Day 6 - Salt Lake City, UT to Las Vegas, NV

We left Salt Lake City this morning, and headed....well, we were supposed to head further west on I-80, and end up in San Francisco.  But after some discussion last night, we decided to cut our journey a little short, so that we could get to LA sooner, and get into some open houses.  After all, we can get to San Francisco another time--but we need to find a house NOW!  So, we headed south instead, and took I-15 all day, which takes you all the way through Utah (N-S).

Nick's favorite part of Utah:

 

Utah is such a beautiful state.  I know I said it yesterday, and it is still true today.  It was really amazing to see how the topography of the state changed from green/white mountains and valleys in the north, to red earth canyons in the south.  It started to look more like Wyoming--but like Wyoming on steroids!  Everything was so colorful and dramatic!

I-15 took us through the very far northwest corner of Arizona--the 8th state on our journey.

And WOW!  I-15 through Arizona is one of the most stunning stretches of highway in all of America!  The highway takes you through the Virgin River Gorge, an incredible 30 miles of winding road, with 500-foot high cliffs on both sides of the roadway.  Pictures don't do it justice.  And most people don't really have a reason to travel this road, unless you are traveling from LA/Vegas to Salt Lake City.  But if you ever get a chance to drive it, DO IT!!  Fun fact: This little stretch of highway is the most expensive stretch of highway in US history.  It averages out to $100 an inch!

 

(if you click on the above picture, you can maybe see the semi!)

Just outside of the gorge is this lonely, unfinished house.  I have been so fascinated by the origin of so many of the cities that we have come across.  What made the people settle in these extreme places?  And in some cases, what made them leave? (see yesterday's post about Table Rock)  This house had an abandoned car out back, and was unfinished.  What is the story behind it?  I love to wonder about it!

Kaboom!  As we descended out of Salt Lake City, the teperature kept getting higher and higher--finally topping out at 105.  When Nick and I got to our hotel tonight, it was still 104 degrees--at 9:00 at night!

By the end of the day, Gus is very tired of being in the car.  He usually lets us know by putting his head on Nick's shoulder, or on the back of Nick's headrest.

When we got to Las Vegas, we decided to let the boys share some ice cream with us--well, not share, they each got their own.  :)

 

 

Fun facts for today:

*We had a 5,000 foot spread in elevation today.

*We ate Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  It was CRAZY!!  Apparently it was "blue receipt" day, which means you can bring today's receipt back during a week period in the future to get the same meal for free.  Well, since we won't be back to that location, I gave the receipt to a guy sitting at a table who I noticed was eating the same thing that Nick had ordered.  He was SO excited!  In fact, we went out and ate for a minute in the car, and he knocked on our window and thanked us again!  Funny.

*Oh--we also ate a snack at McDonald's, and dinner at Santora's.  And ice cream at Dairy Queen!