Index Album 13) Tuesday 28 July + Wednesday 29 July

Via Zion-Mt Carmel Hwy into ZION NATIONAL PARK, UT - then the 15 South, passing by Las Vegas, to Barstow, CA. Next day driving home

a) TuesdayMorning 28 July Check-Out Best Western Rubys Inn (We Were Staying At the Main Lodge, 2nd Level).JPG
b) Room Number 7046, TopFloor Of the Main Lodge Guest Rooms.JPG
c) Although A Very Busy Tourist Accomodation Spot, Its Historical Story Is Quite Cute+Charming.jpg
d) And Rubys Inn Has The Best And Largest General Store Ever !!! ;-).JPG
e) Writers+Titles ~ Aptitude For Reading Stories Of The South West ;-).JPG
f) However We Better Get Going ~ We've Got A Long Journey Ahead Of Us Today! (From Bryce, Via Zion, To Barstow).jpg
g) Back On The Road! (And Not Following Those Marks On The Road Btw ;-).JPG
h) From Bryce-Taken The ScenicByway 12 West, Then On The Utah Heritage Hwy 89 (Mormon Pioneer) Direction South.jpg
i) S-Western Boundaries Of Paunsaugunt Plateau (Dixie Natl Forest) Within Are The Pink Cliffs Of Bryce Canyon Natl Park.JPG
j) (MOVIE)At Mt Carmer Junction Taking The 9 West.jpg
k) At 1.50 PM Arrival At The East Gate Of Zion National Park.JPG
l) Near The Park East Entrance, Checkerboard Mesa ~ A Patchwork Of Vertical+Horizontal Lines Eroded Into The Sandstone.JPG
m) Amazing Massive Sandstones On Sides Of The Zion-Mt. Carmel Hwy (10-Mile Road That Connects The East+South Entrances).JPG
n) Zion-Mount Carmel Highway (From East To South Entrance).JPG
o) Ancient Sand Dunes That Have Been Turned To Stone ....JPG
p) ... And Eroded Into Unusual Shapes.JPG
q) Navajo Sandstone ~ Red Lower Layers Are Colored By Iron Oxides.JPG
r) Shifting Winds During Deposition Created Cross-Bedding.JPG
s) A Small+Short Tunnel (Semi-Trucks Are Not Allowed To Travel Through The Park).JPG
t) Dunes Were Transformed Into Sandstone By Tremendous Compaction+The Cementing Properties of Compounds (Lithification).JPG
u) CalciumCarbonate,IronOxide+Silica (Mineral-Laden Waters) Acting As Cementing Agents ~ Creating RockLayers(Strata).JPG
v) RockLayers~Ancient Seabeds Became Limestone, Mud+Clay Mudstones+Shale, RiverSand+Sand Dunes Became Sandstone.JPG
w) While Waiting For Our Turn To Access The Tunnel (Escort, Traffic control Service), Admiring The Cross-Bedded Sandstones.JPG
x) 1.1 mile Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel (Construction Of Tunnel Began In The Late 1920s And Was Completed In 1930).JPG
y) At The Time That The Tunnel Was Dedicated (On July 4, 1930) It Was The Longest Tunnel Of Its Type In the USA.JPG
z) Daylight !!! Life On The Other Side Of The Tunnel ....JPG
za) The Tunnel From The Outside.JPG
zb) We Just Been In That Mountain .... Surreal !!!.JPG
zc) The Tunnel Divides The Park With The Red Colored Rock On One Side And The Patterned White Slick Rock On The Other.JPG
zd) Live, From Zion Canyon ;-) The Oldest+Most Visited National Park in Utah (Celebrating Its 100th Birthday This Year Btw).JPG
ze) Zion National Park Exhibits Some Of The Most Spectacular Scenery On Earth.JPG
zf) Deep Sandstone Canyons, Striking Rock Towers And High Mesas+Plateaus Characterize This Magnificent Landscape .JPG
zg) The Purpose Of Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel (+ Its Highway) Was To Create Direct Access To Bryce+Grand Canyon.JPG
zh) Impassable Barrier To Transportation Before Completion of Tunnel, As Now In Modern Times (Regardless Great Engineering).JPG
zi) Safe Passage ~ Since 1989, Rangers Posted at Both Ends Of Tunnel (Converting 2-Way to 1-Way Traffic For Larger Vehicles).JPG
zj) In The 1920s, Work On The Tunnel Began With Drilling Small Shafts Into The North Facing Cliff.JPG
