We passed through the Virgin River Gourge on our journey this morning. We also crossed through on the outskirts of Nevada. Apparently, there was civilization on the edge of Nevada becuse there is a water source there and the growth is rapid due to the plethora of retirement communities.

After passing through Nevada we ended up traveling into Utah! In doing so, I learned a lot of background information about the state of Utah. There are many beehives in Utah.  This is a sign of working together as a colony and the emblem can be seen in the architecture as well. 

Bringham Young was the ultimate colonist.  Every 30 miles you will find a civilization.  St George was the cotton growing region. It was home of first Utah temple as well. Originally the federal government did not recognize Utah as a state due to polygamy.  In 1896, Utah was finally considered a state. 62 percent are Mormon today whereas 90 percent where considered morman in the 1900's. At BYU no drinking allowed, tobacco or caffeine. In all honesty, I think I would have a tough time with the "no caffeine rule." 

In addition to learning about the state of Utah, we also learned about Bryce National Park as well as Zion National Park. In the parks you will see deer, turkey scorpions and spiders. There are falcons and the California condor. The Califnornia Condor is the largest bird- though nearly extinct. The birds breed once every 4 years, so it was difficult to make them repopulate.  California and Arizona  still have Condors flying around and the population is now around 400.

Zion National Park is made out of sandstone. The tunnel in Zion was built in 1927. There are two lanes but it was originally built for smaller size cars. Thus, it takes a bit of time to let larger vehicles through. Bryce National Park is also a wonder. It is made out of limestone and carved a bit from wind and water and ice. There is an indian legend about a cayote that froze a bunch of people and those people are the rock spirits surrounding Bryce.