American Southwest Trip: Day 7-2 Island in the Sky-Canyonlands National Park

     We left Arches National Park at 2:30 pm and drove to the Island in the Sky section of the Canyonlands National Park. The choice of staying more time in the Arches National Park was after asking the Canyonlands park service employee in the Needle District, Which we did.  The travel distance from Arches to Canyonlands was about 42 miles and about a one hour drive away.   

The Island in the Sky District Map 

The weather cleared up when we were on our way to the Canyonlands. But after entering the park, the weather seemed to worsen. 

 La Sal  Mountain Viewpoint

Each pothole was filled with the rain drops. We were lucky for not encountering the heavy rain. 

The clouds were low at the high elevation on the plateau.  

The view was quiet awesome if we didn't encounter floods or tornado situations. 

The heavy clouds were behind us when we were in the Arches National Park. Now we were going to chasing the thunder shower. I was a little bit threaten by the clouds. 

We were at the Neck of the plateau which was only 40 feet wide and eventually will erode away by the wind and rain. When the Neck is eroded away, the access to the rest of the park would be interrupted.  

After the Neck, it is isolated and a 43 square mile mesa, which is called the Island in the Sky.
What a beautiful name!

It rained while we were driving and it stopped when we got out of our car. But still we didn't travel too far from the parking lot. We took some snap shots and went to the next stop.

This was my husband's dream vehicle. He let me walk alone to the Mesa Arch and had a conversation with the couple from Holland. I knew when I came back to our car, he would share his intelligent information with me. Information about the vehicle:
The couple imported their truck (which was ex Holland military) which they converted to a RV to the States. They planed to travel across the country for a while. They would save money for staying in hotels and renting a vehicle in the States. They could stop at the roadside when they were tired. I liked this free style traveling which was less of a hassle for making hotel reservations and less limitation when traveling on the road. I already had some ideas for making suggestions to my dear husband. 

I constantly took off and put on the grocery bag on my camera because of the rain. It looked like every foreign traveler was well prepared for the storm. Only I walked without a rain coat or long sleeves. I learned a lessen this day. I should always prepare for a raining day.
Mesa Arch trail is an easy trail which is about 0.5mi / 0.8km long and a 30 minute round trip walk with an elevation of 100ft / 30m. It is good for taking photos at sunrise or the arch on the cliff edge. 

Green River Overlook
visitors can access to the rim trail by driving a 4 wheel drive vehicle or by walk which seems to require a lot of energy at different location. 

The plants changed their colors. Sometimes, massive and cluttered which was beautiful. 

Landscape in the Grand View Point Overlook. I was not sure why there were only a few people present, because of rain? It was fun to enjoy life with my husband without other visitors near by. 

The view was at the Grand View Point Overlook overlook. We could not see far away because of the weather situation. 

I hoped we could travel on this trail with a 4 wheel drive truck in the future. It would make the trip more enjoyable and adventure. 

Before leaving the park, we as a routine had to visit the visitor center. 

We drove on Interstate 70 to our hotel in Green River. The clouds' pattern was different after the rain. After we returned back to Las Vegas, we learned this storm had caused a deadly flood in Las Vegas which took away a person's life. 

As a military retiree, my husband is always interested in military installations or subjects. He spotted this display and asked me to find out the description of the missile..  

The description: the military installation in Green River is no longer in operation. It has been terminated for many years.  

When we were at the restaurant in Monticello, we learned that Green River produced various melons. So while we were in town, why not check it out? We had asked a few questions about the town and melons and the lady was patient in answering our questions. 

These were what we purchased from the lady. 

We had the cantaloupe at night in our hotel room. It was sweeter than those I bought from the grocery stores. The other two melons were for taking back to Las Vegas.