Arches National Park - you've got to see it!

September 18 – After a leisurely morning, we left at 10 for Arches National Monument.  I

Yes, we're waiting in line!

packed the cooler with lunch and drinks as there are no places to get food once you get into the park.  The line to get in was 2 lanes and full!  However, once we got through the entrance station traffic moved right along. 

I thought we might fare better to go to the far end of the park and work our way back. Having been here before I know how tempting it is to stop and take photos like crazy. 

Landscape Arch

As our luck would have it, that was the busiest parking lot we were in all day!  We finally got parked at Devil’s Garden Trailhead and venture to Double O Arch and Landscape Arch.  The walk was 2.6 miles round trip to Landscape Arch.   It’s not a difficult trail but windy in some places.  It was another 2 miles round trip to go on to Double O Arch, but we could see it from where we were.  It was pretty crowded.  There was another trail to 2 other arches but they we decided it was early and we’d have more walking to do.  My right ankle is not doing so well and I didn’t want to stress it any more than necessary.

There are over 200 arches in the park but not nearly that many along the main road.  There are gravel roads we could have gone on and there are roads that you must use 4 wheel drive.  Bill’s not into all that bouncing and jouncing or rough rides for his truck!

Our next stop along the road was to see Broken Arch and Sand Dune Arch.  Sand Dune is

Broken Arch

right by the road and Broken Arch further back in.  We heard numerous accents from many countries today.  Also

Kelly at Sand Dune Arch

there are a lot of serious hikers.  There have been numerous warnings as well as to the amount of water you should carry.  There are only 2 locations in the park with drinking water.  I think the numbers are geared to middle of summer weather. 

Bill squeezing out the
opening from Sand Dune
Arch

Not so much today!

The Fiery Furnace Viewpoint was next and I don’t really get the

One section of Fiery Furnace

name!  I think is has to do with the iron in the soils and caused coloring as if it was done in a furnace. 

We took the side road off to Wolf Ranch and then on to the view points of Delicate Arch.  There’s an old home at Wolf Ranch from when it was really a ranch.  You can park there and hike to Delicate Arch which is 3 miles round trip over difficult terrain.  We did that years ago and at this point we optioned for the closest point walk!  It’s just a beautiful arch on the edge of a

Delicate Arch

mountain, all by itself and hanging on to life.  It is the most exposed arch that we have seen in the park.

Back on the main road we drove 2.5 miles to the Panorama Point.  Lovely views, It was a quick stop.

There is another side road that leads to Double Arch, North Window and South Window.  The park was enlarging the parking area there so traffic was a mess.  Rather than wait for parking and walking

South Window Arch

closer to the arches, I managed to get some photos from the truck.  Bill was able to pull off for Double Arch where you could also see the

North Window Arch

beginnings of new arches forming. 

We parked at Balanced Rock and walked back in to see Pothole Arch.  It’s very different and getting in there is all beach sand and a very

Double Arch

narrow opening.  There weren’t many people coming and going but we thought it was a really nice arch to see.

Of course we could see Balanced Rock from quite a distance since it’s in the open and pretty tall.  Some day

Balanced Rock

erosion will take over and it unfortunately will tumble to the ground.

Now we were on the home stretch!  We stopped briefly to view the

Petrified Sand Dunes

Petrified Dunes.  They look like sand dunes but are solid rocks.  They cover acres and acres!  Then we drove through an area with numerous points of interest on both sides of the road.  There’s Tower of Babel, Sheep Rock, Three Gossips, Courthouse Towers and The Organ.  You bare get past those and you begin your decent zig zagging your way down the mountain.  There’s a decent view of the

Sheep Rock

Visitor Center as you drive down.

The Three Gossips

We stopped at the Visitor Center and watched the movie which was excellent.  Of course there was a visit to the gift shop as well.  We checked out the exhibits and headed home.

Time for some rest until dinner time!  Since Bill picked the lunch spot yesterday, I got to pick dinner tonight.  I checked on Yelp and Trip Advisor and chose Sultan’s Mediterranean!  Bill is not big on that kind of food but I checked and there were some things I knew he’d eat.  What a find!  Even Bill raved about his meal.  We shared an appetizer of Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) and they were yummy!  That was the only thing Bill had a negative comment on as it was cold and we normally have them hot.)  He had Chicken Shish and I had Havarti Chicken Shish!  That was the moistest chicken and so nicely seasoned.  It came with yellow rice and a salad.  Then for dessert (not like we were not already full) and Bill went with Baklava and I had the rice pudding.  The baklava was made a bit different, with pistachio nuts and no honey but Bill said it was excellent.  The rice pudding was a different also.  It was all creamy and no rice bits and seasoned with some ginger in addition to cinnamon.  I liked it but prefer the rice pudding from the little Greek place at Winter Garden Village!

