I'm sure that to someone who's never been to this part of the country before it must seem like I'm spending an awful long time in Utah. I honestly didn't expect to stay here anywhere near as long either when I set out from Virginia. It's funny that when we think of the natural beauty of the Southwest, we generally think of Arizona, New Mexico but certainly not Utah. Before I left, I had planned to spend a day skiing here, but that was about it. I honestly thought that Utah was skiing and Mormons, and yes, it does have both of those things. However, this state has some of the most spectacular scenery that you could ever imagine. Some of these places I'd heard of before, like Zion and Bryce Canyon but I didn't really know what they were or even necessarily that they were in this state. I could probably spend another two weeks just in Southern Utah and still not see anywhere near all there is to see. So I guess I should just put up the pictures and move on...
After heading out this morning from dowtown Panguitch, I started down the road to Bryce Canyon 
National Park. Bryce is another place that's really hard to fathom until you actually go there. It's basically a road that goes along a ridge overlooking a wall of eroded stone. The erosion however, has created these towers called 'hoodoos,' which apparently is an Indian word. These hoodoos can be more than a thousand feet tall and there are literally thousands of them along the 20 miles of the park. It was pretty awesome to see and really improbable, i can't think of a better word... When you stand at the top of these vistas looking over the rock formations, they just don't make much sense. You stand there amazed at how impressive they are but then when you look closer its impossible not to wonder how on earth this landscape was randomly created, why these towers don't just fall or erode further into simple rubble. The park took about two hours all told and afterwards I was on to park number 2 of the day.
National Park. Bryce is another place that's really hard to fathom until you actually go there. It's basically a road that goes along a ridge overlooking a wall of eroded stone. The erosion however, has created these towers called 'hoodoos,' which apparently is an Indian word. These hoodoos can be more than a thousand feet tall and there are literally thousands of them along the 20 miles of the park. It was pretty awesome to see and really improbable, i can't think of a better word... When you stand at the top of these vistas looking over the rock formations, they just don't make much sense. You stand there amazed at how impressive they are but then when you look closer its impossible not to wonder how on earth this landscape was randomly created, why these towers don't just fall or erode further into simple rubble. The park took about two hours all told and afterwards I was on to park number 2 of the day.
Capitol Reef is much less well known than Bryce or Zion, partially because it is a lot smaller. Unlike those two, with large visitor centers and strict admission fees, Capitol Reef was more or less a scenic drive with a small shop attached. That's not to say that it wasn't worth it, quite the opposite. In some ways it was so memorable because it felt like I was the only person who was lucky enough to see it. The park is basically a slot canyon with red rock walls on either side that made unusual formations. The colors here were alm
ost too bright to believe, when I say red, I don't mean red-'ish,' I mean red that's brighter than any brick house you'd ever see. Against the crystal clear blue sky, it made some of the most dramatic scenery I'd ever seen. In addition, there were Indian petroglyphs and raging waterfalls all right next to the main road through the park. It only took about 1.5 hrs to go through the park and after that I was headed on to the final park of the day, Arches.Luckily, my folks had been to this area before because they were able to tell me how to take the scenic route (more scenic, that is) to Arches through the small town of Cisco. It didn't seem real great when I first turned off onto highway 128. Cisco is nothing but a lot of old jalopies on cement blocks and an abandoned gas station. So I wasn't expecting too much. Within about twenty minutes of the fifty mile drive to the park however, the road started to paral
lel the Colorado River. The area became a state park as I drove and the crap town of Cisco was a distant memory. The landscape was red rocks on either side, the river in the middle, and snow capped mountains in the far distance. It almost didn't seem real honestly, i mean you really could just point the camera anywhere and it would turn out pretty damned good. The drive in and of itself was as awesome as any park and so it took a little longer than I had originally intended to get to Arches.
lel the Colorado River. The area became a state park as I drove and the crap town of Cisco was a distant memory. The landscape was red rocks on either side, the river in the middle, and snow capped mountains in the far distance. It almost didn't seem real honestly, i mean you really could just point the camera anywhere and it would turn out pretty damned good. The drive in and of itself was as awesome as any park and so it took a little longer than I had originally intended to get to Arches. When I did arrive, it was getting close to dusk. So I was able to enjoy a good sunset among the rock formations but I'm planning to see most of it tomorrow morning. There was a pretty interesting ranger 
talk at 8:30, about the nocturnal animals in the area, which meant that I didn't get to Moab (the closest town) until almost 9:30. See herein lies the problem, I forget that EVERY RESTAURANT except for Denny's on earth has to close at 10. It's pretty obnoxious honestly, because I've had more dinners at Denny's than anywhere else on the trip. Not that the food is horrible, but it leaves a little to be desired. Honestly, theyre always busy at 11pm, don't other restaurants notice this?!? I can't be the only person who's ever realized that there is money in keeping your kitchen open an hour later...oh well, there's certainly worse problems to have.
talk at 8:30, about the nocturnal animals in the area, which meant that I didn't get to Moab (the closest town) until almost 9:30. See herein lies the problem, I forget that EVERY RESTAURANT except for Denny's on earth has to close at 10. It's pretty obnoxious honestly, because I've had more dinners at Denny's than anywhere else on the trip. Not that the food is horrible, but it leaves a little to be desired. Honestly, theyre always busy at 11pm, don't other restaurants notice this?!? I can't be the only person who's ever realized that there is money in keeping your kitchen open an hour later...oh well, there's certainly worse problems to have. Anyhow, the plan for tomorrow is to see Arches, Monument Valley and end up somewhere in New Mexico...hopefully that happens, we'll see.
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