Pikes Peak! (and more dinosaurs...)

The infamous Pikes Peak, one place I decided I had to go to, and I did not realise I could drive up it to the summit on the same route that the rally cars use each year until a day before I went there!

The summit lies 14,110 feet (4,300 metres) above sea level, and you really notice it at that altitude!

For those with motorsport enthusiasm will know the Pikes Peak story - a brief intro for those who don't:

In the 1980's Group B class rallying was removed from international competition due to safety fears, the cars, although still based on road going cars you could buy, had too much power and the crowds of people were too dangerous. So Audi decided to take its rally beating Audi Quattro S1 to the American Pikes Peak Hill Climb event, held annually. Audi were laughed at by the competitors who ran specially built custom cars for the event for entering a "family saloon car". The laughing soon stopped when their nigh-on 1,000 horsepower saloon car took the Pikes Peak climb record, and took a massive chunk of time out of it too. Peugeot also decided to give this a try and further bettered Audi's record time. The Peugeot set the fastest hill climb time of that decade, and all years previous to that.

So as a rally enthusiast and especially interested in the Group B cars, this was a place that I had to visit, and and really pleased I got to follow the same route as used by the cars - even if my car is far from being rally car material!

But it is not all about cars, at 14,110 feet up, the views are spectacular, the oxygen is barely noticeable and the wind is biting cold. All in all, a very memorable day, I took a lot of photo's although I only added these few that I felt portrayed Pikes Peak that little bit better.

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Pikes Peak photos here.

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And, as I mentioned, I did visit another dinosaur place after Pikes, I wouldn't have mentioned it had it not been brilliant.

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Colorado Springs is right in the heart of dino lands, Morrison formation, Hell Creek and other famous dig sites are all within a few hundred miles, and this place actively finds dinosaurs.

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It is really interesting, they dig the bones, they preserve and rebuild if necessary, then create casts of the bones and put them together to display the skeletons. They even showed some creativity with their displays, from a feasting Albertosaurus skeleton eating an Edmontosaurus skeleton, being interrupted by another Albertosaurus looking for dinner. Cleverly done.

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As a research centre they show you how it is done, below the skeletons they often had the real bones, as discovered in the rocks, often with the plaster wrap cut away that they use to safely remove them from the ground as they are so decayed. They even have part of the studio for you to watch them working (added some pics of that too).

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The only actual bones you could touch were those of the Triceratops, as they are so abundant in the region that they carry virtually no value.

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They also had a large section on marine dinosaurs, from very scary looking fish to ancient sharks - Sharks that have been around longer then the first dinosaurs appeared on the planet.

They also had a young Mossasaur, a very scary looking monster of the deep, it's living relative these days are the much smaller monitor lizards found today across the globe.

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Very interesting following some traces of evolution where they exist, although of course not all ancient creatures survived the toils of time and have ancesters alive today.

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I do believe I have written more about the dinosaurs than I did about Pikes Peak, well, for what it is worth, I had a truely fantastic day, learning a lot as well as enjoying some lovely scenery!

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Dinosaur Resource Centre photos here

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freshly extracted bones waiting to be 'processed'

Garden of the Gods, Grizzly's and Iced Waterfalls

There was a lot of hype about these "Garden of the Gods", but to be honest I was a little disappointed, although perhaps after all the natural wonders I have been seeing, then it is to be expected?

They are situated not far from Colorado Springs, and i've only included a few photo's because that is all I took.

Pictures here

I also visited the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, which I think is one of the most comprehensive zoo's i've visited yet. I think I went to the zoo at the wrong time of year as some of the animals were a little drowsy, and some like the Wolve's were hard to spot.

Although, some, such as the pair of Grizzly Bears were most active spending all the time I was there playing around with each other.

I overheard someone talking about the Mountain Lions, and he made a very good point, when you watched them you could see he was right. The really scary thing is, in the photo's I have posted you can see they are all looking at something, always focused on something. That something was children, small people, easy targets.
His words were "no wonder they have problems in places, look how they follow the kids movements".
Survival of the fittest still rules these cats minds, good to see they still have some instincts.

That said, they are wonderfully majestic in their own way, very proud animals who were clearly very aware of their surroundings.

It was a very good day at the zoo, and I think I would recommend it to anyone, the location is close to Colorado Springs, and it is built into the foot of a mountain, so for many of the animals it is their natural environment. My only concern was that one or two of the enclosures were a little small for the animals concerned, although they are doing a lot of work there and some were simply 'holding pens' apparently, which isn't so bad if they have a nice place to go to soon.

