Great Western RV National Parks Tour - Day 12 - Moab, UT to Fruita, CO via Colorado National Monument

 Day 12:

We're winding down our trip, heading back into Colorado today.  We slept in until 8:30 this morning and at breakfast in town - I had green eggs and ham!  They were scrambled eggs with spinach, pesto, and feta; the ham was not green - lol.  We took the scenic route along the Colorado River towards Cisco and then picked up I-70 from there.  It was very hazy today with not much visibility compared to the rest of the trip.  There wasn't much to see on the 2 hour drive, until we got to Fruita, about 10 miles west of Grand Junction.  The Colorado National Monument was established in 1911 to preserve 32 square miles of plateau and canyon country with even more naturally sculpted rock formations.  The main road through the monument took us along 23 miles of scenic views of the canyons and valleys below.  We even had to drive that big RV through two small tunnels blasted through the rock.  Our stops included Balanced Rock, Independence Monument, Monument canyon, Artists Point, Ute canyon, Fallen Rock, Cold Shivers Point (where Margo insisted on taking mom's picture next to the sign, since she's been so sensitive to the heat), and Devil's Kitchen.  Once out of the monument, we drove the 10 miles back to Fruita to the James M. Robb Colorado River state park to camp for the night, with an extra stop at Dairy Queen to cool off a little with some ice cream.  Tomorrow it will be up and over the Rockies and back to Broomfield, with a few stops possible in the mountains.

Great Western RV National Parks Tour - Day 11 - Arches National Park and Moab Brewery (again!), plus Stargazing

 Day 11:

Our second day in Moab started early, with us leaving for Arches National Park at 6:30am.  Arches has been very popular this year and its parking lots and trailheads often fill before 8:30am, sometimes by 7:30, and then there's a 3-5 hour wait to get in so we weren't taking any chances.  The entrance to Arches, which was less than 5 minutes from our RV park, starts with a switchback road to climb the cliff to the mesa above.  Our original plan was to drive to the furthest point in the park and work our way back, but I didn't stick to that.  We stopped at Balanced Rock, a huge 50-foot-tall boulder sitting atop, and still attached to, the column supporting it. While we were there, a woman approached us and told us that she had dropped her husband off at the Delicate Arch trail head and then driven to Balanced Rock, but she had since turned the car off and realized that he still had the keys and now had no way to go pick him up, and he didn't know where she had gone.  On top of that, they had no cell service and could not communicate.  She asked us to take a message to the rangers at Delicate Arch to relay to her husband, so we did our good deed for the day and drove to the parking area for the trail head.  The ranger there knew immediately what we were talking about and she had the car keys on a carabiner on her belt.  We took them back to the wife at Balanced Rock so she could be reunited with her husband.  The next stop was the Double Arch and North and South Windows section of the park, including Turret Arch.  It is simply amazing to be able to walk up to and stand under these natural products of erosion and see their full scale!  From there we drove back to Delicate Arch again so we could see it for ourselves.  It was heading for 116 degrees in Moab yesterday, so we did not walk to trail that leads directly to the arch, opting instead for the overlook.  Margo and I did walk to the upper overlook, which is closer to the actual arch, while mom stayed in the car with the AC on - she was literally melting from the heat.  Finally, we drove out to the far north section  with stops at Fiery Furnace, Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch, Skyline Arch, and Devil's Garden. By the time we got that far out, it was too hot to do the 1.8 mile round-trip hike to Landscape Arch, and we didn't want to leave mom sitting in the car that long, so we headed back to the RV park to relax for a while.  Unfortunately, the RV AC was losing its battle against the intense heat, so we drove back to Moab Brewery to have a beer and a share a monster Bavarian pretzel and cool off for a bit.  This whole trip, we were seeing that many national parks are designated as International Dark Sky Parks because they have next to no artificial light in them at night.  Friday night happened to be a new moon night, the perfect time for stargazing, so at 9pm we drove back into Arches to take advantage of the extra dark night sky.  There were some clouds threatening to spoil the party but we kept driving and settled on the Balanced Rock parking lot to wait for the sky to be fully dark at 10:10pm.  We were definitely not the only ones with this idea - the parking lot was almost full, and there were tons of other cars going further into the park.  Several of the people near us had cameras mounted on tripods to photograph the night sky.  We tried out the "night" setting on our phones and got a few good photos of the big dipper and other star clusters.  We have never seen that many stars at home!  Tomorrow we will head back into Colorado for just one more night on the road before ending up back in Broomfield to return the RV.

