从旧金山湾区到大峡谷四日游

作者:RidgeWalker  于 2012-4-4 01:19 发表于 最热闹的华人社交网络--贝壳村

作者分类:中英文游记,摄影|通用分类:旅游归来|已有54评论

关键词:

沙漠奇观

1

又是春假,计划去南加州接儿子,顺道走访拉斯维加斯(Las Vegas)和大峡谷(the Grand Canyon),完了再回家。

本打算在儿子校园附近住一晚,只是旅馆房间紧张,要价昂贵,就放弃了。周五起了个大早,6点稍过就上路了。凌晨路上车少,差不多11点15分就接到儿子了。这一段路太顺利了,只用了5个小时。好时光来得快去得也急,洛杉矶附近的交通状况就很糟糕,再加上后来在15号高速公路上先后被两次车祸耽误,傍晚6点30分才得入住旅馆。同样的距离,早上只要5小时,下午就用了7个多小时。好在夏令时已经开始,在一个全新的城市找地方,自然日光帮助很大。拉斯维加斯也早早就为游玩者打开了各式霓虹灯。


预订了Stratosphere Tower赌场酒店,这座城市的每家旅馆都设有赌场,选择这家酒店是因为入住客人登塔不受限制,携带相机比较合算。进了大门手拖行李穿行赌场的场面令人很不舒服,个人不喜欢赌场,赌场色彩令人眼花缭乱,各式灯光闪烁,空气龌龊。最不愿看到的还是赌客的眼神,一种充满了欲望的空洞。赌城服务人员好像习惯于和行为粗俗蛮横无理的客人打交道,举止优雅的客人被当成输家或者乞讨者,让人有走错了地方的感受。一个人必须招摇过市,假装腰缠万贯,才能获得尊敬。来之前听说赌场的自助餐很便宜,可是我们那几天没有看到。

酒店周末收价是平常的两倍或者三倍还多。房间还算敞亮,床也够大,除此之外,别无它物,没有微波炉,没有咖啡炉,早餐自然没有,连游泳池在下午六点钟也早早关了。都什么年代了,旅馆电脑联网还要收费,把旅客当成奶牛来挤。很显然,希望来客把大部分时间花在赌场里。我们一行没有人对赌博感兴趣,舟车劳顿,吃了晚餐,10点不到就上床睡了。

2

第二天六点一刻起床,七点不到就出城了,要去大峡谷的南沿一日游。走出旅馆,市里还有夜灯,需要给车加油,内华达州的油价每加仑最少比加州便宜50美分。机器自动加油,抬头看到满天朝霞。


还是计划不周,一直在谈论大峡谷边上新建的玻璃观览厅 (the Glass Skywalk) 却没有花时间查询一下具体位置。算了,大家都说大峡谷南沿的风景最佳。

随身所带的地图是美国汽车协会 (AAA) 十多年前印制的,有些陈旧过时,一时不知道如何走上215号高速公路,奇妙的是顺着大体方向走,竟然顺利上路。过了一个山口连接93号高速公路,这条路原来是要从胡佛大坝上经过。新修的高架桥(O'Callaghan-Tillman Memorial Bridge)已经通车,双线行车,大大节省了行车时间。到了大坝附近,还是禁不住想去看看,到了跟前又离开了,觉得回程再来瞻仰不迟。


沙漠实在是太空旷了,几乎看不到任何植物,除了高速公路边上一些张扬的花儿,满眼棕黄色,焦土被太阳烘烤过的颜色。这一程实在是太漫长了,开了95英里,早晨9点到达金曼市(Kingman, Arizona),得以机会歇脚吃饭。餐馆名叫乡村的骄傲(Country Pride),离开了赌场,价钱也公道,服务也客气,饭菜也可口。

