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NEVER UNDERESTIMATE UTAH
From The Tail of the Dragon, we headed up to Bowling Green Kentucky for a visit to the National Corvette Museum and that will be the subject of a later report. We then followed the I-70 west across Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and into Utah. This was a long ride with Kansas being so flat that we were actually able to see and move north around what turned out to be a very damaging hail storm. Colorado, on the other hand, was breathtaking.
As much as we enjoyed the scenery in Colorado, Utah had so much more for our needs; it was stunning. We had never been there and had never really heard of it as a tourist destination; we were apparently uninformed.
Utah has as much countryside as it does great roads…and the speed limit increases to 80mph. This was easily our favorite part of the country for straight running and some great pictures were taken as well. This is definitely one of my favorite shots of the Z06.
While we were tempted to take the I-70 right to the I5, we made a snap decision to hook onto Hwy 89 South which ran between the mountains. This roadway runs through some very small towns and what seems like a totally different era. It was hard to describe and the people were very friendly.
From here, Bryce Canyon National Park was our next stop where Red Canyon was an excellent backstop for some great shots. The car seemed to get lost in the scenery.
It is also just as great taking a quick glimpse through HD video…
Bryce Canyon is a very unique park and its rock formations are called Hoodoos. Limestone, silt stone,dolomite and mudstone make up the four different types of rock formations, each which erode at a different rate, leaving shots as you see here.
GRAND CANYON NORTH RIM
The Grand Canyon North Rim was an amazing find and typical of the unplanned nature of our voyage. Karen had suggested this in reviewing the general direction the night before and it was definitely worth breaking our route for a bit.
The Grand Canyon Northern Rim is an hour and a half drive from Fredonia at Hwy 89 south and, because of this, isn’t nearly as busy as that of the Southern Rim It receives only 1/10 of the amount of visitors. Somehow, my better half and navigator stood in a line to get us a cottage for the night, despite the fact that bookings were done well over a year in advance. Someone cancelled by phone just as she got to the front.
The stay was definitely memorable as the cabins were only a few hundred feet from the ledge and we were awoken to 100mph winds rushing through the Canyon at 2am. Regardless, the site of the Canyon in the early morning rain was just as incredible.
And we thought we might include a picture for anyone doubting that the car was ever subject to the elements. I stood outside trying to keep the camera lens from fogging up, a bit unsuccessfully, for this shot.
Excellent write up, Les. That is one amazing journey. Color me jealous.
Thank you so much for documenting your adventure! I’ve always wanted to do a cross country road trip/adventure. Seeing the glimpses of what it is like truly motivates me to create my own journey some day soon. I love the not having a schedule part! Simply plan loosely, and hop in the car and see where it takes you. I can’t wait. I currently have a c6 Lingenfelter that I might take the journey on.
Again thanks so much. Rarely do I ever find an article that keeps my attention from beginning to end. This one truly motivates me. I’m glad you and your wife had a great time and a safe journey.
Take care!
Thank you very much Parker and I hope we meet up someday. This was quite the compliment and feel free to share or pass this on within any circles you feel it may be valuable!
im so jealous!
Les, thanks for your story. Enjoyed it immensely.
My wife and I are leaving form Ontario for the west coast in 2 weeks. Plan to be away for 6 weeks. Mode of travel is our new 2019 Grand Sport. I’m feverishly working on details and gathering information to make sure we don’t miss anything along our planned route.
We did a week practice run in the Vette to Gatlinburg Tennessee that included the Tail, Head and Back of the Dragon and also the BRP and Skyline Dr. All went well so we are now stoked about the next trip.
Question: What did you use for luggage? We managed out of typical carry-on bags for the week. But I know we’ll need more of a variety of clothes with us out west as we are going to hit the real mountains. Weather can be anything. We want to be able to take the top off the car at any time during the trip so the bags need to fit below it.
Thanks, Paul