After thoroughly getting our arch on, we made an early start over to Canyonlands National Park to try and catch the sunrise at Mesa Arch. The drive was a little longer than we had planned for, but we were able to show up just in time to catch the last bits of the rising sun.
the beautiful start of sunrise
we quickly followed the path…
…and made it just in time!
After enjoying Mesa Arch for a bit, we then drove around the park, making all the scenic stops. Although the views were beautiful, I am a little more partial to the Grand Canyon.
A fellow tourist suggested that we would enjoy the views better at the state park adjacent to Canyonalnds. So we decided to give it a go and we drove over to Dead Horse Point State Park. If you’re curious why it’s called Dead Horse, well, let me just say this, the name is fitting (insert sad face here).
Nevertheless, our fellow tourist advice was spot on again, and the Park provided really great scenic views that also included the Colorado River.
The nice thing about this Park is that it doesn’t take too much time to see everything. I suppose that you could make your stay longer if you walked the rim trail, but we felt satisfied with just sitting and enjoying the view. On our drive out, we saw this cute cow by the roadside, quite humorously positioned next to the “single file only” sign.
After all these wonders of nature, we were both ready for something quirky and different. Luckily for us, we started to see a lot of signs for something called “Hole in the Rock.” At first we were thinking that it was literally just a hole in a rock, or some sort of arch, but as we got closer, we saw that it was so much more than we could have ever imagined.
We pulled into the parking lot and were taken aback by what we saw, a home carved into the rock; hence the name, Hole in the Rock. We were a little undecided if we should tour it or not, when at that very moment, a family came out and the Mom exclaimed how awesome it was. Sold! We went into the little gift shop, bought our tickets, and in no time, we were on the tour. Our tour guide was very sweet, and also took her job very seriously.
the wife’s bedroom and doll collection
the husbands first attempt at taxidermy
The history of the house is really very interesting, and both the husband and wife who lived there were quite clever and industrious. It’s like they say, “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” Or in this case, when you inherit a rock, dig out a home.