Went from Arches to Colorado National Monument yesterday. I had mistakenly thought this was Memorial Day weekend when I was planning the trip (partly because my Outlook calendar said it was) and made reservations for 2 nights at Colorado River State Park. I also mistakenly picked the wrong one of the two parks, and the one I picked was farther from the monument and closer to I70.

I went up into the monument in the afternoon after setting up camp and got a few shots before a storm chased me down. The winds were blowing in excess of 40mph accorning to the ranger and with the clouds and rain picture taking wasn't that productive, although I did get a panorama of the storm on its way as well as a couple of others before the light went bad. I went back to camp and listened to the gentle sounds of semis and screaming children until it was time to go to bed. It turned out that the traffic noises were nothing compared to the sound of the train that came by just after midnight, rumbling and banging so hard it shook the trailer. The next few trains weren't as loud, but still made for an eventful night. I decided to bail on my 2nd night in the park and did one more drive through of the Colorado National Monument before heading back to Moab.

I mooched some WiFi from the library and cashed in some rewards points for a Comfort Inn room in Blanding - being badly in need of a shower anyway. I stopped by the Needles Overlook part of Canyonlands and took a few shots, but while the views there are impressive it's really to vast to photograph well, at least at my skill level. It feels good to have had a hot shower, though, even if a lot of my 'tan' washed off. ;-)

Tomorrow I have to decide of where to stop on the way to my reservations at the south rim for Tuesday and Wednesday.