Road Trip day 12

A lot of time watching the road today ... we set out for Canyonlands NP this morning ... the easy part of this huge area to get to, a bit north of Moab ( 1st left on the road north) . It’s very different, huge expanses of many green plants on the high Mesa that gets less than 10 inches of rain a year. ( how do they survive.?). The 2nd left shows the Green River than flows thru the expansive canyons it cut into this earth. ( soon to join the Colorado R) Top right, leaving Canyonland , ( a bit of that green landscape) . We skipped Arches NP ...we’ ve been there before . but this is the last of the “Grand Circle . A bit blitzed, mostly stopping at the pullouts for pictures. Too hot and too high for serious walking for me. 2nd right, the way back south thru more red rocks, and then the fabulous road out to the east that follows the Colorado River. .( 3rd). And we’re leaving those red rocks behind, finally. Bottom left is going north over those Colorado mountains ( 8200 ft pass) and then it gets a bit flatter and I included this last one for the sky that actually produced a few minutes of rain. ( yea! ) Heading back to Seattle now but need a shorter driving day tomorrow and there is a fun national monument nearby we intend to see .
So many photos I just couldn’t resist a few ( how to choose?) but you get the idea of this astonishing bit of the USA... from the car on the road. ( extra is that new car someone wanted to see... here at Staircase- Escalante Kiva coffee stop yesterday....we keep learning new things about it.... enjoying listening to audible library books .. today a Jack Reacher mystery. )
Forgot to make a decent thumbnail :-(. Don’t dare mess with it now,...