USA 03: The Midwest and Its Parks

OUTBOUND JOURNEY

Arrived at the airport in Ronchi (why do they keep calling it "... of Trieste"?) at 05:30 and I receive the bad news that the flight to Milan-Malpensa has been cancelled... After exhausting searches to "protect myself," rerouting me to other European "hubs," and related second thoughts, the very kind ground hostesses decide to transfer me and an American (with the same problem as me) to Venice airport aboard a taxi that reached its destination hurtling at 180 km/h on the highway. Just enough time to check in... and I find myself on the plane that will take me to Malpensa. Here at least I found the flight to Chicago. We depart with about a ½ hour delay (fully made up during the flight). In Chicago I have to get the tourist visa, collect, clear and re-check my luggage, and complete the new check-in for Salt Lake City in less than two hours. As soon as the plane landed on U.S.

soil, the floodgates of heaven opened... a veritable storm that shut down the airport and delayed the flight that will take me to my destination by about three hours. From hearing or reading experiences of Italian people who went through customs after 9/11, it seemed that entry into the States was a painful, long and stressful bureaucratic ordeal: instead, standing in line at the "entry to the state," identifying and questioning me, having my photo taken, having my fingerprints taken digitally, collecting my luggage and clearing it (so to speak) and handing it back to the TSA staff for the new boarding.... less than 20 minutes!!! I stood around longer in 2000 and without all that rigmarole. Anyway, just the time to change terminal, by means of a pseudo subway, check in, go through the TSA checks and I find myself in front of the gate where I calmly await boarding.

Another three hours of flight and here I am in Salt Lake City around 20:30, where I retrieve my duffel bag. I had arranged to arrive in this city in the mid-afternoon, and instead here I am waiting for the hotel shuttle right at dusk. According to the airport staff, the shuttle was supposed to come every ½ hour and instead... I was about to lose patience while waiting when my gaze was struck by a blonde girl (with backpack and sleeping bag)... By now all the hotel shuttles had gone and outside the airport there were only me and her. I asked her which hotel she was headed to and she, to my great surprise, answered that the destination was the same one and that the shuttle wouldn't come for another ½ hour... At this point my question was spontaneous, as spontaneous and obvious as her answer was: "Are you with Suntrek too?"...

"Yes!!!" That's how I met Kirsten, a twenty-four-year-old girl from New Zealand with incomprehensible English. As soon as we arrived at the hotel we went straight to sleep: she did the same after 40 hours of travel.

DAY 1

I woke up very early; the time difference makes itself felt... For fear of not getting up in time for the meeting with my travel companions I set two alarms for 07:00; by 06:00 I was already wide awake, like few others. The difference with Italy is eight hours, so it was 14:00. After a good breakfast I wandered the streets around the hotel to see a bit of SLC. In the area the tallest houses were two stories, but toward downtown you could glimpse the tops of the skyscrapers. The city is "spread out" over a large plain and immediately behind it are the mountains with snow-capped peaks. The meeting is at 10:00 in the lobby and to my great surprise I discover (along with my companions who had arrived in the meantime) that the group consists of only four people, plus the trek leader!!! The New Zealand girl (Kirsten) and two Germans: Bettina, about twenty-five, and Cornellia (over 50).

Lukas, a handsome guy of about 30, will be our driver and guide. Being so few, for a "suntrek," means cooking and washing dishes one day on and one day off. If there were 12 of us, like last time... it would be our turn once a week. Anyway, we'll have plenty of space available in the van. Today will be a transfer stage, so we'll spend most of our time on the road. We stopped for lunch, just after entering Wyoming, in a village that I think I've only seen in films; on the other hand, the diner also fit perfectly into the surrounding environment. An excellent hamburger with fries and a Pepsi for only $7.50: sublime meat... and tasting it I go back in time during my two previous trips to the States. Seeing all those cows and all those steers and calves grazing free-range day and night is the answer to the question of why the meat here is much better than ours.

Today's destination is Laramie (not to be confused with a namesake I'll find later), a town located between Cheyenne and the state of Colorado. Before arriving at our campsite we do the shopping to fill our pantry and then I immediately get to the stove to prepare an excellent "carbonara," literally devoured by everyone. I must say the evening is cold: I mustn't forget that here, even though it's a huge plateau, we're at about 2,000 meters above sea level. 390 miles for about seven hours of travel.