Zoo Pictures Here

I also visited Seven Falls, again another bit of a disappointment, but very interesting to see it all frozen over like that. They have lots of hiking trails, so if that is your sort of thing then I think it is definitely worth a visit!

Seven Falls Pictures Here

Colorado and Dinosaurs

The third, and final update from tonight, to bring everything up to date, as I mentioned in the first post (skip 2 down and start there!). I am currently at an overnight stop in a town called Grand Junction, to the north-east of the state of Colorado.

One of the state's I was most looking forward to seeing was Colorado, but thanks to constant rain and heavy low lying cloud, I have not seen much of it as yet...

As you will see in these photographs there was little point to photograph much at all, at times I could not see to the front of the car - it does have a long engine compartment but it is not that long! for the most part the photo's I took have absorbed much more mist than I saw, so although I was at times looking at beautiful cloud formations, all you see in the photo's are big grey blobs... nice.

I am sure the views from this national park are stunning, and when the clouds occasionally parted it was a new kind of scenery, not desert-like, but lush and mountainous, another beautiful sight, unfortunately not able to be displayed for you to see.

Anyway, a few photo's from the Colorado National Monument here, despite the mist covering up much of the beauty.

You would never tell that before I left Utah this morning my car was spotless and clean, would you?!

And for those family & friends who knew me/remember me from when I was much younger and my immense interest in dinosaurs and all things scaley and reptillian, then you may appreciate why when I am travelling through "Dinosaur Country" as much of these states of America are, I would be taking opportunities to visit dinosaur related places. Just before entering the Colorado National Monument Park, and shortly after entering the state of Colorado, I came across a dinosaur place called Dinosaur Journey, a smallish building filled with skeletons and lifesize replica's of several dinosaurs. Some very interesting fossils and interesting facts to pick up - nothing too heavy, all of light interest to a dinosaur enthusiast such as myself, before going too deep!

Many of their replica's were robotic and moved, although the Stegosaurus seemed to have lost its voice! You could even take control of one of the dinosaurs and move him yourself. There was also a replication of a Utahraptor. For those who have seen Jurassic Park will know what a Velociraptor is like, a smallish pack hunting dinosaur, very ferocious, with a very large claw on its foot. Well the Utahraptor has all that, but is twice the size, strength and ferocity. and to put that into perspective they had a moving eating Utahraptor with his prey's head taken clean off, quite a surprise when you walk past!! It is done quite well though, a photo is included in the link, if you so wish!

Dinosaur Journey pictures here.

A young fossilized Aligator found local to the museum:

Tomorrow I travel onward to the town of Colorado Springs, with a few days to explore the area, hopefully a little more Dinosaur'ing and to visit Pikes Peak, famous to me through rally cars, although it has it's own fame for different reasons - weather permitting I may take the train to the top! Time will tell, updates should all be back on schedule again, fingers crossed!

Arches, Hummers and Lions!!!

Stationed from Moab, offroad capital of America possibly... There is certainly no shortage of 4x4 vehicles around here, ranging from the showroom spec through to the fully customised off road vehicles.

The sceneries here are just stunning, the town itself is situated in a valley between high cliffs and hills. With snow capped mountains to the west and sandy desert like cliffs to the east, the town is practically hidden from the outside world. And yet it is world famous for its offroading trails and competitions.

So while I was in Moab, I took the 5 mile drive north to Arches National Park, which has the most stunning and interesting scenery I have yet seen - although possibly also helped by having the first sun I have really seen on my trip!

In the pictures I have posted, you will see as you go further through, it gets more interesting, as it did with the park. At first you think "this is nice", followed by "that's quite cool" to "wow, this is really amazing" - although i'm not sure you will think the same with my photo's!!! Time has left its mark on Arches, like with Balanced Rock, which will in time fall from its precarious perch atop a much faster eroding rock.

This is by far the best way I have ever seen different rock types demonstrating their weakness to erosion. Different layers compacted over the years of different rocks today, showing that just because you're on top, doesn't mean you're going to erode first!

The arches in the park are formed from water erosion mostly, freexing and thawing breaking further chunks the whole time, aided by wind erosion, as one of the info boards said "the very forces which created these masterpieces, will also destroy them". That said, There are when you look around, newer arches forming, so there will more arches around for the next few hundred thousand years!

After all these national parks and different weather patterns my car is really showing signs of needing a good wash - well the good news is that it is fully hand washed by myself, meticulously not missing any dirt, and a photo of it cleaned is present at the end of the Arches picture folder, after I returned to get a photo just after washing!

