Utah- Canyonlands and Arches

Happy September Break, Teachers! School might look and feel different but our desperate need for a week off after 9 weeks of school remained the same. Dad, AT, and I hit the road to spend some quality socially distanced time in the beautiful national parks of Utah.* So far we have been to Canyonlands and Arches National Parks and will be going to the other three of the Mighty Five Utah parks this week. 

As with the last great road trip that Dad and I took, we have been masked up, eating outside, and generally avoiding society.** There isn't much to report from the 27 hours of driving west other than Kansas is flat,*** Denver was cold, and no scenery earned a picture until we hit the Rockies.

Once we arrived in Utah, we GOT TO WORK.**** We started in Canyonlands National Park- a park so big there are multiple sections that even the brochure map doesn't expect you to visit. We started in Islands in the Sky,***** the section closest to Moab. This section overlooks the canyon below and is basically all vistas all the time. We walked, we marveled, we had a lovely time.

We then went to the Needles section of Canyonlands. You can see Needles from Island in the Sky but with the mountains and the canyon and the river, you have to leave the park, drive two hours around and then enter the park on the other side. This puts you in the bottom of the Canyon with the spectacular rock formations all around you.

Today we went to Arches National Park, known for their . . . well . . . you get it. 

But also balanced rocks, vistas, sand dunes, rock formations that maybe look like they're giving you the finger, and lots of walking.

I added in some bonus walking to see the Delicate Arch.****** My reactions can be seen as:

1. Ummmm, what did I sign up for?

2. This has been a lot of uphill!

3. I am sweating, have just climbed a mountain, and there is literally a group of small children just running laps.

4. I did it!*******

It was totally worth it! I know what you're thinking and, yes, that is the arch from the Utah license plate!********

Tomorrow we are heading further west to more parks!********* Three more for us three!

-KT

*Thank you, Badlands, for making me a National Park convert.
**Avoiding society has always been a delight. Thank you, Global Pandemic, for making it more culturally acceptable.
***But a state point for me and AT!
****If you call sight-seeing work, that is. If you do, please contact me with your next job opening. 
*****Thanks, Dolly and Kenny. You were stuck in my head all day. 
******"Delicate" in this case refers to the structural nature of the arch and not to the constitution of the people that walk there.
*******Shout-out to my fellow ladies at YMCA Step Aerobics because several times I thought, "the least I can do for missing class this week is make it to the top of this thing."
********I mentioned this to the family later and learned that no one was ever thinking that.
*********And I will definitely continue to write postcards from the car. Did I come all the way to Utah to mail postcards to Georgia? Sure did! #VoteYourOssoff #PleaseJustVote 

And now, for the devoted fans who made it to the end. Here's a couple of just AT in that hat. She remains the greatest sport that has ever sported for sport.