DAY 2

At 09:00, after an abundant breakfast, we set off again toward Colorado, where our next destination is located: "Rocky Mountain National Park." I tried to contact my brother both with pay phones and with my cell phone but... nothing... even though roaming was working. Strangely the SMS service works, so I opt for a little text message. After about three hours of travel we find ourselves in Ester Park, the tourist spot at the entrance of the park, where we will also spend the night in the bungalows of the campsite. Just enough time for a light packed lunch and here we are tackling a few short and easy trails among these stunning snow-capped mountains. The animals we encounter are numerous: squirrels, prairie dogs, elk, deer and ibex.

The mountains are similar to the Alps (that is, young as a formation) but the vegetation is completely different: pines are found even above 3,000 meters above sea level. We also took a short drive with the van, venturing among narrow gorges and wide valleys crossed by streams full of water from the thaw. We are used to a watercourse that runs through the valley in an almost direct way. Here the water carves out a path that resembles a snake, creating numerous bends that touch both sides of the valley and thus making the surrounding environment more evocative. The weather is turning bad and big rain clouds are approaching; so we decide to head to the campsite. Luckily it doesn't rain, and so the German girls cooked their delicious dish based on chicken, vegetables and rice (overcooked and without seasoning).

After dinner we lit a campfire (which here is almost an institution) and so, warm, we began chatting and writing the first postcards. 180 miles for about three hours of travel.

DAY 3

In the morning (rather chilly) we went shopping at Ester Park and around 10:30, when the day was getting warmer, we once again ventured into the park and took a nice ride on the shuttle bus, stopping now and then to enjoy the view or come face to face with some animal. After a frugal and quick lunch on the bank of a stream (where only the appearance of an old pioneer or an old Indian was missing), we set off again on the Rocky Mountains roads that took us, to no small surprise, to an altitude of about 4,000 meters above sea level, where snow was still the master: a fantastic experience shared with dozens of people. Finally, around 3:00 p.m. we set off for Cheyenne (capital of Wyoming) where we checked in at the "Grand Hotel Plaza - Sleeper's Inn" which has the G.H.P. name but not the style. The classic little hotel where I confirmed that cleanliness is not at home.

For dinner we decided to walk to a place where palates could indulge in any way they pleased and where I tasted a cajun dish. To finish, we spent the evening in two rather nice places in the company of beer. A strong and annoying wind picked up: luckily the hotel is nearby. 140 miles for about four hours of travel.

DAY 4

After spending the morning around the city (about 35,000 inhabitants), as well as the capital of Wyoming. Visited the Capitol Building and the city museum. Of the former, what really struck me were the interiors, all original 19th-century solid wood: here I had the pleasure of meeting a policeman and a photo with him was a must. The museum shows everything concerning the history of the city, the area and the state from prehistory to the present day. Also visited the railway station built in the 19th century right after the arrival of the "Union Pacific." Then departure with first stop "Fort Laramie National Historic Site": the famous army outpost that protected pioneers heading west along the "Oregon Trail." It is not a fortified place like the ones we are used to seeing in films but a village where, besides the barracks, there is a saloon, a trading post and various houses.

Almost all the main characters who made the "legendary old west" passed through this place. Here I had the opportunity to drink the favorite beverage of the "bluecoats." The "ginger beer": a very spiced and spicy soda, which often replaced beer. We resumed our journey north along the Nebraska border and then went into South Dakota in the "Black Hills National Forest" area where two bungalows await us for the night as well. After a quick sandwich and a beer we take part in a feast around the fire with "marshmallows" in perfect American style. Marshmallows are a type of very sweet pastry: remember the ones Charlie Brown and Snoopy cooked on top of a long stick around a bonfire??? 290 miles for about eight hours of travel.

DAY 5

It rained all night and it continues during the morning too... We take advantage of the campground restaurant to have breakfast with "pancakes" and maple syrup, all washed down with coffee and orange juice. We arrive at the "Crazy Horse Memorial" and risk not seeing the enormous face, carved into the rock, of the famous Indian chief because of the very low clouds. Just enough time to see a short film about the endless construction of this monument and the sky opens up and before our eyes appears this mammoth work, which was wanted by the "Lakota Sioux" and begun at the end of the '40s, and no one knows yet when it will be finished. A precise and surgical job of dynamite that, for now, allows you to see the face of the Native American and part of his right arm.

