Utah: natural, National beauty

"The arches here were built so they don't fall/The catedrals, to make you feel small."
--Blind Pilot

Thus begins a new journey. A new journey through miscellany. I've landed. Back in the US and A. This blog will be about all the little things I feel like writing about and snapping pictures of. Bear with me, if you want.

My Matt is still doing his thing abroad, but he will be done soon. Not soon enough, but soon nonetheless.

So, my dad and I went on a little National and State Parks quest out West this past week. It was really nice. We soaked up lots of beautiful. I thought I'd share with you bits, pieces, and falling rock of what we saw, because well, it was pretty pretty. I'm going to go backwards, because the most recent is the most salient.

Moab is an adorable little hippie town in southeast Utah. It's what Austin, Texas (my homebase) wants to be--but is too big and complicated to be now. Moab is hugged by two phenomenal National Parks. Let's explore, shall we?

Canyonlands Nat'l Park is Utah's biggest national park. Big, it was. To give an idea, we entered the park at two different entrances in the two days we visited. Those two entrances were at least 70-miles apart We just scratched the surface of its grandeur. I could (and will, if anyone's game!) spend a lot more time hiking its hundreds of trails.

I wish it would be easier to elucidate regarding our tiny size compared to these million-years-old natural structures.















They were massive:





























Petroglyphs:
















































The Colorado River worming its way through the canyons at Dead Horse Point State Park (on the outskirts of Canyonlands):















We hit Arches Nat'l Park, the smaller and more popular of the two, during our last couple hours in Utah. We were tired and warm at this point. It's desert dry and hot in July. Even so, the natural beauty was truly stunning.

Below, in the distance is "Delicate Arch." This one is the park's most famous formation. It's on the Utah license plate:
















This formation is called "Park Avenue:"















Here's "Balancing Rock." Also, here's my dad flexing his world-famous Hebl Biceps.




















The park is named for its litany of naturally formed arches. I dare you to play Where's Waldo and find the tiny human beings in these pictures so that you can better understand the scale of these structures:













































This formation is called "Fiery Furnace." Fiery Furnaces happen to be a good band that are pleasing to my ears. Is this where they got their name? I hope so; I'd probably like them even more if that was the case.















Tomorrow, the journey goes up to Salt Lake City, if you're game.