've made it as far as the Aspen (CO) area.Carbondale,if my memory serves me right.We're obviously entering an expensive phase of the journey,as its the first time we've been asked to pay over $100 for a night's stay,and I just forked out almost $15 for 12 cans of Bud Light.
Never mind.Tomorrow,we're going up to Woody Creek to drink Margaritas and eat fine food.I'll be raising a glass to the memory of Hunter S. Thompson,one of the finest scoundrels this country must have ever produced.
There's not much to Woody Creek,other than the Tavern,I've read,but I'm hoping to understand him better with a visit to his old stomping grounds,and maybe I'll get lucky and drive past Owl Farm.
Meanwhile,I'm watching 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' in preparation.Here's to you Doc,for getting away with it for so long
*burp

[xoxoxoBruce]

It won't work, Thompson's mind was twisted in CA... CO is just where, after he could afford it, could stay far enough from polite society to not be arrested or killed.

[diminished]

Yeah,Woody Creek was a bit disappointing after all,and we moved along pretty quickly.Luckily tho,coming back down the valley,we ran into the 'Strawberry Days' festival at Glenwood Springs.I managed to indulge my fetish for native food and sampled a CornDog and a Philly Cheesesteak (both very good).
We stayed in a really bad motel around Golden (both the motel and surroundings were like a damned maze to get around,the motel was expensive,dirty,and had no breakfast on offer other than at the restaurant next door,to which we got a 'discount coupon' for being a motel guest--mighty 10% off .),and set out quite grumpy the next day,which we shouldnt really have,as it turned out quite nice.We paused outside Morrisson and snapped a few shots of Dinosaur footprints on the side of a hill,after having a giggle at a related but quite dubious gift shop at the foot of it,then dove into Denver to take shots of a model of a big blue bear which peers into the second-storey window of the Denver Conference Center,and of a statue of a massive dustpan and brush nearby (plus some statues we happened across en route.).

We then blew north to Fort Collins,and spent a good couple of hours nosing around the 'Swetsville Zoo',a pretty good junk-art collection east of the town,free to enter,but we left a donation.
I also tracked down a damned fine tobacconist in Fort Collins itself,and had to be physically dragged out of the place by Persistence,as she felt our budget was threatened by my prolonged presence.

Clipping Wyoming,we proceeded into Nebraska,and stayed at a fantstic motel at Ogallala,which we'd planned to call at anyway,in order to get pics of the town's water-tower,which is painted up like a UFO.

This morning,we headed out for the North Platte Classification Yard.In simple terms,that translates as 'The Biggest Trainset in the World',8 miles of trains,which if it doesnt sound that exciting to you,didnt to me,either.We climbed a purpose-built observation tower,and after about 20 minutes,I got Persistence to nip back down to the parking lot to grab my binoculars.I'm not that mad-keen on trains,but I spent a happy couple of hours watching incoming trains being split up and sent down a hill to a holding yard where they were shunted about and attached to ongoing trains.It was all a lot more interesting than it sounds
This afternoon,we played 'hunt the ghost town' around Hastings,NE.We eventually tracked down 'Spring Ranch' after a spectacular navigational effort,only to find that its all gone,and only the Graveyard remains.It was frankly odd,even in bright sunshine and hot weather,to wander around the place,it had something of an atmosphere,but was interesting too.
We tried to get a motel room back in Hastings,to no avail,and I had to drag Persistence away before unpleasantness occurred.The desk-clerk at the last place we tried must have something of an issue with English folks,but we jacked some free wifi in the carpark,to search for somewhere else to stay while she stood at the door and glared at us.
The heat remains blistering,even at 11pm(we're confused today,we've lost an hour having come back east out of Mountain time,back onto Central),and now the humidity has ramped right up too.Persistence shall have to climb over my dead body in order to turn off the aircon tonight.

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by diminished

Yeah,Woody Creek was a bit disappointing after all,and we moved along pretty quickly.Luckily tho,coming back down the valley,we ran into the 'Strawberry Days' festival at Glenwood Springs.I managed to indulge my fetish for native food and sampled a CornDog and a Philly Cheesesteak (both very good).

NO....you didn't have a Philly Cheesesteak in Glenwood Springs. When you get back out East, come stay at Undertoad's house for a night, and we'll take you to Pudge's.

then you will be able to say that without being wrong.

[monster]

they not coming back... one way trip

[monster]

We're so jealous you got to North Platte after the tower was built.... well hector is anyway....

[diminished]

Yeah,lumberjim,the Cheesesteak did seem a little thin on meat-content,but its a sound food principle I missed the genuine article whilst in the east,and was surprised to see it offered as far west as CO,but I thought better to try it,than not....The stall selling it touted themselves as having appeared on the food channel,so it seemed a good chance.The guy working the queue was quite entertaining too.

Careful of that tower,monster,apparently they have a pet trainspotter who virtually lives on the top-deck...the door staff referred to him as a 'real mine of information' whilst she rolled her eyes.... We stayed one deck down from the top,and enjoyed the almost balletic performace of engines and cars.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I spent a happy couple of hours watching incoming trains being split up and sent down a hill to a holding yard where they were shunted about and attached to ongoing trains.

Called "humping". Occasionally you'll see a picture of a sign or placard on the net that reads "Do Not Hump". Those are attached to RR cars they don't want rolled down the hill and making sudden stops, because of the weight, how it's packed or cargo(explosive, acid, etc).

[diminished]

Hehe...a tremendous night here in Sioux Falls,SD...we've been treated to another jaw-dropping thunderstorm,which took enough time to get over for us both to shoot video and time-exposed stills,and for us both to get absolutely soaked (and looked at like total lunatics by most people in the motel.).
I would have posted up today that we visited the Corn Palace in Mitchell,but I can still see a fragment of that thunderstorm passing south from the room window.
Persistence made the error of parking in the sun whilst we visited the Corn Palace,which is quite splendid,we arrived back at our car to find the temperature indicator showing 105...I took a slug of my soda and found it to be more like fizzy tea Nevermind,at least I bagged myself a corncob pipe.Now I just need another decent tobacconist.