Our trip home a few weeks back was so busy we are still trying to process the whole experience, so maybe we’ll revisit it with a blog entry later. But now, some of our more recent activity…
Memorial Day weekend brought Susan and me another opportunity for travel and, as usual, we took full advantage. Over the holidays we discussed meeting our friend Jenna in Moab since it sits about midway between us in Logan and her in Denver. With our other distractions we didn’t develop the idea much until the last couple weeks. Luckily Jenna was still available and we were able to pull something together.
Friday evening Susan, Derby and I packed up and hit the road southbound for Green River, Utah. There is not much to say about Green River other than it has a Motel 6 and is less than an hour from Moab. We could’ve completed the drive to Moab Friday night, but since Moab is a tourism hub for the nearby national parks it is VERY expensive on holiday weekends (i.e. $200/night for Motel 6 quality lodging). We wanted to limit our exposure to the Moab costs so limited our stay in the city proper to just one night. Our idea was not unique as Green River was also filled to capacity when we arrived.
Saturday morning I got a quick run in Green River done before we drove the rest of the way into Moab. First order of business was dropping Derby at the local dog camp, Karen’s K-9 Campground. National Parks have strict limitations on pets in the parks (understandably) so keeping Derby along would’ve limited our exploring abilities as well as our hotel options. Karen was a very nice crazy dog lady so we knew Derby was in good hands.
Business complete, we met Jenna and her friend Bryan in town at the Love Muffin Café for breakfast. The Café had a selection of muffins, burritos, sandwiches and coffee drinks along with some other breakfast standards. Susan and I both opted for muffins and granola which were very good.
After breakfast, we consolidated to one car and drove the ~3 miles from town to Arches National Park. My annual pass got all of us into the park for free (we’re so proud of our pass) and even allowed us to bypass the long queue of cars waiting to pay for admission. Once in the park, we drove to the northwest terminus of the scenic road and did some light hikes along the way to see Skyline Arch and Balanced Rock. On the drive back out, we stopped for the Salt Valley Overlook and walked around the Double Arch area.
Views along the road 
At Balanced Rock 
Balanced Rock & Double Arch
We left the park around 1:30 and headed back to town to drop Jenna and Bryan off so they could hunt for a campsite. Susan and I then noticed an art fair going on at the town park, so proceeded to check it out and cool down with some shaved ice before heading to the hotel to check in and put our feet up for a bit. During our break, I did some exploring of the paved trail system in the area on my road bike. Moab is known as a mountain bike haven, but there are plenty of good roads and trails for road riding. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to explore them more thoroughly.
Around 6 pm, we realized we probably wouldn’t be meeting with Jenna and Bryan again that evening since they were off the grid at their campsite. The temperatures finally start dropping so Susan and I ventured back out for a scenic drive along Castle Creek Road before coming back into town for dinner. For as many tourists visit Moab, the well-rated (per Yelp) dinner options were limited, so we decided to dine at the Moab Grill near our hotel. It was home-style American fare, and was fine though not exceptional. After dinner, the sun was setting and it felt very pleasant outside so we decided to take a stroll along Main Street to end the day.
Sunday morning started early since Susan and I had planned to go back to Arches to complete the 3 mile round-trip hike to Delicate Arch. The early start was to limit our exposure to heat, sun, and the crowds. We got to the trailhead at about 7:45 and it took us until right about 9 to get to the Delicate Arch itself. The hike is mostly uphill but not overly strenuous if done during the low sunlight times of the day. The worst section is a stretch about .5 miles long that climbs a smooth rock face almost right in the middle of the trail. You cannot see the famous Delicate Arch until the very end of the trail which is motivation to complete the hike. The view at the top was impressive. I had expected Delicate Arch to be worth seeing, but had no idea of the scale of the arch itself. It is also one of the few truly freestanding arches we saw in the park. We took in the view at the top and took a break. Susan also wandered around the arch getting pictures from multiple angles (including beneath it).
At the start of our hike 
Ready for the climb 
Up, up, up! 
The 1/2 mile climb up a rock face 
We made it! 
Susan under the arch & Susan next to the arch 
Cacti flowers
On the downhill trip back to the car, Susan and I were patting ourselves on the back for starting the hike early since the crowds moving opposite us had picked up substantially (as had the heat).
After the hike, we drove back to town and checked out of the hotel before picking up Derby and regrouping with Jenna and Bryan. From there we drove the 45 minutes to the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park. Canyonlands is a HUGE park with 2 districts exclusively devoted to backcountry and off-road exploration. Island in the Sky is the most accessible for traditional car sight-seeing and the only area we could take Derby into (although he couldn’t leave the main road). Areas we explored as we drove through the park were the Upheaval Dome, the Green River overlook, and the Mesa Arch. A couple of these involved short hikes, so all told we hiked over 5 miles on Sunday…not too bad for Susan being 24 weeks pregnant.
Green River overlook 
Upheaval Dome & Mesa Arch 
Mesa Arch 
Derby relaxing in the car
The Island in the Sky is a large mesa that offers panoramic views of large parts of the park. The steep canyon walls and the winding Green and Colorado rivers provided dramatic scenery. Leaving Canyonlands, I have now completed visiting all 5 Utah national parks (Susan still needs to get to Bryce Canyon).
Mid-afternoon we went back to town and Susan and I were ready for a break. Jenna wanted to do some town exploring, so we split and Susan and I found shade and rested with the car before grabbing a snack. Around 6, we reconvened to follow Jenna and Bryan out to their campsite where they cooked us dinner. Once the sun ducked behind the canyon walls the evening was perfect for sitting by a campfire for dinner. Since we had to navigate some tough roads and also find a place to stay for the night, Susan and I left around sunset to make our way out of town. We stopped at a motel in the small town of Wellington. This gave us just over 3 hours of driving left for Monday morning and had us home in Logan just after lunch (in time for me to get in a solid bike ride!).
We have less than 10 weeks remaining in the Utah chapter of our lives, but have a couple other places to explore before we are done.
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