Road Trip to Utah

This past weekend,

my sis-in law, her husband, buymebarbies, and yours truly

went on whirlwind drive from southern California to St. George, Utah and back. We went with my wife's sister and her husband. Our ultimate goal was to visit the father of my bro-in-law (where the above pic was taken) and then make a quick daytrip to Zion National Park. The best part of the drive, was that I didn't (drive, that is). That makes me happy because it frees me up to take pics without always pulling over.  The four of us have a good time when we're together and this time was no exception.

The trip involved about 900 miles of driving. Of that 900, about 700 was desert, or high desert. In the Mojave desert in California, we saw

abandoned cars

and

abandoned cars, trailers, and mobile homes

When you pass through the desert town of Baker (one of the hottest places on earth) you always see

the worlds tallest thermometer

and you always stop at

Alien Jerky

It's so good that even aliens stop there.

(this car is always in the lot)

We ran into a group of about 20 "outlaw bikers." Except they really weren't. They are policemen who look like outlaw bikers. They are a large southwest biker club, they all ride Harley's, and they are all armed. It's an odd site to see. They call themselves the "Choir Boys." Many times they have trouble with local law enforcement because the three tiered colors they wear brands them as an outlaw gang. Only this gang is armed. They really aren't outlaws though, they are honest and devoted policemen. The outlaw motorcycle clubs don't like them because they're cops. Poor guys, they don't get any love.

"Choir Boy"

(note the PD patches on the right)

There are no Las Vegas photos on this trip, because we didn't stop there. First time ever! So to keep the continuity going, I'm gonna insert one from an earlier trip.

Taylor falling down the hall at the Mirage (remember?)

We bypassed the strip and saw some

graffiti

and some

interesting billboards.

At a gas station I possibly ran into one of Dr. Reefer's patients;

this guy. (check the nails).

Or maybe he'd had enough "reefer" and graduated to stronger drugs like his

coke.

He was obviously down on his luck, maybe he lost his

desert oasis two-story,

or his

 beautiful A-frame home.

After we left the deserts of California and Nevada, we entered the

Arizona desert!

After we drove through the Arizona "strip" we entered the (yep, you guessed it) Utah desert.  The desert in Utah was different. It was either

red sandstone

or

black lava.

We then entered a beautiful high desert area around St. George, Utah. We saw beautiful

sandstone formations like this and

beautiful desert homes.

We then arrived at our bro-in-law's Dad's house. We ate, drank several cocktails, and sat around a

7 foot tall Mexican chimenea.

The next morning I watched their cat drink out of a huge Koi pond. His name is

Rusty.

The next day we drove to Zion National Park. On the way there we saw

mountains made totally of stone and

mountains made of eroded stone.

We finally approached the

entrance to Zion.

The good pics are next, but I'm just too tired and this post is getting much too long. I'll pick it up from here tomorrow...