Day 23 Jasper

We spent a very quiet day at the hotel enjoying the facilities.

The hotel is a very popular wedding venue, which made it great fun people watching. Guests of all shapes, sizes and styles paraded before us going to and returning from their respective ceremonies.

There were a couple of very interesting cars at the hotel that were vying for interest with our Morgans. One was a Ford GT 40 replica, which looked very smart and the other was a Canadian made Buick called a McLaughlin.

Elaine’s birthday continued and an ad hoc champagne reception had been organised in one of the cabins followed by dinner in the hotels main restaurant. The champagne buyers turned out to be very enthusiastic supplying much more than was needed, but we made very good inroads into the surplus.

Dinner was excellent; the party were split into groups of four or six and we were fortunate enough to sit with a local Morgan owner and his wife, both of whom had been to the “Centenary” in Cheltenham. The meal and company were excellent. Pudding was a birthday cake for Elaine and Carolyn. Instead of candles we put sparklers onto the cake lit them and just a few seconds later all the fire alarms went off! Oh what fun! A wedding party in an adjacent room were evacuated, other guests in the restaurant complained that their romantic dinners had been ruined and sparks from the sparklers melted the table-cloths. The farce and chaos disappeared along with smoke and the drama subsided to calm. I think the hotel were happy to wave us off the next morning.

Lake Louise to Jasper Day 22

July 2^nd 151 miles

Elaine’s Birthday

Calli and I decided on an early start. We were on the road before seven thinking we were first away, but at the petrol station we found out that at least two cars had set off well before us!

With the hope of seeing some wildlife we drove at a fairly slow pace, but picked up the pace when the road became busy. Mike and Ardith (Morgan and MGB) joined us as we drove along the Ice Fields Parkway and became our guides for the day. We shared a very pleasant breakfast at a lake side lodge. Mike showed us where the glaciers had shrunk back to their present positions. On the way to the Glacier visitors centre we were caught in a flurry of snow! The first and last of the tour.

Our visit to Athabsaca falls in Jasper National Park was turned into a dramatic event by a Black Bear emerging from the forest and devouring a family picnic twenty-five meters away from the car park. These bears a very dangerous and are capable of very rapid attack, however, this bear was more interested in sandwiches and crisps. Bears who make a habit of confronting people are removed to a remote location, but if they persist in being a nuisance they are shot. Our bear managed to finish “his” meal and vanish back into the forest before the Park Rangers arrived.

Our hotel was set within Jasper Park. The hotel manager had organised a special parking area for us and was very helpful throughout our stay. The accommodation was in the form cabins and quite comfortable.

We celebrated Elaine’s birthday first with a champagne reception and the a meal at The Jasper Brewing Company – great fun and a great evening

Cranbrook to Lake Louise Day 21

Canada Day

172 miles (Trip 4020mls)

We set off towards Lake Louise with the addition of two extra Canadian Morgans and a very pretty white MGB. The route took us north through Fort Steele, Skookumchuck, Lake Windermere and we entered the Kootenay National Park at Radium Hot Springs. Our first destination was Marble Canyon, which is a deep narrow gorge with a spectacular display of fast moving water provided by the Vermillion River. A few of us decided to have lunch in Banff and on arrival nearly gave up as the town was packed with holiday makers making the most the national holiday, however we did find places to park and enjoyed a very relaxed lunch.

The main road from Banff to Lake Louise was very congested so we took a longer, but more scenic and pleasant journey. There was a small herd of Long Horn Sheep at the side of the road, which was the only wildlife we caught sight of for the rest of the day. We found out later that a large bear had been seen on the road a few minutes after we had passed.

Our hotel was the Chateau Lake Louise, which has one of the most spectacular views in Canada. Lake Louise is surrounded by forests and above the trees snow capped mountains, which reflect with great beauty back from the surface of the lake.

The hotel itself was a disappointment; large, impersonal and for all the staff employed inefficient.

Kalispell to Cranbrook BC Canada

Day 20 147 miles*

Kalispell is very close to the Glacier National Park and although not on the route plan. A seven car posse decided to drive through the park and cross over into Canada about fifty miles more to the east than recommended.