We take the opportunity to visit the "Indian Museum & Cultural Center" where I meet a real Indian chief, as well as Medicine Man and Sundance Chief named Ehanamani. Chatting with him I learn that he has visited much of Europe and Italy to promote his books on Lakota culture and has even been to Aviano and Pordenone. He kindly autographed the book I bought from him. Visiting this unfinished place (not funded by the government by the will of the Lakotas), I understood that if the work remains unfinished thousands of dollars will still come in every day. It stopped raining and so, after a few miles further north, we arrive at the "Mount Rushmore National Memorial" where the 18-meter-high faces of presidents G. Washington, T. Jefferson, A. Lincoln and T. Roosevelt, carved into a granite wall of the "Black Hills," constitute one of the most famous images of the USA.

Here too there was an enormous amount of work by the team led by the sculptor G. Borglum who, with explosives and jackhammers in 14 years, created what for Americans is one of the places, if not the most patriotic place in the country. If someone were to propose something similar in Italy, they would certainly have against them all the environmental associations and not only them. We take advantage of the entire afternoon to visit the most evocative places of the "Black Hills" and "Custer State Park." The "Black Hills," named for their dark color, cover a vast area of the region located in the southwest of South Dakota. The road, which at times climbs steeply among the pines, offers us numerous views of pinnacles and rocks.

A sacred area for the Lakota, after the discovery of gold in the mid-19th century, it became land where, after the natives were driven out, the law was that of the strongest. In fact in towns (villages more than anything) like Deadwood, Spearfish and Sturgis, alcohol and gambling reigned, which made these lands lowly but made many people legendary. "Custer State Park" (which has nothing to do with General Custer), with its constant change of vegetation, boasts one of the largest herds of wild bison in the world. Luck was on our side and, while remaining in the shuttle bus, we had the chance to see a considerable number of these animals, even though the herd leader watched us from afar with a defiant air. Here we return toward the prairie and so the hills become gentler, giving the chance to 200 species of birds, moose, white-tailed deer, pronghorns, etc.

to live among the wildest and most unspoiled natural areas of the USA. Of course, like any other park, there is the possibility to swim, fish, go boating, as well as climb the rocky spires or take long walks. Back at the campground in the evening we eat excellent tortillas cooked by Kirsten who, although she is from New Zealand, is a good Mexican cook. Yet another bonfire frames our chats, our postcards and our thoughts...

DAY 6

Around 9:00 a.m. we leave for "Badlands National Park." The trip isn't long so we make a long stop at Wall. More than a small town, Wall is an enormous "drugstore" where about 1,000,000 visitors and potential customers pour in every year. Besides the aforementioned shopping center, all around there are other shops selling the same items: from coffee to old west toys, from sweets to leather goods, from souvenirs to gold products. I take advantage of the place and, after enormous indecision in front of hundreds of pairs, I buy some cowboy boots as well as the hat that gives me the look of a gunslinger... In the early afternoon we set off again. The Badlands appear to us already from afar: an enormous green expanse where hills and canyons that are completely barren suddenly rise up. As soon as we enter the park we decide to take a short hike through this desolate lunar landscape.

Here the heat makes itself felt also because the almost white rock reflects the sun's rays everywhere. The landscape is at times unreal: among the spires (which rarely reach a height of 50 meters) and in the canyons there is not a living soul apart from a few lizards. Erosion, which continues its work that has lasted millions of years, has created these "bad lands" where almost no living soul lives. In the evening we take part in a meeting with some Rangers where we learn that the park is not only limited to this desert: in fact a large part of the prairie around the rocky formation is part of a project to repopulate the area after the elimination of thousands of bison in the 1800s almost destroyed its ecosystem. About 100 miles for four hours.

DAY 7

Another rainy day... We finish visiting these "inhospitable places" aboard the shuttle bus: so we have the chance to observe pronghorns and mountain goats climbing among these hills that have served as a set for several films. Before arriving at the "Devil's Tower National Monument" we make a long stop at Deadwood. Illegally populated by gold seekers in the second half of the 19th century, this town has become a national historic site of the USA. The main street is lined with restored buildings dating back to that period. Now we find ourselves in front of a quiet village that welcomes gamblers (especially poker players). The "Saloon nr.10" is legendary, where on a day in 1878 the famous Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the back during a card game (the cards he held in his hand are still called "the dead man's hand").

