Candyland

November 20, 20162 Comments

Ready for another day in the desert

What a backdrop

A far off salt refinery

Looking out over the rivers

Many canyons

Looking out over Dead horse point

I hope this is called dead horse because of the horseshoe lake

He’s a maniac, or a monkey

Billy goat in the top left

Looking for arches in Canyonland

So much sandstone

Canyons leading into the Colorado River

The Mesa arch

I see why they call it Canyonlands

Jonny looking for some butte

Old Native American grainy

Built directly into the rock

“THE PRECIOUS”

From the trail these granaries are completely invisible.

That’s a big butte

The view from atop the butte

Canyons under the clouds

On the other side a desert meadow

A single ray of sunshine

Justin on top of whale rick

Another lonely desert road

We found some stairs

This look like a natural rock formation

On the edges of the Upheaval Dome

Another billy goat

Another arch in Canyonland (albeit a small on)

Island in the sky

Pride rock!

Time for a selfie?

Justin takes a photo

To me, this is a Kaiju footprint

Breathtaking

Simba, all that the light touches is our kingdom

Canyonlands is saying goodnight

Goodnight Canyonlands

Arches

October 30, 2016November 3, 2016Leave a comment

On the second day of the journy we headed from Moab into Arches National Park. We tried to get there early for spots on a ranger guided hike through the Fiery Furnace only to find out that all the spots had been book over a week ago. Without that there were still many landmarks and hikes to entertain us in the park. Including the state symbol of Utah the Delicate Arch.

Up early for some hiking

Driving in Arches National Park

The Balanced Rock surrounded by many others

Native American petroglyphs

Even the trail markers are arches

Me under the Delicate Arch

Up on the rocks

Looking out over the park

Some cheerleaders unperturbed by the ledge

Trees here look dead but are very much alive

Wild Turkeys

In the desert a pile of rocks is majestic

And a muddy stream is serene

The Delicate Arch from the other side

The fiery furnace

We couldn’t go in without a ranger

Jonny on this phone

Justin taking pictures

The desert is a lot more colorful than one would expect

Fiery Furnace from farther away

That group of rocks is the Garden of Eden

Posing in the Garden of Eden, watch out for snakes

The park road cutting through the desert

More arches!

Justin framed by the window arch

The sun setting through the arch

Underneath a few tons of rock

This arch has an extra hole

This arches are everywhere!

Arches from afar

Time to turn around

I think we need to go to the right

A little cactus forest

The trails were all amazingly sandy

Two arches for the price of one

Double arches

Climbing up inside the arch

Justin hanging out under the Double arch

A Salty City

October 29, 2016Leave a comment

After flying into Salt Lake City late on Friday, Saturday was really our first and only day to experience the city. We started the day by heading down town to check out some of the impressive architecture at the heart of this city.

Driving into downtown Salt Lake City

Stopping by the local library

Its a very impressive building

Utah really likes its bees

The fallen comrades

An albatross in the Tracy Aviary

Shooting through a fence is a challenge

The Andean Condor removes all doubt that birds were dinosaurs

rawr

A Southern Ground Hornbill with its lush eyelashes

Glamour shot of this Green Parrot

Those feathers look very fluffy

The Parrot’s red brother

This little guy is about the size of a softball, adorable

This Owl is terrified…

of whatever this owl is planning

This bird has a hat

This Sun Conure is in the middle of a pedicure

More fluffy birds

A majestic Bald Eagle

Is this Peacock dead?

Nope, he was just sleeping

Salt Lake City is also the new home of the Mormons

That’s a large Temple

“Its only a model”

The Utah state Capital Building

Abe of the golden schnoz

Philo Farnsworth

We stopped at a Lake on the way to Moab

Justin always taking photos

Jonathan always on his phone

The valley of the wind

We continued driving until we reached our motel in Moab, by then it was already dark. We retired to be up early to try and get a spot on the ranger guided tours of the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park.

A Clash of Coasts

Tales of the Pacific Northwest

Tag: Utah

Candyland

Arches

A Salty City