The Glacier NP has a very steep and winding road going through it called the “Road to the Sun”, which has fabulous of mountain peaks, rivers, valleys and lakes. We were very fortunate in many ways; the weather was good; the snow had yet to melt and there were frequent road works, yes this was a plus as well! The Road to the Sun is very narrow and busy and in normal circumstances there would be no time to stop and admire the views, but the resurfacing work gave us plenty of opportunity to pause and take photographs. On leaving the Parks east gate we headed north looking for a customs post. We found one on the Chief Mountain Highway, not a very busy spot. We were rather sternly greeted by customs officers wearing very dark sunglasses and stony expressions. All the formality quickly evaporated once we were all cleared and the afore mentioned guards dashed over to us at took photos of the cars.

Once in Canada we went to have a look at the Prince of Wales Hotel that occupies an idyllic position overlooking the Waterton Lakes. Unfortunately we were not allowed to line the cars up in front of the hotel for a photo. At this point we all decided to press on to Cranbrook, which because of our meanderings was still about one hundred and twenty miles away; off we shot “pedal to the metal” and Fiona got stopped for speeding – no ticket just a warning. It was the start of a national holiday weekend and the main roads were very, very busy, busy and slow. Our brave party of seven Morgans all arrived in Cranbrook completely frazzled. We showered and managed to get a meal in a restaurant just before it closed.

*I think we nearly doubled the mileage for the day.

Deer Lodge to Kalispell Day 19

186 miles. Hot, hot, hot.

We left Deer Lodge and at first drove through Ranch land with lots of cattle, horses and cowboys. The landscape gradually became one of forest and lakes. Logging trucks and sawmills replacing horses and cattle.

Feeling peckish we spotted a few Morgans outside “Pops” restaurant where we stopped and joined them. The food and coffee were good, but the service was a bit slow mainly because our party of ten upset their usual flow of customers.

Our journey continued for another couple of hours when we stopped for a picnic lunch at Swan Lake. The lake is manmade having a dam at the north end. Swan Lake is a very picturesque location with a little marina and the steep hillsides and shoreline dotted with some very grand looking log cabins. Just as we were packing up our lunch a chap walked by and asked if we would like to have a quick trip out on his boat and we soon found ourselves skimming across the surface of the lake at high speed. The boat owner was, it turned out, an engineer at the dam and it was only the second time the speedboat had been out.

Arriving at the outskirts of Kalispell our satnav had a brainstorm and took us on a nine mile detour giving us a good look at all the suburbs and industrial estates around the town. Kalispell sits in the county of Flathead so named after the river and lake, which dominate the region. The Grand Hotel, our lodgings for the night, was charming and very friendly. We were treated to coffee and homemade biscuits on our arrival and made to feel most welcome. The girl on reception told us that the “Moose Saloon” would be an interesting place to visit, so six of us duly did. The Saloon was about a twenty minute walk away. The entrance to the Moose was not very inspiring with expletives scratched into the door and blacked out windows, but having walked that far in ninety five degree heat we thought we would give it a go. What a contrast the bright light outside was replaced by total darkness until our eyes adjusted to the gloom. The floor was covered in a mixture of sawdust and peanut shells and there were no windows. There was nothing to do but order two jugs of beer and a large bowl of unshelled peanuts – we had a wonderful hour or so scattering our nut shells and drinking beer.

Day 18 Yellowstone to Deer Lodge

28 June 231 miles.

We had a very pleasant drive out of Yellowstone about thirty miles, during which we saw Bison, Deer, an Eagle and a Black Beaked Swan.

Unfortunately just outside Yellowstone we lost Pat Miles’s +4 with a blown piston. Ken and Pat had to arrange shipping for the car and fly home to pick up a replacement car a very handsome early +8. They will be out of action for about a week.

The rest of the journey was straightforward with no detours. The weather was very hot and dry with a very blue sky.

We shared a coffee and a piece of cake with the Lacey’s at Gallatin a very pleasant café next to a river and stayed about an hour. Our arrival at the Budget Inn left us time to visit a fine motor museum based in a redundant prison. The collections, were mainly American, but with one or two “exotics” including a Morris Minor.

There was a laundry close to the hotel, which gave us a much needed suitcase refresher; we also managed to clean the car!

The party had a very good meal in the Broken Arrow Restaurant and Casino the menu was very simple – Beef! The variations were quite broad, but beef it was, well we were in Montana. The local airforce was making its presence felt in the form of very aggressive Mosquitoes, which we fought off with insect repellent.

Day 17 Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone was established as a National Park in 1872. The Parks name reflects the gold colour of the dramatic cliffs lining the Yellow Rock River. The Park also has the largest concentration of geothermal features on the planet and is a about the size of Wales.

