Ann-Christine from Leya is hosting Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #201 and she has chosen the theme Three of a Kind but according to the prompt, it’s not the three of a kind one usually thinks about. This three of a kind is sort of like telling a story with 3 photos. I’ll try my best on this one.

I was at Dinosaur National Monument for the second time recently, the first was in 2017. For those who don’t know where that is, it’s located in northeastern Utah near the Utah-Colorado border. Anyway, this spot was the end of the auto tour. I’m not sure what was up ahead but it looked like a parking lot full of RVs.

I was surprised I didn’t notice those white mountains before. They look a little like Mount Rushmore without the faces carved out, don’t they?

Those mountains aren’t the main attraction though. Can you spot the rock that looks like a turtle?

There are a lot of weird shaped rocks in Utah. They are formed by wind erosion. Whenever I go to a State Park or a National Park and someone in the car points out, “Hey, that rock looks like…” Most of the time, it takes me a minute before I see it but sometimes, I just can’t but on that rock was a turtle I see.

Now, let’s rewind about 5 hours on that very same day. When I went to Dinosaur National Monument the first time in 2017, I genuinely did not remember passing by this portion. Was I asleep in the backseat of my mother’s SUV?

We were fortunate this time to had found a spot to turn off the road because this view was epically beautiful. I felt like I had arrived at the ocean but really, this is just a ginormous body of fresh water in northeastern Utah. Did I mention the wind was whipping wildly that day? The waves were crashing fiercely on the shore, dragging the red sand from beneath to the surface. That’s why you’re seeing the reddish-orange water by the shoreline.

I wish you could’ve been there, felt the wind whip across your face, and breathe in the air without the brininess of the ocean. Well, I guess that’s what photos are for.