National Parks and a Vegas Wedding

After an emotional Good Bye from Monica and Jefferson in Utah we got back on the road and headed towards Capitol Reef National Park.

Capitol Reef National Park

Capitol Reef National Park is situated in the heart of red rock country and is filled with bizar cliffs, canyons, domes, natural bridges and Indian petroglyphs on rocket walls. We spent two nights on a small camping in front of one those spectacular red rocky mountains.

As Rick was still in pain we only did a short hike there (the Hickman trail to the Hickman bridge) and a tiki tour with Amy. Even though we could not really hike to the highlights of the Capitol Reef we were already pretty impressed by the scenery. You can almost see the native Indians still sitting on those rocks looking out for intruders.

Highway 12

Everyone we have met in Utah told us that Highway 12 is a must as it is one of the only highways where you can see so many different sceneries and landscapes. The first part of the highway we took 3 times as Rick forgot the fuel tap close to the camping.

Driving along the highway was like driving through a different world and even though I am afraid of heights I could not stop looking. Highway 12 took us directly to Bryce National Park.

Bryce National Park

Bryce National Park is just special. You can find Hoodoos (odd-shaped rocks left from erosion by wind, rain and snow) everywhere. We managed to get the last spot on the north camping and experienced a very cold first night there. During that first cold night by the fire we decided to book a "Renewal of our vows" in Las Vegas. Even though we booked it more out of fun reasons, we got pretty nervous about actually having to write vows which we did by the campfire.

In the morning we did a rough hike: The Queen Trail + part of the Najavo Trail. It does not take you very long but it is very steep. You cannot really describe the Hoodoos ... just take a look at them:

...and at the chipmunk. It was posing! We would not have been surprised if it actually had started singing and dancing like Alvin and the chipmunks. We even saw some more pretty birds flying around our camping.

On our last night we got to know John and Sherry. They sat with us by the fire and treated us for Smores. It was a very cozy night by the fire and they invited us to Florida where they live. Unfortunately that will be too far off our route. :(

Las Vegas

The next morning we left quite early to drive to Las Vegas in Nevada. It was a long long drive through the desert. We only stopped twice. Once to go shopping for our wedding outfits and a second time to let Amy cool down a little. It was so unbelievable hot out there that the engine temperature increased.

It was weird to see Las Vegas coming closer in the distance as there is just nothing around. Desert, desert, desert and then suddenly a huge city. We checked in to our hotel "The Rio" which took a bit as there was a huge queue (line) in front of the reception. I have never seen so many gambling machines in one place! We visited the strip which is an experience itself. It is unreal. There are so many lights, stuff going on, copies of European monuments & cities, weird people walking around and it is all about gambling and money. It is a crazy city.

Our Wedding - The Renewal of Vows

Our wedding was booked for 2:00 pm and we still managed to be almost too late. Never underestimate traffic... At the chapel reception we had to fill in our wishes (with music/without music, with god/without god, vows/no vows etc.) and got a quick briefing from Elvis himself. We did not book Elvis but he was there (alive).

Rick and me walked arm in arm into the chapel and it was still kind of funny until they closed the doors and it was just us (and Elvis of course and Daniel the photographer/witness).

No, but seriously: Elvis did a surprisingly nice introduction and then, there we were, standing there with our vows written on a small paper. No-one else around us. We read out our vows to each other and got very emotional. Both of us wrote down what we feel for each other and how thankful we are that we are still together after some difficult years. Travelling for now 8 months has brought us closer together than we ever thought being possible. Being together 24 hours, every day for in total 10 months could have been a challenge but turned out to be a blessing. It was a very special moment for us. Elvis announced us husband and wife again, I threw the wedding flowers backwards to Elvis and we continued with the picture session with Daniel aka our witness. We just had gotten remarried. Wohoooooooooo!

We did not have champagne afterwards but a light beer across the street in a not very fancy casino. After that we celebrated our wedding in the Container Park, the Fremont Street Downtown (where we had a Ginger beer, vodka and mint cocktail which I only mention cause it was so yummy), met two of the Chippendales (they did not like me very much) and did some Roulette and Black Jack back in the hotel.

The day after at Lake Mead

The day after the wedding was a little bit Hangover day (at least for me) which I think belongs to a night in Vegas. We drove up to Lake Mead, found a spot on the camping there, went swimming and visited the Hoover Dam. As it was still 42C all day long we did not really recover from Vegas that day (as it did not cool down during night it was hard to sleep).

The Grand Canyon National Park

We left Lake Mead very early in the morning as we were fed up with the heat (taking the historic Route 66 for a small bit).

We had already booked a KOA camping 40 miles away from the Grand Canyon. After we had checked in we drove up to the Grand Canyon. Meanwhile a thunderstorm had come up and we felt like being storm chasers, driving in to the eye of a storm.

The thunderstorm was just about to hit the Grand Canyon when we arrived. Arriving at the Grand Canyon was another Wow-experience. You are driving over flat land and then suddenly the earth opens up and there it is. A big canyon looking like not being real (like you are in a museum looking at a painting).

When the storm came up we went back to the camping where we had a very funny night with Liz & James from Manchester (have fun in Vegas guys).

We did go back to the Canyon the next morning. As there was no thunderstorm anymore and just a little bit of clouds we could see the Grand Canyon better than the day before and it was even more impressive. My knees were shaking every time we went closer to the rim.

To top it off we were able to watch the sun eclipse while being in the Grand Canyon National Park. We saw the moon taking over 3/4 of the sun.

On our way to New Mexico

We left the Grand Canyon around noon heading towards New Mexico (Taos). After a long drive we decided to stop in Gallup NM. We just had parked our van when we ran into John and Sherry again whom we had met a few days ago in Bryce National Park. What a coincidence. They took us out for dinner to celebrate our re-wedding and their 49th wedding anniversary (congratulations! we wanna get there as well). We had a blast that night just catching up and exchanging stories from the US and Europe. Thank you John and Sherry for the dinner and another lovely night chatting. We will try to come by to go fishing next year ;)

Since yesterday we are in Taos visiting Sandy and Suzie whom we met in Glacier weeks ago. We are again very lucky to have met wonderful people who became our friends and who took us into their home. We chose driving down so far to the south to visit them :)