在金曼市上了40号高速公路,车速限制一下子提高到每小时75英里,也就是说即使开过80英里也不会得到超速罚款单。从金曼到64号公路交叉点的距离为110英里,感觉比之前的95英里要短。这里的沙漠地带景色不再单一,看到了树林,偶有高山,山顶积雪,有些雪堆就在高速公路边上。64号高速公路狭窄了许多,车速还是限制在每小时65英里,这样一路马不停蹄,赶在十一点一刻就到了大峡谷的停车场。

停车场巨大,车子几乎停满了,但是景区一点儿不显得拥挤,这大峡谷实在是太大了,令人惊讶呢。必须身处其境才能感觉这浩瀚。人们表情或喜悦,或震惊,或迟疑,或亢奋,泪水和欢笑互相拥挤。巨大巨大的一块地表,土壤,岩石,所有的一切在亿万年前被狂虐的科罗拉多河撕裂了,冲垮了。千年洪水和岁月的雕琢留下了一条深深的沟壑,一个人需要大半天才能走到谷底哦。不想走路,只有被骡子驮起,肯定也不是太舒服。真正令人惊叹的是那岩石和崖壁丰富的颜色变化,深褐,绯红,火红,紫色,淡黄,米黄,棕色,沙砾色,等等,颜色轻重,艳丽和暗淡随着日光的强度和角度变化而变化,早晚不同,一天一个样。岩石和崖壁的造型艺术性强,给人以警觉,害怕,震撼,兴奋的感受。巨大的谷底河流奔涌,河水呈翠绿色。很多人向往谷底风光,只有少数人兑现了诺言。


这大峡谷无疑是真实的;但感觉那是一场梦。离开了,再回头时,什么也看不见了。一个形状奇异的山脉倒立着,穿透地表。

3

在大峡谷边上转悠了两小时,正午的日光实在不利于拍照,还要赶回去瞻仰胡佛大坝呢。走过的路不显漫长,但毕竟长途跋涉,没时间休息,就觉得无聊疲惫。一路赶来,看到大坝时正好5点。


下午天空阴沉,游人众多,爬台阶,穿洞子走向大桥的人行道观景。大桥悬空。峡谷浩荡,大风呼啸,游人走得东倒西歪。突然间看到那巨无霸的大坝在屹立谷底。这个观景台角度绝佳,只是有些偏高,以至于大坝上的车辆看上去像玩具。阴天也对相机很不友好。


半小时足够了,给人以走马观花的感觉。25分钟后回到了维加斯,正好是晚饭时间。吃罢去登塔,好好看一眼堕落之城(Sin City)的霓虹灯夜景。景色真不错,只是懒于带三脚架上来,照片成色不佳。

4

第三天逛街。吃罢早餐,直奔金银当铺(the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop)去了。儿子在电视上看这地方做生意有些年头了,很想到实地看看。电视确实令这个没有任何特色的地方名声大噪。随身带了几样东西想让他们鉴定一下,所以马上被请进去了,空手而来的观光的游客还得在门外排队呢。当铺对我们的东西不感兴趣,建议去隔壁另一家碰碰运气。隔壁当铺更不景气,对我们所带物的来源和价值不知所云。

当铺在拉斯维加斯大道的最北端,这条大道以其别名“赤身街”闻名于世。驱车往南,在赤身街南端的一个赌场停车库里停车。这里赌场停车免费,来者都是客,热烈欢迎,欢迎押宝。

假如您来拉斯维加斯观赏金碧辉煌的各式建筑,这地不错。从停车场出来,早晨的阴霾已然散尽,天空湛蓝,白云朵朵。气温80华氏度,行人短裤裙子,赤身露体。

人行道人满为患,一路走去,很多耳熟的名字出现在眼前。古罗马宫殿(Cesar's Palace),威尼斯(the Venetian),百乐宫(the Bellagio),丹顶鹤(Flamingo's),纽约纽约(New York New York),米高梅大酒店(MGM Grand),等等,等等。


