utah

Tag: utah

We woke up on Thursday morning refreshed – a full night’s sleep for all of us. We stopped by the little store in Hite, UT and were pleasantly surprised to find it well-stocked and clean. After grabbing coffee, water, and milk for the boys’ cereal, we asked for directions to Mesa Verde and were on our way.

We made one quick double-back to grab a snapshot of the bridge over the Colorado River, but then pushed on with all of us commenting on the colors of the rock formations. I think that my most consistent exercise during this trip (so far) have been my frequent photographic forays. I’ll pull the car over and hop out, and then find myself scrambling to the top or bottom of the nearest hill or ledge to get a clear shot or to frame the picture better. This is quite often followed up by an impulse to make a quick jaunt over the next hill as well…
On our way back to civilization, I noticed the sign for Natural Bridges National Monument and held my breath. Utah was one of the hardest legs of the journey for me to plan because I wanted to see it all – Natural Bridges, Arches, Mt. Zion, the Petrified Forest… so much incredible beauty here. So, noticing that one of them was right on our path felt fortuitous, to say the least. With a brief pause for adolescent approval, or at least manageable static, we veered left and headed down the two-lane road to the visitors center.

On another occasion, I may find time to hike to the top of Kachina Bridge, but at this time, I’m grateful to have been in eyeshot. We rounded the loop at Natural Bridges and we’re back on the road, headed to Cortez, Colorado and Mesa Verde National Park in about an hour. I had worried about not buying our tour tickets in advance for Mesa Verde, but, as it turns out, their $4 tours are not available online. We toured Balcony House and the Cliff Palace and both were remarkable, although the boys would certainly confirm that the Balcony House tour was more fun. I was astonished to find that we were entrusted with climbing up wooden ladders, crawling through a tunnel on our hands and knees and walking around kivas and ledges without five feet of caution tape or foam padding insulating the ruins or us. As a result, it was more exciting, memorable and engaging.

The night ended with us taking advantage of the free wifi to catch up on correspondence, the coin laundry and writing our first postcards of the trip. There are fewer photos today because we used the Olympus at the national parks.

June 17, 2016

Yesterday we made it to Utah – driving to the Bonneville Salt Flas, through Salt Lake City and finally, spending the night on Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake.

There were balmy, buffeting winds on the island and the day wrapped up with the boys spreading out their blanket to catch the wind, chasing after their banana peels and cracker boxes, before we decided against trying to set up our tent in the gale. We snuggled up in the car and bedded down for the night.

We woke up to jackrabbits and bison on the beach. A quick tour of the island introduced us to more bison, pronghorn antelope, lizards and a multitude of grasshoppers, one of whom tried to gnaw on my hand after Spencer introduced the two of us. Spencer sprang along the path, delighted by the grasshoppers and retuned to the car intent on photographing every animal in sight.

The following five hour drive took us through the mountains, to mesas and plateaus of varying shades – initially forested with forests, but then brick red, sage grey, then sandy white and back to terra cotta. The boys started out engaged by another set of Planet Money podcasts and a few chapters from Douglas Adams’ “Life, the Universe and Everything,” but that amusement had dwindled four hours later, by which time the eldest had been asleep for an hour and my youngest has taken to jabbering manically about his boredom.

Tonight we have reservations at Hite Campground on the northern side of Lake Powell in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The approach was dramatic as the road carved through canyons and Hite Overlook felt akin to the view at the Grand Canyon, only without the crowds. One couple sat at beside their RV, watching us peer over the edge with trepidation. Our campground was desolate. We had the entire place to ourselves, with the exception of one bush bunny who hopped away as I approached.

Tonight’s dinner was less than a four course meal. There were leftover grapes and crackers from earlier snacking and a burrito that met with no one’s approval, but none of us were terribly hungry, so we worked on our blogs and I cracked open John Stuart Mill’s “On Liberty” for the umteenth time. At dusk, the bats came out and swooped overhead, scooping up their evening meal.

girlonahalfshill

Tag: utah

June 18, 2016

Feeling fortunate

June 17, 2016

Utah