After enjoying a comfortable stay at Inn Suites, complete with breakfast in the morning, we headed north on US89. As the miles rolled by, we gradually descended from the 8000 foot high town of Flagstaff right down to the Colorado River. And it was incredibly hot at the bottom! It was at least 90 degrees and the air was extremely arid. I can just imagine how hot it gets in the summer time! We stopped at the Glen Canyon Bridge, which crosses the Colorado River, at a narrower point than the Grand Canyon. This crossing is called the Navajo Bridge. It was built originally in 1927 and recently it was upgraded to carry heavier truck traffic. The recent engineering upgrade modelled after the original design, surprisingly similar. The area near the bridge, we gathered, was home to many Native People and still is.

After crossing the Colorado, we continued on US89, now heading Northwest. We crossed a vast expanse of desert, then climbed a small mountain pass before leaving Arizona. Midway up the mountain pass, there was a viewpoint we stopped at, overlooking the highway we had just driven on across the desert. It wasn't long though, before we parted farewell to Arizona and crossed the State Line into Utah.

The most prominent feature I noted in Utah was the red sand and arid desert geography. We stopped off the highway for a pit stop to get gas and stuff, then I decided to do a little offroading. The red sand of Utah was easy to drive on, and there were no actual roads, I just drove all over the place. At one point, I tried to ascend a hillock, but gave up midway because it got too steep. After getting bored of this offroading, I discovered a makeshift Indian shelter which consisted of a cave dug out with a wooden frame at the entrance.

Soon after, we turned off US89 and headed west on a secondary road. It just so happened that this road traversed the highest mountain pass in the State of Utah, over 10,000 feet in elevation! We kept climbing, and climbing, and eventually we got so high that we were in the snow line!! At first there were small patches of snow, then eventually we were driving in Winter Wonderland. We stopped at one point to take pictures beside a snowman that somebody had earlier built. It was incredible that we had gone from scorchin 90 degree desert to snow in a matter of hours. Just goes to show you how diverse America is.

We then drove in to Snow Canyon State Park in southern Utah where we had booked a campsite. It was a very nice place to stay at, with expansive camping areas, a hot dry night, and cliffs to climb up right beside the campsite. The guy collecting the money was pretty funny; he asked us what we were eating for dinner, I replied we were having chili, and he responded with, "That'll warm up the tent for sure!" We had the best campsite in the campground, as we had reserved much earlier.

The next day was also very hot and dry, and as we headed out of the campsite, Jamie noticed his seatbelt was broken, so I stopped the car and got out to fix the seatbelt. As I was doing so, I noticed a pickup truck drive by on the highway carrying three young, good looking girls in the back. They screamed something along the lines of, "Hey sexy!! Hey good looking!!" to which I returned the greeting. I must be lucky; that kind of stuff happens to me a lot :-)

We then continued to drive north on I-15 to eventually reach Salt Lake City by the end of the day. It was a long drive, so I let Jamie drive some of the Interstate. He didn't have much experience driving standard, so I coached him through the gear changing process to accelerate onto the freeway, knowing that once we were cruising in fifth gear on the freeway, he wouldn't have to worry about changing gears. He started out all right. As we entered the on-ramp, he went from first....second.....third.... then SHIT!!! back to second instead of fourth!!!!! The engine survived the harsh RPM's from that abrupt downshift, and he tried again succesfully.

Upon reaching Salt Lake City, the entire city was under construction because of the preparation for the 2002 Summer Olympics. All of the freeways which normally bypass Salt Lake were closed, and traffic had to divert on controlled roads. Unfortunately, that meant we had to leave the freeway, so I got Jamie to succesfully bring the car to a stop, then I took over.

On our way to East Canyon State Park, which was 30 miles east of Salt Lake, I got a speeding ticket. The speed limit was 35, on a country road, and there was a straightaway, so I decided to let it go. Unfortunately, a sheriff was waiting at the end of the straightaway and he clocked me going 52 in a 35! However, I was very cooperative. Before the sheriff even approached my car, I had my drivers license and registration at the ready, because I knew I would be asked for them. I had seen way too many people get pulled over on those Highway Patrol shows, so I knew the exact routine. I then didn't interrupt the officer at all, even when he told some stupid jokes about him having had a speeding ticket in Canada. So then he let me off with a warning!!! He also said to me, "You're not going to speed anymore, are you?" I promptly said no!

