City of Rocks State Park | New Mexico

City of Rocks is an amazing area that was created by a volcano centuries ago.  The area surrounding the rocks is a flat meadow area.

 

All the rocks are amazingly unique, I love the ones with huge boulders perching on larger rocks. 

 

Most of the camping sites are without hookups, except for the few in the electrical area.

 

One of the campers told me where the owl was nesting.  She was near the top of a hollowed out rock, probably about 2 stories up.  She blends in quite well with the rock colors.

Nearby, this tree was surrounded by huge rocks.

Quite a few of these boulders have areas that would be good shelter for animals in the area.

I call this the Boomerang Rock!

Across from the main campground is another area that had an upheaval, creating more boulders.  The view from there shows how flat the area is.

The photo below shows that area from the main campground.

I was there for over a week and kept wandering around, seeing different formations.  This one shows a windmill that was one of two installed in the park in the 1950s.  They don't work anymore, but they are picturesque.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thompson Springs | Utah

Antelope!  They seem to wander around near the train tracks in this little community.  They were a little shy, but they did pose long enough for me to get this shot.

This hotel has seen it's best days, although when I was there taking this photo, two men were peeking in the windows at the mess inside.  They told me they were thinking of making it a little hotel again for tourists.  I hope they love lots of hard work!

Considering the age of this car, it doesn't look all that bad......    This was right outside the RV Park I stayed at. 

This one didn't fare so well......  But it's older!

Schoolhouse built in 1907, nicely refurbished.

There are multiple abandoned and derelict buildings here.

Spooky on an overcast day.

I have no idea if it's true, but someone said this is the café that was in the movie "Thelma and Louise".  Looks way more interesting inside than outside!

Other buildings are just shells.

I'm not really fond of the purple color here.......

One of the residents has yard that looks more like a mini-museum - he had everything back here.

 

Mountains look like they are melting into plains here.  

Rocks are multicolored here.  I think I remember someone telling me that the green rocks have copper in them.

A restaurant, show place was nearby, but unfortunately it was all closed up and looking abandoned.

The weather did this a few days while I was here, but only got a few sprinkles one day.

This is the third Boot Hill that I've seen.  I don't think this one has anyone really there. 

Red rock is everywhere near Moab, and it is stunning.

Thompson Canyon | Sego Canyon | Utah

Petroglyphs are ancient carvings on rocks.  In this area these are from 3 different time frames and different tribes. 

It seems to me that the red ones are less prevalent than the ones just carved in the stone walls. I have not seem many of the red ones, but lots that are not colored.

Since this was an old mining area, there are a few of these old train trestle, which is how the ore was moved to processing areas.

The rock formations in the area is stunning, they make you feel really small. 

In these canyons, people lived and died, and therefore were also buried here.  There is a little cemetery that people still visit.  Graves are rustic or modern, as you can see.

Many of the stones have items, like coins on them that visitors have left.

The most modern grave is one of a Vietnam Vet who had lived in this area.

Nearby is a tree where people have left items that have special meanings.

This was the strangest one I saw and it looks like part of a vehicle to me.

Back in the mining days, the workers lived out here and I'm assuming this is a small house built by one of them.  Or it could be that it was left from some of the Indians who lived in the area.

Around the corner, this little oven has been covered to help preserve it.

This building was a store for the mining people.  Unfortunately, this is all that remains.

Next door, this building was made of wood, but has fallen down over the years.

Someone had a car out here and behind it that square looks like the remains of a refrigerator.

Another house that has gone to ruin.  This was a nice one and even had a basement of sorts, possibly food storage.