"out west"

ever notice how east coasters call the west coast "out west" and west coasters call the east coast "back east"? one of those weird remnants of the settler/pioneer culture?

in ANY case, dad and i drove through a beautiful day across CO and UT, right through the rockies. at the start of the mountains, we visited buffalo bill's gravesite (see pic), which made my dad (who is a serious history/war/west buff) happy as a clam).


we also stopped in vail. which, by the way, LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE CHAMONIX, france. even the street signs and rotaries are carbon copies of the french ski haven. i didn't even want to stay after our sandwiches - who wants to stay and tour an exact copy of someplace they've already been? (answer: americans, i guess, what with epcot center and...just about all of vegas). this is a pic of dad with the monument to the us mountain division that served in wwii andsome of whom founded vail and other ski resorts.


on our way to UT, we saw this curiously decorated car. anyone who's seen "napoleon dynamite" will appreciate it. ha!


then we finally got to UT. a beautiful, barren state. here are some pics of the countryside. take dad to the airport in salt lake in a few mins. then it's across nevada to tahoe and a visit with my friend marit. oh, yeah, GO SOX!