Karma, Shooting Stars, Sunsets and more

Unfortunately I do this all the time. Lots to catch up on because either the internet won’t work or I’m much too tired. So, here I am at 2am your time trying to work on these blogs…just for you. I know you’re all so helpless without knowing what’s going on with me and my life, because as you all know, I’m the center of the universe.

So, we drove from Denver to Salt Lake City. Colorado was actually very pretty past Denver. Not saying Denver wasn’t gorgeous, but the mountains around Breckenridge, Vail and Aspen were exceptional. Exceptionally challenging that is. You try driving Ollie fully loaded up and down mountains! Not an easy task. He chugged along though and eventually we made it through to the other side. I don’t exactly know quite how exciting it was on the other side, however. Utah was…the best state ever! I absolutely LOVED Utah. I don’t think I’ve ever literally jaw dropped, but I did at the breathtaking beauty of this desert. I’ve seen deserts before, but nothing can compare to the landscapes of the Arches National Park.

I swear the entire time driving this day I was comparing the scenery to different movies, TV shows and books. We had Fear and Loathing (of course, but only because it was Bat Country), Seven (where they leave her head in a box on the side of the road), Wil E. Coyote and Road Runner (with all the different tunnels and bridges), Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller (if you’re not into Christian books just look past it and focus on the here and now aspect), and Macon County (yet again).

Oh goodness was it a drive though. I think it was because this was the leg of the trip I was most excited for. I couldn’t wait to get to Arches National Park. It was the one stop that I had planned. If you could have imagined more breathtaking beauty I would’ve died to see it. After a 3 mile hike to the Delicate Arch, I stood under it claiming that I’ve seen what I have of the world and this was by far the most beautiful. Plus, what’s a little beauty without a little danger? Come on! Who wouldn’t do a handstand on the edge of a cliff underneath the most gorgeous rock formation one could possibly see?! Crazy? Maybe. Mom didn’t quite make it to the top, but I give her props for hiking with me in the 105 degree heat of Utah with only one water bottle. I did meet the cousins of the Goo Goo Dolls, Robbie, at the top. Kind of random and crazy, but they did offer to get me backstage and a picture with him if I went to the concert in Buffalo. Hey, you never know!

After we finally got back to the bottom it was sunset, so we headed to the Balanced Rock and I took some pictures of the rainbow in the storm and once we got a little lower down we stopped at a viewpoint and took some fabulous pictures of the sunset. I laid on top of Ollie and just admired the general splendor of all the different shades and hues of color. The blues of the sky, the purples of the mountains, the reds and oranges of the rocks. By the way, I didn’t think it was possible to take that many pictures of rocks, but my mother found a way. We finally got back to the visitors center around 9 to get some bottles of water and head off to Salt Lake where we stayed at the sketchy hotel.

Of course, let’s talk about this again.

Karma. Okay, so apparently this is how it goes. I have to drive in the rain and the insane twisty, turvy downhill roads in Ollie in the dark and my mother has to drive in the construction areas. Fair? You’ll think that until you hear that we decided to trade off paying for gas every other time. Well, it seems to be that every other time varies in price drastically. Every time I buy gas it’s around $2.50; every time she buys gas it’s around $2.90. Karma’s a bitch isn’t it?

I think by far the most spectacular, amazing thing on this trip was while we were driving through the desert in Utah, I saw a shooting star. This was not just any shooting star. It shot across the entire sky radiating brilliance. And to top it off the tail end of this shooting star was a bright neon green. I’ve never seen anything like it and probably never will again. How’s that for absolutely amazing?

I’m trying not to be Sleepless in Seattle here, but I need to go to bed to attain the anti- of that status. So, here’s to you Floridians (and Meghann)…I miss you all.