对,还有海市蜃楼。这里的一切给人以海市蜃楼的感觉。原本空旷的沙漠,来了一批冒险家,赌博客,在沙漠中心搭建海市蜃楼。只是这个海市蜃楼能经得起时间的冲刷,屹立不倒,着实令人刮目相看。这里的繁荣实在应该感谢那令人世侧目的大坝,和人们如洪水般泛滥的好奇心。

赤身街有多处行人高架桥,都是拍摄的好地方,毕竟人行道上行人拥挤,周围大楼互相遮掩。走了两个半小时,把自助餐攫取的多余热量也消耗得差不多了。回到旅馆,又一次登塔,用相机俯视一下堕落之城的全景。大风清扫,天地澄明。傍晚有朋友请吃晚饭,他们搬迁到这里八年了,走时怀抱着的娃娃小提琴已经拉得很好了。

5

这一路只有一天不开车,第四天驱车回家。周一路上空旷。凌晨7点,晨光下的沙漠景色清新,天空有大朵的云彩,地上视野宽阔,小山小丘散落。突然间有了大山,黑云压顶。过不一会儿,太阳出来了,千万顷大沙漠长满了体型高大的约书亚树(Joshua trees)。车里的人都睡着了,我也不想在高速公路边上停车照相。


早起没有人觉得饿,在市里没吃早餐就出发了。突然看到一个巨大的广告牌,“佩吉.苏50年代式餐馆”。大广告牌子从60英里开外一个接着一个告诉旅客还有多少英里就到了。餐厅设在加州的野儿莫乡镇(Yermo)附近,很容易就找到了,美国家庭式餐饮,服务也和气。门外有一军事基地,看到坦克,感觉有些意外。


过了巴尔斯图(Barstow),换上了58号高速公路,直奔贝克尔斯菲市而去。两年前的春假,这里有野花漫山遍野。但是今年这里的山头积雪,地面鲜有绿意。这季节年年不同哩。

长途驱车,最后一段路途最为艰难。就尽量去路边的休息区,观景区消磨时间,解除疲累。今年雨季雨水缺少。最近的几场雨刚过,田野山丘也该萌发新绿了,是季节了呢。

还不错,下午四点半到家。

2012年3月23-16日出游
2012年3月30-31日原作
2012年3月31-4月1日翻译

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The Mirage

1.

Spring Break came again.  This year's plan was to pick our son from his college in Southern California, visit Las Vegas then the Grand Canyon and come home at the end.


The original plan to spend a night near his campus was quickly dismissed. Hotel rooms were scarce and unreasonably expensive. So, Friday we got up early and left home shortly after 6. The morning traffic was really friendly so we met the young man around 11:15. That part of the trip was marvelous, taking only 5 hours. Good times ended abruptly as the traffic in and around Los Angeles was just horrible. After waiting out a couple of crashes along Interstate 15, we didn't get to our hotel until after 6:30 in the evening. The roughly same distance took five hours in the morning but more than 7 hours later in the day. Thank goodness to Daytime Saving Time, there was still natural light to find our way in a new city. Las Vegas had turned its neon lights early for all fun seekers already.

We booked into Stratosphere Tower Hotel and Casino. In Las Vegas, every hotel has its casino. For us as hotel guests, we wanted that unlimited access to the tower. The camera would like that. Still, it was dreadful to drag our luggage through the casino hall. I never liked any casino or gambling scene. The artificial colors hurt my eyes, with too many flashy lights and stuffy air. Personally I detested gamblers eyes, so full of desire and yet so empty. You knew you came to the wrong city when service people expected rude behavior from guests. Polite folks were treated losers or beggars. One must act like a jerk, pretending with a huge wad of cash in your pocket, in order to get respect in this town. It was said casinos served cheap buffet food but not during our stay. 

