This trip – with Bryce Canyon as our ultimate goal – began last Christmas (2018) when Cerwin and I discussed Christmas gifts. His gift of choice was an all-interstate-trip. I chose Bryce Canyon as the destination, he planned the route (I-70 west and I-80 east).
LICENSE PLATES: During down times of driving or in city traffic, I looked for states on license plates – and found all but these six in the lower forty-eight: Delaware Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Vermont. I suppose someone with those state license plates passed us when I wasn’t paying attention or when I couldn’t read them because of high speed traffic on interstates.
I also found license plates from four Canadian Provinces: British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec.
The following is a review of things we saw and things we experienced.
WATER: The Great Salt Lake; large and small fresh water rivers, lakes, streams and creeks; motel pools; and whirl pools. Sometimes the water was clear other times it was cloudy from rain or minerals, or greenish blue from glacial melting.
TERRAIN, CROPS, AND FIELD ITEMS: Marshland; sagebrush; cactus; green, brown, and yellow grass; bushes; trees; patches of snow; mountains; rocks, large boulders; roadside flowers; fields of corn, sorghum; potatoes; soybeans; crops we couldn’t identify; weeds; hay and straw bales; and fences.
Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park; Rocky Mountains; National Forests; many smaller mountains; hills; gorges; boulders, rocks, and stones; valleys; canyons; high and low plains; high and low deserts; cities and towns; ranches and farms; and ski slopes
BUILDINGS AND BUSINESSES: Mormon Tabernacle, large and small churches; barns and sheds; building construction; mobile homes; houses and tumbledown shacks; stock yards, gas stations and rest stops; farms and ranches; stone, sand, and salt quarries; coal mines; World’s Largest Truck Stop and regular truck stops; TFC Global FaithLife Centers (chapels); motels; The Rissler family – Paul Rissler Transportation, Diesel Power Plus, and Horse & Buggy Accessories, childhood home of Butch Cassidy, and Cabelas in Sidney, NE.
ROADSIDE INTEREST: American flags; road signs; flashing lights; roadside crosses; Saint Louis Gateway Arch; large city fountain; grain bins; windmills (old and new style); oil wells and field pumps; and road construction cones
PEOPLE: Friendly tourists from many states and countries; friends; hikers; bikers; restaurant hostesses and waitresses; motel and store clerks; TFC chaplains; school children; beggars and hitch hikers; people in suit and tie and stylish dress; cowboys; business men and women; and people in monk-style robes
WEATHER AND SKIES: Clouds; thunderstorms; sunshine; rainbows; sunrise and sunset; rain and drizzle; fog; and morning darkness
ROADS: Interstates; mountain paths; long strait dessert roads and winding mountain roads; tunnels and an avalanche bridge; city streets and narrow town streets.
VEHICLES: Police cars and emergency vehicles; busses; construction equipment; trucks with a variety of loads; cars; jeeps; campers; trains; planes; lawn mowers; irrigation systems; farm tractors and equipment; bikes; motorcycles; off-road four-wheelers; and old, rusting vehicles in fields.
FOOD AND DRINK: Motel breakfasts; car snacks; ice cream; Mexican; McDonalds; fine dining; sandwiches; soup; truck stop hot dog; buffet; coffee; ice tea; orange juice; virgin piña colada: soda; water; milk; cranberry juice; yogurt; muffins; and mango juice
My five favorite foods/meals: Rye toast with my breakfast – Eat ‘n Park, Somerset, Pennsylvania – first day of our trip; South West Tootsie Roll Shrimp appetizer – Whiskey Creek Wood Grill, Hays, Kansas; Salmon – Ruby’s Inn, Bryce Canyon, Utah; Chicken/Strawberry Salad – Longhorn Steakhouse, Lafayette, Indiana; Homestyle Boneless Fried Chicken and Mashed Potatoes (Senior Menu) – Bob Evans, Youngstown, Ohio
ANIMALS AND CRITTERS: Steers and dairy cows; coyote; dogs; sheep; llama; big horn sheep; pronghorn antelope; mule deer; horses and donkeys; a variety of ducks and birds; pigs in trucks; wild turkey; bison; and a lizard
EXPERIENCES: We drove through 12 states: Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa – each one warning us to buckle-up.
Speed limits varied between 25 mph and 80 mph and gas prices varied from $2.19 to $3.09.
We saw very few accidents – and each one seemed to be only be a fender-bender. Our only traffic jam was on Labor Day weekend when we were entering Rocky Mountain Nation Park. There was a long traffic jam one day due to construction, but it was on the other side of the road.
We rode on Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park shuttles
We listened to: Gospel, folk, mountain and bluegrass music on our car’s CD/DVD player; news and a few games shows on motel TV’s; our home church services each Sunday on our cell phones; and a dinner/music show at Bryce Canyon
Miles driven: 5,345
Farthest point west: Kanab, Utah and The Great Salt Lake, Utah were similar
Farthest point south: Kanab, Utah (just north of Arizona)
Farthest point north: Continental divide area in Wyoming
Farthest point east: home
Sea levels varied from more than 8,000 feet above sea level in the Colorado Rockies and Bryce Canyon and our home in Pennsylvania which is about 377 feet above sea level.
We bought only two souvenirs – our usual – coffee cups.
My Conclusion comes from a poem by Ralph W. Seager
The Extravagance of God
More sky than man can see,
More seas than he can sail,
More sun than he can bear to watch,
More stars than he can scale.
More breath than he can breathe,
More yield than he can sow,
More grace than he can comprehend,
More love than he can know.
Doris — this is a beautiful summary of the beauty and diversity of the I-70 and I-80 corridors of America. The destination — Bryce and Zion National Parks — was perfect, and you certainly saw almost as much variety as you would have on the back roads. I hope you will be able to do a similar trip with a destination farther to the south another trip — perhaps to Yosemite National Park, or to Los Angeles and San Diego — sometime in the near future.
We talked about that on the trip. We should have gone to the Pacific Ocean since we spent time in the Atlantic Ocean this summer.
There’s such a thing as too much of a good thing — a west coast trip would be a good follow-up for another summer! You could travel on I-40-and I-10, and see some really varied scenery, different than what you saw this time.
Now that is a good idea. 🙂