My Town Monday: Rainbow Bridge, UT
A photo of Rainbow Bridge taken with my camera. So....I guess the guy in the electronics section at Costco was right to change my settings. A blanket apology to everyone whose picture I took with the whacked-out settings. I did not mean to give you scaly, reptilian skin and then post your photo on blogger and facebook!
A few fun facts about the RAINBOW Bridge National Monument (surely you saw the colored letters coming!):
-It is the largest natural bridge in the world (290 feet high, 270 feet across). It is nearly as tall as the Statue of Liberty (which I have never seen) and the US Capitol Building Dome will almost fit under the arch.
-It is formed of two types of sandstone (Navajo Sandstone for the bridge part and Kayenta Sandstone for the base)
-The bridge itself is about 200 millions years old
-The bridge was formed by water flowing off the Navajo Mountain and cutting a course through the sandstone on its way to the Colorado River. This same process along with some weathering will eventually cause the demise of the bridge.
-The bridge is considered sacred by the Navajo Indians because it symbolizes the gods of cloud making, rainbows and rain. You can just imagine how important water is in the desert.
-There are many many more facts, but I can already feel your collective bloggy fade!
Me with a couple of my kids. I am the woman in the yellow hat. (Who has obviously read too many Curious George books!)
Me and my good friend, Eileen. She is the woman in the yellow beach cover-up.
On this hike back to the floating dock where our boat is parked, Child #2 piggybacks Child #4 because she STUBBED HER ROYAL TOE. Yes, every family deserves a princess.
There is a picture missing. A picture I never took. Why? BECAUSE I DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE THERE WAS A DILOPHOSAURUS DINOSAUR FOOTPRINT FIFTEEN SMALL YARDS TO THE RIGHT OF THE TRAIL NEXT TO THE BRIDGE! I am so annoyed with myself.
And I'm seeing a disturbing pattern: I eat sushi across from Keanu Reeves, but don't see him! I'm a few yards away from a real live dinosaur footprint, but I don't see it! I think we'll all feel better if I get with the program and start NOTICING THINGS. End of rant.
For links to the other MTM participants, please head over to our My Town Monday blog which was set up by the lovely and talented Clair Dickson.
Sources: my own camera (on its proper settings)
Eileen's fancy schmancy camera
http://www.nps.gov/rabr/faqs.htm
http://www.utah.com/nationalsites/rainbow_bridge.htm
http://geography.howstuffworks.com/united-states/rainbow-bridge-national-monument.htm