A Bit of a Rant

So, we have this neighbor. She and her family moved here about a year and a half ago and now they are being forced to go back to Oregon because of her husband's job. I was talking to her last week and she said, "We can't wait to go. We hate Utah." I was thinking, Wow, hate is a really strong word. I said, "Really? You HATE it here?" "Oh yes," she said, "it's so ugly."
UGLY??
Serious?
I have heard Utah described as a lot of things: conservative, white, no-night life... but not ugly. I have traveled across this country and up and down both of its coasts and I know that there is a lot of beauty out there - the lush green of the south and Pacific NW, the rocky shores of New England, beaches, plains, rolling valleys, mountains...
Now, in defense of my homestate I am compiling a list of beautiful and unique places that Utah offers:

Just this last weekend, BB and I cross-country skiied in the beautiful Big Cottonwood Canyons
There is the really cool landscape of Goblin Valley


Spring in Big Cottonwood

Cedar Breaks



The Uintahs

Not to mention:
Bryce Canyon, Arches, Zion National Park, Coral Pink Sand Dunes (see pictures previously posted to this blog), Cache Valley, The Salt Lake Valley (of course, on a non-inversion day:), the red rocks of southern Utah, some even find the salt flats beautiful, the Oquirrhs, Mt. Timpanogos... I think I've made my point. Did I miss anything?
Whew - I feel better...