6/10/2025 Discover Mesa Verde National Park

Our Mesa Verde Local Tour Guide introduced us 

to the first archaeological park established in our National Parks System and designated a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978.

Mesa Verde, Spanish for "Green Table," offers an unparalleled opportunity to see and experience a unique cultural landscape through the best-preserved archaeological site in the United States. 

The Cliff Palace

More than 1,000 years ago, a group of people built complex stone villages sheltered in recesses and alcoves high along the sheer cliff walls.

Cliff Palace

As many as 24 Native American tribes can trace their ancestry 

to these cliff-dwellers, but it was the first Europeans who arrived 

in the 1800s, whose discovery brought worldwide attention.

 6/9/2025 Overland to Silverton, Colorado, Durango and Silverton Railroad

The "Hole-in-the-Rock" refers to both a historic trail and a geological feature in southern Utah, both connected to Mormon pioneers 

in the late 1870s. The trail was created by Mormon pioneers 

as a route to reach a new settlement in Bluff, Utah.

Whereas the geological feature is a prominent rock formation, 

pioneers used as a passage down a steep cliff to reach 

the Colorado River.

A scenic journey aboard a vintage coal-fired steam train 

on the official Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, 

in continuous use since 1882.

Colorado River rapids along the Silverton to Durango route.

Morning in Durango

 6/8/2025 Discover Arches National Park

The three sisters (AKA the three gossips)

(or imitations of the Egyptian statues of the Colossi of Memnon)

There are over 2,000 natural stone arches, along with other unique geological formations like pinnacles, spires, and balanced rocks.

Famous Balanced Rock, a 128-foot stone pillar 

featuring a slick boulder precariously placed 

upon a narrow stone pedestal. 

Known for being the tallest and second-longest arch in the park, 

the Double Arch (or twin arches) is the most prominent pair 

of interconnected arches sharing its foundation 

between two openings.

This was my favorite discovery after I realized this was not just one boring vertical rock, but two.

If you look closely, bottom left, you can make out a figure 

(one I actually thought was another human waiting to take a photo).

When I realized it was another rock, a million captions

(all mischievous) ran through my mind. 

Was he bemoaning his shortcomings?

Feel free to offer your thoughts.

Elephant

The Delicate Arch (left) is a lone, free-standing 65-foot loop of rock 

guard at the precipice of a sandstone fin; the Double O Arch, a pair of stone formations stacked on top of each other.

The 4X4 Excursion into Canyonlands NP (WTF??)

Remember the view of the 4X4 switchbacks from above 

in the previous day's blog? 

Even with the carved, turbaned character watching over us on the left

I would never do this again.

I kissed the parking lot floor once we returned after 4 hours.

Thanks for what may be my final photo, Phil.

I lived to see another day!

6/7/2025 Exploring Canyonlands National Park 

Canyonlands National Park is the largest national park in Utah, 

spanning 527 square miles of unspoiled desert

 and home to the Colorado and Green Rivers, 

an unforgettable panorama of canyons, spires, plateaus, gorges, 

hoodoos, mesas, and buttes.

Tara, Linda, and Jeanne in Canyonlands

The view of the 4X4 switchbacks from above. 

What possessed me to agree to ride this route later?

 Sadly, we don't have any rafting photos, since none of us 

were prepared to ruin our cell phones. 

But we still had a fun-filled half-day Colorado River raft trip. 

Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsal 6/5/2025

 6/5/2025 Salt Lake City Guided Tour

The Great SaltAir series of resort pavilions on the Great Salt Lake, on the northwestern edge of the city. At around 75 miles long and 35 miles wide, it is the largest salt lake in the western hemisphere.  

The Temple Square is the world headquarters of the Mormon Church.

A monument to Brigham Young and the "Three Witnesses Monument."

Fantastic photo taken outside the Convention Center Entrance.

(courtesy of Donna Huttenhower Huttenhower.) 

For the Mormon Tabernacle Rehearsal, click on this link.

https://youtu.be/MXd39yVJzEk

This is the Place Monument.

Small town Church.

Destination: Moab, gateway to the Arches 

and Canyonlands National Park.

A storm is brewing.

Shoud we be worried?

Time to put the pedal to the metal.

 6/5/2925 Las Vegas, Arches, Canyonlands, and Mesa Verde National Parks. On the way to Salt Lake City.

The Bellagio

Well, it's clear that we're not in Kansas anymore 

or the beautiful quietude 

of the Southwest National Parks. 

Instead, we are now besieged by noise, crowds, 

and weird combinations of whimsy.

Zebras in Vegas

(I've no idea).

Cherub on a Swing

Tiger on a Swing (No idea on this one either).

But just after the museum, we ventured outside to enjoy the Bellagio Hotel water fountain and light show.

https://youtu.be/J1HMFzuDAes

 6/2/2025 Bryce Canyon National Park, Crossing the Utah state line

Bryce Tunnel Entrance

I started tracking the fog and mist from this interesting photo 

to others to show how the landscape is never static.

 Drizzling rain and hovering fog might have squelched others' 

plans for the morning hike, but our group didn't mind the amazing synchronicity we were experiencing with the shuttles 

and the knowledgeable drivers. 

Two things we knew immediately: we had to get to Bryce Point and Inspiration Point before the lightning lit up the afternoon sky.

Bryce Canyon

Get ready for an amazing climate change succession of colors.

"Chilly dawn, crystalline blue sky, and rocks ablaze with sunrise.

Cliffs and bulbous columns called hoodoos."

The attractions are multiplying in each neighborhood.

I didn't believe that Joseph actually smelled butterscotch whenever he passed a ponderosa pine (especially if the bark was stripped).

But I sniffed it in the air just a few feet away, then dared him to reenact "A Christmas Story" by licking it with his tongue.

Follow the Trails.

These two amazing works of art were perched 

between the visitor center and the small restroom. 

(Check out the scale provided 

by the guy in the Carolina blue shirt.)

Wilson Arch

Overland to Las Vegas