The hotel's weekend rates were twice or even three times more than week days. The hotel room was fairly sizable and beds were large but there was nothing, no microwave oven, no coffee machine. The breakfast wasn't included. The swimming pool was closed down at 6 pm. In this day of age, the hotel charged daily fees for Internet connection. They treat customers like farmers milking their cows. Obviously, they wanted folks to spend most of their time gambling. None of us had any interest in gambling. We were very tired so we all went to bed right after dinner. That was before 10 pm.

2.

The next day we got up around 6:15 am and headed out of town before 7 o'clock. We had planned a day trip to the Grand Canyon's South Rim. The night lights were still on when we left the hotel. We needed some gasoline as gas price in Nevada was at least 50 cents less than California per gallon. As the pump hummed, I looked up and saw a glorious desert morning glow.

Our plan had holes as we talked about the newly built glassy Skywalk but never bothered to find out the exact location. Oh, well, at least everyone said that the South Rim had the best view of the Canyon.

Our map was at least 10 years printed by the American Automobile Association, information was hopelessly outdated. We didn't really know where to get onto Highway 215 and yet we found it just by driving to the approximate direction. Past a mountain range, we were on Route 93 that used to go over the Hoover Dam. But now the brand new O'Callaghan-Tillman Memorial Bridge was completed with two lane traffic each way, saving motorists a great deal of travel time. As we took a brief detour towards the dam, we quickly decided to come back for a good look at the dam later in the day.

The desert was barren and plants were scarce, the brown and scorched color of the earth and rocks dominated everything. Only the highways were lined with some flamboyant wild flowers. It was a long drive, about 95 miles before Kingman, Arizona, where we had breakfast at Country Pride around 9 am. Away from all the casinos and gambling, the price was reasonable, service human, food delicious. 

At Kingman, we switched to Highway 40 where the speed limit was raised to 75 miles per hour. That meant one could go over 80 miles per hour without getting a speeding ticket. The 110 miles from Kingman to Junction 64 seemed shorter than the previous 95 miles. Suddenly there were trees, mountains to interrupt the monotonous desert scene. Some mountains even had snow on top. Some snow piles came all the way to side of the highway. Even the seemingly much smaller highway 64 allowed 65 miles per hour speed. Without stop we arrived at the parking lot of the Grand Canyon Village around 11:15. 

The parking lot was huge and yet most of the spaces were taken. Yet, it wasn't crowded because the Canyon was mammoth. It was overwhelming. One must be there to experience it. People were happy, awe-struck, mesmerized, elated, tears and laughs in congestion. Huge portion of the land, its earth, rocks, and all, were torn apart by the mighty Colorado River through ions. The epic flood and constant carving left a valley that would take a person half day to reach the bottom. The only alternative transportation available were mules. That was not modern comfort. What is truly amazing is the rich display of colors of the open earth and rocks, dark red, crimson, flaming red, purple, yellowish, beige, tan, sandy. They all change their hues and complexions all day long and on daily basis, depending on the strength and the angle of the sunlight. The shapes of the rocks and canyon walls were art pieces, provoking alarm, danger, awe and other feelings from human heart. There was a river in the color of emerald green at the bottom of this enormity of a canyon. So many wanted to go there and have a look and yet so few had kept the promise.


The Grand Canyon was real but it felt like a dream. Many miles later, when one looked back, there was nothing there. A fantastic mountain range was upside down, penetrating the surface of the earth.

3.
 
We spent about two hours at the Grand Canyon; the midday light wasn't ideal for a good picture of this natural wonder; we must head back to Hoover Dam. The road traveled for the second time didn't seem long.  Still it was boring and tiring as we planned no stop in the middle. We were back at Hoover Dam at 5 o'clock.  

The afternoon was much cloudier around the Dam than the morning. There were many visitors, climbing up the steps and through a tunnel to find the pedestrian pass of the O'Callaghan-Tillman Memorial Bridge. The bridge was high over a deep river gorge thus facing a wind tunnel. The wind was howling and people had to steady themselves in order to proceed. There it was, the gargantuan dam was actually way below the bridge.  The vista point had a great angle but the cars seemed to become toys traveling on the dam. Still, the cloud made it hard to take good pictures.

