Short move and Arches National Park hike

On Thursday, we made the short move from Arch View RV Park on the north side of Moab to Spanish Trail RV Park on the south side of town. This park is more expensive (each site does have a patch of lawn and strip of pavement alongside rig), is closer to the highway, and they charged Rick and Y an additional $5 a day for their Jeep. This was the first time they have ever been charged a fee for their second vehicle. None of us were happy about that at all. As I made the reservations and did not think to inquire about any fees for a second vehicle, I felt really bad so the only way to make it a tad bit better was to spring for lunch.

This morning, John and I were up bright and early and left the rig at 8 a.m. to head to Arches with our goal being to see some of the arches that required a hike to see them. It was a beautiful morning for a hike. It wasn't long before we shed our windbreakers. A slight breeze kept the temperatures pleasant.

Tunnel Arch

Pine Tree Arch

Beautiful valley shot

John at Landscape Arch - they use to allow you to walk under the arch but in 1991 a big piece fell off so they no longer allow anyone under the arch. One must just enjoy the beauty of the arch from this viewpoint.

Another picture of Landscape Arch on the left and Partition Arch on the left. The trail got to hairy for my likening so it was at this point we turned back towards the trailhead.

We drove to another trail head to seek out two more arches. We had to go through a narrow passageway to get to Sand Dune Arch.

John under Sand Dune Arch

Broken Arch - can you see me leaning against some rocks?

It was at Broken Arch that we decided it was a good time for a lunch break. We found some comfortable rocks to sit on in the shade and enjoyed the view and peace and quiet. By the time we called our lunch break over, we were starting to get more hikers in the area. Time to move on.

We got back in the truck and drove over to the Windows Section where we took the short hike to view Double Arch. As we got closer to Double Arch, we noticed this jagged round hole in the rock. We thought the jagged edges added some uniqueness to the opening.

Spectacular Double Arch

It is amazing what the powers of nature create. Each arch has it owns personality and uniqueness although they are the essentially the same. We hiked a total of four miles today and were ready to call it quits. Diet Cokes on ice and flip flops waited at the truck.

Rick and Y invited us to join them for a spaghetti dinner at their rig . . . an offer to good to refuse. Dinner and their company was excellent as always.

Dead Horse Point State Park - Moab, Utah

We headed out to Dead Horse Point State Park this morning. What a beautiful state park; supposedly, Utah's most scenic. Legend has it that the park got its name from cowboys who rounded up wild horses and corralled them out on the point. The cowboys selected the ones they wanted and left the rest to die within the view of the Colorado River 2,000 feet below. Sadly, no one knows the reason why this occurred.

The vistas are spectacular and the pictures simply do not do the area justice. Remember, you can enlarge the picture by clicking on it.

Colorado River - calm but very swift moving

We took the Long Canyon Road after we left Dead Horse Point State Park. We wanted to see if we could locate the geocache that we didn't find yesterday. Once again today, we were stumped. I guess the find just isn't meant to be.

On the highway back towards Moab, we stopped to view the Petroglyphs along the roadway.

Another busy day. We had decided that we would like to spend another week here in Moab so we stopped at Arch View's office on the way back in to sign up for another week. Oh, oh! The park is full and we must vacate our sites tomorrow. That's a first, we've never had an issue about extending before. Live and learn. Luckily, I was able to find another park that we could get into. A bit more pricey but as I've been told before "if you want to play, you've got to pay". So it will be about a 15 mile move tomorrow.

Jeepin and geocaching

After a relaxing day on Monday, it time to get about seeing the beautiful sights to see in the Moab area. We first headed out towards Dead Horse Point State Park to pick up a gravel road through Long Canyon but first stopping to do a bit of geocaching on the way. Fall colors contrast nicely with all the red rock that makes up this area.

One of our geocache stops included this stop at Merrimac and Monitor viewing area.
Beautiful views abound.
This shot reminded me of what I think the moon's surface would look like.

One of the geocache locations. It all right Rick, YOU go ahead and put your hand in that rock crevice . . . I don't mind at all.

Once we got on Long Canyon Road, it was 4x4 time. A big rock fell over against the canyon wall and now provides a neat drive-through.

This was the site of another geocache location but unfortunately, we were not able to find the cache. The rock canyons wrecked havoc with our handheld GPS units and the "hint" was of no use to us. Oh well.

The canyon is pretty rugged as you can see by this picture.

By the time we finished jeeping and geocaching, it was almost 4 o'clock and we were starving. We stopped at the Moab Diner which is suppose to have "the best" green chili in all of Utah. It was different from what we expected but it was still very tasty.

Later in the evening, John was able to touch base with one of his friends and then we went over to Rick and Y's and played cards. Before bed, we were able to talk to Melissa and get caught up with all that is happening with her. It was a good day.