HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A funny looking goat at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah; a theater window (for a production of Sweeney Todd) in Park City, UT; some scary rock formations in Grand Staircase National Monument, also in UT.

Greetings from Palm Springs, CA

We're staying in a nice condo here but, unfortunately, there is no Internet access. I'm posting this from the liibrary and my laptop battery is running down so I have to make it short. We are not being affected by the fires, but just the same, it is HOT! Temps have been in the 80s and 90s. Yesterday we hiked in the desert and it was over 100. I thought I was going to croak; Ed handled it much better than I did. Well, gotta go, will be back recharged and with plenty of pix.

Zion Nat'l Park and some interesting critters

No, that first pic is not of an animatronic talking sheep's head, it just looks that way, kind of creepy. The next picture is a full view. But the third photo is truly scary: ALIEN SHEEP!!!! Well what do you expect in Utah? Nothing is normal here. We follow the alien sheep with an ordinary squirrel, the kind we have on LI. Why I took it I have no idea. Something about it being in the wild, in a different place. Anyway, the last 3 shots are some scenic views of Zion: the first includes someone that we haven't seen for a while; the second is of Ed doing what he has done hundreds of times on this trip, cleaning bug goo off the windshield; and the third is of me in the foreground with blond hair (not)!

A ROCK FORMATION IN THE TOWN OF MEXICAN HAT THAT GIVES IT ITS NAME, AND A BEER BREWED IN UTAH THAT'S PERFECT. IT TASTES PRETTY GOOD TOO.

The town is Mexican Hat, Utah (just outside Monument Valley) and this rock formation is about the only thing in the town. I mean the ONLY thing. As for the beer, what can I say? It's even brewed in Salt Lake City! Word is that they (the Mormons) have loosened up somewhat since they held the Olympics here in 2002. I still have issues with the whole concept of non-separation of church and state, so don't get me started. Anyway, the beer's not bad.

Monument Valley Navaho Tribal Park, where it was REALLY windy, and we have the pictures to prove it!

A lot of these images probably look familiar cause hundreds of western films and tv shows have been filmed in Monument Valley. It was so windy the day we were there that Ed being blown alongside the car is not much of an exaggeration. There was sand everywhere, including our teeth. The last shot is from the balconey of our room at Gouldings Lodge, a place that has been there forever. We were only there for one night, but that was really enough. We didn't take the tour (which was strongly encouraged) and the roads were beyond awful for our poor SUV. But I pitied the people on the open bus tours, with drivers like maniacs hitting every bump and spraying sand all over the poor passengers. Oh, the thrill of adventure!

Canyonlands Nat'l Park in Utah - not as big as the Grand Canyon, but just as impressive

This is really quite an impressive park and without all the crowds of the Grand Canyon. In that third shot Ed took a slip and was almost a goner.......not really, just a little tricky photography.

Lot of pix from Arches Nat'l Park in Moab, Utah

Okay here goes: (1) a rock formation that looks like Nefertiti (2) Balanced Rock, quite popular

(3) an overall shot with the LaSal Mtns in background (4) Delicate Arch, the most famous arch of all (the image is all over the place, including the Utah license plate); we had to hike quite far to get this close (5) Delicate Arch again , as seen from the lower hiking trail (6) another viewpoint in the park, this time of hoodoos ( 7) Ed getting swallowed up by a butt-like cave (8) another Arch, forgot the name (9) an artsy-fartsy shot (10) Windows Arches (11) The Parade of Elephants (12) more Windows Arches, close-up (13) a Windows Arch, even closer-up (14) a very handsome lizard (15) AND MY ALL-TIME PERSONAL FAVORITE. SADLY, IT HAS NO NAME.

117 days, 13,000 miles, $1500 in gas, countless loads of laundry, and right now we're in southern Utah.....

We've been to 3 National Parks (AND a NA tribal park AND a state park, forgot about those) in less than 10 days and literally have HUNDREDS of photos to plod through before posting. Please bear with us and stay tuned for an update with (hopefully) interesting photos.