To be able to eek out a living in this harsh country is truly something to be proud of, and I have left the area with bits of their artistic souls - some beadwork, a piece of sand art and my favorite - a woven rug. The rug is small, but is precious to me - I feel a connection to the artist somehow and I am trying to learn more about her from the young man who sold me her rug.
We left for Moab by 10:00 am and headed another 150 miles north - traversing more sandstone landscapes with varying hues of red, yellow, green, white, purple and pink. We are no where near Arizona's Painted Desert and Grand Canyon, but the rock and sand colors are similar hues.Only a couple small towns were between us and Moab, and their existence evidently depended upon a water table that rose to the surface - there were no rivers nearby. Where there was water, plants flourished - the land is volcanically rich. But water is a rarity and mostly reserved for people and animals. The desert wins 98% of the time.
The La Sal Mountains are the prominent formations, but there are other rocks, like Monument, that suddenly jut from the landscape....
and arches. Lots and lots of arches. We'll see more of these Saturday.
Our RV park is an oasis - large cottonwood and Mulberry trees abound and there's lush green grass at every site - totally opposite from the last park at Gouldings (in Monument Valley). There was only red sand at our site - and hardy small trees with drip waterers that barely were surviving the desert.
Behind a levee here, just 150 feet from the trailer lies the mighty Colorado - a wide, swiftly flowing river that we plan to go boating on tomorrow. I may even buy a fishing license and get my rod wet....Mike has laughingly suggested a hot air balloon ride - and I did notice parachuting available, too. But I think my sky adventures are over for the summer. Besides, I want to sky dive with Merideth, if I do it. Mother-daughter bonding is good...
Our RV park is an oasis - large cottonwood and Mulberry trees abound and there's lush green grass at every site - totally opposite from the last park at Gouldings (in Monument Valley). There was only red sand at our site - and hardy small trees with drip waterers that barely were surviving the desert.
Debbie! Welcome to Moab. You will be interested to know the rock are so very similar with Arizona Painted Desert and Grand Canyon because there is a unique geophysical province called teh Colorado Plateau that contains around 13 million acres. The plateau crust rose about a kilometer higher than the surrounding terrains.
ReplyDeleteThe La Sal Mountains means "The Salt", The Dominguez/Escalante Expeditions of 1776 named the distant snow covered peaks. Of course, they were tortured in the desert heat, struggled to find water to hydrate live stock and men of the expedition and experienced salt residues on the route, so they anticipated the mountains were a salt pile. Ha!
Finally, I hope you are able to enjoy the world famous Colorado River while you are in Moab. Take a 4 hour jetboat tour or try the scenic splash raft trip.