Driving from Grand Canyon to the north, we were expected near Fredonia to meet our host for the Couchsurfing accomomdation of that night. But in the Arizona dessert there is no mobile phone coverage so after two hours of this, we decided to stop at a gas station to get to a payphone to call our host Holly that we were running a bit late. No payphone there, next payphone is 3 miles down the road. So arriving here ( a roadside motel, straight out of a movie) it turned out the only payphone here is broken.. Luckily the staff here was really nice and made the call for us. Ordered a beer and the beer happens to be brewed next door from our hostel in Flagstaff. We even walked by this brewery the day before..
After more and more miles driving through the dark desert, we get to a town called Colorado City, here we wait for Holly. Not 10 seconds after we drive into town, a US Marshall trucks stops next to us: "goodevening boys, what are we up to tonight?". Luckily i guess we said all the right things and turns out that Sam the Policeman is quite nice to us and we chat for about 10 minutes there. now Holly arrives and appearantly they now each other too, Holly is from this town and lives now an hour away. An hour away is where we are going then.. We stay the night there, after talking for a bit with Holly and Ben, drinking some beers and talking about the differences between Europe and the US. Next morning it's 7 am wake-up and we are off to Zion National Park, right next door, a 5 mile drive. A truely spectaculair park again, our hosts hand us a pre-paid ticket, so again we save $ 25 entrance fee. We visit two trails; Temple of Sinawava, a breathtaking hike along the river that carved this canyon and then the lower, middle and upper Emerald pools, three levels of waterpools, waterfalls and more beauty. Again, please check the pictures as soon as they are uploaded, hard to describe this. Seeing these wonders of natures kind of releases new emotions, emotions you didn't think you had in you. And it bonds people, like at Mount Bear. Music that is playing on the car radio helps the mood as well, Simon and Carfunkel's Look for America, Eagles Hotel California, Coldplay, Springsteen, Beach Boys.
Many a time you feel like pinching your own arm to see if you are not dreaming all these beautiful landscapes...
But even all this beauty sometimes needs to be traded in for some pure entertainment, sin and noise. With mixed emotions we leave this incredible Zion and start our 3 hour drive West, to Nevada, to Las Vegas. Interstate 15 South it is then.