The visit took about half an hour, reminding me of the Chinese saying, viewing flowers on a horse back. In 25 minutes, we were back in Vegas, just in time for dinner.  After dinner, I went up the tower and took a good look of the Sin City with flashing neon lights. The view wasn't bad, except I didn't bring the tripod up with me. Pictures taken were of low quality.

4.

The third day was to mill around town. After breakfast, we visited the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop. The young man had watched too many hours of this joint on the TV and wanted to take a good look. This place had made a name for itself through television programs. We actually brought a few items for them to take a look. Those items got us into the door immediately as there were many people who had to wait for their turns to go in empty-handed just to browse. They weren't interested in what we brought and referred us next door. The pawn shop next door was full of useless stuff and had no knowledge of our items. 

The pawn shop was at the extreme north end of the Las Vegas Boulevard, best known as the Strip. We drove down to the South End of the Strip and parked in one of the casino parking lots.  In Las Vegas, casino parking is always free, for they assume everyone is a gambler.  Gamblers are welcome.

If one comes to Las Vegas to enjoy all the glittering architectures and Las Vegas won't disappoint. The cloudy morning gave way to blue skies and fluffy white clouds by the time we came out of the parking lot. The temperature was about 80 degrees, people dressed in shorts and skirts, lots of skin was exposed.

The sidewalks were crowded as all the familiar names lined up along the way, Cesar's Palace, the Venetian, the Bellagio, the Flamingo's, New York New York, MGM Grand, just to name a few.  


Oh, yes, the Mirage. The whole experience was like a mirage. There used to be nothing but the desert, here, quite open and empty. Then a bunch of adventurers and gamblers came and a mirage appeared in the middle of desert. It's wondrous that this mirage lasts, withstanding the wash of time, thanks to the huge dam and the flood of human curiosity.

They had overpasses for pedestrians to go across the Strip. Those were great places to take pictures of tall buildings and huge number of tourists. We walked about two hours and a half, to burn off the rich buffet food in the tummy. Back in the hotel,  I went up to the tower again to take some day time pictures of the Sin City in bird's eye view. The wind swept up some good visibility. In the evening, we went to dinner with a friend's family. They moved here about eight years ago. The baby we remembered had already become a good violin player. 

5.

After taking a day of break from driving, we started driving home on the forth day. The Monday traffic out of Las Vegas was non-existence. It was only 7 in the morning, the desert in morning light was quite beautiful, with magic cloud formation, expansive view, and little hills here and there. Suddenly there would be a huge mountain with menacing dark clouds hanging over the mountain tops. A little while later, the sun came out, revealing thousands of acres of desert dotted with huge Joshua trees. Others went to sleep in the car, I didn't want to stop the car along the highway just to take pictures.  

We didn't have breakfast in Las Vegas, for nobody felt hungry. I spotted this huge advertisement for Peggy Sue's Diner, 50s style. Huge billboards started the advertisement almost 60 miles ahead, with a number of them telling how many miles to go. It was in Yermo, California and easy to find. They served home style American food and the service was friendly. Outside, there was a military base with many tanks. That was kind of unexpected.


After Barstow, we switched to Highway 58 towards Bakersfield where we saw flower fields a couple of spring breaks ago. But this year there was still snow on mountain tops and the ground was barely green. Guess every year is different.


The last portion of a long drive is always hard.  So, we tried find rest areas and vistas to break the boredom and fatigue. There had been a dry season. Given the recent rain, maybe the hills would wake up and become green in a couple of weeks.  It was about time.

We got home before 4:30 in the afternoon.  That was not bad.


