Germar's Monthly Updater

Utah 2002 Day 8 The visit to Bryce Canyon in the morning of the eighth day was another example of the terrific job the National Park Service is doing. Some people think that the "hoodoos" of Bryce Canyon are the result of a natural erosion process. Only fools can believe such a nonsense. Nature just ain't so creative. There was certainly some help from Hollywood in producing this fairy-tale set. I just can't remember the movie it was built for. Below is a close-up of some hoodoos. They looked like cheap blaster but were nicely arranged. Here is another view of the "Amphitheater". The single hoodoo with the thick head in the middle is called Thor's Hammer. It's hard to believe that the Vikings made it all the way to Utah. But the name certainly suggests that they were here. In the parking lot of Bryce Canyon's town of souvenir shops was a witness of a more recent migration. This car is called a "Trabbi", and was built in the formerly communist part of Germany. It has a two-stroke engine, which sounds like a sewing machine, and a body made of plastic. The delivery time for this marvel of German art of engineering was about 15 years. This well-preserved collector's item had authentic German license plates and some nice stickers of a even nicer German beer brand. After so much nostalgia we drove up to Cedar Breaks. The National Monument looks similar as Bryce Canyon, but is at a much higher altitude. In fact, there was snow on the rim and we had a snow ball fight. Mike found a sign post that he used as a bat to defend himself from the frozen projectiles. Mike The view from the rim into the amphitheater was equally spectacular than the views of Bryce Canyon. There were only fewer tourists. When you look closely you may see some patches of snow. Here is the final prove that this scenery is fake. A tree just can't grow on pure rock. It looked like one of these plastic Christmas trees. Unfortunately it was too far away to search for remnants of decoration. Bryce Canyon effectively ended our trip to Utah and we started the long journey back to San Diego. Mike and me decided not go straight home via the freeways but to make a side trip to Hoover Dam. We therefore split from the rest of the group in Mesquite and drove along the West coast of Lake Mead. We arrived at Hoover Dam after sunset, and pictures from this amazing building can be found on the last page of this travelogue.

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