Between one drop of rain and another we also witnessed two reenactments of duels and shootouts, quite amusing but not very believable... If I think that about 130 years ago Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane, Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp (remember "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral"?) walked these streets, etc... The intention is to go to the "Mt. Memorial Cemetery" where W.B. Hickock and Calamity Jane are buried next to each other (rumors at the time said they were lovers) but yet another downpour makes us give up. After about an hour of driving and after re-entering Wyoming, here we are at Devil's Tower, where Spielberg shot the final scenes of his "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." The weather has turned nice and we immediately take advantage to venture into the park.

The place is sacred to about 20 native tribes and a magical atmosphere accompanies us as we walk the trail that goes around the mountain. Often and gladly we find "prayers" left by Native Americans: they are colored little ribbons decorated with feathers and left hanging from the pine branches. This area, of just 2 square miles, was established as a national monument in 1906, the first of a long series. The campground for tonight is right at the foot of the tower and its shadow in the night gives all of us a fantastic atmosphere. About 210 miles for six hours of travel.

DAY 8

Just for a change we wake up to rain that will keep us company all day (or almost); on top of that we have to cross a large part of the northern area of the state. In fact today our destination is Cody. It was very evocative crossing the "Bighorn National Forest" where we had a close encounter with a reindeer. Then, once we climbed in altitude, we could see the peaks around us still covered in snow. We arrived in Cody around 4:00 p.m. and immediately visited "The Old Trail Town." An original village from the second half of the 19th century but with something special: the various buildings (houses and shacks) have been transported from their original location (forest or small town) to here because they are considered buildings of historic interest. In fact, you can admire the oldest existing saloon, a post office, a trading post, etc.

Among the most "interesting" buildings are the shack where Butch Cassidy and his gang called the "Wild Bunch" hid for a period and a small museum with interesting relics, including old rifles and pistols. There is also a small and curious cemetery. There rest the remains of local characters who later became famous and who, buried in those days in abandoned areas, have here received a recent and worthy burial: all thanks to a group of volunteers and enthusiasts who, by "hearsay" or by "memory handed down from father to son," went in search of these graves and these shacks. Among the people buried there is also Jeremiah "Liver Eatin" Johnston, a trapper who died in solitude and who on the big screen was portrayed by Robert Redford.

The rest of the afternoon we devoted to shopping done especially at "The Irma Hotel," a hotel owned by William Federick Cody (Buffalo Bill) and the first building of the city founded at the beginning of the 1900s. For dinner we decided to eat at "Bubba BBQ," an excellent place where for a modest price I ate some excellent smoked pork ribs cooked on the grill: the plate was overflowing and, not wanting to leave them, I risked indigestion. To end the day beautifully we went to see "The Cody Nite Rodeo" (of which this city is one of the capitals). I'll say right away that, being almost a tourist show, there wasn't much competition among the contestants and so I couldn't fully savor the atmosphere: a shame. We didn't even light the bonfire; today the tiredness made itself felt. About 328 miles for 7 hours of travel.

DAY 9

Today sun... incredible!!! While Kirsten, Bettina and Lukas went to the public library to use the internet (but I say... you're in places you'll maybe never see again and you dive into the web?), Cornellia and I wisely went to the "Buffalo Bill Historical Center." Too big to see it all in two hours and so we decided to split up since we had different interests. I personally visited the "Cody Firearms Museum" regarding an enormous collection of firearms (from the beginnings to the present day) where obviously the old west weapons are the stars; curious is the area dedicated to cinema where there are weapons used by Hollywood greats in various films: so there are the Colts seen in the "Bonanza" series, those used by John Wayne or Gregory Peck, etc. I also visited the "Buffalo Bill Museum" about the life of the famous, if not "braggart" (for many), adventurer.

