This was Nick's pain in the ass horse - Theona.
...and my sweet ride, Copenhagen
Our ride took us through the Dixie National Forest, with the Red Canyons in the background
...to the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon
Nick at the rim of Bryce Canyon
I could so be a cowgirl!
On the way back to the ranch, we saw Mule Deer. I know its blurry, cut me some slack...I was on a moving horse, taking a zoomed in picture of a moving animal...
see how far away it is? Can't see it? exactly.
Show Off !!!
Nah, he worked at the corral and was a really nice guy. He was doing other tricks too, like flipping upside down and stuff like that.
Back at the corral...no, thank YOU
After we were done horsing around (GROAN...sorry, my bad...couldn't resist!) we left Bryce Canyon to drive through the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, still along Byway-12, towards Capitol Reef National Park.
How do you know you're still in Utah? Where else do you find Mormans, in their white shirts and dark ties, walking down the road in the middle of nowhere when it's a zillion degrees outside? Again...I'm not trying to insult anyone, its not my thing but I mean no disrespect and I don't mean to mock their beliefs and customs...and Mormans are some of the nicest people I have ever met. But seriously dudes...you're walking away from the only civilization in area...certainly the only civilization within walking distance!
...just a few minutes down the road (driving, I mean) this is the view out the front windshield.
Soon the orange and red rock gave way to fantastic formations of almost white-grey rock...
every so often we'd see lush green farms nestled in the canyons
awesome scenery
as per usual, Spunky couldn't resist getting out of the car at the lookouts
Boynton Overlook (named for John Boynton, who turned himself in after killing Washington Phipps in a dispute in 1878. Short of manpower, the Escalante authorities gave him $10 and told him to ride to the county seat in Parowan, about 100 miles west. Boynton was never seen again)
Remember...this is outlaw country.
We had been driving for a little while when we saw a small sign for the Kiva Koffee House...did our eyes deceive us? really? a coffee shop, all the way out here? could it be true...?
We almost didn't stop as we could hardly see the building and we weren't sure it was open
but, it was just well designed to blend in with the landscape and give an awesome view of the canyons
me and spunky, waiting for our coffee and enjoying the view
refreshed from our impromptu coffee break at Kiva's and a great conversation with two travelers from the Netherlands, we were back out driving on barely paved roads...
...roads that took us through some of the most fantastic landscape that Utah has to offer.
Almost untouched, at least unspoiled, by man...the vastness, the colors, the rock formations, the canyons...its almost overwhelming how amazing it is.
The scenery kept getting better and better as we drove to Capitol Reef, but I'm going to add those pictures to the next entry as this one is just getting too long.
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