Today we drove north on Utah's Scenic Byway 128 along the Colorado River to several stops. The first was a museum at Red Cliffs Lodge (Moab Museum of Film and Western Heritage) suggested by our friend, Jeff - he has done a lot of traveling and always has great recommendations (Thanks again, Jeff).
The museum included a lot of memorabilia from movies filmed in Moab, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and the surrounding area. It was surprising just how many movies and television shows (over 120) included scenes filmed around here. I can now recognize landmarks in movies like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Thelma and Louise.
It was nice of the Duke to pose with David.
As we headed into Castle Valley for their annual gourd festival, the fall color against the red cliffs was beautiful.
We just missed the parade. It was clear the locals were pretty enthusiastic about their festival and the weather could not have been more perfect.
The vintage buildings below were on the way back out of town requiring a quick stop. We would have liked to explore them further, but they were located in somebody's yard, making it a little awkward to roam around taking pictures.
I had to include a few more pictures of Parriott Mesa, overlooking Castle Valley, as a backdrop for the fall color (Castleton Tower is the spire off in the distance).
Back out on highway 128, we had a view of Parriott Mesa from another direction. It was quite the distinctive landmark.
A few miles further north on highway 128 was a turn-off heading to Fisher Towers. The road was unpaved and at times pretty rough. It was, however, pretty heavily traveled because the recreation area is a favorite of locals who like to avoid the throng of tourists visiting the area National Parks.
Fisher Towers gained notoriety after a Citi Bank commercial was shot using it.
The lower and middle parts of the towers are the Cutler Formation.
The lower member of the Moenkopi Formation forms the upper darker part.
27 movies have been filmed using the Fisher Towers area as a backdrop. (Not one of which I've seen!)
Far off in the distance, the Colorado River was visible beyond the spires.
Someone took the art of cairn building to a whole new level. It brought to mind Andy Goldsworthy, one of Joani's favorite artists.
Sam loves it when we're not in a National Park and he can come along.
Below, an avid four-wheeler stopped for a little grub before hitting some more trails - fortunately, we did not meet him on the road.
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