We set off early in two cars to stay a head of the Sunday rush and with the hope of catching sight of some interesting wildlife. At our very first stop to photograph some bubbling pools we came face to face with a very large Bison who fortunately was more interested in ruminating than being aggressive towards us.

The steam, gushing geysers and wonderfully coloured mineral deposits combined with the excitement of catching sight of the wildlife kept us amused all day. We saw herds of Elk, which often stop traffic as they wonder across the road. The late thaw gave the Yellowstone Grand Canyon a spectacular waterfall, which a few brave souls clamber down a couple of hundred feet to get close to.

The Sunday hordes gradually overwhelmed us and we went back to the hotel to escape. The Old Faithful Inn is quite a strange looking hotel, its interior looking like some mythical Norse home of the gods. A towering open space held aloft by thousands of interlocked pine beams disappearing into the dark roof space. The hotel also has a few restored 1930’s tour buses, which lend a “retro” look to the outside.

As we gathered to exchange tales of the day we found that one of our party, George Tollworthy, had had a close encounter with a large bear and his vivid description of hearing its claws rapping on the tarmac gave us all goose pimples.

Billings to Yellowstone NP 219 miles

Sat 26^th June 2010

We set off in light rain, which lasted about half an hour. The countryside was quite picturesque with ranch land giving way to mountains. Our first stop was Cody a town named after the

great storyteller and showman Buffalo Bill Cody in 1896. One of the visit recommendations was the Cody Historical Centre, which turned out to be excellent. There was, of course, a part of the museum given over to the life and times of Buffalo Bill and his remarkable travelling show, not forgetting the sharp shooting Annie Oakley, but also an art gallery with a very high standard of work. We took much longer than we thought at the Historical Centre and managed a late lunch at the Irma

Hotel named after one of Cody’s daughters. The hotel is well known for its Bar which was a gift from Queen Victoria given in appreciation of the exciting entertainment provided by Cody in London. The saloon in which the famous bar sits is a real late 19^th century cowboy saloon frequently depicted in western films. Lunch consisted of, what else but, a Buffalo Burger!

With just over half the journey to do we set off towards Yellowstone national park. The scenic run to the park got more and more dramatic, with towering cliffs, dams and rivers. On entering Yellowstone the pace became much slower with a rigorously enforced speed limit of forty miles per hour. Most people drive at a slow speed to try and catch sight of the parks wildlife, which includes Grizzly Bears, Bison and Elk. We were fortunate to see a large Mule Deer very close to the road and a few Bison in the distance. This being our first visit to Yellowstone it was quite disconcerting to see boiling water and jets of steam at the roadside.

Our hotel was the Old Faithful Inn situated next to the famous “Old Faithful” Geyser, which goes off about every ninety minutes or so. As we had arrived a little late for sightseeing we bought a beer and sat on the hotel balcony and waited for Old faithful to do its party trick, we were not disappointed; after a few misfires the geyser shot about one hundred and fifty feet in the air. Very impressive!

Billings – Custer and his Stand

One event and two settings gave today its tone. The event took place 25^th June 1876 and it was The Battle of Little Big Horn. The setting were a re-enactment of the famous battle just outside the town of Hardin and a visit to the actual site of the battle some twenty miles to the south close to the River Little Big Horn a tributary of the Big Horn River.

When we arrived in Hardin we found the town “en fete” with street vendors selling home made produce and ice cream. We had coffee and blueberry pie in a Mennonite café, where the ladies wear nineteen seventies Laura Ashley dresses and a black bun cover on the backs of their heads, very chatty and helpful.

The re-enactment site was about five miles out of Hardin, to the west next to a busy railway track. The final part of the journey to the annual re-enactment was along a very dusty dirt road, which made all our Morgans the same colour a light tan brown. The stage was set; a semi circle of grandstands had been erected; all the flags of the Union fluttered in the heat of scorching breeze. Many of us brought umbrellas to provide a welcome area of shade. A little late a tableau was performed if front of us depicting the colonisation of the West and the eventual clash of cultures resulting in armed conflict between the US Army and the various Indian tribes that formed an alliance of war. The battle scene was acted out with great gusto; lots of noise, gunfire, sweat and enthusiasm. If I spoil the end for you I apologise, but poor old Custer lost yet again he was the last man standing, with a pistol in each hand he met his fate along with his men. The final speeches were drown out by the sound of a passing goods train at least a mile long each section of which was designed to make more noise than the previous. All was rounded up with a rendition of the National Anthem.

