We started the day with one of the best omelets ever at the Pancake Haus in Moab. Theresa opened the door to leave the restaurant and was surprised by a deer walking past her about 10 feet away, on Main Street in Moab! By the time I got out and photographed the animal it was a half block away. The poor thing didn't like downtown much and jumped the fence into a neighboring yard for a rest.We went shopping for a white water raft trip but they don't have much water in the Colorado this year and the best available was a rather wimpy Class I and almost Class II rapids trip. Classes of rapids range from I, boring; to Class VI, usually fatal. A great description of the classes can be found here: http://www.ehow.com/how_4800695_class-white-water-rapids.html . I don't want to get hurt, but I'm not paying $57 a person to fall asleep in a rubber boat. We will look for something more exciting later in the trip.
W
e spent the mid-day cruising around Arches National Park. This place has scenery that can kill! One of the giant arches fell last year, fortunately at night when nobody was enjoying it's shade. This was only a couple of miles from where a rock the size of a house landed on a policeman directing traffic at a bridge intersection. At least he didn't suffer. For the slight mortal risk of touring the Arches Park you get to see some amazing things. 
e spent the mid-day cruising around Arches National Park. This place has scenery that can kill! One of the giant arches fell last year, fortunately at night when nobody was enjoying it's shade. This was only a couple of miles from where a rock the size of a house landed on a policeman directing traffic at a bridge intersection. At least he didn't suffer. For the slight mortal risk of touring the Arches Park you get to see some amazing things. 
Nature has a way of turning a mountain on its side, then eroding away everything that is not an arch. The result is spectacular!
My recommendations: 1. go see the arches. 2. Don't eat lunch under them, especially if an earthquake is expected.
After a couple of 101 degree hours of seeing these wonders we decided to trade all this beauty for a dip in the hotel pool. Good choice!
Having given up the white water trip we had thought about taking, we decided to splurge and spend the money we saved on a dinner and canyon boat ride, (how's that for Obama like fiscal logic?). This may have been the age appropriate choice as it involved no risk of death or even injury. In spite of this we managed to thoroughly ourselves. Rather than give you all the story here, I'll direct you to their web site which is very nicely done. see: http://www.canyonlandsbynight.com/ . We ate a good meal there and went for the boat ride. They chase the boat with a crew in a light truck that illuminates the canyon walls, synchronized to a recorded program of beautiful music and narration of creation stories from a scientific, Native American, and Christian perspective, Then they give you the history of the settlers, the uranium mining, and much more. My favorite part was near the end of the trip when they turned off the lights to reveal a canopy of stars in a cloudless, perfectly dark, desert dry sky. The milky way was brilliant and you could see the stars all the way to the horizon in any direction. We watched two satellites pass overhead.
We were so impressed with the beautiful dark sky we drove out of town at 11 PM, back to the Arches Park, to better appreciate the sky. After 40 minutes of watching and appreciating we were rewarded with one very nice meteorite that streaked in from the South. I became frustrated trying to photograph the sky with my pocket camera so we went to Danny's for a late night banana split. Hey, we astronomers have to eat too! If you like looking up, check out my friend Ted Wolfe's web site, www.tedwolfe.com .
Bedtime now, heading for Needles Park tomorrow, then the Four Corners area..
No comments:
Post a Comment