Lost for words (me?!) (or the day I consult a thesaurus)

Top down, cases squashed onto the back seat, sunblock, hat and glasses on, and we're off out of town - looking for a petrol station! Sorry, gas station. Nothing on the Interstate of course, so we knew we'd have to come off and find one. Luckily I had previously had the  foresight to download a gas station finder app onto my phone; and it worked :-) Now to relax in the sun and find our way out to the Hoover Dam. I've seen pictures of it, of course, and even watched the Fugitive in the dim and distant past, but it really wasn't anything like I expected. Well actually, nothing in this holiday has been as I expected, so I don't know what I expected really! It was all so red, and, now I know this will sound silly but, it seemed small! I thought it was huge - really long across the top - but it wasn't at all. They've built a long bridge over the river, right opposite the dam, so we took a walk to the middle of that for some scenic shots.

Leaving the Hoover Dam behind I’d decided to take the scenic route through another, small, National Park rather than drive on up the freeway to Zion National Park. So, back into the beyond we went yet again. After driving and stopping, and driving and stopping and driving …….. we decided that we had better not stop again to take photos, or we’d never get to our destination, especially as we were heading into Mountain Daylight Time and losing an hour! 

We also stopped talking; no, we hadn’t had an argument, we were just repeating the same phrases over and over and over. That was when I decided I’d better consult a thesaurus - I just don’t know enough words to say how incredible this landscape is. You think it can’t get any more breathtaking, then the road bends and proves you wrong. There was more greenery on this route than the other desert routes we’ve taken; oases along creeks and valley floors, and even lawns in some towns we passed through, and as we drove into Springdale where we’re staying we were struck by just how many lush trees and pretty gardens there were. Then we arrived at our motel for the next two nights - The Bumbleberry Motel. Wow! Right at the foot of some stunning cliffs - and our room looks right onto them.

Sometimes it’s not in the least bit important to have a view from your hotel room, and sometimes it is! I think I’d be a tad miffed if I had a room facing the other way! We made a swift dash round the corner to the local supermarket to find provisions for dinner, breakfast and lunch for tomorrow, then settled down to watch the sunset on the cliffs. Can’t wait to see what they look like as the sun rises tomorrow - we’re up early for our canyoneering adventure :-)