Now let me digress: at the beginning of the 1900s this character had the brilliant idea of taking around America and around Europe a show entirely dedicated to the west: from the life of the settlers to the stagecoaches chased by Native Americans (among them was also Sitting Bull). The show also stopped in Trieste (oddly enough my grandmother was among the spectators) and also in the Tuscan Maremma, where the cowboys, during a challenge with our butteri, were defeated. Anyway, the most interesting was the "Plains Indian Museum," the museum of the Plains Indians. Interesting because it concerns the life of Indian tribes that currently risk losing their cultural identity. To see their craftsmanship (all original pieces made at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries) ranging from their weapons to their feather headdresses, from toys to leather and bead garments, from cradles to vases....

To see their history described on ornamental hides (on one was described the Wounded Knee massacre perpetrated by the "bluecoats" against the Lakota-Sioux and brought to the screen under the name "Soldier Blue" - the first pro-Indian film)... Around 12:00 we leave for the most famous and oldest park in the United States: "The Yellowstone National Park," which is about 50 miles away. After crossing the "Shoshone National Forest," the impact with this park was not among the best: as soon as we entered, there were notable inconveniences regarding roadwork in progress... rain and cold (couldn't be better...). A quick meal at Sylvan Lake and back on the road.

After traveling the road that runs alongside part of Yellowstone Lake (a large lake at about 2,350 meters above sea level) we stop at the "West Thumb Geyser Basin." One of the numerous areas of the park where you can see this spectacle of nature: as in other parts, there are elevated walkways (so you don't sink in and burn your feet) that take you very close to these puffs of steam or to large pools of boiling crystal-clear water or mud. Curious and spectacular is the impact of this scalding water with the almost freezing water of the lake. It's time to go, His Majesty the most famous geyser in the world awaits us... It's "The Old Faithful," a geyser of the "Upper Geyser Basin" that about every hour and a half shows its "puff," which varies from 35 to 50 meters in height, in front of hundreds and hundreds of people.

Luck is on our side, the sky has opened up and the sun will brighten this spectacle that begins a few minutes after our arrival: steam and boiling water sprayed upward for three minutes. In the end there is nothing left but to continue our visit to the hydrothermal basin; in fact, besides old Faithful there is the possibility to observe the "Castle Geyser" which from its crater spouts steam for 20 minutes and water for 20 minutes: its high jet creates rainbows around us while nebulized water falls on our faces... From afar we also observe others... the "Grand Geyser," the "Geyser Hill," etc... Note that in this area alone there are 180 geothermal phenomena. But it's not only these aspects of nature that keep us company.

In fact three Bull Bison (slightly larger bison that do not like to live in herds) came close to us and to dozens of other tourists: they seem quite docile and come to graze on the grass barely two meters away: so much for the signs warning you about the irascibility of the bison!!! And you also have to be careful, this enormous animal is capable of crossing the road in front of you without hesitation. Anyway, besides the bison, the fauna here is also very substantial and one can easily say that there is a "sampler" of all the animals present in the north of this continent. It's time to head toward the village of West Yellowstone, located just after the western entrance of the park, in the state of Montana. For such a small town I must say that the evening life is remarkable...

in fact, contrary to other places visited, the shops close late with a notable presence of tourists thirsty for gifts and souvenirs to bring home (us, for example...) About 125 miles for 5 hours of travel.

DAY 10

We're lucky:...it's not raining but it's rather cool. Today the entire day is dedicated to visiting other parts of the park. The first stop is at the "Midway Geyser Basin": an area full of pools containing boiling and crystal-clear water... among them the "Great Prismatic Spring" which with its numerous colors gives off "smoke" that goes from red to orange and then to blue: obviously it's the sun's rays reflecting on the water that project these colors onto the steam. Another thermal area is that of the "Norris Geyser Basin" divided into the "Porcelain and Black Area": the first shows a large expanse of limestone similar, indeed, to porcelain and the second, thanks to the charred or dry trunks trapped in the geological formation, appears much darker. After about two hours we arrive at "Mammoth Hot Springs" where we find ourselves in front of a hill covered in multicolored limestone.

In fact here, hydrothermal action has created, over millennia, terraces full of pools and cascades of boiling water. A very evocative scenario since numerous trails allow us to walk among these terraces. At the base of this limestone formation there is "Fort Yellowstone," now transformed into a visitors center and a hotel that in the past also served as a spa (closed because they were damaging the ecosystem too much). Lunch, strictly packed, we ate at one of the numerous areas equipped for picnics: curious, at the end of the meal, was the discovery of the remains of an elk surely devoured by a bear... If even the bear comes to dine here, then it means you really eat well!!! Just enough time to relax and back aboard the shuttle bus that takes us to "Tower Fall," one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the park, to the "Petrified Tree," a fossilized tree trunk that stands tall.

