Here we go again

Old Man Winter was still messing with the southern plains, but we decided to get going in a north easterly direction, which worked great because one of my favorite Louisianans, Rob, is from Shreveport and put us right where we needed to be for lunch... Strawn's Eat Shop.
Meatloaf and cornbread were tasty and even though I am a baked fruit pie guy, their strawberry icebox pie was great. Their key is the powdered sugar they sprinkle between the fruit and cream, adding a surprising texture and flavor rather than just fruit goo. The shell is baked first. And they also have chocolate, banana, coconut, and (didn't find out til we were done) butterscotch.

Haven't gone back to confirm but it is possible I just spent more words on a non favorite pie than Yosemite. Oh well.

Petrified Forest

This park lies just east of Flagstaff. They also promote the painted desert, AZ's version of a badlands, but having seen the Vermillion Cliffs and other badlands, we were more interested in the petrified trees. And they are impressive.
Some sections are as big around as a coffee table and some of the trees lying on the ground are the length of telephone poles. The fossil colors are vivid as well.

Unfortunately, a bout of food poisoning from Southern Utah left our driver's guts anything but petrified, so our sprint from eastern Arizona to Helena had more than average stops (not easily accomplished on I-10 in west Texas) and nothing else fun to report.
Other than a tree on top of an suv driving into a steady winds costs 1.6 mpgs.
But, everything and body made it home to reload for the eastern swing.
And Helena is the first place Marina encountered uncomfortable weather!

Vermillion Cliffs

Their proximity to the Grand Canyon is likely why this geologic feature of northern Arizona doesn't receive much notice but they are spectacular and for some unexplained yet welcome reason, every time we've passed them, the sun was setting, just lighting them up.

Family tradition

Once again, we purchased a Christmas tree permit from a national forest, this time the Kaibab which adjoins the Grand Canyon. Half the fun is hunting for the just right tree, then securing it to the roof for the two day drive home. This time I was smart enough to get the tree on the very last leg of the western part of the trip. Ask me sometime about getting pulled over in Sequoia NP with an evergreen on the roof!

How Grand

Again, even with fancy panoramic mode, photos can't do justice to the epic views from the North Rim.

Just can't seem to pass her up

Every time I am through Mt Carmel Junction, UT I just have to stop. Had some Ho-Made Thunderberry pie -rasp, blue, blackberry. Yes ma'am!

Daphne is certainly a great baker, so I shopped for the red apron outfit, but they didn't have any. ..

Zion

Aptly named and too grand for words or photos.

Lake Mead and the Virgin River

These areas don't get much attention, probably because they're just on the way to/from Vegas, but I think the scenery rivals any drive in the west.

Dam that's big

One of the original seven engineering wonders of the world, the Boulder Dam, later renamed for Herbert Hoover who spearheaded the project, has been on my list for a long time. Even while they were working on it, many of the engineers didn't believe success was possible.
Work began with 4 massive diversion tunnels upstream which took longer to construct than the dam. They built the world's largest cabling system to pour concrete and worked nonstop for two years on the dam. Came in under budget and ahead of schedule, and electricity sales paid it off long ago. Plus, it reduced springtime flooding and made agricultural success for the region,a desert, possible.
We did the power station tour where water is piped into smaller diameter lines until it reaches the turbines. There's 8 turbines for nevada power and 9 for Arizona.
Love this stuff.

High Scalers were the guys that swung from the walls, setting charges etc. This bronze commemorates their efforts and was also the inspiration for a really good pale ale I enjoyed at Boulder City Brewing Co the night before.
96 died during construction, and none are buried in the dam. 

Vegas Strip

When you come over the mountains from the west, Las Vegas shines on the desert floor below. Admit that I was nervous about driving the Strip on a Saturday night, but I think the darkness either concealed most of the weirdos or they were settled in for their evening activities. Bright lights though, baby!

How low can you go?

All due respect to Burf! but can your altimeter do this?

DV part 2

Perfect place for panoramic shots too.

Death Valley part 1

Confess that other than knowing it's the hottest place in America, and the lowest, didn't have a clue how geologically stunning this largest of national parks in the lower 48 actually was.

Red Rocks state park

Well, it's not the place where U2 rattled and hummed, but it is a great place for another Panoramic shot. Every state seems to have some form of badlands created by erosion, and some are more colorful than others, but this one is tops so far, even if it isn't a national park.

Benchmarks

There are certain dishes I use to evaluate ethnic restaurants. Sag paneer at Indian, CFS or pies at a diner, pad thai, etc.  Mole is my measuring stick for Mexican and Casa Mendoza in Three Rivers, CA nailed it. Spicy, but didn't overwhelm the chocolaty hints good mole should have.

And Marina was going nuts in the Valley for mandarin oranges, so we stopped and she bought 30 pounds!

Can't beat fresh!