Dark skies and distant views.....

Utah is our neighbor and the heat index is getting safer so we spent a few days wandering about.    We "camped" at Dead Horse St Park, about 40 min from Moab.    I enjoy watching the families in their small campers and tents and remember when we did the same.   Now, I need my shower and my comfy bed.  

  This is a designated very "Dark Sky" part of the country and our first night around the campfire was  rewarded with the ISS zipping across overhead.   Always an awe inspiring moment.   Some had their cameras and tripods out to capture the Milky Way and movement of the stars.   I have a great app on my phone and I'm slowly

learning more about the constellations and main attractions up there.

  

 Arches NP was a short drive and we did the 2 mi walk to Landscape Arch.    We did this one several years ago.     Part of the arch collapsed 15 years ago and they no longer allow closer views.  

Dead Horse SP has a trail that goes from the Visitors Center , out to the point and back.    It's about 4+ miles total.    We thought it would be well marked but found that cairns were our only guide.   It crossed slick rock (no footprints to follow) and scrubby desert.    We weren't far from the road on one side or the canyon on the other side so there was no real danger of wandering in the desert for days. It was a challenge sometimes to find the cairns and the right direction.    This is one lookout over the Colorado.     The park gets it's name from a time when wild horses were herded out to the point, the best were taken and the rest left to die without water.    It's a rugged, beautiful area with a sad history.   

 Various ancient people left their marks over the centuries before us.  

 Another day, we took a shortcut from Canyonlands NP to Moab.    About a 2+ hour Jeep ride along Shafer Trail.    We've done this in the past and the views of the Colorado are breathtaking.  Thelma and Louise sailed off a precipice like this.    The ride is rough but not particularly a nail biter.   In the pic above, you can pick out a large raft with several people and supplies near the large sandbar.    Biking, jeeping, long rafting trips and climbing are popular Moab attractions.  

We hope to head back to Utah in a couple weeks for more wandering....

Meanwhile, the Newtown HS Marching Band is gathering up awards once again.    Parents are the workforce behind this  talented organization.    Jon is the unofficial photographer and captures the on and off-field moments.     He submits some of the pics to The Bee, Newtown's weekly paper.   Last week, it was Mason's turn to shine.    Various Miller children have been in the pages of the paper going back to when Michael was in 4th grade and was featured as a budding inventor.....(over 40 years ago !!  )