Day 2

Because the restaurant had to be closed for repairs April 29 - May 7 we decided to take a road trip. The following posts are a daily log of our adventures. 

Tyler said the desert makes you feel small. You lose perspective on how large things are because you don't have trees, or any other familiar markers to give a scale to formations in the distance. All you know is that most of them are pretty damn big.

That's why I love going to the desert during the off-season. It makes me feel so miniscule compared to the rock formations. Not just in respect to size, but also time. Everything takes so much longer to grow. To think about the time it took to shape the rocks is amazing. As Red narrated in Shawshank: "Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes really, pressure, and time." Slowly forming through all of the harsh elements of heat, violent winds and the occasional rain.

 We actually had the pleasure of experiencing one of those factors: a dehydrated storm.
Of all the times I've gone to the desert, I've never been caught in one. Basically it's just what it says it is — a storm without moisture. The wind was relentless and would not stop throwing the fine sand particles around. Even after the rain fly had been fastened to the tent, red dust still was able to work itself inside and coat everything rust. It was a side of the desert I hadn't seen before. I've seen the harsh, unforgiving heat, but not the savage winds that ravage the landscape, slowly forging the sandstone into submission like a river flowing over rock. And the land fights to hold its ground, but it is no match for pressure and time.

Aspen and Tyler at sunset before the storm.