Durango Railroad Station & Museum

During the last full day of my recent vacation, I wandered around parts of Durango and then back to the railroad station, out of which I had ridden a Durango & Silverton train a few days earlier.  In front of the station is this covered wagon - but without the covering.

Also in front of the station was this metal statue of three horses.

Behind the station is the museum, reached by a walkway.

I couldn't really take any good pictures inside the museum, because it was rather dark and everything was close together, but the museum included an outdoor section, with a small viewing area.  This is a turntable, with two coaches behind it.

A few more railroad cars were parked near the turntable.

Within the viewing area, whose boundary was marked by the metal barriers, were these old trucks.

Finally, while walking back to the station (the yellow building on the right), I saw this parked train.  The locomotive at its far end was a diesel electric, instead of the steam engines that I had seen earlier.

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Arches National Park - Part 2

After visiting the Balanced Rock, the Windows and the Parade of Elephants, I moved on to Delicate Arch.  There are trails leading to two different viewing points for this arch.  I took the upper, more difficult trail, and took this shot of Delicate Arch and some nearby formations.  They all seem to be on top of a ridge.

Tucked in between some huge sandstone boulders is Sand Dune Arch.

Broken Arch is a short distance from Sandstone Arch.  From this angle, I couldn't tell if there really was any break in its structure.  I later found this website, which includes a picture from the other side.

The last arch I was able to photograph is Skyline Arch.  There are several others that may be reached by trails leading from the north end of park's main road, but I decided that this would be the last one I had time for.

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Arches National Park - Part 1

After visiting some small attractions in eastern Utah, I continued northward to a much bigger one, Arches National Park.  The main entrance is just north of the city of Moab, and just north of the Colorado River.  While the park is known for its namesake rock formations, it also includes many other features.  The first place where I stopped is this large rock, known as The Organ.

Continuing northward within the park, I saw these formations, which included the famous Balanced Rock.

Here's closer shot of Balanced Rock, showing the idiots people climbing it.

After turning on to a side road, I hiked the short distance to the North Window.

A bit further down the trail, I could see both the North and South Windows.

Near the Windows are these formations, known as the Parade Of Elephants.

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Nidal Hasan Sentenced To Death

The Fort Hood Shooter, having been convicted of all premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder charges against him, has been sentenced to death, which required a unanimous decision by the jurors who had previously convicted him.  Former Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan now stands to become the first American soldier to be executed in over 50 years.  Even so, due to the lengthy appeals process required by the military justice system, his impending execution could be several years away.

Read more at The Guardian, USA Today, Fox News, CNN, Statesman(dot)com and the Washington Times.

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Music Break

Here are yet some more old favorites of mine.  Starting off is my favorite Tom Petty song, with or without the Heartbreakers (in this case with), Jammin' Me.  Petty wrote the song with Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and some guy from Minnesota named Bob Zimmerman.

I haven't kept up with new rock and roll music since the early 1990's.  The last "new" artist I remember noticing was Sheryl Crow.  A Change Would Do You Good didn't sell as well as some others from her, but it was still my favorite.  Here's the version of the video that did not overlay the song with acting sequences.

Great White had a hit with Once Bitten Twice Shy, written by Ian Hunter after he left Mott The Hoople.  Years later they were victimized by the tragic fire in a Rhode Island night club.

I'm not a huge fan of country, but I like this catchy tune from Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shut Up And Kiss Me.  She gets some help from some talented side musicians and a well-trained golden retriever.

Blue Oyster Cult had some success with Don't Fear The Reaper (which inspired the "more cowbell" skit on Saturday Night Live) and Burnin' For You, but my favorite of theirs is the title song from the Mirrors album.

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Monday Links - Again

Once again, Monday appears to be a good time to round up some stories in the news.  So here we go:

From The Guardian, as tensions rise in the wake of an apparent chemical weapons attack in Syria, the United Kingdom moves military equipment to a base in Cyprus.

From the Boston Globe, the full text of Secretary of State John Kerry's statement in response to these attacks.

From the Jerusalem Post, according to Israeli International Relations Minister Yuval Steinitz it is "crystal clear" that Syrian President Bashir Assad's forces used chemical weapons in an attack five days ago.

From CBS News, worries about Syria are affecting Wall Street.

From the Washington Post, the prospect of American intervention in Syria is very unpopular.

From Town Hall, the story of Shin Dong-Hyuk, who escaped the North Korean GULAG.

From Mashable, Bloomberg beat Reuters in web traffic for this past July.

From WRAL(dot)com, a charitable group in Raleigh, North Carolina has been threatened with arrest for feeding the homeless without a permit.  (via Breitbart's The Conversation)

From Breitbart's Big Government, the media ignore the killing of Americans by illegal aliens.

From Forbes, Donald Trump is being sued for fraud.

From Fox News, two House Democrats propose a bill to increase taxes on guns and ammunition.

From the Mail Online, investigators have requested the school records of the Sandy Hook shooter.

From Talking Points Memo, according to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, the federal government will reach the latest debt ceiling in mid-October.

And from the Times Union, the best and worst dressed at the MTV VMAs.

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A Few Sights In Utah

While driving from Colorado into Utah up to Arches National Park, I stopped to see a few places.  About 12 miles off the main drag (US 191) is Newspaper Rock, a large rock panel inscribed with literally hundreds of petroglyphs, created by people of the Archaic, Anasazi, Freemont and Anglo cultures.  It is now either a National Historical Site or a State Historic Monument, depending on which Internet page you read.

Here's another shot from a different angle:

Near the intersection of US 191 and Utah 211 (the side road that leads to Newspaper Rock, and to one entrance of Canyonlands National Park) is Church Rock, so named because of a story about a utopian community allegedly having plans to hollow part of it out and use the resulting space as a church.

Further on up US 191, but well to the south of Arches NP is Wilson Arch.

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