Some New Terrain

The time has come to finally begin our journey home. We had every intention to head east through the Canadian Rockies and drop down into the Dakota's for more National Park sight seeing, but the heavy spring snows along that route forced us to make the spontaneous decision to head back south through Eastern Washington, Oregon, Idaho and into Utah to get to Moab where we will spend a few days hiking around Arches National Park.

The following photos will show some of the very dramatic scenery and weather we encountered along our journey. Some really beautiful stuff.

Washington
Hwy 90 through the Cascades to Hwy 82 through Yakima

Snoqualmie Pass

 

Entering the Yakima Valley

Kennewick, Washington looking south towards Eastern Oregon

We were just a little hesitant to drive into this storm, not knowing what havoc was being created by these very threatening clouds............luckily the highway took us in a direction that just skirted the very edges of the storm.

Eastern Oregon
Highway 84

Idaho
Highway 84

Utah
Highway 84

Just minutes after crossing the border into Utah, we came upon this cowboy on his horse. We noticed there were very few side roads or highway exits along this stretch of road making this the best way to get around in this place.

Southeast of Salt Lake City 

US Route 6/191 
We decided to take this shortcut/scenic route through the Wasatch Plateau to get down to Interstate 70 and WOW!.....this is where the scenery started to make a dramatic change.

 Helper, Utah

We couldn't resist stopping in this little town, mostly because of its name.

Helper is located about 110 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. It is known as the "Hub of Carbon County". The population is about 2,000. There used to be a thriving coal mining industry here and Helper is the home of the Western Mining and Railroad Museum, a tourist attraction that also contains household and commercial artifacts illustrating late 19th and early 20th-century living conditions. There is also a colorful Brothel history here: http://utahstories.com/2010/10/helper%E2%80%99s-brothel-mining-history-tino/  Who knew!
Go here for more about Helper: http://www.castlecountry.com/Helper-Utah

"Big John"

"Big John" is a towering coal miner entirely covered in glossy black paint. Custom-made by International Fiberglass in 1964. - See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/2468#sthash.PH9RfmVN.dpuf

"Big John" is a towering coal miner entirely covered in glossy black paint. Custom-made by International Fiberglass in 1964. - See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/2468#sthash.PH9RfmVN.dpuf√

"Big John" is a towering coal miner entirely covered in glossy black paint. Custom-made by International Fiberglass in 1964. - See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/2468#sthash.PH9RfmVN.dpuf

"Big John" is a towering coal miner covered in shiny black paint. He was custom-made by International Fiberglass in 1964. He stands in front of the Helper library on Main Street.

I don't recall seeing a brand new painted coca-cola ad on a building in a very long time. We found one here.

"Big John" is a towering coal miner entirely covered in glossy black paint. Custom-made by International Fiberglass in 1964. - See more at: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/2468#sthash.PH9RfmVN.dpuf

And we thought we would never see a sign like this here. HA!

  Main Street in Helper, Utah

We reached Interstate 70 and then continued south on Highway 191 towards Moab.

We knew we were getting close to Moab when we spotted this Velociraptor trying to hide in the bushes. :o)

The red rock formations started to appear just a few miles outside of the Arches National Park/Moab area.

More coming from Moab and the park. Stay tuned.......