Needless to say, the encounters with animals were many, truly many. Excellent was the decision to have dinner in the park: we stopped a few miles from the campground, again in a picnic area where Bettina and Cornellia cooked an excellent vegetable soup with sausages. The company was not lacking either: the park's mosquitoes all poured into wherever we were... About 150 miles.

DAY 11

Today too promises to be a beautiful day, suitable for visiting, in the morning, the last part of "Yellowstone N.P." and for moving to the nearby "Grand Teton N.P." So, after having breakfast and loading all our things onto the shuttle bus, we set off toward the Yellowstone River and its Grand Canyon. In this area we stop at four "crucial" points to observe this narrow and stupendous valley, the river and the most beautiful waterfall in the park. Truly interesting to observe the geological formation of the valley which, with all its rocky stratifications, indicates its age. The waterfall, with its enormous flow of water (melting season) and with the help of the sun's rays, shows all the colors of the rainbow. Two reindeer, indifferent to the hundreds of tourists who have come this far, graze peacefully...

The weather turns nasty and after about two hours, traveling the road that goes south, we enter "Grand Teton N.P.": this park is attached to Yellowstone and so only the signs indicate that we have entered this enormous valley where the mountain range that gives the park its name is reflected in three lakes: Jackson, Leigh and Jenny Lakes. The vegetation here has changed and if before we had only pines, here the presence of birches makes itself very much felt. During the usual quick packed lunch we decide to venture into the "Cascade Canyon" after a short motorboat ride on Jenny Lake. The ascent, even if it doesn't seem so, is a bit demanding and indeed, wouldn't you know it, my old knee pain makes itself felt again (a pain that will accompany me all the way home)...

So I am forced, unfortunately, to leave the others to their adventure in the very narrow valley, while I have to settle for a long stop, first at the Cascade Creek waterfalls and then on the shore of the lake, waiting for their return. In the late afternoon we arrive in the well-known town of Jackson Hole where, after seeing an old west gunslinger show, we start wandering the streets and shops of this famous tourist destination: besides the park, visitable almost exclusively in the good season, it is equipped with numerous ski facilities and so tourists are here throughout the entire year.

For dinner we decide to go wild and so we end up at the "Million Dollar - Cowboy Bar and Restaurant." The restaurant, located in the basement, is a beautiful place all in wood where they really don't give the meat away: anyway, as soon as we bite into the "T-Bone" washed down with an excellent craft beer, the price really becomes secondary! Just enough time to pay and here we are upstairs where the bar, in pure western style, welcomes us with country music played by a band. I can say I am truly in "my world." Everyone (except us) wears their wide-brimmed hat and little boots... everything strictly on theme. The two counters, instead of having ordinary chairs, have two rows of saddles that at the end of the evening leave you with John Wayne legs. Today the evening was long (like the river of beer) and so it's straight off to bed. About 190 miles for 5 hours.

DAY 12

The whole day at our disposal to visit these places... but first two hours are dedicated to shopping (for me buying video cassettes - expensive - and a few t-shirts). Then straight to the visit in the park: a short stop at the Snake River along the "Schawabacher Road" in search of beavers... their constructions are clearly visible but the "engineers" aren't!!! Stop at Colter Bay on Jackson Lake, a quick lunch (so to speak) at the Jackson Lake Dam where the Snake River leaves the lake and... rain... thunderstorm... A hurricane that forces us to stay in the shuttle bus for almost half an hour. Then the storm, just as it arrived, disappeared leaving wonderful rays of sun through the dark clouds. We reach Lozier Hill where the panorama offers something that is difficult to see in nature. Then a short walk (the rain returns implacable...

sigh) through the Christian Pound Trail where the Snake River forms a small marsh. We leave the last visit to the "Jenny Lake Visitors Center" where I learn that the animals hit by cars are truly numerous. Moreover in the area there is "Moose Park," a park where reindeer are raised that serve to repopulate various areas of North America. We return to our campground where, after a good dinner, we decide to spend the evening in town having a few beers at the "Million Dollar - Cowboy Bar and Restaurant," following last night's experience: Kirsten spent the evening with an internet friend who lives nearby. Around midnight we return to the bungalows hosting us, for the second time, in Jackson Hole.

