Finally, the last edition of the Las Vegas Road Trip.
Left Vegas on Tuesday, September 26. My first stop was planned in advance. I wanted to the see the Great Salt Lake. I had heard that it was fuller now than it has been for years due to huge snows in the surrounding areas over the winter.
On the way to Antelope Island, I stopped in Cedar City, Utah, to check out the Utah Shakespeare Festival site. I worked there in the mid 1980's. Yikes! The little outdoor theater is still there but now there is an enormous complex of buildings and grounds that are just for the Shakespeare Festival. What a difference.
Antelope Island is a Utah State Park that is IN in the Great Salt Lake and there is camping! I had reserved a cabin for two nights so that I could explore the area.
It turned out I needed to get home a bit earlier than initially planned so I modified my reservation to stay just one night. I only got to explore Antelope Island and not any of the other Great Salt Lake area.
The Lake was not full, but it was definitely spectacular and being on an island meant I could see the Lake from nearly everywhere.
There are lots of bison on Antelope Island and some mule deer but no antelope. There are also some waterfowl especially near the causeway that you take to get onto the island. The other thing that makes so much sense but that I hadn't considered was there are billions of mosquitoes...nothing like briny water to attract the state bird of Minnesota!
The cabin was more like a tiny house. It had a bedroom and a bunk room along with a kitchen including a full-size refrigerator.
I took what was supposed to be a short hike along the lake but turned into a long hike up and over a small mountain. I ended up doing a bit of rock climbing which I'm pretty sure I was not supposed to do. The views of the Lake were fantastic, but I was nowhere near the water. Nearly hiked right into a bison lying near the path which scared the you-know-what out of me.
I headed east from the Great Salt Lake and unfortunately was not able to visit the Utah capitol as there just wasn't enough time.
I wanted to avoid the interstates even though I was trying to cut an entire day out of the return, so I made my way up to US-30 to drive through southern Wyoming. My tourist destination was Fossil Butte National Monument. Didn't know anything about it other than it sounded interesting and would take me through the mountains off the interstate.
It was a beautiful drive as Fall was in full color in the higher elevations. I ran into (literally) some cowboys moving cattle from the higher elevations to lower. The geology of Fossil Butte is very interesting. You can read about it here. The visitors' center at Fossil Butte is really well done and informative. The trails near the visitors' center don't get near the actual fossils and there are still archeological sites within the park and regular visitors aren't allowed near them anyway.
I did take a really pretty hike that has good views and descriptions along the way.
I was hoping to make it to Cheyenne for the overnight, but I did have to end up on I-80 which was down to one lane of traffic, and I was running out of steam. I spent the night in Rawlins, Wyoming and was hoping to see some of the cowboys I had encountered on US-30...alas...no cowboys for me.
The goal of day #3 was to get to Grand Island, Nebraska. The only planned stop was Cheyenne to see the Wyoming capitol. Sorry Nebraskans but there just isn't much to see and I really wanted to get home.
The capitol is quite handsome. It was a beautiful day and I ate lunch in Cheyenne at a local café.
Back on the Interstate I realized I wasn't going to make it Grand Island. It was just that much too far for my tired eyes. I had gained two companions from Wyoming - a pair of flies - that kept me company but even they were getting bored.
I made it to Kearney. If you recall, this was the first stop on the west bound journey.
My last day was going to be a long one and I really didn't want to go back the same ole' Interstate way so I zigzag-ed my way across Nebraska to South Dakota.
I heard the falls at Sioux Falls, South Dakota were worth seeing so that's where I was headed.
There was one hiccup along the way. After driving over some railroad tracks, my tire pressure alarm went off. I was kind of in the middle of nowhere except the railroad tracks were in a small town. I turned right and wouldn't you know it, there was a tire repair garage right there in this small town! I pulled in, explained my situation, they had me pull around to the garage doors, two young people fixed my tire in 15-20 minutes, charged me $20, and I was on my way! To say I was lucky is an understatement!
I did make it to Sioux Falls and "the falls." I ate lunch next to the falls with food I had left over from all my road-food stops. I was tired but bound and determined to make it home...and I did.
Again, here is a link to the video montage for more of the photos of Las Vegas Road Trip East Bound.
The other two blog posts are here...
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