Jane Reporting for 2nd October
The Drive
This is not the first time we've driven through Utah and raved over the scenery but this time we were driving the other way (east to west) and it was possibly even better. We didn't understand last time how we had never heard about this part of the country - everybody knows about the Grand Canyon, but all we knew about Utah related to the Mormons and Salt Lake City. The first thing people should think about when they hear 'Utah' is the incredible scenery.
Obviously the hardest thing about putting together a post from a day (2nd October) when my camera ended up with 400+ photos on it, is choosing just a few photos to use.
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| The I-70 west-bound |
At the first rest stop / viewing point 'the blokes' scurried up a hill to survey (and photograph) the country.
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| Gary and Geoff take photos |
The trains still roll on by through the amazing landscape:
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| The train |
Another viewing point stop (we probably stopped at every one) and Gary must have had my camera since I don't climb hills. Here is the view back down over the view point car park (our car is the red on toward the bottom left of the photo) and off into the distance.
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| The view point car park |
The scale of the rocky scenery is hard to get, especially as my photos are often zoomed in a little to get clear of the car window frame and road edge. The following photo gives an idea of how large these formations are when compared to the bus-sized RV in the middle of the photo, driving east on the other half of our road.
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| The RV for scale |
How far through the drive were we? At Black Dragon Canyon:
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| Black Dragon Canyon |
The rocks weren't just one colour or another, or all one style. Everything changed and changed again as we drove along. Gary would have taken this photo, one of many he took with the window wound down and the 100-mile-an-hour wind whistling in. (In fact, I think the dark blob in the bottom left corner of the photo is the wing mirror.)
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| Spectacular rocks, great day for photographs |
As well as the drive-by shots (and remember there were over 400 on my camera and Gary also had his own camera going, plus Geoff's as Geoff was driving, plus Lyn was in the back seat taking photos as well) there were plenty of opportunities to stop and walk around taking photos.
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| There was some greenery but the rocks were always better |
This was Gary and Geoff's favourite valley:
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| Canyon |
The distance shots were always a little hazy so these nice clear shots prove that this is all just whizzing by the window of the car. Apart from stopping at rest stops / view points we didn't leave the road or make any special side journeys.
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| Always dramatic |
This is probably the best photo of the red rocks but doesn't do them justice. They glowed!
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| Red rocks |
The weather wasn't as perfect as the day before (driving through the Rockies) but the clouds held off long enough for us to get photos of the rocks with sun on them.
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| More rocks |
I see my captions have faded to inanities but the well of superlatives has completely run dry. :o)
We were stopping for the night at Salina again as we did last year.
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| The day's drive is nearly over ... |
After the Drive
Yesterday, during our stop in Georgetown, Lyn bought a geode with a mining scene inside it. At Salina I took the opportunity to get a photograph of it for the blog:
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| The Georgetown Geode |
But wait! There's more! As we were sitting having drinkies in the motel room Gary noticed a car arrive with a tumbleweed stuck in the grille. Lyn raced outside and lay claim to it as the car owner removed it. Here's Lyn and her new pet:
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| Lyn brandishes the tumbleweed |
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