Big Horn Sheeps And Peeps.

The motel stay was alright, surprisingly my sleeping bag in my car was just as comfortable as the bed. The SHOWER was nice. I took one as soon as I got in, and before I left. It is no wonder Colorado owns the mountain image so much. Eastern Colorado looks just like Kansas, and the west looks just like Utah. i was excited to see Arches National park and had gotten up real early to check out of the El Palimino Motel.

Train might be the way to see the West.

The land dramatically changed. What wonderful colors.

Houses and lonely businesses dotted the landscape. So far between.

Once I got off of 70 the scenery jumped up real quick. The scenic route to Moab was great. It followed the Colorado River most of the way, sometimes scarily so. There were so many places to camp, put your boat in, and hike along the river. The canyon was beautiful and every turn was scenic.

the canyon let up in some places and started to show wind eroded mesas and towers.

Northern slopes were dusted with snow, and southern exposures bear.

The towers came out of nowhere sometimes. It would be great to be up there.

A bend in the Colorado River is called Big Bend and had this carving in the stone off the road in no special place it seemed. I'm not for sure whether this was actually carved in 1894, but I don't know many people that write like that in their graffiti and sandstone carvings. I would have made a diamond made of diamonds....

The towers and wind eroded peaks just kept coming.

Once in Arches National Park I realized that this was a heavily visited park. RMNP was so large that even if there were a lot of people you wouldn't notice.The layout of the park is one main road going all the way north through the park with offshoots to the arches and landmarks. There weren't many trails at all, it was kind of a roadside attraction sort of thing. These are the petrifies dunes with I forget the mountain name in the background. The fact that I call the mountain that if funny because there are places in the desert with no names and on the signs they say "Not Named" or something similar.

The specific things that people come to see have parking lots with only a few hundred feet of trail. The delicate arch parking lot was filled to the brim so I went on to the arch viewing area down the road. It was a mile or so to the hill where the arch was.

The landscape was what you'd think of Utah. One reason there were so few trails is that the crust on the desert floor is living I learned. Though every trail has several feet of trampled earth along side it.

You can see one hell of a lot better pictures of what everyone goes to the park for, so I mainly took pics of what most people wouldn't, or just ones for me to reference for myself later. This is Balanced Rock, and the parking lot around it.

The trailhead to Delicate Arch had the original occupants home saved with fences intact.

The only reason anyone ever wanted to live out here was the fact that this creek was there. Perhaps they liked the scenery more than an easier life somewhere else, maybe. The pizza place I'm sitting in posting Magical Wonderfulness is hating that I am hare right now by the way. this town has no wireless, and I am still drinking my Pepsi so tough luck.

Right behind the original homes and the creek were Ute Indian petroglyphs. I thought of how Tre links his artwork with them. I'm surprised the kids never write things beside them while they were on the land. I would have.

The way up to the arch was pretty in most places, but no one noticed besides me it seemed. They were gung-ho on getting to the arch.

The vegetation was really great, cactus were so small and had such large needles. The trees had such gnarly bark and branches.


These are views that not many were going for. The Devils Garden.

A puny arch near Delicate arch.

And OH so many people were camped out on top of the mountain where the arch was located. Eating lunch, drinking water, resting, all of which I forgot to do, I guess I'm hardass. With not as much oxygen, and as fast as I was going up the steep rock cliff up to the destination it's a wonder that I did not pass out. I ate a freakin Huershey bar before I went up.

Behind the arch was a magnificent canyon and amphitheater.

There it is! I was kind of jaded at the scenery and how many people and cars were there, but the arch was beautiful. And from photos I have seen I had no knowledge of how large it was.

There's someones family. There was a line for getting your picture taken underneath.

Through the arch was a snow dusted slope.

This beautiful sucker was camped out on ledges all around the arch where people were eating. He was probably full of cheetos, doritos, granola, and gatorade.

The roads had brilliant scenery on every side.

SNOW in the DESERT? most northern slopes were dusted with snow.

I went all the way to the end of the park to see Landscape arch, which I thought was more beautiful. Apparently you could go underneath it back before 1991, before humongous slab fell from it while people were resting below.

Further up the trail was another arch, or what was left of it. Nature finally took this one. The whole floor below was covered in sandstone shards. But i bet a lot of the peaks that are close together were at one time arches themselves. It'll just be a really, really, long time before other new ones are formed.

The sun started to go down and of course I got caught way up the trail. I was the last out of the parking lot, and the drive back to the entrance was 30 miles. It was dark, with Bighorn Sheep and Deer warning signs. Down hills posted at 45mph it no problem getting from 30-55 in seconds. I didn't want to go that fast knowing what was out there. It's a good thing that I go from cites and towns to the National Parks. The beauty of the landscapes, and the mostly ugly arrangement that people come up with is a wonderful juxtaposition. granted some cites are pretty and have great looking buildings, but like Indianapolis' slap in the face with the stadium and new buildings, the world that inspires us to create we can never approach in beauty.

