A Photo Journey: Arches National Park

A recent chain of events (a record-breaking polar vortex which led to a four-day school cancellation which led to a reorganization of the photo cupboard) brought to light a long-forgotten photo album of our first Southwest road trip.  Turns out the husband and I (but mostly the husband – you’ll see his massive camera in several photos in this series) took more and better photos back then than we did on a similar road trip last summer, and I thought I would share some of them with you in a series entitled “A Photo Journey.”  I hope you enjoy them, and even more, I hope they inspire you to travel.

---

Warning: this post is going to stink.  Why?  Let me tell you:

1. I’m sick
2. I’m crabby
3. I’m bored

Why sick?  Because I’m surrounded most days by little germ factories.  (You may know them better by their Latin name: Studentis Elementaris Phlegmitis.)  That, and I’ve been testing fate lately.  Just last week a colleague and I were yukking it up about how we’ve been teaching at our school so long we no longer get sick… we’ve suffered through and built up antibodies to every bug on offer.  Worse, I’ve been bragging – a lot – about how I’m not going to get sick this year.  It’s something I tell myself (and others, apparently) in the hopes that, if I say it out loud (and engage in frequent bouts of surgeon-style hand-washing), it will come true.  I think this current malady is what fate has laid on me for my arrogant declarations.  It’s karma, or what I now call “bacterial revengitis.”

Delicate Arch

Why crabby?  Because this bug is currently manifesting itself as a sore throat, which is much worse than blocked nasal passages, a hacking cough, or painful sinuses – until I get blocked nasal passages, a hacking cough, or painful sinuses, and then my feelings about that shift rather suddenly.

Why bored?  Because I have no trips to plan.  When you’re stuck at home, not feeling well, and it’s a long holiday weekend, you want trips to plan.  All our travel is either completely planned out and booked, or else in a holding pattern until certain details beyond my control get sorted out.

So there you have it: all the makings of a bad post.  So without further whining, here are some pictures of a time when I was neither sick, crabby, nor bored, at Arches National Park.  Enjoy. I’m going to go take a nap.

North and South Window

Park Avenue

Courthouse Rock.  Uh, if you say so.  Are these supposed to be judges?  I think they look more like space aliens.

Sheep Rock.  Ok, now this I get.

I don’t know what this formation is called.  I have some suggestions, but they aren’t blog-appropriate.

---

Posts in the A Photo Journey series:

• Hot Air Ballooning in Albuquerque
• Climbing Angels’ Landing in Utah
• Arches National Park
• Bryce Canyon National Park
• Death Valley National Park