Thursday - November 20, 2008

Today was another nice day but kind of overcast, not the clear blue sky that we have been having, which was a disappointment for taking pictures at Arches National Park. The temperature only got up to the mid 50’sF today, around 12/13C, so it was also a bit cooler.

Today was the day to do Arches National Park and we started with a stop at the Visitor Centre and watched a film on how this area came to be which was very interesting. We then drove into the first area and stopped to see Park Avenue.

Park Avenue



Interesting Formations









Three Gossips



Balanced Rock



After that we decided to drive the 18 miles to the end of the road at Devil’s Garden, which is also the campground and then stop at all the different areas on the way back.

It was a pretty drive but it soon became clear that most of the arches are only visible by walking on a trail to see them. There was a picnic area at Devil’s Garden so we enjoyed our lunch at a picnic table there, then after lunch we took a drive through the campground. Most of the spots are too small for our trailer, there might be one or two that we would fit into. There were only a couple of people camping there, pretty quiet at this time of year. Apparently from March to May it is almost impossible to get a site in there. There are a number of arches in the area but we didn’t have time to start hiking out to them.

After there we drove to the road to Delicate Arch, which is a free standing arch that is 45 feet high and 33 feet wide. There were two views of Delicate Arch, one right off the parking area and the other was about a 0.5 mile hike. We were going to do the hike until a man said to me that it was a pretty tough hike so I stayed behind while John went. When he came back he said he was really glad that I didn’t go as I probably would have had a really hard time with it and also that the view wasn’t as good as the one right off the parking lot.

Delicate Arch (My View)





Delicate Arch (From John's Hike)



From there we drove to the windows section to view the North and South Windows and the Turret Arch. The sign there said it was a 1 mile gravel loop trail with a gentle incline, well I sure didn’t think it was that gentle! There were steps all the way up and down so my hip got a really good workout. At one point I needed to retire my shoe and John was ahead of me so I made the mistake of sitting on a step to tie my shoe, well the step was so low I suddenly realized I was going to have a hard time getting back up, I had to turn over and brace my hands on the step to get back up – thank goodness there was no one around to see me or they would have had the laugh of their lives!!! My biggest fear still is stepping on something and twisting my ankle and falling so a walk like that is a bit nerve wracking for me, I still need to get my confidence back. I did buy a pair of walking sticks the other day but want to get used to them on flat level ground before trying them out on a walk like that.

Double Arch is in the same area but we didn't have time to hike out for a good picture.

North Window



South Window



Turret Arch



North & South Windows (Can Only Be Seen Together from Turret Arch)



Double Arch



Another View of La Sal Mountains



Tonight we went to the Moab Brewery for dinner, the special tonight was any hamburger for $5 so I had a Swiss Mushroom burger with French fries and John had a Jack Daniels burger with onion rings – they were very good!! Their beer special tonight was a pint for $2.50 so we both had a pint, then I told John I would drive home if he wanted a second one - he thought that was a good idea – surprise, surprise!!

And so ends another great gift of a day and we are looking forward to tomorrow and another day of beautiful sights, do join us again to see what the day unfolded.

Wednesday - November 19, 2008

Today was another beautiful day in Moab with clear, sunny skies. We did a mountain loop tour today so it was a bit cooler in the mountains with temperatures in the low 50’s so we don’t know what the high here in Moab was, but all in all it was a nice day.

Today we did the Colorado Riverway and La Sal Mountain Loop Road, we probably did it backwards from what the guide book says but we were closer to the La Sal Mountain Road to start than the Colorado Riverway. It was a beautiful drive through the mountains, at one point we were high enough to find a bit of snow on the road and a couple of icy patches, fortunately it wasn’t much as the road was very twisty and turny with VERY steep drop offs and no shoulders or guard rails. Needless to say I was holding on tightly for a fair bit of the drive – now what good would that do if we did go over the edge–LOL!!!! The scenery was beautiful and when we came down along the Colorado River we were in beautiful Castle Valley surrounded by mountains.

La Sal Mountains and Views from Mountain Drive













We pulled off at one overlook and they had a big board up showing where a huge forest fire had decimated a large are of the La Sal Mountains in August of this year, shortly after we came across an area where all the trees were blackened skeletons due to the fire. Yesterday the fellow at the Visitor Centre mentioned that the Dewey Bridge, which was one of the scenic spots listed on this particular tour, was no longer there as it had burned this summer, guess it was one of the casualties in this large forest fire.

At the end of the loop there is a new walking bridge over the Colorado River which opened in May of this year, we stopped and walked about ¾ of the way across and got some pictures of the river.









On the way through town, heading home, we stopped at the Post Office and the Kokapelli Gallery, which had some beautiful Indian jewelry, pottery etc., then did a quick run into the grocery store.

And so ends a great gift of a day and we are looking forward to tomorrow and another day of beautiful sights, do join us again to see what the day unfolded.