Ninety miles per hour downhill with a Rifle in Leadville.

First thing's first, I usually go in chronological order yet far, but what happened just before I got to where I am now something horribly scary and amazing happened. On Interstate 70, going the speed limit of 75mph, I suddenly saw a dead deer in the left lane. Immediately after in the shoulder was the broken glass, bumper, and rest of the car that had hit this deer. After being amazed that I did not see the deer until my headlights were right up on its carcass, I looked back in my rear view mirror to see the car behind me. This car, was in the left lane, the lane that the deer was in the middle of. This car RAMPED the dead deer. I was so scared that it could have been me.

So on a lighter note, Denver has good public transit compared to Indy. Taxis, hybrid taxis, busses, rail, bike lanes, the whole deal.

It was still flat after getting out of Denver for a few miles.

But the scenery out was amazing, and didn't disappoint thereafter.



The Rocky peaks, snow caps and treeline were genuinely beautiful to lay eyes on.

Rocky Mountain National Park was just that, the Rocky Mountains. Other mountain ranges were quite different. A definite treeline, with the greenest pines and spruces, and a nice layer of snow.

The mountains just kept appearing.

The first tunnel I went through was pretty.

Towns were all along the interstate. I guess most of them were old mining towns. They had names like Copper, Leadville, Rifle, Silt.

I snapped a picture of the elk warning sign just because I liked the image, later I came to realize how much they meant business.

Vail, Colorado. Skiing, hotels, more skiing, and a definite architectural style that has to be kept my law.

I was as close to Aspen, Colorado as the interstate would go, and of course there were a dominance of Aspen.

I saw many wild Mustangs. Well at least one gold one, and some newer ones on the road. i did see a Bighorn Sheep deciding whether or not to go into the middle of the highway though.

Quickly after the continental divide the snow was heavy and then let off. This is the aft side of the mountain.

And right across was the snowy side. Both sides of the highway were like this most of the way.

The scenery began to look more and more like what I will be seeing more of next.

The Glenwood Canyon started with a big tunnel.


It was amazing to drive through, what a change compared to the mountain peaks. A shame that the way most get to see it is on the road, and off the road you'd be seeing the highway.

Out of the canyon there were more and more trailer parks, motor home parks and western stereotypes like big honkin trucks, abandoned mines, and railroads. This is one side of the road.

And this is the other. What a dramatic difference.

This truck was badass. The only thing it was missing was a steer skull and horns on the chrome flame grill. I was surprised that this was the first I had seen. Maybe I'll see more like it.

I was chasing the sun trying to get to grand Junction, Colorado before the sun completely set, and It was a good thing I came to realize later with the wildlife.

I saw a humongous dead bear in the side of the road. I don't know what the car ended up looking like, but the bear was ruined. If i didn't see what was left of the skull I couldn't begin to tel what it was.

Then from 75mph I had to slow because there was a police car in the shoulder, slowing down AND getting over is a nice thing to and sometimes the law. Right after this one cop I saw another two police cars and an ambulance by the onramp, but no accident from what I could tell. THEN. Then I sped up as I was passed it, in the shoulder was a car, and the van in front of me got back into the right lane. I usually get into the left lane when a car is in the shoulder, cop or not. But I followed the van passed the car, and as soon as I got noticed the car I noticed the deer in the road. I freaked out and maneuvered by all the broken glass, bumper, and rear view mirror in my lane. I am so glad I instinctively followed the van for whatever reason as I would have hit the deer. Now there was a car behind my in the lane that the deer was in. I did not see it until it was in headlight view not 10 feet in front of my car. This car did not see it until he had RAMPED it.

I didn't beleive what I saw. The headlights went straight up, then straight down, and I realized what happened. The car coasted for a bit then pulled off to the shoulder, and I went on my way freaked the hell out. Needless to say I didn't ever get up to the speed limit until I reached the city.

I had been driving all day long, and my car didn't ike the thin air. Everytime a steep incline happened, my car, while in cruise control, revved so much just to make it. When I got into the city, being that I slowed down and was stopped at red lights, my car began to overheat and make a horrible noise. I pulled over and let up the hood to give the girl a break.

I haven't been eating very much since my stomach has shrunk quite a bit from being lovesick and not having a wonderful person to make meals for me. Well the ONLY food establishment open was China Grill and Buffet. I had turkey, and was pleased that I didn't have to eat the club crackers, marshmallows, and citrus blast that were in my car for a meal.

Pink blinds, teal trim, neon lights. Yes please.

I've been posting pictures of myself so that you could see that I am alive and getting ever so gross. Well you could tell from today's picture that I was in need of a shower. Not to mention I just wanted to chill after being freaked out. A nice hot shower was a nice end to a great day.
I hope your Thanksgiving went well. What I lacked in great food I made up for in tremendous scenery. So bleh.