Breathtakingly beautiful, and unlike anything we've seen anywhere else, are the red, rocky formations in Utah.
We left Salt Lake City heading for Moab, Utah, and Arches National Park. This was a place I had always wanted to see and it did not disappoint. Here are some photos from our drive away from Salt Lake City.
Indigenous tribes often see rock formations as ancestors, with deeply spiritual qualities. Earlier, when we were traveling across Montana, we stopped at a marker and saw a sleeping buffalo rock. This rock was part of a group of rocks that looked like a herd of sleeping buffalo that had been atop a mountain and many tribes believed the buffalo rocks had spiritual power. In 1932, the rock was moved. It was said to be restless. It now resides under a shelter on Route 2. Likewise, the buffalo stones I referred to in my last blog post, were thought to be powerful. Buffalo were an important resources for the plains Indians and were highly respected. I talked about the power imbued in some stones in the context of Hawaiian (ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi) and Māori culture in an earlier post (near the end, related to Pamela Polland's song).
All around Moab, Utah, and Arches National Park, we saw rock formations that were awe-inspiring. We thought they often looked like buildings in a prehistoric city. In fact, the formations were the result of a vast salt sea, which dissolved under subsequent layers of sandstone and sweeping winds, over millions of years. It was not difficult to understand how they are seen to have spiritual power. In fact, local tribes still hold ceremonies, privately, at or near some of these rock formations.
The following day, we set off for Zion National Park, 5 hours across Utah. We had not realized how beautiful the drive would be - multiple rock faces in the desert, from ancient seas.
Then, we arrived at Zion National Park. Wow - it was a similar beauty, but on a much grander scale. If Arches resembled ancient cities, Zion was a playground for gods. We took a shuttle to the visitor center, then took a second shuttle on the floor of the giant canyon.
It was a long day, but not over yet. We had booked an Airbnb in Kenab, Utah - not far in distance, but the road was through the mountain and it was another hour and a half drive. As fortune would have it, the drive was spectacular. In addition to incredible scenery, we also saw bighorn sheep.
The next morning, we realized that even the view from our Airbnb featured the red rocks.
In Kenab, we were about 90 miles from the North entrance to the Grand Canyon, so we took a day trip there. I had been to the South entrance a decade or so earlier. Almost the moment we crossed into Arizona, the red rocks disappeared, replaced by blue mountains and tall, green Ponderosa Pines.
When we got to the north side of the Grand Canyon, we saw more buffalo!
The canyon was lovely. Not as dramatic as the South side, to be sure, but full of trees and misty blue mountains. We had a nice drink on the patio of the lodge, relaxing into the day.
When we crossed back into Utah, we immediately saw red cliffs again.
The next day, we headed for Las Vegas. We crossed the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, which were gorgeous.
As we crossed into Arizona, we again saw the landscape turn from red to tan and blue.
After that, as we neared Las Vegas, we entered Nevada and descended into a very hot desert.
We arrived in Las Vegas, the final Western destination for our companions, Julie & Pat. I think in this world there are two kinds of people: those who love the Las Vegas strip, and those who don't. I count myself among the latter. The bright lights, incessant noise, non-stop activity, and labyrinthine indoor mazes of hotels (with casinos, clubs, restaurants, and bars) feel overstimulating and just too much. We did gamble a bit (Paul won $80 playing Blackjack then we spent it on dinner), and drink a bit, and walk a little outside. Paul's parents loved the Las Vegas strip, and went there many, many times. They enjoyed gambling, and made enough money for it to feel fun, without ever risking more than they should. But it is not for me.
We did have some good food there. We had Singapore noodles, and a great breakfast at a cafe in the MGM Grand.
We had a very expensive dinner at Morimoto in the MGM Grand. It was worth it. The food was outstanding.
We went to a comedy club (Brad Garrett). The comedy was inconsistent. Brad Garrett spent most of his set insulting audience members using outrageous stereotypes (race, gender, age - you name it) then telling the audience if we didn't think it was funny, we just were too uptight. While he has an undeniable star charisma, I just didn't think he was very funny. Even though he is a little younger than us, his comedy seemed very old-fashioned. We enjoyed the other comics more - Karen Rontowski and Omid Singh were funny. The best part about the club was the jazz band playing in the lobby, Ashley Fuller & the Collective. They were outstanding.
On the second day of our time in Las Vegas, Julie & Pat went to the airport and traveled back to Michigan. We had a wonderful time with them. They were terrific travel companions. We even celebrated Julie's birthday while we were in Moab, Utah. We're glad they arrived safely in Michigan, and look forward to our next time together!
My experience of Las Vegas reminds me of the song by the Eagles, "Hotel California". It starts on a dark desert highway, and descends into a surrealistic experience. I was especially reminded of the phrase, "You can check out any time you want, but you can never leave..." when we were looking for a way out of a large casino/hotel and just kept running into twists and turns, seemingly never reaching the surface. The classic recording is by The Eagles, but Paul forwarded me this version which appears to be by an Italian band but really emphasizes the Mexican/flamenco roots of some of the music in the song.
I recorded it on my ukelele.
Comments