A couple of us drove south to the site of the actual battle. It is a sombre scene made all the more relevant by the fact that we were there at the same time it had taken place one hundred and thirty four years previously. A small white marker point out the spot where each man fell and was buried. The site was crowded with the descendents of both parties to the conflict.

On a much happier note that night we celebrated Cathy Tollworthy’s birthday with an imported Chinese meal and a many a toast and song particularly from her husband George.

Evansville WY to Billings MT 24 June

Day 14 Clear and sunny 300 Miles

Today we travel through some famous military landmarks connected to the Indian Wars of the late nineteenth century. Our first stop was at Fort Kearny, which was erected to protect a wagon trail known as “The Bozeman Trail”. This was one of the routes west for settlers and came under frequent attack from the local Indians. The Fort is now just a marked out area of ground with a replica wall giving some idea of scale. The local landscape is exactly as it was about one hundred and forty years ago and gives a very vivid impression of how remote and dangerous life was for the pioneers.

Close by was a the Fettermen Battle Site where a Cavalry Commander, named Fettermen, was goaded by an Indian War Party into falling into a simple ambush, which wiped out his command. Here again the battle site gave a sense danger with rugged “eggs in a basket” topography. As dear reader you can imagine not everybody in the party was enamoured by old battlefields so we went straight to the hotel with no further details.

The hotel entertaining us at this “two-nighter” was again the C’Mon Inn; unfortunately it wasn’t come on in and have a drink, because it didn’t have a bar! We have, sadly, become used to a beer to wash away the daily dust of travel. The Hotel did have a swimming pool, which was very refreshing - to swim in.

Fort Collins CO to Evansville WY 23 June

Blue Sky 222 miles to Drive. Joined by John and Gail Maloney

A choice today of driving via Cheyenne or Laramie both of which bring back childhood memories of black and white cowboy programs on the “telly”, The Man from Laramie etc. We were advised that Cheyenne could be missed because it is now a big industrial city and not much fun to drive through.

Laramie lacks that image of the old west, but does have an old prison that is worth a visit. The prisons claim to immortality is that it once entertained as an inmate by the name of Butch Cassidy – he of the famous film. Lots of black and white photos of infamous inmates all of whom suffered, by today’s standards, a harsh regime and it was bitterly cold in the winter.

Heading north we stopped for lunch at the town of Medicine Bow famous for being the home of Owen Wister the author of “The Virginian” later turned into a long running TV show. We paid a visit to the towns’ museum by the railway track full of memorabilia and items from the 1930’s run by two eccentric ladies. Outside the museum was a board showing all the local cattle brands – quite a few! Across the road from the museum is the Virginian Hotel built in about 1910 to cash in on the fame of Owen Wister all red plush and chandeliers. A self guided tour of the hotel left and impression of creaking floorboards, damp, lethal electrics and third world plumbing. The lunch we were served in The Virginian was the worst we have ever been offered in America.

We travelled on to Casper/Evansville through a hot arid landscape to The C’mon Inn a spa hotel half the rooms look inward onto a courtyard liberally scattered with hot-tubs. The other half of the rooms were facing the outside world and railway tracks.

We celebrated Pauls birthday at the Silver Fox Restaurant in Casper, which was very enjoyable and great fun and sent us all to bed in a happy frame of mind.

Leadville to Fort Collins June 22

Day 12 213 miles. Clear blue skies another day in paradise.

Today takes us over the Rockies; high passes and the Great Divide. Starting at about eight we are travelling roughly northeast west of Denver.

We drive through jaw droopingly beautiful high mountain scenery. The roads twist and turn with many a hairpin. The first Pass is the Freemont at 11318ft well above the tree line. The engines run very rich at this altitude and the older cars have to be manually adjusted to run efficiently. Our second high pass is the Loveland at ten feet short of twelve thousand feet. We met a cyclist from Yorkshire at the summit who was riding from Mexico to Canada – very impressive. Two more Passes, Berthoud and Milner, see us with fifty miles of Loveland where we have arranged to meet the British Car Club who will take us on a scenic drive through some beautiful Colorado river valleys.

A splash and dash at our hotel in Fort Collins as we had to get to Jim and Beth Murrays house who were hosting a Garden party in our honour for the rest of the members of the British Car Club. There was a gleaming array of pristine MG’s, Triumphs and Jaguars to admire all of which put our well travelled Morgans in the shade.