Photo's from Arches National Park Here

Follwing on from my wonderful day at Arches I had a free day and decided to follow a road that began just before you entered Moab. To reach moab you cross a smaller Colorado River than we saw at Hoover Dam, and it is at that bridge you find a car park called Lions Place. This is what I have called the road as I don't really think UT128 sounds very interesting! I followed this road out of curiosity, I had no idea where it went, turns out it ran along the edge of Arches National Park, although at river level, a considerable way below the level of the park. I followed the Colorado River winding its way around, and eventually the road left the river to one side and entered ranch territory, with dusty roads heading off the horizons, seeming to go nowhere, although had they been followed I am certain I would have ended up on somone's doorstep!

The return route was considerably more entertaining, as it seemed to sweep from one corner to the next, naturally flowing alongside the winding river, making it a wonderful driving road, not too far from what you may expect in Europe (although still not quite as twisting or entertaining). It just goes to show that there are plenty of flowing roads to be found, you just have to know where to look!

A few photo's from Lions Place 'UT128' here.

On Sunday, my last full day in Moab I went on a Hummer offroad tour, I thought that visiting the offroad capital of America I had to go offroad at least once! I am too young to hire a Jeep so I took the next best option, a trip as a passenger on an ex-military operated Hummer. Don't be fooled by its size, this thing really can go anywhere, it is extremely capable, the ability to climb 70-odd degree inclines, although we only touched on 45 degrees... in reverse - why? "Because we can", a 3-and-a-half-foot vertical rock face was covered with ease, being able to take more when asked. I like the photo I posted below, it shows the front suspension of the Hummer at almost full compression, if you look through the other photo's and see how high it rides from the tyres normally, you can get a good idea of the stresses it was going through - seeing as how it is older than I am, is not bad, oh and it gets 9 miles-to-the-gallon despite being a diesel!

The driver, and guide, was an ex-Utah police Sheriff and was excellent, he knew the area like the back of his hand having lived around the area his whole life, and had been driving some of the trails around (including part of the one we did) since he was 11 in an old military Willy's Jeep.

I would strongly recommend this to everyone, you get to see views you would not see from a regular drive in the National Parks, if you're interested in cars and offroading then it will tick those boxes, if you are not, then from sheer entertainment and interest of the area would be of interest. Along the way you can keep your eyes peeled for dinosaur tracks and foot prints, even dinosaur bones (someone in our group found one), arrowheads from the ancient American Indian population, they are all so abundant here that they are not protected.

Photo's from Hummer tour Here

To Moab - Desert Country!

Apologies for the delay in replying, thanks to my old laptop deciding to stop working it has taken me a little while to get a new one and be able to bring this back up to date :-) There will be a few updates posted tonight, even though this is the last one probably that you will read!

The trip from St George in Utah (with Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks below) was very interesting. Some of the roads and sceneries were, as always, fascinating. Now I know I keep saying this (and you will see again i'm sure!), but there is always something new, the scenery is so changeable, one corner to the next and its another unique rock formation!

There were several viewing areas and rest areas along the route, which, when taken, would often lead you to some amazing scenery, to take a break from the road with a view. One of my favourite views is below, the way the road, a main road that winds itself through the Utah desert. It was good fun to drive it too! You can click it to see it bigger or just view it in the gallery, here

Bryce Canyon National Park

It is a pleasure to have you along for the ride Oliver & Terry!!!

Further to Zion posted below; today I took the (rather long) drive out to Bryce Canyon. I had to travel through Zion again to get there, and with snow fall over night the roads were much icier and very slippy as I climbed up towards the tunnel. Wonderful views with everything covered in fresh snow.

Amazingly even from the same 'points' in the Canyon overlooking the Amphitheatre (the region I have photographed) if you just walk a mere hundred yards you are greeted with a completely new view to look at. I visited a total of 3 points, all overlooking the Amphitheatre from different areas of the canyon.

Pictures Here

Simply stunning park, even more impressive than Zion for sheer magnitude.
It was however over 8,000 feet above sea level so the oxygen was beginning to get thinner!

Interestingly enough I have also discovered the petrol at the entry of Bryce canyon (and with Zion), essentially in the middle of nowhere is cheaper than in the surrounding 'civilised' areas!

Zion National Park

A much quicker update today!
I visited a fantastic park today, just to the north of where I am staying, in the south of Utah called Zion.

I would highly recommend this park to anyone, although perhaps it is better without the snow!

Pictures Here

I have not said much, the photo's are not great but I hope they get a feel for what the park is like! the weather was not perfect, a little snow in the air, but still a great trip.

