Amazing National Parks

Tuesday, June 2 we drove forever to get to Green Mountain KOA in Green Mountain, Utah. Mapquest estimates travel time at the speed limit level of 80 MPH in this case, but when driving a motor home with a tow, going that speed is unrealistic.  We travel at about 65 MPH on the interstates. As we traveled I-70 West from Colorado we saw drastic changes in the countryside.  We enjoyed lush green mountains and farm land as we left Colorado but the further west we went, we were so shocked to see barren land that had no vegetation or life at all.  Also, huge formations began to appear, well they weren't huge at first, but as we continued on our way, the formations became huge, even mirroring ancient Gothic buildings. WOW, is this really Utah?  Do I have to stay here?

Finally, we arrived and settled in for a three-night stay.  I had marinated four chicken breasts in Colorado, so we grilled them all and saved two for a meal for the next day. It was Buck's 70th birthday, so I tried to prepare a good meal. Remember his present was the long-sleeved t-shirt from Rocky Mountain National Park. He received many good wishes by phone and Facebook before the day was over.  When we went to bed that first night in Utah, I think he really felt 70!

Wednesday brought a beautiful day for sight-seeing.  Buck had selected this location because of the many national parks in the area.  ( At first, I really had my doubts about this selection.)  So off we go to the first one: Arches National Park.  Remember that we had seen strange formations on each side of the interstate?  After going to the national park, we know what they really are. Underground, a salt bed exists just like in the ocean.  The salt bed is responsible for the arches, spikes, and unbalanced rocks.  This salt bed was deposited 300 million years ago when a sea flowed into the region and eventually evaporated.  Over millions of years, residue from floods, winds, and other oceans that came and went, blanketed the salt bed.  The debris was compressed as rock. Thousands of feet thick in some places, this salt bed was deposited across the Colorado Plateau.  Because a salt layer is unstable, over time it shifted, buckled, liquefied, and re-positioned itself, twisting the rock layers upward as domes and as whole sections fell into the cavities.  Thus, the odd formations.  And those formations continue to change.  Water and time cause the formations to change - like the formation may drop off a huge chunk of itself to the lower levels below.  We viewed a video - where I learned all my information- and then toured the national park. WOW, it's a must see.  Truly amazing.  A picture is shown below.

Arches National Park

As if that one national park wasn't enough, we journeyed to the second one for the day. Canyonlands National Park, just a few miles away. This park preserves a wilderness of rock at the heart of the Colorado Plateau.  Water and gravity, this land's prime architects, cut flat layers of sedimentary rock into hundreds of canyons and mesas.   The Colorado River and the Green River set the stage for the canyons.  The two rivers merge south of the canyons and flow through the Grand Canyon in Arizona.  There, the river is known as the Colorado River. A picture from this park is shown here.

Canyonlands National Park

Assuming we had extra room in our brains for more information, on Thursday, we went to the third national park: Capital Reef. We drove forever to get there and even had to wait twice for road construction. (That's everywhere around here!)  This reef developed when a giant buckle in the earth's crust occurred in south-central Utah.  This vast warping of rock, created 65 million years ago by the same great forces uplifting the Colorado Plateau, is called the "Waterpocket Fold."  Capitol Reef National Park preserves the Fold and its cliffs, domes, twisted canyons, and graceful arches.  But it does more - it preserves the free-flowing Fremont River and the dessert sky.  Like the other two national parks, this one exists due to the flow of water and length of time.  A picture is shown here.

Capitol Reef National Park

Please note that Colorado Plateau is mentioned in the description of all thee national parks.  Most all of Utah is in the Colorado Plateau.

I took many pictures at all three of the national parks with my cell phone, but they didn't do justice to the sights. So I took a picture of post cards!!  (Honest Abe, here). Just wanted you to see the scenes up close.

I have another "TV" update, but I'll save that for the Idaho blog. See ya then!