13TH DAY

Today up early... At 5:00 a.m. Cornellia, Lukas, who accompanies us, and I get up for an experience worthy of an "aeronaut." In fact the first morning will be dedicated to a hot-air balloon flight over part of the Jackson Hole Area. For an hour we fly over a small part of the park that leaves us astonished: being suspended in the air up to about 1,000 meters from the ground and feeling nothing (apart from the gas burners that create hot air in the balloon) really gives me a strange sensation that is difficult to describe... truly. From these heights you can observe the high peaks of the Grand Teton Mountain (together with the whole mountain range) and also the villas, properties of famous people, that have nothing to envy of those in Hollywood.

On the ground I learn from the pilot that the landing spot is never the same: in fact, exploiting the various currents existing at various altitudes (and never the same), he manages, with great experience, to touch the ground without great jolts. A toast, a must for the baptism of a hot-air balloon trip (Californian champagne at 8:00 in the morning), the delivery of the certificate as "aeronaut" and off to the south... toward Salt Lake City. We are back in the state of Utah. Near Fish Heaven Town we stop for lunch: the place is called "Bear Lake State Park Marina," a miserable place consisting of a small marina: it has only the name of a park... Here Kirsten, Cornellia and Lukas spend about an hour on the water scooter (a fun I cannot allow myself due to physical problems... a shame). On interstate 15/84 that takes us toward S.L.C.

there is a crazy queue because of a road accident (queues are queues... wherever you are) and so we decide to have dinner in Ogden Town at "The Old Country Store," a restaurant that is not at all expensive (its chain is famous throughout the States) that offers you a big meal without alcohol at a low price. After almost two weeks we have returned to the starting point: Salt Lake City. The time available is still plenty and so we decide to go to the cinema: not the classic cinema! We called it "drive in": here they call it "movie car" or "film car." We thought that in the United States this type of cinema was common... no!!! From New York to Los Angeles, counting them all there will be only 15!!! Here in S.L.C. the "movie car" has "ONLY" 10 simultaneous screenings: a multiplex for cars.

We decide to see the latest film (and the first) with Brad Pitt together with Angelina Jolie titled "Mr. and Mrs. Brown." For the sound no problem: just tune in to the film's radio waves that they indicate to you at the ticket booth. Excellent audio but with video that leaves something to be desired, especially with the video pollution from the other screens and the light coming from the city. Anyway, seeing all those people equipped with sofas brought from home and loaded onto pickups or sitting in the trunk of their cars, I understand that this type of "socializing," at least here, is still valid.

14TH DAY

This one, being the last day dedicated to the trip in the "Old West," is dedicated to visiting Salt Lake City. The night, spent in the starting hotel, was fantastic (a real bed after more than ten days). Since this place is the capital of the Mormons (important for the colonization of these lands) we decide to visit the park of the "This Is The Place Heritage Park," where such Brigham Young, east of the city (which did not exist), in 1847 decided, after a long journey from the east, that this was the designated place where "the cart people," that is people who crossed this continent only with a hand-pulled cart, would find peace. Now on the spot, called "Old Deseret Village," besides an enormous monument commemorating the event (similar to that of Moses before Palestine) on the spot, called there is the original village where the first Mormon settlers lived.

Numerous are the people who, wearing period costumes, freely act as guides or as reenactors without doing religious propaganda. After seeing the hard life of that era, we move to the more modern city where the Olympic Village of the 2002 Winter Olympics stands out (transformed into a university city). Here at the stadium, which hosts various sports disciplines and where the opening and closing ceremonies of the games took place, there is a fountain in which the names of those who stepped onto the podium are engraved (among them many Italians) and a museum commemorating the main events of this Olympics. Lunch at a fast food place called "Hugy Yugy" known in the States where the sandwiches or substantial dishes are cooked on the spot (strange): obviously the soft drink, after paying for the first glass, is included in the price.