Ouray to Leadville June 21

Day 11 220 miles

A chilly morning, but cobalt blue sky.

Breakfast, drivers meeting and away by eight-fifteen. We headed north to Montrose, where we visited the Ute Indian Museum. The museum was full of interesting artefacts and a history of the famous Indian Chief Ouray, who led negotiations with the American Government in the late nineteenth century. There was also a very good three screen video presentation of the Ute tribe’s customs and culture.

East and then north to Buena Vista for lunch at the Coyote Cantina; not very good food, but full of character. We emerged to find our car surrounded by Harley Davidson motorbikes. The landscape changed here to skiing country as we were very close to Denver, Aspen and Breckenridge.

Leadville is another town who’s fortunes were cut short by the mines being depleted, it had a gold rush in 1860. Most of the important buildings in Leadville have been restored and it is now a holiday resort for hikers in the summer and skiers in the winter.

The hotel in Leadville gave us a rare opportunity to clean our cars, which were looking very travel worn.

Mesa Verde to Ouray CO

Clear blue sky.

A short one hundred and seventeen miles today, one of the shortest legs of the tour. Our first stop was Durango; a very attractive town with a population about the same size as Bridgnorth and also has a steam railway. The main street is very busy for a Sunday and trades manly on its nineteenth century facades and excellent shopping. After a very good coffee in Durango we set off along the “Million Dollar” Highway to Silverton so called because of its cost per mile, but it is strongly suggested that the silver ore excavated during the laying of the road more than covered the cost. The route is dominated by the effects of over a century of mining, which has had a huge and dramatic effect on the landscape.

We had lunch in an old style saloon in Silverton followed by a ride in a Stagecoach, which during a quick tour of the old town we discovered all the disagreeable points of horse drawn transport of the western era.

Ouray is another town that was fixed in time by the sudden depletion of its main source of wealth – silver, leaving it set forever in the eighteen eighties as far as architecture is concerned anyway.

The evening entertainment started with a visit to a micro brewery/pub that we were advised had made a special brew for us in honour of the Morgans, however, there must have been a breakdown in communication as they seemed not to expecting us, but were glad of the business. A short drive from the pub found us at Dick and Louis Love’s holiday house, where they had organised a BBQ for us; this was a wonderful and generous thing to do and we were very well looked after. Their house is set in Colorado ranch land with a mountain backdrop. Ralph Loren has a neighbouring ranch and is said to have the best-dressed cowboys in the area! Dick is a Morgan owner who’s main home is in California. A short, legal and carful drive back to the hotel was made all the more interesting by the smell of a recently squashed skunk an odour to be savoured, but not for long.

Mesa Verde – A quiet day for the Morgans

Yet another beautiful day in America

Mesa Verde is a flat-topped mountain bisected by a deep and relatively fertile canyon. It is also the site of a great human mystery; why after over four hundred years of continuous occupation did the Pueblo Indians suddenly leave the area to move south?

The Pueblo architecture developed from simple dwelling houses to more permanent strongly built villages on the top of the Mesa living amongst and tending a wide variety of crops. At some point they decided to build very complex and sophisticated multi-storey communities into the ledges, caves and undercrofts of the near vertical rock faces of the canyon. If you have any theories as to why the Pueblo Indians first built their incredible cliff dwellings and secondly why they left them in such an abrupt manner please send them via email to the Mesa Verde Park authorities they will be as good as anybodies over the last one hundred and twenty years since the unusual habitations were discovered by modern Americans.

There is a very instructional guided tour by bus accompanied by a Park Ranger. We descended, with a guide, to one of the cliff villages and discussed ideas as to where, what and why, but the only certainty seemed to be that doom was only a few feet away if we slipped.

Some of us decided to tour the Park in our Morgans so after tightening up all the nut and bolts that had loosened on our journey we set off for a gentle ride. The cars seemed to treat the fifty percent reduction in oxygen at the Parks altitude of eight thousand feet above sea level with great stoicism unlike their owners who gasped and wheezed with every slight excursion.

A wholly European supper to say thanks to the arranged for the cars to be road legal in the US and Canada.

Page AZ to Mesa Verde CO

Day eight of the tours was a drive of two hundred and thirty eight miles that took us past Monument Valley. Monument Valley is one of the most picturesque and photographed landscapes in North America. We passed north to south on the west side so the fabulous bright red sandstone towers were silhouetted against the morning sun. The beauty of the landmark caused us to constantly stop and admire what was before our eyes.