Great Western RV National Parks Tour - Day 10 - Canyonlands National Park, Petroglyphs, and Moab Brewery

 Day 10:

We got to sleep in a little since we couldn't pick up our rental car until after 8am.  We were pleasantly surprised to get a 2021 4-door Jeep Wrangler Sahara as our "economy" rental!  We would have loved to do some of the unpaved roads in the area but I think we had almost given mom a heart attack with the Moki Dugway the day before so we didn't torment her further.  We headed straight for Canyonlands, which is about an hour away from Moab.  Canyonlands is divided into 3 distinct districts by the Green and Colorado Rivers.  The Green River flows in from the northwest and the Colorado from the northeast and then they converge in the middle and continue southward from there.  The northern district is called Island in the Sky; the southeast district is The Needles, and the southwest The Maze.  Both of the southern districts are more remote and "off-road" and require 4WD and high clearance vehicles - the literature said that if you get stuck out there and need a tow, you can expect to pay in excess of $2000!  We opted for Island in the Sky, the safe choice.  Island in the Sky is considered the observation tower of Canyonlands.  It is a mesa rimmed with white sandstone that forms the edge overlooking the canyons and rivers 1200 feet below.  On a good day, visibility is over 100 miles.  Our first stop was the Shafer Canyon Overlook.  I admit I was thinking that after the Grand Canyon, there wouldn't be much here to really impress me but I was wrong.  While the canyons were different than Grand Canyon, they were still stunning in their own way.  We could trace the path of Shafer Trail Road as it wound down the sheer rock walls to the bottom - what an adventure that would have been, to drive the Jeep on it!  After a quick stop at the visitor's center, we headed for the northwest section of IITS.  We stopped at Whale Rock, a series of high rounded rock formations that somewhat resembled a whale.  Margo and I climbed to the top to take in the view, which was amazing and well worth the exertion.  Then we checked out the Upheaval Dome area before heading back and stopping at the Green River Overlook.  We took the southerly road out to Buck Canyon Overlook and Grand View Point Overlook as well.  From Grand View Point, you can see The Needles and The Maze in the distance, miles away.  Once we finished driving all of the paved roads in IITS, we went back toward Moab with a detour onto Potash Road to see some ancient petroglyphs carved into the rock walls.  Several miles down the road there is a small sign directing you to pull off the road and a board with a brief description of when the petroglyphs were likely carved.  Archaeologists believe that most of the Potash petroglyphs were carved between 600 AD and 1300 AD by the Indians of the Southern San Rafael Fremont culture.  Petroglyphs are different from cave drawings in that they are carved or chiseled into the rock walls of cliffs rather then painted onto walls and ceilings of caves.  The petroglyphs we saw were etched into the desert varnish on the red sandstone.  Microbes and dust blown on the wind interact with the clay, minerals, and metals in the rocks to form this dark coating on the surface, which made the petroglyphs a little easier to see.  By then, we were all fried from the 114 degree heat, so we took a rest break in the RV for a while before having a lovely dinner in the air conditioned Moab Brewery.