zk) The Small Pilot Tunnel Was Enlarged By Drilling+Blasting. Crews Moved Forward 30 to 36 Feet A Day.JPG
zl) Those WorkingShafts Later Became The Tunnels Windows Or Galleries, Like The One Visible From Here.JPG
zm) The 4 Galleries Are Not Only A Source Of Light And Air ... .JPG
zn) ... But Were Places To Expel Rubble As Workmen Tunneled Towards Both Ends.JPG
zo) Classic! We Were In There Just A Few Minutes Ago! ;-).JPG
zp) The Great Arch  ~ Confused Here...Is That Human Painting UpThere Or Colored By Complex Ancient Natural Processes.JPG
zq) Colored By Lithification (Ancient Waters) And-Or Volcanic Activity ~ Many Events Having Passed Here Over Past Million Years.JPG
zr) Beginning 275 Million Yrs Ago This Was The Floor Of A Shallow Sea, Delta Of A Great River+Then The Bottom Of A Lake.JPG
zs) The (Geo)Logic Story ~ Sedimentation, Lithification, Uplift (Incl. Volcanic Activity) And Erosion.JPG
zt) Zions Switchbacks~Winding Road Taking Us From Zion-Mt.Carmel Tunnel To Intersection Of Scenic Drive+Zion-Mt.Carmel Hwy.JPG
zu) Driving This Stretch of Road Is Thrilling For Some And Scary For Others, But A Beautiful Site For Us All.JPG
zv) The Massive Streaked Wall ~ One Of The Impressive Geological Wonders Crowd The Narrow Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway.JPG
zw) Do Not Know The Name Of Those Monoliths, But Breahtaking They Certainly Are !! (Could Be The Court Of The Patriarchs).JPG
zx) Check Out The Weather There !!.JPG
zy) Zoomed In ...JPG
zz) ColoradoPlateau,GrandStaircase~BottomLayer of Rock At Bryce is Zions TopLayer+Zions BottomLayer is TopLayer at GrandCanyon.JPG
zza) So ... That TopLayer OverThere Would Be The Bottom Layer Of Rock At Bryce Canyon ....JPG
zzb) Zion Has Developed Its Characteristics During Just The Last Few Million Years-Relatively Short Time In The Life Span Of Rock.JPG
zzc) Wrought By Water~Everything In Zion Takes Life From The Virgin Rivers Scarce Desert Waters,Carving The Canyon We See Today.JPG
zzd) Its Ironic, In This Seemingly Unending Desert, That Water Creates Most Of What We See.JPG
zze) Long Before Todays Landscape-Streams,Oceans,Deserts+Volcanos Deposited Thousands Of Feet Of Mud,Lime,Sand+Ash.JPG
zzf) The Immense Pressure+Heat Of Accumulating Sediments Turned Lower Layers To Stone.JPG
zzg) Later, Underground Forces Uplifted The Colorado Plateau More Than 10,000 Feet Above SeaLevel.JPG
zzh) Rivers Still Deposit Sediments That Turn To Stone. Earthquakes Still Punctuate The Plateaus Upward Journey.JPG
zzi) And Erosion Pries Rockfalls From Zions Seemingly Immutable Cliffs.JPG
zzj) Eventually, This Canyon Will Melt Away, Others Will Form. All It Takes Is Time.JPG
zzk) As For Us, Little Short Of Time Today ~ However, A Stop At Visitor Center Always A Requisite To Us.JPG
zzl) We Couldnt Drive Up The Zion Canyon Scenic Drive Anyways (Open To Shuttle Buses Only).JPG
zzm) Nevertheless, We Did Get To Experience An Important Part of Zion National Park ....JPG
zzn) The Zion-Mt.Carmel Highway We Just Took.JPG
zzo) Seen That, Done That ;-).JPG
zzp) Lets Get The Shirt ;-) (Bookmarks).JPG
zzq) The Visitor Center Has Everything, But Unfortunately Not The AC We So Longed For...(Extremely Hot Outthere).JPG
zzr) Not Nice Calming Cold Indoors The Visitor Building ~ However, Energy Efficient Their Adaptive Architecture Certainly Is!.JPG
zzs) Lets Get Those Bottles Filled! (No Refridgerator Indoors, So No Cold WaterBottles To Buy Here).JPG
zzt) However, Sustainability Is Needed+The Jargon Of Today, And O Btw.. Utah Rocks !!! ;-).JPG
