Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Exploring the Southwest's Grand Circle


Exploring the Southwest's Grand Circle, by Mark A. Schlenz, Tom Bean and Susan Lamb covers a lot of the places I visited when in southern Utah. I effectively did the "Grand Circle" when plotting my route in a clockwise direction.

Exploring the Southwest's Grand Circle

Exploring the Southwest's Grand Circle

Richly illustrated with color photography, this interpretive guide follows the spectacular "Grand Circle" route through the Southwest's plateau lands encompassing America's highest concentration of scenic national parks and monuments. From the Grand Canyon to Zion and Bryce to the exquisite rock formations in Canyonlands, Arches, and the Navajo Tribal Park, visitors to this region meander through a fascinating world of geologic wonders and Ancient Puebloan culture. The revised edition features all new photos and has been updated to include recent parklands and visitor centers.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Frommer's Utah


Frommer's Utah, by Eric Peterson would be an invaluable guide to have with you when travelling through Utah's parks. Check it out.

Frommer's Utah (Frommer's Complete Guides)

Frommer's Utah (Frommer's Complete Guides)

Frommer's Complete Guides* America's #1 bestselling travel series* More full-color guides than ever before* Foldout maps in annual guides* Outspoken opinions, exact prices, and insider tips

Table of Contents
List of Maps vii 1 THE BEST OF UTAH 1 2 UTAH IN DEPTH 12 3 SUGGESTED UTAH ITINERARIES 26 4 THE ACTIVE VACATION PLANNER 36 5 SALT LAKE CITY 45 6 THE NORTHERN WASATCH FRONT: UTAH'S OLD WEST 77 7 THE SOUTHERN WASATCH FRONT: WORLD-CLASS SKIING & MORE 106 8 DINOSAURS & NATURAL WONDERS IN UTAH'S NORTHEAST CORNER 150 9 UTAH'S DIXIE & THE COLORFUL SOUTHWEST CORNER 166 10 ZION NATIONAL PARK 192 11 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK 211 12 CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK 237 13 LAKE POWELL & GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA 250 14 FROM MOAB TO ARCHES & CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARKS 260 15 THE FOUR CORNERS AREA 292 16 PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO UTAH 306 Index 323

About the Author
A Denver-based writer, Eric Peterson has authored numerous Frommer's guides covering the American West, including Frommer's Montana & Wyoming and Frommer's Colorado, as well as Ramble: A Field Guide to the U.S.A. and other Ramble titles for Fulcrum Publishing (www.fulcrum-books.com). Peterson's byline has also appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, including the New York Daily News, Denver Post, and Delta Sky, and on winter-sports columns for Frommers.com. In his free time, he's an avid camper, skier, and hiker; a lifelong Broncos fan; and a part-time rock star (at least in the eyes of his niece Olivia and nephews Mitch and Sam).

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Canyon Country Created Into Jigsaw Puzzles Is Just Perfect


Canyon Country created into jigsaw puzzles is just perfect. Utilising photos of some of the spectacular landscapes of southern Utah, these jigsaws are a delight to put together.

In this CD there are 5 different photos which have been converted to jigsaws of 12, 24, 40, 104 and 260 pieces each, making a total of 25 jigsaw puzzles.



Canyon Country Jigsaw Puzzles CD






This range of puzzles can be used by children of different ages and skill levels, promoting hand and eye coordination. Not only are the jigsaws great for stimulating learning and the imagination, they’re full of colour and loads of fun. You can never lose the pieces.

Jigsaw puzzles are easy to do with the click of a mouse button and can be played over and over. Suitable for adults as well! Each CD costs $25.00. That works out to $1 per jigsaw puzzle - great value!

Puzzles are not printable, they're designed to be used on a computer or laptop or even on a large screen via a data projector, and internet access isn’t required.

They're great to take away on holidays and play in the car while travelling or in the tent, RV or caravan on rainy days.

In the Canyon Country CD there are 5 photos which have been turned into jigsaw puzzles: Bryce Canyon, Red Canyon (near Bryce Canyon), Kolob Canyons in Zion National Park, Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park.

The Bryce Canyon photo was taken in the afternoon when the rainy weather had cleared. Blue sky with wisps of cloud above the orange and rusty tones of the canyon. Overnight it poured again so I headed for Cedar Breaks travelling through the Red Canyon (very aptly named too). Rainy weather seemed to follow me so after cloudy skies in Zion National Park I decided to head over to the Kolob Canyons section of the park in the northwest corner. I preferred this because the vistas were in the distance. In Zion Canyon I felt boxed in and had to keep looking up at the canyon walls. At Bryce Canyon you look down into the canyon from the rim and see a beautiful panorama of canyon landforms with mountains in the distance.


Canyonlands National Park is quite vast and it was very hot when I visited. It had several striking formations, like Mesa Arch. My favourite place though is Dead Horse Point State Park with the Colorado River snaking its way around the bottom of high canyon walls. Camping on the spot gives opportunities for sunset and sunrise photos as well as the photo which I've made into a jigsaw. The place must be quite magical when it's covered in snow.



Here's a bit more about the jigsaws which are also available for sale from my other websites - click here!

Here are a couple of samples (a lion and a bus) so you can see how to do the puzzles -





Canyon Country Jigsaw Puzzles CD



Friday, April 13, 2012

Canyon Country Coming Soon As Jigsaw Puzzles


Utah's Canyon Country is coming soon as 25 interactive Jigsaw Puzzles on CD. The spectacular rock formations present photographers with such a wealth of material that it's hard to resist capturing them on film or digital flash card. The response to my photos has been so overwhelming that I've decided to make 5 of the photos into interactive jigsaws: Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park's Kolob Canyons, Red Canyon, Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park.


Stay tuned!

http://utahparks.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/canyon-country-created-into-jigsaw.html

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Rainbow Bridge To Monument Valley: Making The Modern Old West


Rainbow Bridge To Monument Valley: Making The Modern Old West, by Thomas J. Harvey looks to be an interesting read if you can get past the cover. Stunning photo of one of the Mittens in Monument Valley.

Rainbow Bridge to Monument Valley: Making the Modern Old West

Rainbow Bridge to Monument Valley: Making the Modern Old West

The Colorado River Plateau is home to two of the best-known landscapes in the world: Rainbow Bridge in southern Utah and Monument Valley on the Utah-Arizona border. Twentieth-century popular culture made these places icons of the American West, and advertising continues to exploit their significance today. In "Rainbow Bridge to Monument Valley," Thomas J. Harvey artfully tells how Navajos and Anglo-Americans created fabrics of meaning out of this stunning desert landscape, space that western novelist Zane Grey called "the storehouse of unlived years," where a rugged, more authentic life beckoned.

Reviews
"Thomas J. Harvey's work on the Utah-Arizona border region . . . will stake out new intellectual terrain for scholars seeking to explore the relationship between geography, cultural nationalism, and Occidentalism in twentieth-century America. . . . Harvey shows quite clearly how layers of meaning continue to be attached to the region and how modern mythmaking is perpetuated."Carter Jones Meyer co-author of "Selling the Indian: Commercializing and Appropriating American Indian Cultures".