Somehow I actually managed to convince my aerophobic dad to get on a plane and make his

first trip to the Rocky Mountains.  Actually, I bribed him: I bought him a plane ticket and told him

it was his chance to show me how good he was at finishing drywall.  He took the bait and came

out here!  So after he slaved over my basement for two straight days, we got him out of the

house and took him on a round-robin tour of southern Utah.  We took him to Goblin Valley

State Park, Chute Canyon in the San Rafael Swell, Robber's Roost at the Dirty Devil River,

Leprechaun Canyon in North Wash Canyon, the Colorado River and Lake Powell at Hite, UT,

White Canyon, Cedar Mesa, Valley of the Gods, Goose Necks State Park, Arches National

Park, and Canyonlands National Park.

Whew!  We did a LOT of driving!  But we also did a lot of hiking.  We hiked in Goblin Valley,

Chute Canyon, Robber's Roost, Leprechaun Canyon, Arches, and Canyonlands...so the

driving didn't keep us from exploring, also.

We camped Saturday night in Valley of the Gods, and we awoke Sunday morning to a bunch of

hot air balloons taking off in the valley.  That was pretty cool.

This was a great trip because we saw several parts of Utah we hadn't been to since soon after

we moved here.  But the best part was showing it all to Daddy.  He had never been out west,

so the vastness and geology of everything really amazed him.  I enjoyed showing him the

goblins of rock in Goblin Valley, the echo of the canyon in Chute Canyon, the slickrock at

Robber's Roost, the slot canyon in Leprechaun Canyon, the monoliths of Valley of the Gods,

the sheer size of Goosenecks, the arches of Arches, and the shear magnitude of Canyonlands.

I think he was truly awed.

We did get a flat tire in Canyonlands, and had to drive the 4 hours back to Salt Lake on the

spare...good times!

Now if I can just talk him into coming back into coming back in the summer so I can take him to

the mountains!