On the road again

I am on a short trip to the red rock country of western Colorado and eastern Utah.  I am spending a couple of days in the Colorado National Monument.  We have driven past the area at least a hundred times on our way somewhere else, without really knowing what it was.   Now I know.  The place is really a monument to the forces of Nature.  Huge canyons, with standing rocks, roads which threaten to drop you into a deep canyon, and fantastic vistas.  My photos cannot possibly show the grandeur of the place.  Clarence and I are camped In The Saddlehorn campground, so named because of a large rock formation resembling a saddle and Saddlehorn.  It is 9:00pm and it is dead quiet!   We are ready for bed.  Lots of photos to be taken tomorrow.

Monument Valley and Arches National Park

We are on our way home from Flagstaff, AZ, where we spent time with friends remembering about our friend, Pat Hatch, who died unexpectedly two weeks ago.  I had been on a survey trip to Napa, CA, and to Salt Lake City, so I changed flights and went to Flagstaff instead of going home.  Christina and I spent Saturday and Sunday there, then headed home on Monday.  We drove through fog for a couple of hours, arrived at Monument Valley still with fog, but waited a while as the fog gradually lifted.  We then drove down into the valley as the enormous towers and cliffs gradually appeared through the mist.  What a beautiful and awesome experience.  I took dozens of photos, but none quite gives the full impression that we got while there.

After a couple of hours, we moved on so we could minimize the driving in the dark, and got to Moab about half an hour or so after full darkness.  We avoided hitting any deer, though there were many signs warning about deer crossings, etc.

Today we spent the morning in Arches National Park, primarily at the far end of the road near the Devil's Garden, where we hiked a couple of miles to see the Landscape Arch and several other arches.  Took lots of photos, but we will see of they are really any good.  I will post a few later.