day four

ogden, utah, to moab, utah, 333 miles.
suffering today from a bad case of topdownitis (a combination of having the top down too long on a day in which the sun focused its energies directly on the car and the temperature may have topped 200. ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration), so called it quits early after driving through arches national monument. if you haven't been to southeastern utah, you have to see this stuff. rock formations -- and colors -- that are too remarkable for words or pictures. the scenery earlier in the day wasn't as spectacular, but still interesting. huge, wide open spaces way above sea level. went over one pass east of heber city -- it's in heber valley -- that was 8,020 feet. can't remember when i last saw a real tree. and i'm so in need of conversation i've started talking to random folks in parking lots. stuff like, "hey, that's an interesting bug on your windshield. where'd you get it?" and "I see from your license plate you're from ohio. you know my uncle hank and aunt ruth?"
tomorrow: canyonlands, the four corners and eventually south to flagstaff, arizona.