Utah: Have you ever noticed that almost all of the towns here are right off the interstates?

I've only been to Utah once before and that was only the northern part. I saw the salt flats, the Great Salt Lake and Salt Lake City. I concluded (rightly, I think) that the state was, in a word, bizarre. That said, today's drive was gorgeous. Deserts, canyons, buttes, mesas and mountains filled the afternoon and evening.

Amazingly, we're less than 500 miles from L.A., which means we drove more than 2/3 of the trip yesterday and today (giving us plenty of time to explore Zion National Park and Las Vegas tomorrow and Saturday).

Anyway, today's drive was satisfying. Good scenery, good conversation and a great new game. Each month, I make a Top 10 list of songs on iTunes. I've been doing this since February 2005 and we spent the last few hours of the drives working our way through last year's spring lists and psychoanalyzing me. Narcissist that I am, I found this immensely enjoyable.

It's hard to see, but Utah did welcome us.

A really good hotdog from a truckstop in Green River, UT. The picture was taken not 20 minutes after Kate and I had an extensive conversation about how important it was that we locate, purchase and consume produce.

All the scenic overlooks were this amazing.

Kate is a giant!

So am I!

Mormons (uh, Utahans) are polite.

Layers of mountains.