 

Great Western RV National Parks Tour - Day 9 - Grand Canyon, AZ to Moab, UT via Natural Bridges National Monument, UT

 Day 9:

I didn't mention this before but Arizona does not observe daylight savings time - they stay on Mountain Standard Time year-round - so we gained an hour when we entered Grand Canyon National Park.  Because of that, we got up extra early this morning to start driving because we would be losing an hour as soon as we left GCNP and reentered Navajo Nation (they DO observe DST - confusing, I know).  We were on the road by 5:30am and got to Kayenta, AZ around 10, and after filling up with gas, fired up the generator to make breakfast.  Once fed, we went north through Monument Valley, where many movie clips have been filmed, from The Searchers to Easy Rider, Thelma and Louise, and Back to the Future III.  The rock formations rise like giants out of the desert and are stunning to look at!  Once we made it to Mexican Hat (yes, there's a rock formation that looks like a man in a sombrero) we turned onto route 261 because that's what Google told us to do.  We were unaware that there was a 3 mile section of gravel road that climbs up and over the Moki Dugway to the top of Cedar Mesa.  The sign at the bottom said "not recommended" for RVs, tractor trailers, and towed trailers, but since it didn't say "prohibited" we decided to go for it.  It was a crazy switchback road but Margo was having the time of her life driving it!  Mom just moaned in terror from the dining table behind us.  Luckily there was no other traffic behind us or in front of us and we made it to the top with no problems except trying to not look over the edge to where we had come from!  From there it was much tamer roads to Natural Bridges National Monument, designated as such in 1908 by Teddy Roosevelt, making it Utah's first entry into the National Park system.  There are three natural bridges formed by water erosion, the Sipapu, the Kachina, and the Owachomo.  Natural bridges differ from arches (which we will get to in the coming days when we visit Arches NP) in that they have formed from a stream running under them, whereas arches do not and are formed more from frost action and moisture seepage.  These bridges range in height from 106-220 feet and in span from 180-268 feet - very impressive!  Also at this site is a well preserved Puebloan ruin, the remains of structures built by the peoples who occupied the area between 9000-700 years ago.  After we finished exploring, we hit the road again to Moab, where it is 108 degrees with 7% humidity.  95 degrees seemed tolerable to me, but when I hopped out of the RV to get us checked in, the heat was just oppressive.  As LaVerne always says, "It's hot, damn hot!"  Tomorrow morning we will pick up our rental car and head into Canyonlands National Park and take plenty of cold water with us!

Great Western RV National Parks Tour - Days 7 and 8 - Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, Vermilion Cliffs, and Grand Canyon

 Day 7:

 Left Cedar City after a leisurely breakfast and headed for Arizona.  We followed route 14 east, back towards Cedar Breaks and then south on 89 into Kanab, UT.  There we had reserved a rental car for a few hours so we could visit Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the largest no-kill shelter for companion animals in the country.  Best Friends has a goal of getting to no-kill nationwide by 2025, and their efforts have paid off, as the US has dropped from well over a million euthanasia instances to about 300,000 last year.  When we walked into the visitor’s center, we were greeted by Sven, the greeter cat, who was very friendly and appreciated a good head scratch, and 3 black and white kittens just waiting to be adopted.  All of the animals at the sanctuary (1300-1600) are adoptable – many come from hoarding situations or are surrendered by their owners; they even took in 2 dozen of the dogs from the Michael Vick dogfighting situation (and adopted out almost all of them!).  We were fortunate to grab a spot on a driving tour of the whole sanctuary as soon as we got there and were able to see Dogtown (also a tv series if you want to look it up) and the cat buildings, as well as their facilities for horses, rabbits, pigs and goats.  We had previously booked a tour of the parrot garden, so we met Zeus and Xena, a pair of African grays, and Sugar and Clancy, a bonded pair of cockatoos.  There were many cockatiels and budgies as well, and I can’t forget to mention Daisy, the Moluccan cockatoo who assisted with the beginning of the tour.  She was quite talkative, even if she was more mumbly than articulate, but also very excited to greet us!  After our time at the parrot garden, we hit the cafeteria for a $5 plant-based lunch, and then we drove around a little on our own and found the pigs!  Mom wanted a potbellied pig as a pet for a while, until I showed her how they never stay that small, no matter what the breeders tell you.  Those pigs get to 150-300lbs when full grown, but they are definitely cute when they belong to someone else.  Finally, it was time to get back on the road – we returned the rental car and headed down route 89A into Arizona.  We stopped to take some photos of the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument (no visitor center) and then entered the Navajo Nation on the way to Cameron, AZ.  From there we drove west into the Grand Canyon national park (south rim).  I was driving and trying hard to pay attention to the road, but it was difficult with mom and Margo yelling “holy shit” when they got their first glimpses of the canyon!  I pulled into the next overlook so we could all get a better view, and it really is spectacular.  Words and pictures don’t do it justice – it is just so overwhelming to see it in person!  At over 200 miles long and an average of 10 miles wide, it’s larger than the state of Delaware.  After that we checked into Mather Campground and made dinner inside the RV (no campfires – extreme fire risk) and ate at the picnic table at our site.  We sat there until after dark and while we were hanging out, a female elk just strolled through our campsite about 25 feet away!  Nature is just so awesome!

