Day 8: Mindblowement in Utah

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This morning, both Susan and I woke up early. Susan went to walk on the treadmill while watching the second episode of Downtown Abbey. After that we had breakfast and drove out, direction Canyonlands National Park. Their website described quite scary road conditions so we were unsure whether we could actually go around in the car. We had no problem to arrive at the visitor center, and the ranger actually told us that all the paved roads were fine.

So off we went! We started with Upheaval Dome, a gigantic crater which apparently stirs debate among geologists. From the parking lot, we walked about 15 minutes to arrive at the crater. It was cold, although not as cold as the previous days but the sun was shining and the sky was blue. The crater is massive (2 miles accross and 1,500 feet deep). The surrounding cliffs are red while the terrain inside the crater has yellowish colors. There was no sound to be heard, we had the place for ourselves and it was magical.

Upheaval dome.

After this nice start, we continued towards the Green River overlook, which allowed us to look towards the West. None of us had ever seen anything like this before. It's just like Russian puppets: A canyon, in a canyon, in a canyon, etc. Susan was just speechless. Here is why:

(Post continued by Susan) I was also a little emotional - this place was just the most magical/awe-inspiring/magnificent place I've ever been! Please come here! Places like this need to be seen. I'm so grateful I was able to see it, along with everything else we've seen this past week.

After our nature fix, we headed North West for Salt Lake City. The driving in Utah has been great, as the roads are good and well-maintained and the scenery is awesome. 

We didn't take a whole lot of pictures while driving today, but for this NE girl the scenery out here is completely different from home and I'm thoroughly enjoying it! What we aren't really enjoying though is Salt Lake City. The drive in from the south was on a highway that's 7 lanes at times and the urban sprawl is just crazy (and something I'll have to get used to while I'm not in NE....). I like how the city is so close to some amazing mountains but we couldn't really see them due to fog/smog/clouds (not sure what it was). We have not explored the city at all except to drive to the hotel and then to and from dinner, but we're not really interested in it to be completely honest. It was just below freezing when we arrived around 4pm though which was quite an improvement for us! 

5-6 lane streets downtown. SLC is a madhouse, though I know most people say Boston is a madhouse because of the one way streets and it's not a grid. Whatever. I don't like gridded cities - they confuse me. 

Tomorrow we head for Reno to see Betsy and Dan and to meet Wader and hopefully see the house they just bought! Then it's on the SF! I can't believe it's really almost over....but then a new adventure begins!