May 13, 2011
We are surrounded by Mormons.
I mean, that's not a terrible thing, of course. It's just an observation.
Today was going to mainly be a driving day, but when we left our hotel, we went back to Arches National Park to see Double Arch.
IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!!!!!
It was huge! We had a great time climbing over the rocks, but unfortunately, none of us located Coronado's Cave. :(
In case you aren't aware, the opening shots of the third Indiana Jones movie were filmed in Arches, specifically around Double Arch, Park Avenue, & Balance Rock. Of course, Harrison Ford wasn't in the opening scenes of the movie, but close enough.
We drove back by Park Avenue, and then over to the visitor's center before we got on the road again. We were going to have to cross most of the state of Utah, so it was going to be a long drive!
We did make one more stop on the way, though. Mr. Lee wanted me to see Dead Horse Point state park!
We were sooooooo very high.
Nice name, huh? It sounded like a biker bar to me, but it was a lovely park near Canyon Lands. I've heard two versions of the story about how it got its name. Apparently, it was common for cowboys to round up wild mustangs by chasing them into box canyons, where they would then build a fence across the opening to keep them inside, kind of like a natural corral. Instead of a box canyon in this case, though, it was a high area with a narrow opening and sheer cliff walls that went straight down into a canyon. One story says that a group of horses were accidentally left fenced into the area where they died of thirst. The other story was that the horses were culls, and the cowboys left them there on purpose. In any case, a lot of horses died there, so the name is apt.
The view was amazing, and you could see part of the Colorado river in the canyon below. I probably shouldn't have been worried about Steve pushing me off of a cliff, because he is scared of heights and would freak out if I leaned over the wall even a little bit! :)
After we left, we started our long drive. The view on the drive was a lot like a Wyle Coyote cartoon, bit rocks, cacti, and mountains. We passed from big red rocks, to big yellow rocks, to big gray rocks, to small tree covered mountains, to snow covered mountains, back to red rocks again. Utah is a gorgeous state!
We got into St. George, Utah, where we were going to stay for the night, and we grabbed an In & Out burger! I'd heard of them, but they don't have locations in Alabama to my knowledge. It was really good! It was also really crowded. I guess we know where all the cool kids got for dinner in St. George!
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