Then we drove to the campsite at East Canyon State Park, and we were the only ones there, aside from a guy from Virginia who was on his way to Boise to look for work in the fishing industry. This guy told me the story of how he had camped in Kansas the night before, and was the only person camping in a field-type campsite. He heard a coyote in the middle of the night, and started freaking out, but then he quickly felt better when he realized he had his shotgun with him. Compared to Snow Canyon, this campsite was high in the mountains of northern Utah and freezing cold. A rather sharp contrast.

The next day was spent touring Salt Lake City and it was very interesting. Not only were the freeways under construction, but practically eveything else in the city was too. Parkades were closed, streets were closed, signs were telling motorists to make U-turns, essentially the city was undergoing a massive last-minute overhaul to make way for the Olympics. Jamie went into a jewerly store to buy something and we ended up talking to the salesman. He was an interesting guy, didn't smile much, and always said, "You got a question?" After we mentioned that we were from Canada, he said, "Ya, you sound like you're from Canada. You keep saying 'bout" Apparently, 'bout was another Canadian giveaway besides the obvious 'eh. Thanks to this helpful criticism, we learned more about how Americans perceive Canadians.

We also stopped to take a picture of a water tower near Downtown Salt Lake and, inadvertently, we happened to be on somebody's private property while taking the picture. He was walking down the street and then he approached us with a cheery, "Just what the hell do you guys think you're doing?" We replied innocently, "We're taking pictures, sir." He then snapped back, "Of what??!!" I said, "Of that water tower over there, sir." and gestured towards the tower. His reply was, "Well, you'd best be getting the hell out of here before I have y'all arrested. Awful suspicious. You park down there, then walk over to my property and take pictures. Awful suspicious. Get the hell out of here!" Not attempting to argue, we both said, "sorry sir" and walked back to the car. As we drove past again, he wrote down our license plate number on a pad of paper.

As we headed back to the campsite, we were worried sick as to whether or not this freak would follow us. Consequently, I took obscure routes back to East Canyon, and pulled off the road numerous times. We saw a white car parked up ahead, then pull out behind us after we had passed. Although it was surely a coincidence, given the circumstances, that made both of us freak out even more!! To ensure we wouldn't have a risk of this redneck coming back to our campsite in the middle of the night, we told the campsite ranger at East Canyon the story, and his reply was, "If he would've got you, he would've done so in Salt Lake. But on the off chance that he does come here, don't worry because I have my gun. I used to be a cop. But I won't do anything until after the ballgame." That night the Utah Jazz were playing the Lakers.

Apparently, the people we met really liked their shotguns (and their basketball).

We did sleep soundly that night, surprisingly, then it was on our way out of Utah the next day. We took I-15 to I-84 west. As soon as we entered Idaho, it felt as if the entire state was one lonely farm. It was very boring, with little in the way of scenery except rolling prairie hills. And tons of bugs on the windshield. We enjoyed a stop for lunch at a truck stop though, where we were served plate-sized Idaho spud potatoes which were a meal in themselves. That was filling.

Then it was continuing west through Idaho where we stopped at Three Island State Park to stay the night. We met a single traveller from BC! who was very social, and had a friendly dog who would go around and visit other campers. This dog, Freddie, was a very good way to meet people! We discussed our travel plans with Alice, the fellow BC camper, and helped her find the quickest route to Spokane, and then to the Kootenay area of BC where she was returning to.

We left 3 Island the next day, and ate lunch at Chile's Restaurant in Boise. I highly recommend this great place. Great food and great service! After that we passed into Oregon again and headed west up until I-82 met I-84. By that time, the weather turned bad, and it was pouring rain. After weeks of scorching desert sunshine, it was not so pleasant seeing rain again. We crossed north into Washington; it felt as we were getting closer to home! We then drove into Wanapum State Park where we were supposed to stay that night, but decided to cancel our stay as the weather was just pouring in buckets. So we did a marathon drive, and continued west on I-90 to Seattle where we met I-5 and drove straight all the way back home. It was an 11 hour drive, and I did the whole thing. I was tired, to say the least. I drove to Jamie's place and we unloaded all his stuff, and for the first time in three weeks, we were back in Canada!! It seemed so much darker driving through Canadian roads than in th US, probably because Canada has less bright lights and glitzy displays, but it was nice to be home. It was the best trip I had ever done and both of us were so proud of ourselves for having done it so well and having had so many good memories.
--by Steve Ruelle

Some links...

• USA Vacations - Order FREE Brochure!
• Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games
• Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Salt Lake City Visitor Information Travel & Tourism
• Travel West: Salt Lake City
• The Official Utah Jazz Site
• More sites...