zzu) One Day (or Two ;-) We Certainly Be Back Here To Explore Some More Of The Park (And Taking The Bus Shuttle Then ;-).JPG
zzv) Quarter Past 4 ~ Continuing Going West on StateRoute 9 to Interstate 15 (Passing SR-59, Hildale-ColoradoCity).JPG
zzw) Driving Through Polygamy County....(Fundamentalist Mormons) ~ The USA Version Of The Taliban.JPG
zzx) May 7, 2006 the FBI named Warren Jeffs To Its 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List (Arrested Aug, 2006).JPG
zzy) As Still Today, About 10,000 Claim Membership In The Fundamentalist Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints.JPG
zzz) Lena Jones Mysteries by Writer Betty Webb (BookTitle-Desert Wives).JPG
zzza) Lena Jones Mysteries by Writer Betty Webb (BookTitle-Desert Wives).JPG
zzzb) Lena Jones Mysteries by Writer Betty Webb (BookTitle-Desert Wives).JPG
zzzc) Lena Jones Mysteries by Writer Betty Webb (BookTitle-Desert Wives).JPG
zzzd) Meanwhile...We Have Reached Interstate 15.JPG
zzze) On Our Way To Barstow, California! (Via Crossing Las Vegas, Nevada).JPG
zzzf) Apart From 25 Miles On I-70 In Utah, As Principle We Had Not Driven Any Interstates Over The Past Couple Of Weeks.JPG
zzzg) Its Hot Outhere! 111 Fahrenheit ~ At 5.36 PM, Utah-Mountain Time Zone (4.36 PM Nevada-Pacific Time Zone).JPG
zzzh) 97 Miles To Las Vegas (20 Miles From Nevada Border).JPG
zzzi) Interstate 15 South, From Utah To Las Vegas, Nevada ~ A Nice, Exciting And Smooth Drive.JPG
zzzj) Interstate 15 South, From Utah To Las Vegas, Nevada ~ A Nice, Exciting And Smooth Drive.JPG
zzzk) Interstate 15 South, From Utah To Las Vegas, Nevada ~ A Nice, Exciting And Smooth Drive.JPG
zzzl) Yep ... Its Rather Getting Hot Outhere !! Regardless, This Section Of Interstate 15 Rocks! ;-).JPG
zzzm) Less Than 10 Minutes After 6 PM (Nevada-Pacific Time) Approaching Las Vegas.JPG
zzzn) (MOVIE)Passing By Las Vegas (The Strip) On Our Left.jpg
zzzo) That Was Fun !!! ;-).JPG
zzzp) Little Over 2 Hrs Later (Around 9 PM) Checking-In At The Comfort Suites, Barstow Outlets (Dinner At The Local Chilis).JPG
zzzq) WednesdayMorning 29 July, A GoodyMorning! (RoomNr 309, Comfort Suites ~ Barstow Outlets, CA).JPG
zzzr) As Usual We Are Enjoying The Use Of HotelRoom Up Until The Last Minutes Before CheckOut Time (At Noon Here).JPG
zzzs) Few Minutes Past Noon ... Ready To Roll ;-).JPG
zzzt) Okay, Lets Go !! ;-).JPG
zzzu) Short Journey Today~From Barstow To Home (Southern Orange County), Crossing The San Bernardino Mountains (I-15).JPG
zzzv) Leaving Barstow Just Before 1 PM ~ For A Few Miles Driving South On A Backroad.JPG
zzzw) Converting Onto Interstate 15 (Barstow Freeway).JPG
zzzx) Approaching San Bernardino Mountains.JPG
zzzy) I-15 Passing Over Cajon Summit In the Cajon Pass Area (Elevation 3,777 Ft) .JPG
zzzz) A Moderate-Elevation Mountain Pass Between The San Bernardino Mountains And The San Gabriel Mountains.JPG
zzzza) The McDonalds At Cajon Junction.JPG
zzzzb) Interstate 15, San Bernardino National Forest.JPG
zzzzc) A Little Break In Rancho Cucamonga (GroceryShopping).JPG
zzzzd) Back On The I-15, And Taking The 91 West (BeachCities).JPG
zzzze) I-15 (Ontario Frwy) South, Followed By 91(Riverside Freeway) West.JPG
zzzzf) We Would Be Arriving Home (Rancho Santa Margarita) A Little After 4 PM (With Fresh Groceries! ;-).JPG
zzzzg) A Smooth Drive On The 91 For Once ~ 10 Minutes Later Driving Onto Our 241TollRoad (Fastrak).JPG
zzzzh) 91 West (Riverside Frwy), Followed By 241 (Fastrak-Foothill Toll Road) Into Rancho Santa Margarita.JPG
zzzzi) This 2-Weeks Vacation Was Awesome!! An Unforgetable 40th Birthday Event!!! ;-).JPG
zzzzj) The South-West Loop (Wednesday, 15 July - Wednesday 29 July 2009).JPG