Sunday, August 28, 2011

Valley of Fire

Moich polskich czytelnikow przepraszam, ze tym razem bede pisac po angielsku. Obiecalam tutejszym znajomym, ze podziele sie wrazeniami z wakacji, pokaze zdjecia, opisze miejsca gdzie bylam z rodzina, a ze wiekszosc z nich jest anglojezyczna stad ta zmiana.  

Family vacation, three amazing weeks of traveling and camping in the West.

We landed in Las Vegas and after three days that were fun for some and boring for others we left for the Valley of Fire, Nevada. Not too many people know this place because it is a state park and not near the most visited places in that region.  It is located 55 miles (89 km) northeast of Las Vegas. The park’s name, Valley of Fire, derives from the red sandstones formation that were formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs, 150 million years ago. Iron oxide makes rocks looking rusty. When we entered the park I was astonished at how chilling this place was. Hardly any people on the road, red rocks, and a desert landscape surrounding our campsite. The temp was 110–115 F (44-46 C). While we were unpacking our camping equipment I was scanning an area around us. There were numerous lizards, bees (a sign said African killer bees !!) and small white tailed antelope ground squirrels; no snakes fortunately. I checked the campsite facility and discovered that there were very clean showers, that was a plus.
We set up a tent and decided to drive to a nearby lake, Lake Mead, to survive the heat. In the evening, on the way to the campsite we stopped at different places and hiked. The Valley of Fire had users called Anasazi, who were farmers living in close proximity, who hunted, and performed religious ceremonies in this area. We saw many examples of rock art called petroglyphs that supposedly are 3,000 years old.
While we ate our meals many animals came to the water faucet at our site. Besides numerous ground squirrels and lizards we got a new visitor, black tailed jack rabbit, with its long ears it looked very cute.
At night the temp went down to 95 F (35 C) and we tried to fall asleep but it was hard. I heard animals running around and it felt very strange to sleep in a desert.

The Valley of Fire is an astounding place, a little isolated, a little spooky but I would recommend it to anyone who is travelling through this area.

Valley of Fire 
White tailed antelope ground squirrel
Courtesy of Marta Goraczniak 
Mountain Goat
Courtesy of Marta Goraczniak
Jack Rabbit - Courtesy of Marta Goraczniak
Lizard- Courtesy of Marta Goraczniak
Campsite
Valley of Fire - Red Rocks
Petroglyphs
Valley of Fire - Red Rocks

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Friday, August 5, 2011

Las Vegas

Las Vegas ? Jezeli ktos lubi hazard - polecam, jezeli ktos lubi halas, tlumy ludzi przez 24 godziny - polecam, jezeli ktos lubi 40 C w ciagu dnia i nocy - rowniez polecam. Pytanie - co ja tutaj robie? Czyzbym lubila wszystkie powyzej wymienione rzeczy? Trzy razy NIE.
Nie mniej polecam to miasto jako punkt wyjazdowy jezeli ktos chce zwiedzac ta czesc Stanow. Przeloty do Las Vegas sa stosunkowo tanie oraz jezeli ktos lubi camping mozna z latwoscia zakupic caly potrzebny sprzet. Zatrzymalismy sie wiec na pare dni (hotele sa rowniez tanie) i jutro wyruszamy dalej. Kilka zdjec z tego miasta. Jedna rzecz zdumiala mnie, jest tutaj czysto, ulice, hotele, restauracje sa czyste. Zapach taki sobie poniewaz nie ma zakazu palenia, ale coz jak hazard to i wszelkie uzywki sa dozwolone.
Jutro wyjezdzamy do Valley of Fire, Park Stanowy w Nevadzie, a od niedzieli bedziemy w Zion National Park w Utah.

Pokaz fontann z podkladem muzycznym.
 Las Vegas Blvd
 Paryz w Las Vegas
 Wenecja w Las Vegas