I also visited a Dinosaur museum, which focuses mainly on eggs and footprints, with some very interesting insights to the prehistoric creatures - the site it was built on is over part of the original ground many footprints were found, which was interesting.

It is pouring with rain now but the weather forecast is showing some sun tomorrow, so fingers crossed for another National Park!

a fantastic time in Vegas!

Thanks Skip for showing me around Las Vegas and the surrounding area, and for the kind use of your house, it was great to see you again!

Firstly I would like to say here that I have tried on more than one occasion to reply to comments posted - I appreciate all of them but for some reason my account will not let me, even though i've gone through all the settings hundreds of times - I can't even post with no account reference so maybe it is the laptop at fault, i'm not sure. However I do appreciate all the comments and I will try to answer them in the following post I create in the future. It is good to hear from you all while I am travelling!

The drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas took a side route through the Mojave Desert, which was fascinating to see and gave me a couple of photo opportunities - mostly of the car although there is some scenery to be found here too!!

See pictures those pictures HERE

As Skip mentioned in his previous comment I have been staying with him and seen Vegas from a much better side than if I were simply a tourist.
In chronological order of pictures taken, click on the line of text to be taken to my photo account.

Shelby Automobiles Factory
Valley of Fire and Lake Mead Park
Las Vegas - The Strip and Downtown
The Hoover Dam
Lamborghini Las Vegas
Imperial Palace Car Collection - where all the cars are for sale!
Mount Charlston - Las Vegas Ski Resort - Yes, that means snow!

Valley of Fire was spectacular, some really great driving roads to get the feel for the Mustang, and some great photo opportunites, the weather was just right, although perhaps a little on the cooler side thanks to a winter breeze. I think this is one of the places that will remain in my memory forever, I am told I will be seeing more spectacular scenery later in my travels, but this certainly left a mark with me.

Las Vegas was not exactly hot, due mostly to being the back end of winter, even so, a few light rain showers of an evening did nothing to stop the winter sun appearing during the day. I have included a few photos and a couple of video's where I think they are required.

The Hoover Dam is quite something, it is most deceptive, it looks small, even when stood at the top in the middle looking down, it is only when you compare it to a car or person you realise how massive it really is! The middle of the dam is split between Nevada and Arizona, meaning that at this time of the year, the Arizona half of the bridge is 1 hour ahead of the Nevada side.

Lamborghini Las Vegas is housed within the Palazio Hotel (I think that was the name, bad memory), and is directly on 'The Strip'. It is by far the classiest dealership I have ever come across, it just screams class and wealth, everything is displayed so well with a wonderful warm feeling - something which lacks in many exotic dealers (well most car dealers), especially a franchise dealer like this one. They had a Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Porsche, Spyker and Aston Martin in there too, despite it being a Lamborghini dealership (i'm not compalining though!)

The Imperial Palace Car Collection is an amazing collection of cars from all over the world - many in fact are from the UK, with UK plates still fitted until they are sold. All the cars, unless stated otherwise (only 2 or 3) are for sale, for the right money - no it is not the cheapest place to buy a car but there were one or two reasonably priced cars in there I thought.

Mount Charlston is very close to Las Vegas, so close in fact it is called the Las Vegas Ski Resort at this time of year, no guessing why, but take a look at the photo's, would you honestly say that I only a matter of minutes away from a town built in the desert out of nothing?

There are now some images of the car in daylight which I have been promted to show found in the above links, in the desert and in the snow.

I have arrived in Utah now as I write this, with less than promising weather ahead of me which is a shame as I was hoping to visit the Grand Canyon along with some other spectacular National Parks around here.
If the weather does go against me then you can expect an update from today's photo's pretty soon I think!

I hope that everyone everywhere who is reading this is well, I will try to update this more frequently, although processing and uploading photo's takes quite a while, I have taken well over 600 photo's already - so as you will see, there are a very few shown here - firstly so to not have too many and secondly it takes so long, I would never get out and about!

Ready to go? I think so!

Ready to begin, starting tomorrow out to Las Vegas, so now the updates will be pouring in thick and fast... maybe!!
I have just had a fantastic week with some very good friends of mine and with the help of my friend I have managed to track down the car I will be using for my trip, and, as mentioned before, tomorrow the road will lie ahead of me, the keys in my hand and ready to go. The photo isn't great but it was dark when I collected the car today!

Nerves and excitement, but overall I can't wait. I have a car sorted, and everything else seems to be fitting into place, now all I have to do is stay ahead of the bad weather coming in to LA this weekend!!