I was out of the Utah mountains and the verdant areas surrounding them and finally encountered an arid expanse that matched my preconceptions. The area was the ancient homeland of a tribe called the Anasazi, who mysteriously disappeared from the area long before the post-Columbus arrival of the Spanish. On the canyon walls, the Anasazi left pictographs resembling (among other things) tall thin bipeds in space helmets. I had finally located my aliens.
After several hours of driving, a line of mesas appeared in the distance like colored ribbons stacked in layers. The tall sharp-edged ridge seemed to go on as far as I could see.
The Book Cliffs are a rugged rock wall 1000 feet high and 200 miles long, the longest unbroken escarpment in the world. Yet I had never heard of them. How could someone who loved books as much as I do never have heard of the Book Cliffs? How could I not be aware of such massive and extraordinary formations? How could I keep being surprised at being surprised?
The Book Cliffs continued to disabuse my ignorance as I passed from Utah into Colorado. The terrain was striking, flat and arid, not quite desert but not far from it. This was not at all the way I pictured Colorado, which was supposed to be elevated and snowy with lots of beer. Once more, my picture of the world needed adjustment.
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