Oh Utah, I'm sorry to leave yah!

I'm sitting at Salt Lake City International airport waiting for my flight back to Maine. No, I'm not abandoning my trek across this amazing country. I'm heading back for 3 nights because my beautiful niece is getting married on Saturday (Hi Amy) and I wouldn't miss that for anything. Left my lovely ride in the longterm parking lot (over 100º here so it should be interesting when I return) and have to wait about 3 hours before I board for the redeye flight to Boston. Back on Monday to continue my journey west.

In case you didn't get it from my previous posts, I'm loving Utah. It's probably not the best time to visit because it's so hot but that hasn't stopped me in the least. Getting up early to do some sight seeing and hiking is the trick. Be done before noon and you can deal with the heat.

Yesterday I left Blanding and made my way north to Moab and Arches National Park, the last of my parks to visit. I don't think there is any part of Utah you drive through that isn't beautiful. It is just so foreign to me - the colors, the arches, the layers of rock, the muted greens and cactus plants, the elevation - it's all filled my soul. Another thing that fed my soul was that my friend, Stacia, joined me for a day. She drove from Grand Junction, she's a doctor there, to come hang out with me. It was just so great to have someone to share some of this with and, even better, it was amazing to be with such an incredible woman.



We had a wonderful sushi meal in Moab, drank a little, chatted and laughed a lot and finally went to sleep knowing we were going to hit the road early to beat the heat. We got to Arches before 6:30, with the light just brightening up the scenery. I just don't get sick of the rocks. Each park has been so unique and inspirational.







 Those are mountains in the distance. The colors and the textures.....sigh!
 Do you see a face in this one? 


We drove into the park and got out several times to take some hikes to catch the sights and arches. In all we probably hiked a bit over 4 miles but it seemed like enough with the temperature being 90º by 9:00 a.m.

 Gotta say, lots of phallic rocks in this neck of the woods. 

 And another face....monkey?

 This is one of the hikes we took to catch a glimpse of the arch below.




 We were prepared...lots of water, snacks, sunscreen, sunglasses and good shoes. We were all set!









 Lovers...

I absolutely LOVE Utah. My future plan is to come visit Stacia and head back this way to do a little more exploring. Can't wait!!

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