Needless to say, we were stuffed!  Once we got home we did start to ready things for our departure tomorrow as we like to make as fast of a getaway as we can.  I did a bit of posting and working on my photos.

Nice day in Moab

September 17 – No rush this morning for sure!  I think we both slept pretty well.

I made a dozen rhubarb muffins this morning.  Picked up a recipe somewhere but decided to shortcut it by using Bisquick.  Diced up the rhubarb pretty small and topped them all with a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar.  They went really well with some fruit and Canadian bacon.

Eventually we left for the main drag after a quick stop at the post office.  We bought new Dirt Shirts at the Original Dirt Shop store.  Bill realized when he got home that he bought one exactly like the one he already had!  We stopped is several shops, looking for bargains and anything “special”.  We only bought a few Christmas gifts.

Bill chose Fiesta Mexicana for lunch.  I had a salad with lots of avocados, shrimp and chicken.  It was good.  I brought some of the chicken home.  Bill had a combo and he brought some home as well.

We checked out all of the shops on the way back to the truck and decided we’d seen enough for today.  The only grocery store in Moab is City Market so we stopped for a few things.  We had hoped they had huckleberry ice cream as several of the ice cream shops advertise it, but no luck!

After we dropped off the groceries to the RV, we headed south to Hole In the Rock.  We’d been there a long time ago and they have added a lot more “stuff” outside.  We took the 12 minute tour and were not impressed with the tour guide.  The house itself is fantastic.  Three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, huge living area, fireplace vented 6 feet up through the rock, a big kitchen, office space  -- all blasted and chipped out of a mountain.  There are 4 entrances, 3 right through the rock

One of the entrances

and one that was first that they built a small building on the outside and carved out the first 2 rooms inside and now it’s a gift shop but they had a café that they ran.  Great spot to visit for $6.50 a person!

Made from lots and lots of parts

We visited the gravesites that they carved out before their deaths and they are buried near their home.  They have some other unique yard art and another pricier gift shop and a General Store where we had ice cream for our afternoon “pick me up”.

Time to head home and chill with a glass of wine and get another load of laundry done.

I baked a pork loin in a bag for dinner and we finished off the fried apples and leftover broccoli!  Nothing for dessert unless we opened ice cream so we each had a rhubarb muffin!

November 1 Last Day in Moab

Dinosaur track

Only 29 days til we start heading for home. Wow, can’t believe we’ve been on the road almost 2 months. Tomorrow we leave Moab for Arizona, where we’ll spend this last month.

Petroglyphs

Once again we were in no hurry to leave today, but I did remember to pack a lunch. Today’s trek was viewing rock art. We picked up an auto tour of area rock art AKA petroglyphs and pictographs. In this area they are mostly petroglyphs, which means they are etched or scratched on the surface of a rock. Pictographs are painted on using various mineral pigments. The rock art in this area dates back to 5,500 BC. We didn’t find the rock art at our first stop. I think it’s because we didn’t climb to the top of the hill. Bill was getting impatient and didn’t really want to do the climbing.

Swallow nest

Rock Climber

The next stop, well several stops, was on route 279 which is a Utah Scenic Byway that runs along the Colorado River. In addition to stopping several times to see the petroglyphs, we got to see a slab with dinosaur tracks belonging to a three-toed allosaurus. Some of the art was way up and we had to use the zoom on the camera or binoculars and some was right along the road where we could just walk up to it. We also watched a guy doing rock scaling. We could see the hooks in many places along the road up on the steep sides and there was a guy and girl assisting another guy climb. I think he was an instructor as he was explaining everything as he went up.

More petroglyphs

The map instructions took us back into town and behind the Burger King so we were surprised when we ended up back in the same canyon, but on the other side of the river. There were 4 sites to view on that side but 2 were on gravel roads and Bill wasn’t too excited about going on them so we found the other 2. One was only a small panel right on the road and the other was at the mouth of Moon Flower Canyon. This was a rather large one and was fenced off. That doesn’t seem to keep idiots from vandalizing though. Really makes me mad that people are so self centered that they have to carve or write their names on everything and spoil it for the rest of time. At this panel was kinda a crack in the rock to the left of the fence with thick three limbs in place like a ladder going up and you could see more petroyglyphs and that’s a way the ancient Indians got away from wild animals. Of course I had to climb up a bit, just to see if I could! It was time for lunch at this stop so we ate our sandwiches, celery and pudding cups.

Moab Man

On our way back through Moab for the last time, we stopped and fueled up for our trip tomorrow. The last rock art that we were going to was only a couple of miles from our RV park and down the road we turn on so we saved it for last. It was another big panel about 30 feet high and 90 feet across. This one is the home of the “Moab Man”, It’s a very large human looking petroglyph with hair and large upper body. This panel had elk, sheep, dogs, and what is called reindeer and a sled. It’s truly amazing that these have lasted for thousands of years.

