Mel's Own Place

Travel Day 3

Headed towards: Goblin Valley State Park, Utah - East on SR50

On the iPod: Shuffle, everything from Beastie Boys to Aretha Franklin and a little bit of The Book Thief (audiobook).  GREAT book by the way!

Snack: Doritos

Road Game: Balance stuff on your head and Close your eyes . . . Surprise!

Both of these games just 'happened' but they turned out to be good ones!

Balance stuff on your head:  Urban was getting restless and we still had some driving to do so I said "What can you balance on your head?"  Harder than you think while driving.  

He tried balancing a small head pillow and I was quite successful driving with a cell phone on my head.  Not as dangerous as texting and it occupied and calmed Urban for a while.

I thought this might work well to keep fighting/arguing siblings under control at least for a bit!

Close your eyes . . . Surprise!:  This one Urban kinda started.  In between points of interest we would tell Urban what we were going to see.  Nathan had told Urban about how cool the rock formations were in Goblin Valley and that when he (Nathan) was a boy, he would climb all over them.  

Catching the enthusiasm, Urban said "I'm going to close my eyes and when we get there it will be a surprise!"  We still had a ways to go, but Urban would close his eyes for a minute or two, then Nathan would yell SURPRISE!  Urban would open his eyes and look around and either say "Wow!" or "You're just teasing!"

Potty Stop: Rest area along SR 50

Native Americans line the sidewalks with their beautiful silver and turquoise necklaces, earrings, rings, dream catchers, pottery and even some handmade archery items.  There were at least 4 different vendors at this particular rest area.

Nathan and Urban explored nature at this stop while I captured them in pictures.  It is as dry and hot as it appears.

I think the landscape is beautiful and I've seen it a million times.  It's amazing the formations that are naturally made.  Man can't begin to come close to replicating its grander.

Stopped for the night at:  Found a beautiful spot for free on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land. I don't have the picture downloaded yet, so that will have to wait for tomorrow.

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