Trip: March 23-26, 2012
Writing: March 30-31-2012
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发表评论 评论 (54 个评论)

3 回复 meistersinger 2012-4-4 01:25
沙发
5 回复 铜山 2012-4-4 01:32
这次看到水库了~  没有用来发电吗~
3 回复 RidgeWalker 2012-4-4 01:32
meistersinger: 沙发
咖啡,喜欢这杯具(不是悲剧)
3 回复 RidgeWalker 2012-4-4 01:34
铜山: 这次看到水库了~  没有用来发电吗~
也用来发电,多功能。
主要给洛杉矶这个大嘴鲸鱼供水。
3 回复 meistersinger 2012-4-4 01:36
RidgeWalker: 咖啡,喜欢这杯具(不是悲剧)
这杯具好。仿中国式。
8 回复 卉樱果 2012-4-4 01:39
拉斯维加斯好繁华哦
大峡谷和黄石公园有关系么?
8 回复 RidgeWalker 2012-4-4 01:42
meistersinger: 这杯具好。仿中国式。
蓝线条的红楼梦,所以不再吃茶。
3 回复 铜山 2012-4-4 01:42
RidgeWalker: 也用来发电,多功能。
主要给洛杉矶这个大嘴鲸鱼供水。
旱季和雨季蓄水的落差明显吧~~
3 回复 RidgeWalker 2012-4-4 01:44
卉樱果: 拉斯维加斯好繁华哦
大峡谷和黄石公园有关系么?
大峡谷和黄石公园没有地理联系。大峡谷的形成是因为大河抨击了沙漠,黄石公园是巨大的活火山遗址。
唯一的联系是两者都是自然奇观,举世闻名。
4 回复 RidgeWalker 2012-4-4 01:48
铜山: 旱季和雨季蓄水的落差明显吧~~
水库这里几乎不下雨,但是那条大河,科罗拉多河,水量巨大,可以和淮河湘江相比了。
3 回复 铜山 2012-4-4 02:01
RidgeWalker: 水库这里几乎不下雨,但是那条大河,科罗拉多河,水量巨大,可以和淮河湘江相比了。
看了下地图,科罗拉多河的水源也是在高原~~   融化的雪水~
4 回复 卉樱果 2012-4-4 02:03
RidgeWalker: 大峡谷和黄石公园没有地理联系。大峡谷市大河抨击了沙漠,黄石公园是巨大的活火山遗址。
唯一的联系是两者都是自然奇观,举世闻名。
那要去看一次~
5 回复 RidgeWalker 2012-4-4 02:06
铜山: 看了下地图,科罗拉多河的水源也是在高原~~   融化的雪水~
就像青藏高原哺育了众多河流,科罗拉多河是落基山脉的女儿。
3 回复 白露为霜 2012-4-4 02:06
"随身所带的地图是美国汽车协会 (AAA) 十多年前印制的"

Old school.  
3 回复 RidgeWalker 2012-4-4 02:09
白露为霜: "随身所带的地图是美国汽车协会 (AAA) 十多年前印制的"

Old school.   
不相信GPS,不信Google maps.   
7 回复 铜山 2012-4-4 02:10
RidgeWalker: 就像青藏高原哺育了众多河流,科罗拉多河是落基山脉的女儿。
明白了~   
5 回复 雪的烟花 2012-4-4 02:56
繁华呀, 都市好地方! 怎么没人带我去啊,55555555
9 回复 RidgeWalker 2012-4-4 03:04
雪的烟花: 繁华呀, 都市好地方! 怎么没人带我去啊,55555555
拿着游记,顺着自己跑一遍,肯定不错。
3 回复 雪的烟花 2012-4-4 03:11
RidgeWalker: 拿着游记,顺着自己跑一遍,肯定不错。
周末孤旅去啊。。。跑丢了怎么办
6 回复 RidgeWalker 2012-4-4 03:16
雪的烟花:    周末孤旅去啊。。。跑丢了怎么办
那我就在后面盯着。呵呵
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