We got home mid afternoon so Bill started prepping for leaving tomorrow. I had gotten some heavy washcloths to pin to the sides of the seats to keep Molly from ruining the seats with scratching. Took me a while to get them on with screw in pins. I vacuumed and did a last load of wash for a few days, then used more of the stolen apples to make a small pie for later in the evening. Dinner was grilled hot links, salad and we shared a baked potato. I mapped out our trip home from Tucson so while we’re driving tomorrow Bill can start calling and make reservations. I listed 2 places for each night so hopefully he can get it all set on one day.

Time to read my few pages for the night.

October 31 Arches National Park

The Three Gossips

Happy Halloween! We both wore our Halloween shirts today. I added my socks and earrings and several children along our travels pointed them all out to their mothers. We didn’t leave until mid-morning for Arches National Park. Since we were full of breakfast, we failed to think about lunch. That is, that there is no food concession in the park. At least I filled our water bottles. We managed 4 hours on some dried fruit and nuts we carry in the truck and a tiny bag of Doritos that we shared. Anyway, we stopped at the visitor center which was new since we visited quite a few years ago. The movie was excellent and the exhibit was so different than any other with fake rock formations that looked like those in the park. Great explanation of how it all happened over millions of years.

Bill at Balanced Rock

Tiny little Bill at the North Arch

We headed out for our auto tour and several trail walks to get up close and personal with the arches. This is the most different national park in the country. The stately red rocks and the pinnacles and the arches. You could easily spend a couple of days there. In addition to seeing the Turret Arch, North and South Arches, Cove Arch, Double Arch and Delicate Arch, we viewed a number of rock formations. Balanced Rock is amazing, as are the Fiery Furnace formations and all the fins. The fins look like fish fins in shape and are the style of rocks that over time the centers erode and become arches. Arches National Park just has so many different aspects. There are animals too and we watched for the bighorn sheep, but although I’m an excellent wildlife spotter, I didn’t manage to spot one of them today. We agreed that we should have driven to the end of the park road and started our tour with Devils Garden so we could see the Landscape Arch, because by the time we got that far, it had been almost 4 hours and that hike was 1.6 miles round trip and would have taken over and hour and we were both tired from our previous 2 trails. I’m sure there will be a next time as we both like Moab and would like to go on a rafting trip next time too.

Fins

The first place we stopped in Moab was Wendy’s for a tiny meal to tide us over till dinner. That was a good little hamburger with mustard and pickle, washed down with a small Frosty! My favorite Wendy’s meal! Since Bill remembered his book list we stopped at the used book store and he was lucky to find 3 books on his list. I hope they last him til Kam mails some of the ones I ordered a couple of weeks ago that the dummies mailed home instead of the address I gave them. We had to stop at the grocery because we ran out of dish soap, so we picked up a few other things to tide us over til we reach Flagstaff. Not that we would go hungry, but better to have a variety.

Xena was ready and waiting when we got home. After we put things away and I put a load of wash in we took her on a long walk around the park. Bill spent some time visiting with our neighbor who told him they’d been to Alaska twice, both times on caravans for free as the tail gunner and wagon master. I still don’t want to go a formal caravan but would love to get 3-4 couples together to go. That to me would be the ultimate RV trip!

I fixed fish tonight and Bill didn’t say a negative thing about it. I also used some of my white pumpkin. I cut it in large chunks and sprayed it with olive oil and sprinkled with a mixture of baking spices and splenda. It was pretty good. We had our steamed broccoli and half of the little loaf of bread Bill picked from the marked down cart. Just as I was putting dinner on the table, Bill got the bad news that his close friend Jim McKenzie died today. He’s really sad that he could not be there to see him during his hospital stay and won’t be there to convey his condolences to the family. They were roommates in the early Florida days and ended up teaching together at West Orange for many years. That’s 2 of his West Orange friends to die while we’ve been gone.

I just made Bill a hot chocolate and a cappuccino for me and once I post this it will be reading time for the night.

October 30 Pumpkin Chuckin Time

Pumpkin Catapult

What a good day! It was in the high 60’s and sunny all day. We left just after 10 to go to the Pumpkin Chuckin Festival just a couple of miles down the road from us at the old airport. It was really something to see. They have 3 kinds of pumpkin chuckers: catapults, cannons and slingshots. They had a cannon that shoots a pumpkin over a mile. Of course we couldn’t see it land but they did have to move some cattle out of range of them before they could start. Then one of the catapults could shoot it so high and over 1000 feet. You watch them load and set the machines up to launch. It was hard to actually get a photo of the pumpkin but I managed to get 2, one from a catapult and one from a cannon. There were craft booths, food booths, petting zoo, and contests. We watched the pumpkin seed spitting. There was a trio singing. For lunch we both had Navajo Tacos and for dessert we had apple oatmeal chocolate chip bars. Not only were there tons of kids in costumes, but all of the volunteers working the festival were in costume and so many adults attending. Moab really gets into the spirit of Halloween.

