Utah!

Our travels continued today, and it was a long one.  We left around 8:30, stopped for a quick bite that we ate on the road, and then followed my sister's suggestion of going to Arches National Park in Utah.  It took almost two hours to get there, and after waiting to pay our entrance fee, we started the drive up.  Kira is not fond of heights where there are no guard rails, so this was a challenge for her, but she handled it well.  In the interest of time, we did not spend too much time getting out and walking to the arches, but Anthony did walk up to one of them, thinking we were there, because he had let us out on this loop and we pretty much disappeared.  I had no intention of walking up there because it was a long way and it was hot.  Kira found me, and we started waiting on Anthony to make the trip around the loop to pick us up, but he was busy trying to find us at the arches.  He texted, but neither of us had our phones, and the service was terrible, so we waited.  I am getting used to the waiting on this trip.  I did find shade beside a worn RV, but I stepped out in the sun once to see if he was coming and lost my shade to lurkers who were just waiting for me to move.  After a good 45 minutes, we all reunited and began our descent.  We had planned to drive to Zion National Park, but knew that we were running out of time, so we decided to head west to Vegas.  Also, Zion charges $20 per person.  Utah parks are well maintained, and now I know why.  Zion will have to wait for another time.  Here are some photos from Arches National Park, and I give most of the photo cred to Anthony for these.  I also highly recommend making this stop if you are ever close to Moab.

    

I thought Kansas was a boring state to drive through, but after seeing so many rock formations mile after mile after mile, I will add that portion of Utah to that list.  Also, it was very hot inside the van because the sun was shining on me the entire time.  We stopped to top off the gas tank, which is a great idea because gas stations are not that plentiful on that stretch of interstate, and Anthony put me back behind the wheel for a couple of hours.  I felt much better then because the sun was on the other side of the van, and Kira had joined me up front.  Also, the speed limit on that stretch is 80 mph! Finally, I could drive over 80 legally.  I was a happy driver, until..... road construction.  Ugh!  I am very careful around road construction and leave ample space between me and the other drivers.  I have to admit, however, that it makes me nervous, and Kira noticed immediately, because I got really quiet and my hands were at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel.  That is code for "this driver is about to have a panic attack."  Anthony's exact words were "pull over at the next exit and I will take over."  My words back were "No, I'm fine."  It was at that moment that I could almost HEAR my dad rolling his eyes in Heaven.  What I did not know was that not only was there road construction that reduced a four lane to two, but I was about to drive through the Virgin River Gorge.  To say I was white knuckle driving is an understatement.  In fact, when I finally came out unscathed on the other side, I literally released breath I didn't know I was even holding.  We stopped at a service station, and I could not get to the restroom fast enough.  I gave the wheel back to Anthony with gratitude, but in case you have never driven this, I had Kira take photos, and she did not use the zoom.

 We finally made it to Vegas and after spending a little bit of time on the Strip, we are in for the night.  We are also now on PST, so as I type this, it is 1:17 a.m. at home.  Tomorrow, I will be all about Las Vegas, which I already love so much.  It is gaudy, loud, and wonderful. 

Before signing off, I will say a couple of things about the temperature, because there is this whole dry heat versus humid heat, and I have always thought that heat was heat.  Not really true.  It is hot here, sure enough.  At 10:30 tonight, it was 92 degrees, but because of the constant breeze, it felt like the low 80s to me.  Also, there is no humidity.  My skin is dryer than normal, we have been sneezing more for some reason, and my nasal passages are dry and annoying, which may be why we have been sneezing more.  My hair?  FABULOUS!!  I have fine hair and did not think it would matter much, but it does.  It feels better and looked as good at 10 p.m. as it did when I first did it this morning.  Don't get Kira started on how great hers is doing. 

We will see how it goes tomorrow temp wise when we do some outdoor activities.  I am about to take a Naproxen and go to bed.  Until tomorrow.