Zion National Park

It was only an hour’s drive from Cedar City to Zion National Park where I bought a season’s pass to all National Parks (a bargain) and then parked the RV in the South Campground which had been booked two weeks ahead.
Because Zion is such a popular tourist attractions there is a free shuttle provided that drives the 45 minutes up to the canyon for about eleven kilometres. I put the bicycle on the shuttle and enjoyed a leisurely afternoon ride down (mostly downhill) the canyon road.

Day Six and Serendipity

On this sixth day - a Sunday - I left early and headed south to Salt Lake City. Fortunately I was able to find a spot to park the rig close to "Temple Square". It was 9.30 and much to my delight the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, accompanied by full orechestra and organ had just started a half hour Father’s Day concert at the Conference center. What a treat! It was being televised. The performance included "Oh Clap your Hands" by John Rutter and Sing! - music by David Willcocks (who was choirmaster at King’s College Chapel Cambridge) based on the Toccata from Widor’s Organ Symphony number 5. It was a stunning performance in the hugh convention center which was less than a quarter full. Following this I walked around Temple Square with its two visitor centres and extra ordinary history of how Brigham Young first started the building of the first temple and how the work was carried on by Joseph Smith.
As a student of world religions it was fascinating to understand the history and realise how much of the work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints has been funded. They clearly rely on many volunteer believers. I had a fairly long conversation with two young women who were very good at proselytising and informed me they were volunteers but also that those who are members of the church contribut 10% of their wages to the church. The photo of the choir is a rehearsal that took place after the concert.

The Rig

For those new to my Blogging I thought I would just send a description of the RV and “dingy” towed car. The RV is a 2007 Triple E Commander that we have had for four years. It was built in Winkler Manitoba (south of Winnipeg). We have travelled across Canada to visit grandchildren in Ottawa and down to California and Arizona in early 2017. The RV has two slide outs and there is an estimated 288 sq ft inside with the sliders out. Like a small apartment. It has everything that you have in a home - fridge, freezer, oven, shower, toilet, a walk around double bed, a second foldable bed with inflatable mattress, TV, DVD, Satellite TV dish that can pick up Shaw Direct, air conditioning, heating, hot water etc. There is a generator that enables one to “bare camp” without any hook ups for several days - the limiting factor is amount of water used and whether there is a need to empty the black and grey water tanks.  It truly is Glamping and quite a contrast to the kind of wilderness camping I have enjoyed with the Alpine Club of Vancouver Island each summer for the last few years. The tow car is a 2008 Honda Fit sport which has a plate installed underneath for towing and has its own braking system which is activated when one puts the brakes on in the RV.

Moving on

It is difficult to get sufficiently fast internet to download pictures and one needs a bit of time so that is what I hope to do on this rest day prior to posting these messages. It is now day five of the first part of my solo trip. I have been averaging just over 400 KM per day which is not much and is equivalent to about four hours of driving on the Intestate. One can chug along at 100-110 KM per hour on the cruise control focussing on steering and keeping an eye out particularly for the large trucks that often overtake. It is helpful to stop every hour or so at rest stops for refreshments or even a nap. The price of gas is falling and is now equivalent to about $ 1 CDN per litre. The scenery driving up the Columbia river basin and through the Gorge is forever changing from rain forest to dry areas with much irrigation for vast areas of farming. Corn (known as maize in the UK) then into Idaho where potatoes and onions grown in vast quantities. It is now day five and I am at Ogden Utah, just north of Salt Lake City for a rest day at a Good Sam RV park with a much welcomed swimming pool. To-morrow I will go to Salt Lake City and plan to visit Temple Square - 35 acres in downtown Salt Lake City the center for the Mormon "The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints".

The Bonneville Lock and Dam

The amount of change that has happened in our generation, ninety years since the crash or 1929, is extraordinary. The Bonneville Dam was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It was part of the "New Deal" that created employment for masses of out of work U.S. citizens. It was started in 1933 during the "dirty thirties" and opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 28th 1937.
Another massive "new deal " project was the Grand Coolee Dam further upstream on the Columbia River. It was originally designed to provide mostly irrigation water to a vast area of Eastern Washington State to enable productive farming of this area. However during WW II more emphasis was placed on hydro electric power to provide the power needed for wartime industries like ship building and the production of nuclear materials (Hanford).
To-day the Bonneville power administration overseas the electrical power needs of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. 75% of electrical power is hydro generated for this region.  There are 29 major dams and a total of 60 dams (including small ones) in the region.
When one visits the Bonneville Lock and Dam one realises how much the Columbia river and water has played a part in the growth of population and industries in this region.

These are the fish ladders 

Lewis and Clark

It was about 1802 that Lewis and Clark finally reached the west coast. Their route along the south shore of the Columbia river is shown here. It was as a result of their expedition that the newly formed United States began to create settlements in Oregon and this resulted in making claims for the territory for the US. The Declaration of Independence had only been in 1776 and the war of Independence in 1780.

A Dash Cam

As someone who likes gadgets I acquired a Dash Cam. Here are a few pictures captured on the first day. Crossing the US Border (it was about 30 mins wait). Then through Seattle on I5. First night I spent in Vancouver, Washington. These snapshots taken with the Dash Cam show it has a rather wide angle lens. There were large numbers of sailing boats in the harbour passing through Seattle which I hoped to capture but they do not show that well.