Slingshot

Miniature horses at festival

From there we went to the Spanish Valley Vineyards and Winery. It’s very small and I was the only one there tasting. Left with 2 bottles of Riesling. Then we drove out the scenic route 128 that runs along the Colorado River. The high cliffs of red rock were beautiful. There are numerous campsites along the river, but only 2 places that can accommodate RV’s and only a few of those spaces for rigs the size of ours. 14 miles into the canyon is the Red Cliffs Lodge and Castle Creek Winery. After my tasting there and 2 bottles more of wine, we went to the lodge. In addition to being a hotel, it houses the Movie Museum. Starting in 1939 numerous movies were filmed in the valley and surrounding areas of Moab. There were photos collages of all of them and other memorabilia. Bill really enjoyed seeing all of his favorite western stars and things from their movies.

Along the Colorado River

On the way home we stopped in town to browse some the shops. We both got Dirt Shirts. They are dyed in the red clay so have a perpetual mud color. Once again Bill didn’t have his book list so he couldn’t buy any books.

Xena was glad to see us and ready to go out. While the laundry was washing we did some post cards and I checked on places to go for dinner. We ended up going to Buck’s Grill House. We timed it perfectly and didn’t have any wait. Bill had buffalo meatloaf and I had the elk stew. The yeast bread was delicious and so heavy and moist. I had a coupon for a free dessert so we shared a Hazelnut flourless chocolate cake that was drowning in whipped cream. Neither of us finished our meal and brought some home but we didn’t leave a crumb of dessert. We didn’t make it to the movie tonight so will try again tomorrow.

October 29 Moving on to Moab

View of Moab Rim from our RV

We didn’t really get up too early today. Xena needed to go out a couple of times to the bathroom from eating all the beef sticks and then drinking so much water. Then some time during the night the heat stopped as the propane tank went dry. It was 33 outside when we got up. Brrr! Before we left Bill took the tank up to the office and got it filled. We didn’t rush to leave since we only had about 85 miles to drive to Moab, Utah today.

La Sal Mountains from our RV

We left at 10:15 for the boring drive to the Utah border and a bit beyond to US 191 where we turned south to Moab. Those roads are pretty much nothing but high desert until you get closer to Moab and there are some nice mesas/cliffs along the west of the side. They have a couple of pull outs with scenic overlook spots.

Our campground for the next 4 nights is OK RV Park and we’re 4 miles south of Moab on the main drag and then 1 mile in. It’s a pretty nice park. There are lots of Class A’s and about as many 5th Wheels. We’ve seen one Cedar Creek like ours here and several RV’s from Florida. We have a nice tree here and small plot of grass and a picnic table if it’s nice enough to be out. Bill said the bath house is nice and we’re just across from it so that’s nice. It’s a small family owned park. The view is great. On one side we can see the cliffs of Canyonlands National Park and in another direction we can see the snowy peaks of the La Sal Mountains. I guess they cross country ski there in winter and then come down to Moab and do the Arches and Canyonland National Parks. The best thing about this campground is it’s a Passport America so we got it for half price.

After lunch of leftover chili, cheese, crackers and fruit we watched a movie while a load of wash was in. Then we went into Moab to the visitor center where we picked up several maps and brochures of interest and watched a 12 minute video about the area. Next to the visitor center is a strip plaza with a used book store. Too bad Bill forgot his list, but he wants to go back with it and see what he can find. We both remember going to the bookstore years ago when we were here and to the visitor center and the Eddie McStiff restaurant in the plaza. We stopped at the hardware store for another bolt he forgot to get at the Ace in Kremmling and checked out the small movie theatre for a possible Date Night tomorrow. They have 3 movies, one we’ve seen, one we don’t want to see and one that I want to see, “Secretariat”. We stopped at City Market to fill our water bottles that we forgot to take yesterday. They had some good looking bread in the marked down basket, a 3 cheese mini loaf that I thought would be good with dinner. Bill picked a loaf rye that he likes.

For dinner I cooked the rest of the Italian sausage and simmered it with spaghetti sauce and made whole wheat pasta, salad and sliced the cheese bread. It was nice and hardy, reminded me of the crusty bread you get in Europe. Later we had hot chocolate and a couple of cookies while we watched TV and I posted yesterday’s blog.

Time to post this one and read a while before shut eye!