We are so emotionally wrung out! Maybe you’ll understand after reading today’s events. We got away around the same time as usual and headed for the spot where the four state lines intersect. Right as we got onto the hiway, we saw a colony of prairie dogs which started the day off in a good way. They were just lazing around in the sun and going about their business. Cute little buggers! When we got to the entrance of the monument, there was a crowd and they wanted money just to see the spot. Not happening. We ran back into Colorado and then right back into Utah. We drove north through White Canyon which is the east end of Glen Canyon. I am really having trouble with a description of what we saw today. It just wouldn’t stop. It’s almost spiritual the beauty that is there. Every turn was so impressive that we actually choked up and tears ran down our cheeks several times. It was like listening to Mario Lanza or Richard Tucker with your eyes. Ma would have loved it! The day was glorious and the scenery was beyond expression. We had picked up a CD of Native American music in the visitors center at Marble Canyon on the way down a few weeks back. The flute with drums and chanting supported by symphony was haunting. The combination of music and spectacular scenery was almost more than we could take. “Wow” came out involuntarily a thousand times. We turned down a road that said it would become gravel for a few miles and would climb at a 15% grade with many switch-backs. It also warned about not trying it with a trailer or over 10,000 lbs GVW. What the heck; we could always turn back and I am adventurous so away we went. The road was gravel, but very smooth and it looked doable. As we climbed we began to wonder where the road could possibly go up this step cliff we were ascending. We drove at maybe 10 miles an hour and did stop for the view a couple times. We really had no trouble, but when we reached the top, we had climbed almost 2,000 vertical feet in 3 miles! We wondered who on earth built this road! It saved many extra miles, but it must have been a very tough job. Some of it was wash-board so the corners were paved to prevent crow-hopping on the decent and losing control. That would be disastrous. Once on top the terrain was still amazing. We were on top of a huge mesa that was covered with juniper and small pine trees. We came upon a sign that read, “Jacob’s Chair”. It’s the ‘chair’ looking formation beyond the cliffs in the foreground. We could see the black clouds in the distance, but didn’t know if the road would lead us into it or not. The road wound trough canyons and cliffs so high that it was like traveling in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. At one point we crossed the Colorado River and then climbed to a bluff overlooking the scene below. We walked out to the point and were overwhelmed with the sights all around us. Thea said that the many froms around us reminded her of huge mounds of carved fudge. It made her hungry for a brownie or hot fudge sundae. It did start to rain as we approached the town of Hanksville. It was a good time to stop for lunch so we pulled into a small cafe that bragged of buffalo burgers. That sounded good so we ordered. When we went to pay, they had lost the telephones and would not take our credit card. Hmmm. I’m glad we had plenty of fuel so we didn’t need to charge any there. We reluctantly left and saw another place just down the road. It was called Blondie’s and their phones were out as well, but would take a check from Washington. So we got some lunch and then needed to make some time, so we went north on east 24 that would connect to I-70 44 miles north. That road was nearly straight the entire way. I think there might have been 2 curves the whole distance. The road was good so I let the Vette roll out. We ran 44 miles in 24 minutes. You do the math. It was exhilarating. I- 70 was smooth and lacked much traffic, so we made good time there as well. Not as good as E-24 though. The road seemed to climb and climb and went through some more unbelievable scenery. It started to rain again and this time it got heavy. We crossed a pass that did not post a name, but the summit was 7,883 feet. Going down the other side made me cautious because it was very difficult to see through the down pour. It seemed like we descended for 35 or 40 miles. The mpg was way up today. That’s nice. Finally we connected with U-50 and then I-15 and arrived in Nephi right at 8 PM. We got a room at the same Motel 6 that we stayed at on the way though 3 weeks ago. When I opened the file for pictures, we had taken 84! Normally we get 10 to 15. I really wish I could include them all, but the blog site only allows 5 at a time. (Please click on each picture to see them better.) The whole day was sooo… amazing, incredible, spectacular, glorious, stupendous, not stupendous, but you get the idea. The camera did not even come close to the actual vistas and vast panoramas of what we saw. It was all too much! You really need to see this with your own eyes. We were humbled by it all. We wondered what forces created what we saw. If it was a vast plain, formed by a long time of sediment settling to the bottom of a sea or something that was eroded into the canyons and cliffs, where did all that was in-between go? Or was it when after the Flood the earth stretched to its present size and the low places formed and then erosion did its work? Maybe we can watch the “How the Earth Was Formed “video when we get to heaven and see for ourselves. It’s not a place we’d want to live, but it is worth seeing again and the next time we’ll have a better camera.