Moab

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

This morning we went to a nearby Chevy truck dealer in Salt Lake City to have an oil change on the RV and have one of its wiper blades replaced. We didn't get onto the road till late afternoon, but drove all the way to Moab (which is about halfway across the state) and settled into our new RV park. The Wi-Fi is good, most of the time, but there's this odd stink we can't seem to place. (Due to recent flooding of the Colorado River.)Tomorrow we're planning on doing an offroad experiance, probably in either an ATV (like a Razor or somthin) or Hummer.

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

Colorado River at the northern edge of Moab

Got up this morning kinda early wanting to go on a Hummer experiance on the "Hell's Revenge" trail. The first place we visited, Moab Adventure Company, told us they didn't have a driver at the moment, even tho the scheduled trip was available up on their board. So we searched around for another place and came across the "Moab Tourist Center" where the manager there pointed us in the direction of an ATV tour that we could ride along in with an experienced driver. We ended up doing that, and as it turned out, we're very glad we did. 

Kyle and Cowboy Kent, our guide/driver, on Hell's Revenge Trail.




Lion's Back slope (left) which is no longer open to 4 x 4 travel.

Slope where Hell's Revenge and SlickRock bike trail coincide.



View down the right side along a narrow ridge



View from the left side at the same place



Kyle above a 225 foot canyon on the trail

La Sal Mountains from 4 x 4 trail; note tire trail lower right corner

Exiting down Devil's Backbone

The tour itself was more personalized, and our driver, "Cowboy Kent", had many interesting things to tell us. He was actually Sheriff of Moab at one time and seventh generation resident.  He knew each and every slope (probably because he said he filled out accident reports and had to know hill angles and such).  After the 2 and a half hour tour, we decided to go get something to eat, and went to a place that Kent had suggested, La Hacienda. As the name implies, it was mexican. (food was similar to Rio Grande) After lunch/dinner, we just went through some of the shops downtown, buying random souvenirs.

Thursday, June 16th, 2011

Today we went to the Arches Natioanl Park and saw the arches (what else would it be?) Among the ones we saw, were the Delicate arch, the Tunnel arch, Pine Tree arch, and Skyline arch. 

Kyle at Arches visitor center, Thursday morning

Trail to Pine Tree and Tunnel arches

Tunnel Arches

Pine Tree Arch

Kyle and Rick in Pine Tree Arch

Prickly Pear cactus blossom in Arches NP

Skyline Arch

We opted not to hike all the way up to the Delicate arch, and went up the upper viewpoint trail instead, which actually turned out to be a longer, steeper hike than we expected.

Rick photographing from canyon rim across form Delicate Arch

Delicate Arch from across the canyon

Canyon east of Delicate Arch

Balance Rock

Courthouse Tower and other formations near entrance.


Afterwards we were both fairly worn out and hungry. We went to a burger joint (well, more of kind of a drive in) called Milt's, another place that had been recommended by Kent. I got a "cowboy burger" which was topped with cheddar, jalapenos, onion rings, along with a zesty sauce, Dad got a Chili Cheese Burger, it ended up being sort of like a bowl of chili, with a burger patty down in it. I thought mine was good, but would've preferred less peppers, the heat just killed the flavor. Dad didn't like his as well, and said he'd only go back if he got something different, I agree. When we were done with lunch, we went back to the camper, chilled out, did laundry, and worked on pics for the blog. We had originally planned to go to a place called the "Sunset Grill" but it was closed by the time we got there. We drove downtown and finally settled on a place called Pasta Jay's. Overall this was a good choice for dinner. We plan on heading out of here Saturday to Bryce's Canyon.