Mormon Temples and Tabernacles

Salt Lake City Temple

Logan Temple

Logan Temple

Brigham City Tabernacle

Paris Tabernacle

I am not a religious person and do not wish to make any comment about religion on this blog.  I do however like to view nice architecture and learn a thing or two about other people’s beliefs so here are a few photos of some Mormon buildings throughout Utah.

Antelope Island - Utah

The bison are a funny colour in Utah!

The causeway over the Salt Lake

A view to while away the hours

With the sun beating down at 90f and the water glass flat and reflecting the mountains beautifully it was a time to sit back, relax, take in the view and drink lots of water.  The bison were doing the same, as well as standing in the water to cool down, the pronghorn were lapping up the sun, the owls sat in the shade and, well, just sat, and a gopher snake slithered by to say hi.  After such a strenuous day it was time for an all American meal to replace all those burnt up calories – surely you must burn loads whilst sitting in the sun???  With enough food to feed the herd of bison on the island the left overs of beef, salmon, chicken and 3 scones, that were big enough to have as a meal on their own, were packed into boxes and saved for tomorrows picnic.

Avis Car Rental

Good and bad.  Bad because the vehicle was filthy on collection and even after a second clean the upholstery was covered in dog hairs.  Plus, on day three, of a 4 week, one way hire, from Bozeman Montana to Las Vegas the engine maintenance light came on.  Good because after 1000 more miles and in Logan, Utah, the vehicle was exchanged with no quibble and from a very helpful and friendly assistant. Thank you Avis Logan, boo sucks to Avis Bozeman!  

Bridger Teton National Forest

At 3.4 million acres it was unrealistic to think that we were going to see all of it, but on a dirt track road a measly 30 miles into the forest was all we could manage.  With the fall colours and the snow on the mountains it was a very scenic 30 miles and with a picnic lunch at a babbling brook it was also a very relaxing day.  Add in bald eagle sightings, we think, and the wildlife tally is starting to look quite impressive. I cannot recommend anywhere to eat in Afton but thank goodness for burger king – I haven’t eaten there in years but it was very welcome!

Teton National Park

The Teton Range

Jackson Lake

Valley and mountains

Deer

Historic cabin

From Cooke City, north of Yellowstone, all the way through the park and exit the south entrance into Teton National Park.  The weather was a little grim in Yellowstone on the journey, unsurprising with snow forecast next week, but luckily the sun was shining over Teton.  The scenery of Yellowstone slowly changes from mountains and valleys into flatter forested plains until you enter Teton and before you are shear, majestic, sharp, from lake to sky, mountains. The mountains are young in world terms, created 10 million years ago by massive earthquakes the mountains rose whilst the valley floor dropped and further erosion sculpted the landscape creating dramatic jagged peaks and uninterrupted views.  The pronghorn were gathering in the valley getting ready for their winter migration - unfortunately my little fuji F10 just hasn’t got the zoom power to pick out a pronghorn from large numbers of yards away, but I do have my binoculars and they are very pretty animals with lovely markings on their face and body.  The above deer was way way closer as I had disturbed it whilst walking besides Jenny Lake. 

Bear tooth scenic byway

Great views

No human disturbance for miles 

Mountain lakes

Snow

The change of weather

From Cooke City, Montana to Red Lodge, Montana via Wyoming the Bear tooth scenic byway is reported to be the most scenic drive in the whole of the US, and it did not disappoint.  From 7,000 feet rising to almost 11,000 the sun was brilliant all the way, though however strong it shines it still has not managed to melt all the snow off the tops of the mountains or in pockets by the sides of the roads.  This was grizzly bear country but unfortunately we were not fortunate enough to see any, but we did see our first ever ground hog - sneakily sticking his head out of his hole, right by the side of the road.  A pit stop in Red Lodge, with a great lunch and a bit of shopping and we headed back along the bear tooth.  The weather was changing and the clouds were closing in, within 30 minutes the temperature went from 70f to 40f and we drove into the cloud and rain, but thankfully we also drove back out of it and the temperature rose back to 60.

So close to the centre of the Earth.

Old Faithful

Dead trees

Porcelain basin

Mud pot

Steamboat geyser

A spring

Mammoth hot springs

The fountain

Yellowstone Wildlife

Cooling off

A grazing herd

Resting

You have to look real close but there is a wolf right in the middle

Always room for the small stuff

Yellowstone National Park

Bison in the valley

Artist Paintpot

Valley and mountain

Geysers in the valley

Peaceful views

Yellowstone Lake

Awesome!  There are no other words to describe it.  I think this has to be the best place I have visited in the US so far.   The weather has been amazing for the whole four days in the park, beautiful blue skies with not a cloud in the sky and temperatures in the 70f during the day, just a little colder at night (well a lot actually but that is what jumpers are for).  The National Park is truly amazing, a wonderland for nature lovers, for photographers, for geologists, for hikers and just anyone that wishes to witness such a vast area of varying topography and natural wonders.  There are high mountains and vast valleys, lakes and rivers and waterfalls, steaming fumaroles, spouting geysers, bubbling mud pots and psychedelic springs, and even the grand canyon of Yellowstone.  I have seen bison, individually, in herds and up close and personal next to the car, deer, elk, coyote, osprey, trumpeter swans and even a wolf.  I have heard the earth grumble and roar, seen water spurted into the air over 50ft and steam even further, seen mud bubble and boil and blob out of the earth, so acidic it is melting the surrounded rock, seen amazing colours created by microscopic organisms living in water hotter than boiling point and smelt the smell of hell in numerous areas (hydrogen sulphide).    