The red “Martian” landscape varied little as we travelled through four States (Arizona twice, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado)until we approached the Ute Mountains when the landscape erupted into a confusion of greens; it’s amazing what the odd drop of water will do!

Our hotel was next to the visitor/information centre which turned out to be a long tortuous drive on very rough roads from the Mesa Verde Park entrance.

Beer, shower, supper and bed in any order – all day in the park tomorrow.

Kanab to Page via The Grand Canyon

The highlight of the day was visiting the Grand Canyon on our way to Page Arizona. Unlike five years ago when we visited the south rim of the Grand Canyon this time we made our way to the opposite side. We drove through broad meadow land lush and green almost parkland. The road was made up of long curves, but punctuated by tight twisty corners perfect Morgan material. The North rim is a quiet place compared to the very commercial and crowded South Rim, true it doesn’t have that so dramatic, stomach curdling view straight down into the mile deep canyon, but it does have charm and a very peaceful atmosphere. The Lodge Hotel had floor to ceiling windows and an outside balcony that gave one hundred and eighty degree views across the Canyon. We did some very light hiking to various lookout points, often not for the faint hearted as rails and fencing were conspicuous by their absence.

Our journey from the North Rim to Page AZ was just over one hundred miles mostly through hot dry desert on very good roads. Five Morgans made very rapid progress to Page not all at legal speeds, but very invigorating on a hot day.

Roger and Linda Lacey caught up with us at the hotel in Page having driven over six hundred miles in one day! Their new sump behaving perfectly.

Bryce Canyon

A perfect morning, yet again, clear blue sky a little chilly in the shade and the sun lighting the western sandstone cliffs. An early start as we wanted to drive north through the mile long tunnel on highway 12 that was made in the nineteen twenties; unlit, but the engineers had the foresight to cut huge apertures into the out ward walls giving wonderful views of the canyon below. The tunnel is being refurbished and closes when work starts in the morning, but our early start got us through.

Every time we think our jaws can’t drop any further they manage another notch and Bryce Canyon continued the pattern. Bryce is about ten or so miles north to south and we drove south, without stopping, to Bryce point. From there we had a wonderful view north along the complete ridge and on a clear day it is possible to see fifty miles, but a little hazy on our day. From Bryce Point we retraced our footsteps and stopped at every viewing point looking east. The combination of sandstone, limestone and erosion have left, over millions of years, scenes of indescribable beauty that create a sense of quite awe.

Our place of rest that night was the town of Kanab, famous for being the location of many Western movies. John Wayne still haunts the town at the local cinema, which constantly runs films that were made locally; did we go to the movie theatre? No we were shattered!

Zion National Park

Zion National Park was named and farmed by Mormon settlers who also named all the major landmarks within the park so there is a strong biblical theme. Our group was taken on a tour of the park, which stopped at some of the many picturesque viewing points.

There are many activities available to the Zion Park visitor including climbing (three types), cycling, hiking and walking, we chose the latter two walks in the morning and one in the afternoon.

The beauty of Zion lies in its dramatic and colourful rock formations which appear to shoot out of the ground in vivid reds, creams and yellows.

All the Morgans are running well with the exception of Linda Canons car which has a couple of problems, but “Dasemay”, like its owner is still a strong runner.

Tonopah to Zion National Park

One of the longest daily drives we will have to do 342 miles, but one of the easiest to describe. Two thirds of the journey took place in Nevada and the last third in Utah. The Nevada stretch was dead straight roads for the most part with a rocky sage brush landscape with the occasional very rough pasture near a water source. The road is nick named the lonely highway for good reason, one can drive along stretches of road that go on for twenty or thirty miles without seeing another living creature. Highway 395 is where most alien abductions are reported, our experience of UFO activity was minimal! We did stop for coffee at the Alien Café, which has a collection of extraterrestrial artefacts and photos, which either strengthen or weaken the case for beings from space depending on your point of view.

Pauls car reached the hundred thousand mile mark with a celebratory glass of champagne.

One entering Utah the countryside becomes more verdant and the road get very busy particularly at Cedar City where we picked up the freeway to Springdale, which sits at the south end of Zion National Park.

How comfortable is a Morgan sports car in the desert? The answer is - not bad, if certain precautions are taken; drink gallons of water; apply loads of sunblock; where a hat and sunglasses; and again drink lots of water.

Two nights at the Driftwood Lodge hotel gave us a whole day in Zion NP.