Red dirt, miles and miles and miles of red dirt, it is the state of Utah. Good thing I’m not a white Shepard or Samoyed, though I have been called a ‘cinnamon lab’ by a nice guy in Moab. He also said that I had a big ‘brain bump’ and so he could tell how smart I was. He got no arguments from me; I rather like being called a smart, cinnamon anything! Now remember, friend Valda is traveling with us and she is sorta in charge of where we go and what we see. She is doing a ‘memory trip’ thing in honor of her late husband Harold and all of the holiday trips they used to make into the Red Rock desert country. We think it is really special that she wants to share these memories with the three of us and I vowed I would be right by her side to help her over the hard parts of remembering with lots of hugs, licks, drools, adoring stares plus food sharing. We have already been to Mesa Verde in Colorado and I learned Valda really likes to go for walks, several times a day, which is great by me.
We drove out of Moab and up to Arches National Park for the start of our Colorado Plateau adventures. Until now we have really only been in basaltic granite mountain regions with conifer forests and lakes; my kind of country. Then we went through those beautiful semi-arid areas in southwestern Colorado and Mesa Verde which gave us a hint of the change in the landscape we were about to experience but wow, this is really dramatic! Now we are in a seemingly alien landscape of sculpted rock, boasting the greatest density of natural arches in the world. More than 2000 cataloged arches ranging in size from 3 feet to 306 feet.
Cokie and Valda decided one day to hike up to Delicate Arch, a mere three mile trip, some of it on their hands and knees! The whole idea was to capture the arch at sunset, which you can see they did. Unfortunately, dear Cokie and Valda were far too tired and hungry when they got back to even think about going for a walk. They had met lots of nice fun folk up on the rock, took loads of pictures and felt very proud of each other. I know I could have made that hike too and made a lot of new friends if the d--- Park Service would just let us canine critters out and about on the trails! (Oh there I go again. I am wondering if there anyone out there willing to set up a ‘Free the Pets in Parks’ lobby for me?) 
Out of Arches and south to Newspaper Rock State Park, an incredible gallery of pictographs and petroglyphs; messages and information left by ancient peoples to guide and inform travelers, gatherers and hunters who came after them. Now the ages have passed and much of the subtle meaning and message has vanished along with the mysterious Puebloans who chipped and painted these symbols. I certainly can’t figure out what it all meant, so I did what I know best – I chased rabbits! What a great time I had! I really don’t know if the gals had a good time or not all I do know is that we had to leave far too soon!
On the way we encountered a scene right out of the Old West – cowboys driving a herd of horses, maybe mustangs – right down the middle of the road! They were oh so polite and so were we (me, in particular!) so as not to spook the animals. It was a step back in time in this timeless territory.
Okay, on to Canyonlands National Park, wild country with few paved roads and 527 square miles of rock wilderness in the heart of the Colorado Plateau. Here the flat sedimentary rock has been carved into hundreds of canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, arches and spires. There are basically two canyons carved by the Green and the Colorado Rivers, with three distinct areas: Island in the Sky, Needles and The Maze. Island in the Sky is a broad mesa wedged between the two rivers and offering vistas of nearly the entire wilderness for 100 miles to the horizon and is over 2000 feet deep to the bottom of some of the canyon cliffs. The Maze is ranked as one of the most remote regions in the US and is a 30 square mile puzzle in sandstone. Since the roads are four-wheel only we did not ask The Pod to ‘suck it up’ and try to take us out there. But we did go to parts of the Needles where there are really sculpted rocks and spires all banded in red and white sandstone. There are also meadows and arches and more four-wheel drive roads.
We headed out of the park and down to Bluff to spend the night and try to sleep through a really scary thunder and lightning storm. I’ll tell you that little Valda is a whole lot braver than I am; she actually stayed out in the tent all night. Not me! I was very safe with my Cokie and Kae in the great Tempurpedic bed!
Monument Valley was Valda’s next request, so off we went. This valley is on the Navajo Indian Reservation and is run by the Tribe. It has Valda’s favorite gift shop – Guldens, filled with the good, the bad and the ugly of Indian art, plus a nice restaurant with great leftovers for a patient pup. The valley is quite a wild ride through wide open spaces over rough dirt roads to see the various pillars, columns and bluffs. You also have views of the Indian hogans and rough fenced corrals at many of the small farms and ranches; evidence of the unchanged ways of these indigenous peoples. There is a range of mountains here that has such bizarre geological strata they look like the patterns in a Navaho blanket. (Suppose it has something to do with people who have revered mountains for millennium?) The names of the various formations are interesting too: Right and Left Mitten, Mexican Hat, Eternal Flame, just to name a few. Of course every one of these Parks has their own set of specials names for particular formations based on shapes, histories or individual preferences; it is part of what makes them so interesting to visit.
Unfortunately for all of us, Valda now has to think about returning to home and work in California so we started winding our way south and east to Phoenix. We decided to stop for a day in Sedona, so I’ll include that adventure in another journal on Arizona.
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