Before indulging in shopping we decide to go to the Great Salt Lake. It is one of the largest salt lakes in the world which unfortunately, bit by bit, is receding. One of the places to admire it is "Saltair Beach," about 15 miles from the city. Here at the beginning of the 1900s there was an enormous bathing establishment known throughout the States: by train, tourists came here even from Los Angeles or San Francisco. If during the day people swam or sunbathed, in the evening it was the enormous ballroom that entertained those present. Then one day it all burned down and after about 80 years they rebuilt it, but not with the magnificence of before. Walking on the shoreline you can smell the strong odor of saltiness in the air: in fact the percentage of salt in the water reaches 27%. A shame that surrounding it there is an enormous landfill and an industrial plant...

the presence of fish and seagull carcasses suggests something! Depressing is seeing the old railway cars abandoned to themselves... after so much glory! We return to the city in the late afternoon and so, as decided, each on their own devotes themselves once again to one of the most practiced sports in these days: shopping. I must say I didn't buy anything (I only saw the usual things and also tacky ones - no trace of "designer" clothes) and so I dedicate these hours to strolling through department stores, shopping centers and residential areas. For dinner, the last dinner of this trip, we decide to go back to "Hard Rock Cafe" (the last of the many visited). The waitress was so helpful (and pretty) that you would have taken her home as a housekeeper too!!!! Beautiful relics and rock rarities exhibited here: from the Beach Boys to ZZ Top.

Now all that's left is to spend the last night in this city which, although almost always prohibiting alcohol, allows beer, even by the river...

RETURN JOURNEY

It's time to go home and so, early in the morning, Lukas offers to drive me to the airport. And here begins my Odyssey... the second one. At the Delta Airlines check-in desk (an Alitalia affiliate, I repeat... an affiliate), even though I insist, they only issue me a boarding pass as far as Boston. I politely explain that with only 50 minutes available it's difficult for me to change terminals and show up at the Alitalia desk in time: the answer I get is that the desk of the Italian partner airline is in the same arrival terminal and therefore I shouldn't worry. At least the suitcases (increased from one to two during these 15 days) I'll find them in Ronchi d/L. So I hand them over to "TSA" security personnel who congratulate me because all the electronic devices have been left in the carry-on luggage, and I head toward the boarding area.

At the security check they search me and turn me inside out like a sock... and so I remain at their disposal for a good 10 minutes: truly very kind people who carefully handle all the aforementioned devices I'm carrying. As if to prove the point, the plane leaves 15 minutes late and loses another 15 in flight... while my nervousness increases! On top of that, having shot off the plane like a rocket (with only 20 minutes available), I discover that the Alitalia desk is actually... in another terminal, coincidentally the one farthest from where I am! I start running and reach the long-awaited check-in just in time to learn that the flight is "closed" because it's departing... I check my documents just to see whether my surname during this American stay has been changed to "Fantozzi" or "Loser"...

Fortunately the ground hostesses manage to get me onto the flight to Fiumicino and so I also end up with the boarding pass that will take me all the way to Ronchi. Here too the personal checks are no joke and so I spend another 10 minutes in the clutches of security (luckily they don't make you take off your pants, at least not in public). As soon as I'm on board the aircraft I discover why I had no trouble finding a seat: slightly less than half the seats are empty and so, with the cabin crew's permission, we all settle in better to face the flight to Italy comfortably, or almost.

AT HOME

I arrive at Fiumicino around 08.00 and here I have to wait 5 hours before boarding again because the first available flight home is in the early afternoon. If I had managed to catch the flight to Malpensa, I could already have been in the shade of the castle of Gorizia by around 11.00... and instead, a few more hours of "agony." As soon as I step outside the Roman airport, I feel the heat and the mugginess (almost oppressive) and so I feel like buying a ticket to go back where I came from: in the lands that are now a memory the temperature was truly cooler! After unconsciously memorizing, during my walks, every visitable corner of the "Leonardo da Vinci," here I finally am on board the plane that after a little over an hour takes me home. And now the last thing, before taking the car to Gorizia: I have to retrieve my luggage.

Obviously, after a few minutes of waiting, I notice that on the conveyor belt the suitcases that, with such confidence, I had left to the "TSA" of Salt Lake City are not there. Wondering where they might be (Boston, SLC, New York... Bombay), I decide that the only thing to do is go to the "lost and found" counter. The two suitcases were there, waiting for me since the morning, after having been unloaded from the plane coming from Malpensa (my "original" one): how is it possible that in Boston there was time to load my suitcases onto the transoceanic flight and not yours truly?