Days 5-7

It was another long day of driving the 320 miles from Monument Valley to Moab. We drove through the picturesque towns of Blanding and Monticello on the way. We were staying at an RV Park at the north end of town called Sun Outdoors Arches Gateway. I've been in Moab a few times over the years and every time I've noticed how much more it has grown from the last. Today was Easter Sunday, and the town was hopping. After getting settled in our campsites, we headed over to the Moab Brewery for my Easter Sunday burger and refreshments.

Moab is a great central location to visit Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. The next day we hit Canyonlands and drove to the end of the road at the Grand View Point Overlook. There are popular dirt roads that people can take, two of which are Shafer Trail and White Rim trail. In the pictures that follow, you can often see one of these trails in the picture.

My motorcycling riding buddy, Steve Lawton, rode the the Shafer Trail, along with his wife, Pamela, following behind in a Toyota Forerunner.

The next day we hit Arches Nat'l Park. This park is very popular this time of year with wait lines at the entrance kiosk often exceeding an hour mid-day. We decided to make it an early day and arrived at the kiosk at 7:30 am. There was still a 10 minute wait! But it was all for the best as the morning light illuminated the many arches beautifully.

There are over 2000 arches documented in the park. This one called Delicate Arch has come to symbolize the park and is often shown on their literature. Other notable arches include Windows Arch and Turret Arch.

With such an early start to the day, we were all ready for a good lunch. Moab has a Food Truck Park in town which was perfect for us.

Tomorrow we head out to a campground in Torrey, Utah, which is adjacent to Capitol Reef National Park.

There were a few beavers along the river's edge.

That's me in the white hat and Patricia looking down.

That's Patricia walking towards me on the right.

That evening we signed up for a Colorado River Canyon Cruise and Dinner. The operation is family owned and run, and they work very hard to put on an enjoyable experience. The cruise heads out after a chuck-wagon style dinner is served on shore. The cruise is timed so that we depart at twilight and return when it is quite dark. This allows for some great stargazing, but they also have a spotlight truck that follows along and illuminates the canyon walls with a high-powered lighting system. It is all synchronized with music and songs and informative dialogue. It was not highly educational but was a pleasant way to see the river and the canyon.