Thunderbolts and lightening.... in Moab, Utah

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I chose Moab as a base of adventure while on my little mini-vacation this summer. I camped out in a walk-in campground right off the main road. Camping was a cinch, though the weirdly snobbish yuppies filling up the place were a bit, well, weird. So, consider this an open letter - just smile at someone if you see they are camping alone. It doesn't cost you anything and trust me, I'm not going to ask for help if you accidentally make eye contact, so you are in no way responsible for me. You just might make me (or someone else) smile, and relieve the loneliness of a long day on the road. The second night at the camp site a wicked thunder and lightening storm lit of the night sky for hours. I've never seen so much lightening, it was easily as impressive as the other sites I saw on the way.

So, near Moab there are a ton of things to do. I chose to visit Arches National Park first. The park is beautiful, though crowded, so I was super happy when I moved over to Dead Horse State Point just another 30 miles away. This site is so named as legend holds that cowboys used to round up the wild horses at the point, take the best and leave the rest to die within those corrals. Cruel for sure, though judging by the corpse of a wild horse I saw today on the side of the road, wild horses are not fairing any better these days.

Down the road is Canyonlands National Park, a beautiful park just meant for breathtaking, expansive views. In fact, if you see (like I did), the sixty cars ahead of you at Arches, NP and get a little antsy, I would just head on over to these two parks. Leave the combat tourism in your dust!

Excellent quick trip, I'll be back to visit Utah soon.

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Photos

Dead horse potash industry
Here you can see what I believe to be a public/private partnership in action. The water is dyed blue as part of the potash extraction process.

Canyonlands (I think)
I have been getting my photos a little mixed up, but seeing as how the Canyonlands NP and the Deadhorse State Point are only a mere 4 miles or so a part, I thought you would forgive me.

Movie Prop
Riders of the Purple Sage, outside of Moab 20 miles or so.

Memorial to coal workers outside Helper, Utah
The coal industry throughout the West is often ignored as people focus on those plants in the East. However, coal has played a huge part in the industrial growth in the West. Super interesting find.

Wind Power!
Just a picture outside of SLC (on the 15), to highlight wind power in the West.