Day 8:

We slept in a little this morning since we couldn’t run the generator to make coffee until 7am.  After breakfast we walked out to the campground entrance to catch the shuttle bus to the visitor’s center.  We no sooner got there when we saw the signs that the blue shuttle line was not running because of Covid.  So, I hoofed it back to the campsite and got the RV and we drove there instead.   A lot of things here are either closed or operating under revised conditions because of Covid – the neighboring Navajo Nation is still under “yellow” status as far as reopening and still requires masks.  Unfortunately, that meant the visitor’s center at the east end of the park was closed, so we walked out to one of the overlook points and started down the Rim Trail toward the Yavapai Geology Museum, where we could see the full expanse of the canyon on a 3D map, as well as identify all of the different rock layers that have been exposed through the weathering and erosion by the Colorado River over the last 5-6 million years.  We walked the rest of the Rim Trail, following the Trail of Time, which maps out the different types of rock formations in the canyon and how old they are.  We walked 2 billion years of geologic history in a mile and a half.  On a sidenote, it was well into the 90s again today, and it still doesn’t feel like the soupy mess we would be feeling at home. It was hot, for sure, but we had equipped mom with a cooling towel and vest, and that really helped.  We followed the trail to the Verkamp’s visitor’s center, which was open, and then took a few more shots of the canyon, especially the Bright Angel Trail that descends into the canyon.  I can’t imagine hiking a mile down to the bottom, but there were people on it every time we looked.  We found a restroom and a water bottle filler at the El Tovar hotel and then got a quick lunch from the food truck nearby.  While we were eating, we met Irma and Lorraine, sisters who were exploring together.  Irma was 69 years old this year and lives in Brooklyn – she has a host of physical ailments and was wearing a back brace and using a walker, but that didn’t stop her!  I think she wore Lorraine, who was from DC, out.  Maybe we’ll see her around Baltimore someday – her son lives there and she’s thinking about moving since there’s no one left in Brooklyn for her.  After lunch, Margo and I walked back to the first visitor’s center to pick up the RV – mom was too pooped to walk back in the heat.  We took the Greenway bike trail instead of the Rim Trail, which at least had some shade.  When we picked mom up, we drove out to the Desert Watchtower, about 25 miles east of the main village, which we had passed up on the way into the park.  It’s an impressive building, designed by Mary Colter and opened in 1932 – Colter was one of a very small number of female architects working at the time, and was known as the Architect of the Southwest.  The Desert Watchtower is a 70-foot-tall stone tower on the edge of the canyon, and Colter studied many examples of Native American structures before designing the tower, using those examples as inspiration for something completely new.  It’s an impressive structure with a 40-foot-diameter kiva room and a spectacular view of the river at the bottom of the canyon.  From there, it was back to the campsite to relax in the hammock – three more elk walked through! – and make dinner.  Tomorrow we will be on the way to Moab, UT, with, hopefully, a stop at Natural Bridges National Monument.