Contrary to popular belief, the West isn't generally flat. Off the in distance could be many mesas, valleys, and other mountain ranges. If you look closely, sometimes you could count up to six different ranges. The more I travel out in the southwest, the more I am grateful that I was not one of my pioneering fore parents. I don't know how I would have handled dragging myself in prairie gear over the Canadian plains, down through the Rocky Mountain states, and then down to Dixie like my ancestors did. I'm pretty sure they would have left me on one of these mesas. I know I would have been the "butte" of many a family joke.
Also contrary to popular belief, it does snow in the spring in southern Utah. You just have to be up on one of these peaks when it happens. There is snow in those clouds, coming down on those mountaintops that they are obscuring. Really. Official weatherpeople said so and everything. 
Architecture has come a LONG way. This is the Jacob Hamblin Homestead, one of the few remaining examples of early pioneer-era home-building in Santa Clara, Utah. You can take tours. I did a drive-by "shooting."
The locals call the lovely attraction below, the "bra." I think it looks more akin to the "grand Tetons." It's really an Aquatic Center. (Silly me, I didn't think it got that cold in southern Utah!)
Home cooking is always appreciated, especially when travelling. Nothing restores family harmony after travelling for 10 long hours, through neverending lines and dusty trails, like a home cooked meal (oh, and bathroom facilities and a gift shop). Luckily, we, in the modern age, have the luxury of rest stops. Behold the restaurant that saved this family on its most recent journey West. {Food in Mama + Food that Mama didn't have to kill/clean/cook = Happy Family!}
Bless you Petrol Pit Stops and the "jolly" lasses of the Iron Skillet, bless you!
Sadly, "home cooked" has a different connotation when faced with these ruins of some family's house.
Gas pumps sure have changed, and I'm not just talking about the prices.
Our travelling blog guest Diggity Dog* is checking out how much this is going to cost Auntie Nettie. All I can say is OUCH!
Still, in the end, the reason that most of us travel is to see family. Times and scenery may change, but it's still all about family.
*Diggity Dog is visiting from Jane's Garden over on Flax Hill. He travelling to all kinds of states on his journey. Aside from the State of Confusion on how he ended up with me, he went to Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and an Indian Reservation, before he was dognapped by my parents and went to California. He's currently en route to Cape Cod. With my mother! Stay tuned for lots of pictures of Diggity Dog's adventures.
