Moab

It's all about scale.  The west is BIG.  I don't mean big like wide or covering a lot of square miles, though that is certainly true.  The west is just BIG.  The sky is big, the prairies/deserts are big.  The gaps between not just cities or towns, but pretty much any clump of human beings is big.  But the most awesome parts of the west that are big are the rocks.  Arches and Canyonlands today.

Arches is billions of tons of fun. and sweat.  We hiked to Delicate Arch this morning, early to try and beat the heat.  Lily complained and sulked and lagged, but Lily also made it to the top.  The trail is a mile and a half uphill much of  it across rock.  It was 9 when we started, so it wasn't the worst of the day, but it was heating up.  To her credit, when we got to the Arch, we were clambering all over the rocks.  She didn't show nearly as much fear of the several hundred foot drop next to the arch as i felt was prudent.

The way back down was much more fun as we climbed everything we could.  Then we went to Double Arch for more climbing.
Clare has acquired the hobby of collecting reproduction WPA National Park Posters and the Arches visitor center was a gold mine.  She only collects those of places she's been and she was able to get Arches, Canyonlands and Monument Valley(which is great because we'll be damned before we'll go to that miserable place again).

 After lunch and pool and complimentary cookies c/o  the Gonzo Inn, we headed to Canyonlands and a different lesson in scale.  Canyonlands has immense views of awe inspiring mountains, buttes, canyons valleys and deserts all in one spot. The fall from the mesa that is Canyonlands isn't hundreds, it's thousands of feet.  And for some reason today the wind was vicious, and it blew dust into your eyes, so you were half blind standing on a 2200 ft tall rock with high winds trying to blow you over.  I highly recommend it.

People use the word "Awesome" a lot.  99 percent of the time it's bullshit.  This time it isn't.

Tomorrow we raft down the river in the morning and prepare for the camping week of our trip in bryce, zion and Grand Canyon.  That's another place the exposes the language as inadequate to the task of describing the scene.  You don't have to like nature or hiking or hippies or any of that shit to be awed by this place.

To use the Universe or Space or planets as a guide to give you perspective on how small you really are, you have to use your imagination.  This place just hits you in the face with it, no imagining necessary.  You're small, and all you have to do to see it is stand here and look at all this BIG.