Places

UTAH. LIFE ELEVATED.

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That is the slogan on the license plate and boy!  Have we been there!  Literally and figuratively.

imageThis is Capitol Reef National Park which, at first, I thought was going to be a bust but as we turned corner after corner, it just wowed us.  We are struggling without good internet service but this place is worth the time it takes to download pictures for you to see.

image Here the rocks are so twisted, tortured, convoluted, crushed, and contorted it is unbelievable.  The vistas are enormous or crowded with formations in a rainbow of colors.  This valley was settled by Mormons in 1880 and the last family left in 1969.  Their homestead is still used as a museum and snack shop.  Here’ what we had!  I told mark that eating these great Utah pastries is what gave me such shapely hips!

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We watched a storm cross over the cliffs hitting the ground with lightening, we saw petroglyphs, smelled a dead deer, and marveled at the wonder of Mother Nature.  Eileen is suffering from altitude sickness as we are at 7000 feet.  The name derives from the fact at many of the formations are domed to mimic the Capitol dome and the bottoms are like an ocean reef which inhibits travel.

 

Our next location took us  Bryce Canyon.  What an awesome place this is!  We hiked the hoodoos and enjoyed going to all the scenic overlooks.  Bill and Eileen had to leave two days early to go to St. George to get their refrigerator fixed.  It was like withdrawal when they left, but we managed on our own.

imageWe hiked more hoodoos and marveled at the beauty of this place.  But, I forgot the most stirring event!  Here is the road we drove on from Capitol Reef to Bryce.  Hang on, the ride was terrifying!!

image imageHard to tell, but this was a ridgeback which dropped off into a mountain valley thousands of feet below.  What a ride!  Hang on.

BIGGEST BALL OF TWINE IN THE WORLD

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imageimageYes, really!  It’s found in Cawker City, Kansas.  First of all, city is a major misnomer but largest ball of twine isn’t.  This ball is about 10 feet tall and weighs 19,906lbs which includes what we added today.  It was started in 1953 by a farmer who had odds and ends of twine left over from baling and started twisting it into a ball.  During the Kansas centennial in 1961 the then 5000 lb ball was loaded onto a tractor and paraded through town and then donated to the populace who have made a habit of adding twine annually at a festival and encouraging stupid tourists who drive three hours out of their way to see it to wind twine on it, too.  So why did we go here?  Bill did it as a surprise for Eileen who thought it was a dumb idea.   But we pulled over in a “no truck parking”zone and ran across the street to see it.  Even the cats eyed this potential toy with interest.  Al’s Bar and Grill wasn’t open for lunch because his 100 year old auntie had just died so we hopped on the buses and headed for Russell, Kansas.

22 TONS OF FUN (OR TERROR)

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imageAfter three nights in Branson, Missouri, we hit the road again on our way to Golden, Colorado.  This will involve two boogie nights in Lawrence and Russell, Kansas.  But , I did want to talk some about Mossouri.  First, it is NOTHING like I imagined.  It is very hilly and the hills and valleys are covered with trees, mostly hardwoods.  There are rivers and lakes and incredible rock outcroppings which tell of ancient seas ebbing and flowing, laying down hundreds of feet of silt, fossils, and other things which were then eroded into the hills we spent two terrifying days traversing.  When you are pushing 22 tons up a hill, okay.  When 22 tons is pushing you downhill, hold on!  The picture above does not do Missouri justice.  All the roads are hewn out of this rock and in some places it resembles the desert southwest rock formations.  I wasn’t quick enough to get a really good picture.  Anyway, this was this morning as we left Branson.  The hill is about an 800 foot climb after going down a similar hill.  Wow!!