Day 8 – June 17, 2009
First stop today was Arches NP. After visiting the visitor’s center and watching the short film we began our drive through and it was one amazing view after another. The rocks are a deep red in color and rise hundreds of feet to our left and right. Some sections are curved while others seem to be blocked or sectioned as if cut and shaped by an artist. The sides of the cliffs are smooth like butter cut with a knife. Around every turn I was amazed at the beauty. To view all of Arches NP took well over 3 hours and a total of 49 miles. We headed back to Moab for lunch before going to the Canyonlands NP. If you get to Moab stop at Smitty’s for lunch. The Canyonlands NP is about 35 miles north of Moab and while not as large as Arches or as colorful the grand view point at the end of the road is well worth the drive. The whole ride is on top of the canyon and when we stepped out on the edge and looked at the panoramic view it took our breath away. The sky was dark in the distance and you could tell the rain was falling so we started racing the rain to get back to Moab where we filled up with gas and had dinner. The rain passed in about 30 minutes and our destination was Green River. If you ever get to Moab UT you must ride route 128. This road is in the very bottom of the canyon with the Colorado River twisting and turning to our left. The canyon walls were so close we could almost touch them. Then the road opens up into a wide open valley with cattle grates every so often and open range signs but we never saw a single cow. As the sun began to sink we reached route 70 and headed the remaining 70 miles to Green River. We stopped at the Sleepy Hollow Motel and Don and I shared the family suite with Bernie and Shirley for a real budget price of $60. This was a nice, clean motel.
First stop today was Arches NP. After visiting the visitor’s center and watching the short film we began our drive through and it was one amazing view after another. The rocks are a deep red in color and rise hundreds of feet to our left and right. Some sections are curved while others seem to be blocked or sectioned as if cut and shaped by an artist. The sides of the cliffs are smooth like butter cut with a knife. Around every turn I was amazed at the beauty. To view all of Arches NP took well over 3 hours and a total of 49 miles. We headed back to Moab for lunch before going to the Canyonlands NP. If you get to Moab stop at Smitty’s for lunch. The Canyonlands NP is about 35 miles north of Moab and while not as large as Arches or as colorful the grand view point at the end of the road is well worth the drive. The whole ride is on top of the canyon and when we stepped out on the edge and looked at the panoramic view it took our breath away. The sky was dark in the distance and you could tell the rain was falling so we started racing the rain to get back to Moab where we filled up with gas and had dinner. The rain passed in about 30 minutes and our destination was Green River. If you ever get to Moab UT you must ride route 128. This road is in the very bottom of the canyon with the Colorado River twisting and turning to our left. The canyon walls were so close we could almost touch them. Then the road opens up into a wide open valley with cattle grates every so often and open range signs but we never saw a single cow. As the sun began to sink we reached route 70 and headed the remaining 70 miles to Green River. We stopped at the Sleepy Hollow Motel and Don and I shared the family suite with Bernie and Shirley for a real budget price of $60. This was a nice, clean motel.
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