Tuesday - November 18,2008

Today was another beautiful day with a high of about 68F (19C) and last night the low was 35F (2C), nothing to complain about.

This morning I figured out I can get on the internet in the bedroom, I don’t really want to have to sit in there for long but at least we can get it from there. This morning was laundry morning, I went over to the Laundromat (which was sparkling clean!) and got the laundry done and used the internet while there to check the e-mail, post yesterday’s blog, get caught up on the blogs I read and the news. Then I came home and did a real good cleaning. John sorted out the truck this morning and got it all re-organized – how can it get so unorganized in a week????

After 6 days on the road we weren’t really ready for another full day in the truck so this afternoon we did a short (about 2 hours), scenic tour along the Colorado River – what a beautiful drive with wonderful scenery, we sure do like this part of the world! The rock formations are fascinating and I think “you haven’t seen nothing yet!” probably would be very true.

Today's Tour:

























On the way back we stopped at the Moab Visitor’s Centre as I wanted to ask about a drive we are thinking of doing tomorrow. They had some neat T-shirts there so John and I each got one and I also picked up a few postcards.

It is now time to think about getting dinner ready and I will try to get this posted tonight along with some pictures, then we will spend a quiet evening reading or watching TV.

And so ends a great gift of a day and we are looking forward to tomorrow and a day of beautiful sights, do join us again to see what the day unfolded.

Monday - November 17, 2008

Today was another nice day weather wise with a high of about 15C (60F) but last night the low was -4C (26F) – not nice! John disconnected the hose last night but as he said it is hard to blow out 50’ of hose so this morning the hose was frozen, fortunately by the time we were ready to leave it was thawed out.

This morning we went to Wal Mart to stock up as I have no idea when we will see another Wal Mart so it was almost noon before we left Grand Junction.

The drive today from Grand Junction CO to Moab UT was pretty boring – good highway and not a lot of traffic and other than some mountains the scenery wasn’t great, BUT coming into Moab that all changed and the scenery changed to pretty impressive – can’t wait to explore.

Scenery on Today's Drive





An Interesting Rock Formation



After we got set up we went into town to the state liquor store as we had no wine left, then went to the grocery store – could have done my shopping here after all as the local grocery store is a Kroger’s, which I like, and the prices aren’t much more than Wal Mart was. We did pick up a couple of things on sale so we are pretty well stocked up now.

We are now at the Spanish Trail RV Park and will be here for a week. It is supposed to have wi-fi but I am not able to get it here so hope I don’t have to go to the office for the next week to get on line – that would be a real grrrrr!!

And This Is the View from Our Living Room Window







And so ends a great gift of a day, please do come back to see what Arches National Park and Canyonlands are like – from the little we have seen we know it will be an interesting week.

Sunday - November 16, 2008

Just to let you know, the train traffic wasn’t bad last night, I heard a couple of trains during the night but they didn’t keep me awake.

This morning we awoke to bright sunshine and clear blue skies – gotta love it!! It was 10C (50F) when we pulled out of the park this morning just before 9:30 so we knew it was going to be a great day. Not only was it a great day weather wise but a WOW day for scenery.

Yesterday we could see the Rockies off in the distance but there was quite a haze so they weren’t very clear, this morning they were clear and majestic looking as we headed into Denver – wow!

The Rockies


The drive through Denver was good with very little traffic, just the way we like it! Once clear of Denver we really got into the mountains and what an absolutely gorgeous drive, with stunning scenery. Unfortunately, there are no scenic overlooks or places to pull off and enjoy the scenery so most of my pictures are taken through the truck window – not the best way to take pictures!

Nice Houses West of Denver


We passed quite a number of ski hills with lots of people skiing and went through a number of tunnels with the longest being at least 2 km (unfortunately we didn’t check the mileage but it was a long one). The highest point we reached was an elevation of 11,902’ and the temperature there was about 3C (36F) – too cold!!! At times there was water on the road from melting snow and we saw a lot reservoirs with a skim of ice on the top, but no snow on the roads. Coming out of Denver there are a number of chain lanes – lanes where you can pull over and put chains on your tires – we sure were glad that today was a good day and we didn’t need to worry about that (especially seeing that we don’t have chains - lol!!!).

The drive through the Rockies was one huge tourist area with lots of gorgeous ski chalets, motels, hotels, restaurants, white water rafting companies, ski hills etc. It is still early in the season so it didn’t appear to be too busy but I imagine winter time would be a real zoo. Interestingly, Vail is at a lower elevation and there was no snow there at all so it was fairly quiet going through there.

Some of the Scenery












On the west side we picked up the Colorado River and it ran beside the interstate for a long ways, surprisingly it isn’t very wide but we did see lots of little rapids.

We are stopped tonight at Grand Junction, which is home to many vineyards and wineries, and to end the day there was a beautiful sunset – what an absolutely wonderful day we have had.



And so ends a great gift of a day, please do come back tomorrow to see what kind of a day we had.