On the Road

The intrepid explorers

The beast of burden - with heated seats and everything!

Bozeman Montana and I meet up with my mum and dad, and collect the biggest hire vehicle I think possible, for the next month of traveling some in inland USA.

Denver, Colorado

A pit stop in Denver and what more can one ask for.  Friends, dog, washing machine, comfy cozy bed, internet, a fridge, shopping, dinner out, fresh bagels, transport to and from the airport and a clear sunny morning to see the snow capped Denver hills.  My only sticking point is that stupid me forgot to take my camera to dinner and now I do not have a nice photo to display of all the lovely people that came out to dinner on Friday night, but hopefully it will not be too long before I am diving with them all again and can have longer to catch up.  Thanks again Jill and Brian, you are the best.

Ecuador

I survived my 10 hour, in fact 11 hour, bus journey from Cuenca to Quito and after 8 weeks I have left Ecuador. I cannot believe how quickly 8 weeks have flown by, and even more surprisingly that it is now 3 months since I have been at work, and I do not miss it one bit :-)

Ecuador is a great country, with such diversity in a small area, from the coast and the Galapagos, to the mountains and volcanoes of the Andes, to the rainforests and the Amazon basin, with good cultural heritage from the Canari and the Inca to the modern day indegenious peoples. It has been a great start to my travels with a good mix of volunteer work, holidaying with friends and plain old travelling. Travelling around has been easy and inexpensive as has finding accomodations and eating out, with my cheapest room being $7.50, which was a single room with private bathroom and my cheapest meals being $1.50 for soup, a main course and a drink. I haved picked up a little more Spanish, and although I got by okay with the little that I do speak it would have been good had I been able to speak a little more.

8 weeks down, 44 to go!

Quito Crime

As I am happily sat in Denver, Colorado, and more importantly my Mum is somewhere over the Atlantic, I would like to share a little travel tale and maybe share a warning to other travellers. If you remember the first weekend I arrived in Ecuador and had a little fiasco catching my first bus to travel south from Quito and finally had to buy a second ticket and was very happy to be on a bus and on the move, well my joy was wiped out when that evening I realised that I had had my day packed rifled and someone had stolen some of my things. I had basically been scammed by the bus conductor - just before we left Quito he grabbed my bag and put it on the overhead luggage rack, I wasn't all that comfortable with this but as it was the conductor I thought that maybe it was okay - but it wasn't. I lost my ipod, my sunglasses, my rain jacket and my beloved pen knife. I cried, I wondered what the hell I was doing travelling, and most of all I was so angry with myself for being so stupid - it was my bag, I should have just kept hold of it. I also thought about going home - but as I was only 3 days in I thought that that would be rather defeatist :-) The next day I realised that they were only things, I had not lost my passport, I had not lost my credit cards and I was not physically affected, so now I had no valuables to worry about. Over the next weeks and the more people i met the more I realised just how common crime was in Ecuador, but mainly in Quito, there were first hand tales of the same thing happening to other people, someone had had their whole bag stolen, one girl had had her bag sliced whilst sitting on a bus and had had no idea that it was happening, more than one person had been mugged whilst walking around in Quito, and one peace corp volunteer who had been in Ecuador for 15 months had been robbed no less than 5 times, all whilst visiting Quito, though she was very upbeat about the whole thing and was still in Ecuador. It did not ruin my trip but it sure did make me vigilent at all times and I always caught a taxi if I happened to be out at night.

Cuenca

The cathedral
Front view
Street corners

Another street corner


Canar and Inca Ruins
Roof Tops

Ecuadors third largest city but a long way from Quito, both in distance and feeling. Cuenca is an old Spanish colonial city and was made a world heritage site by UNESCO, to preserve its historical interest - it was built on the ruins of Tomebamba, a Canari city destroyed and deserted by the Incas. The city is built on a grid system, with narrow cobbled roads and beautiful architecture, and is dominated by the new (year built ?) cathedral over looking Parc Calderon and opposite the old cathedral, 1557. There are plenty of places to eat, both of the 1.50 lunch variety and the more expensive international eating establishments, there are some good museums and the people are a mix of busy business people and indegenious peoples all going about their daily lives. The overall feeling is more of a quaint, safe town than of a city and you could quite happily pass a few hours or a few days just sat opposite the cathedral and watch the world go by. My visit was made even more enjoyable by bumping into some friends from the Andes volunteer project and going to dinner and catching up on their travel progress. The only down side? The airport is closed for re surfacing so it is a 10 hour bus journey back to Quito!

Chugchilan to ................

Time to head a little further south, but when I was sat watching the sun come up to catch the 6am bus from Chugchilan I wasn´t sure how far I would get in a day. The route out of the Quilatoa loop was just as magnificient as the route in, travelling the south route to complete the full loop, with further fafabulous views of mountains and canyons and rural life and also a very clear glimpse ot the twin snow peaks of I think Iliniza. The south route was just as slow as the north and it was four hours until I reached Latacunga. I was going to continue traveling south until I was too weary to continue. One bus Latacunga to Ambato, 1 hour, another bus Ambato to Riobamba, 1.5 hours and then the decision whether to get another bus to Cuenca, a further 6 hours. What the hell, I went for it, a full day, four buses and 12.5 hours later I arrive in Cuenca, very tired and in need of a bed. The ride from Riobamba to Cuenca was another drive through spectacular Ecuadorian countryside, it would have be better to chop the journey into segments but I am now running out of time here in Ecuador and I had wanted to end in Cuenca, so a long journey over and three nights to enjoy.