Monday, February 21, 2011

rock on.....

last week we came up from gallop, new mexico on us 491.......crossing thru the southwestern corner of colorado and then into utah and going north on us 191 ......we were headed to portland, oregon....by way of the "backroads"......lol......i probably took a thousand pictures.....the scenery is just amazing......wide flat valleys, ensconced on both sides by volumous mountains....the snow-covered western slope of the rockies to the east and the la sal range to the west....i'd have to blog at least 10 times to show you all the beauty along this drive....so i picked out a few of my favorites to share.....


crossing the colorado river just above moab, utah.....

balancing rock........there's even a motel named for it at the base of this mountain......i'm not sure i'd get a good nite's sleep there, as i tend to "unbalance" things at times.....


brad and babygirl in the wilson arch....brad is a lover of all things rocky.....he loves to climb and babygirl's always ready for an adventure with dad......


wilson arch.....named after joe wilson, a pioneer who had a cabin nearby....this formation is known as entrada sandstone.....over time, the superficial cracks, joints and folds of these layers were saturated with water....ice formed in the fissures, then melted in the extreme desert heat and winds cleaned out the loose particles......over the years many have crumbled, but some, such as the wilson arch, seen here, hardened and survived.....i didn't make this up, there's a sign at the base of the arch.......

this is just one of my other favorites.......i don't know what this one is named.....it sits near the highway in a long sweeping valley, majestically overseeing the area.......beaten by the wind and rain over the years, it's almost impossible to think it wasn't sculpted.....if you look closely at the southern base, there appears to be an opening into the bottom of it.......hmmmmm......




2 comments:

Lipstick Trucker said...

Great shots Ruth. Post card perfect!

Ms. Crawford said...

Omg! This is so awesome! We rarely take backgrounds out west, actually never. We only take them in like Alabama, Missouri, places we know. This is amazing! I am excited to know we cam go down these roads. You gotta email me with the details on this trip, did you choose to take back roads? Was it out of route miles? Do you take these often and are they nice? This is so exciting to me!