4th of July - Moab Utah to Cortez Colorado

Itinerary
Start Moab Valley RV Resort, Moab, Utah
End Mesa Verde RV Resort outside Cortez, Colorado
Distance - 162 miles
Map:


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Morning in Moab
The drive into Moab was in the dark so the family was surprised to wake up surrounded by the red rocks of the Moab area.

Originally I had hoped to give the kids time to swim at the RV park pool in the morning.

But with wanting to get going and the pool not opening until 10am and checkout "strictly enforced" by 11am we decided to get going and head into the Arches park.

The park was literally two miles away so a simple drive and we were at the start of our adventure.






The entrance to the park is at the base of some cliffs and the visitor center is right there too. It is a very nice center with good information on how the Arches landmarks were formed and all the geological information you could want.


The gift store is nice and well stocked. Two items I recommend:
First is the US Parks Passport stamp book for a little under ten dollars. At each park kids can stamp their passport book with a date and a park stamp and feel like a world traveller.
Second - on a whim I saw and bought a CD self-guide tour that you play in your car while driving the park. Each track is keyed to a certain location in the park as listed on a small map. The tracks are short yet packed with great info and details about what you see either driving or stopped at a key landmark. The only criticism was the terrible bird tweet at the end of each track. Everyone in the RV hated it and I had to scramble to cut the volume each time. You can rent it for $5 plus a $5 deposit or just buy it for $10. A very good purchase!

Let me go on a tangent here with a quick rant about user interface design. This was the first time we tried to use the RV's radio/CD system. It is a Sony CDX-F5000. Above it is the AC and heating control.



Take a look at this picture and see which is intuitive and which is arcane.
Where is the pause? What does BTM or SENS do? I have used many audio devices in my life and we could get it to play the CD but not pause. Terrible design!

Ok so back to the cool stuff!


The amazing natural wonders of the Arches!

As we drove up the steep and winding road (a recurring theme of this trip) we entered a wonderland of beauty.




But it was soooooo hot the kids and Momma were in constant danger of heat exhaustion. Plus S is basically allergic to the sun.



We went to most of the major spots and spent about four hours driving through the park and hiking at a couple of easy hikes.



A strange sighting was the Lost Bus (www.lostbus.com). Three young guys touring the country as evangelists and explorers.




Lots of great sites with easy hikes.

K at Balanced Rock







K making his own balanced rock


Hike to Double Arches with T and K









The view back to the RV parking from the Arch





T climbed up and K decided to follow. It was a bit harder to get down than up.




After this it was on to Delicate Arch area, one of J's favorite picks from the Internet images he has seen on google earth. On the way is Wolfe Ranch - the site of a homestead at the turn of the century.






A little further on to a couple of viewpoints on the famous Delicate Arch. It was way too hot for the three mile hike to the Arch somwe settled for the easy viewpoint.



J at his favorite landmark in the world


Missed spot #2
We finished up at about 4pm and my goal was to make it to The Hole in the Wall (www.theholeinthewall.com) 12 miles south of Moab. I mistimed leaving and we couldn't get back out of the park and through town in time before it closed at 5pm. Sigh. It seemed like a cool quirky place to see and it was right on the way.

So we stopped at frozen yogurt in town instead.


Drive from Moab to Cortez
We hit the road southeast to Cortez Colorado. We wanted to make it to the RV park outside of Mesa Verde Park before dusk and get the kids into a swimming pool at last.

The road south was another set of ups and downs but then turning SE at was an easy straight drive. The park is just a few miles further out of town and the RV park was only a mile past the park entrance. Great location and a very nice park with good facilities.


The kids swam in the cold water outside pool while S and I soaked in the covered hot tub.



That night I set up the Beemans telescope I borrowed for the first time. Just in time as the moon was setting but we all got a good view of the craters on the moon.

All in all a great day!






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