Stone Bridges

Great blend of the scientific and the fun to make the point that what we know of the appearance of dinosaurs has changed over time as we find mummified or fossilized specimens that show feathers or skin texture. The movie posters are tied to time periods and countries and show how we played with the forms of these "monsters" to create good horror movies starting with Lost World and King Kong. 

    Tuesday evening, 7/5/16, we have settled into an RV Park at Torrey, Utah after one of the most beautiful drives across many different geological types. We started this morning from Durango and climbed through the Rockies on Highway 160. We crossed a pass at 10,200 feet as well as several that were a mere 8,000 feet. The weather was absolutely clear and the views spectacular. We stayed on 160 until Blanding in Utah where we picked up 95, the Bicentennial Highway. We had checked with several sources and heard that it was a good road but it had not been what Garmin had indicated for our drive to Capitol Reef National Park. It was designated a Utah scenic drive and it held up to it's billing. The geological strata with the remains of sand dunes millions of years old and cemented into stone showing the curves of the wind and wearing of water were as amazing as some we saw later in the Capitol Reef Park drive. The road made us pay attention during the drive with steep climbs and some 10% grades as well as lots of 8-6% grades also but well worth the work to drive the road. We are looking forward to spending a couple of days exploring this area.

The feathered flightless dinosaur has found this grey headed morsel. Actually this museum featured several fossils that have recently come to light about feathered dinosaurs that either preceded or followed flighted dinosaurs or birds as we know them. The posters in the back are part of the amazing collection. 

      We stopped off during our drive today to enjoy the Dinosaur Museum in Blanding. It was very well done with fossils displayed as well as some fossilized huge trees from a very early geological period. They have several of these specimens that can be seen no where else. Aside from the large exhibits of fossils, restoration, and full size reproductions, this museum has a huge collection of movie posters from all over the world featuring the cinematic representations of dinosaurs.

If you look where the trees are the thickest you can see the arch cut. The sandstone retains that ripples that were once great oceans that are revealed by the erosion of the water of flash floods and streams at Natural Bridges National Park. It was 92 degrees so couldn't leave Rose in the car and since dogs are not allowed on the trails down to the arch, we were saved from the 500 feet elevation change in .4 miles. Some of the other climbs down and up included ladders and rock "steps." 

      An additional stop was at the Natural Bridges National Park. We listened to a presentation about the reptiles in the park as took the drive through the park to see the overlooks of these bridges created by the meandering rivers cutting through and sculpting the stone. The colors of the different stone and the depth of the river cuts create small Grand Canyons.

Glen Canyon behind the dam for the Colorado River, the river is so low it is almost not flowing. Colorado and Utah are needing more rain as this drought goes on.