Part 3: The Finale

On the last day of our trip we drove through southern Utah and into Arizona. The northern half of the state is pretty in a desert/barren sort of way and there are many different types of land formations as you can see:

Back on the road to Arizona

more red rock formations in southern Utah

I am not sure if this is in Utah or Arizona but isn't it pretty!?

This was actually way off in the distance but I was able to get an excellent shot

We crested this hill on near Flagstaff on I-17...

..and then saw this is comming down out of the mountians

Part 2: Red Canyon

On Tuesday April 15th we made it into Utah and ran into snow in Salt Lake City. We spent the night at Ruby's Inn at Bryce Canyon and planned to do a little sightseeing the next morning. However, when we checked in around 8pm it was already 30 degrees Fahrenheit, and as you can imagine the next morning was very cold. Seeing as we didn't have any of our winter gear we thought we could go to the visitors center and there would be some sort of vantage point at which we could grab a few pictures. The entrance fee to the park was $25 and we felt that was a bit much for just a photo-op and no hiking. We did get these amazing pictures of Red Canyon though:

Snow in Utah!

Ben got out of the truck and took this amazing picture at the
entrance of Red Canyon

Rock Formations in Red Canyon

This was taken on the road between
Bryce Canyon and Red Canyon

I love the conical pine trees and rocks
contrasted against the sky

Part 1

Ok, back to the trip that inspired this whole blog. I finally have gone through all 500 of my pictures and have chosen a few to share with you all. Monday April 14th after we left Ellensburg we drove down through Oregon and over to Idaho where we spent the night. Here are some pictures I took along the way:

The Rolling Hills of SE Washington

Crossing the Mighty Columbia River

Welcome to Oregon!

Beautiful Oregon Farm Country

The Great Open Country Near the Oregon/Idaho Border

Snow in Idaho!

The Red Elvises

Last night Ben, his brother Noah, and I went to The Rhythm Room in Phoenix and saw The Red Elvises perform live. It was great show! There are a ton of videos of them on YouTube but because of the sound quality they do not do them justice. Their sound is reminiscent of the 1950's Elvis and the Beach Boys, and most of the members are from Russia and former Soviet block countries, thus the name. They will be back in September and I recommend to everyone that they go. Also for our friends in the Seattle area, they will be up there in mid-July. Check out their website for details.

Robot Art & a Jewel of a Restaurant

Ok, time to take a break from the trip, although I haven't been doing much of that lately anyway. Last night Ben and I went to my friend Jason's art gallery in downtown Phoenix, called The Trunk Space, and saw some really cool robot art by Jon S. Borrette. We really enjoyed all of his pieces and were amazed by the detail that could be created with pen and ink.
Afterwards, I took Ben to one of my favorite restaurants which is the only one I know of that is within walking distance of work. I go whenever I can get an hour lunch break. The Willow House is so good in fact that I ate there twice in one day. They have the general cafe fair of coffee, tea, cold drinks, soups, salads, and sandwiches. They also offer more unique items such as a pita pizza and a hummus & pita platter that are both excellent. They are vegetarian and vegan friendly without making omnivores feel disdained.