Rough Country Moab

Having enjoyed our stay at the Sky Ute Casino RV Resort and the adventures that the area offered, it was time to move on.  Our next stop and basecamp would be Moab, Utah.  From there we could venture out to Canyonlands and Arches National Parks.

We found a Passport America RV Park called OK RV Park in Moab for $19 per night.  OK was just off the main street in Moab about 2 miles out of town.  The drive from Ignacio was uneventful and relaxing.  As we pulled into the RV Park we found that they were serious about speed in the park.

Not being able to make out the word that was blacked out, I presumed it must have been  an adjective to  qualify the word freeway with something like …  “delightful”?

Moab has become a mecca for hikers, mountain bikers and offroad adventurers.  Civic organizers have assembled a calendar full of offroad Jeep safari’s, music festivals, triathalons and runners marathons, art festivals and even a skydiving festival.

Downtown Moab has been transformed into a wonderful main street catering to the adventurers with outfitter shops, cafes and restaurants and the Moab Brewery, which also has a restaurant attached.

It’s of no surprise that after setting up at OK RV Park, we headed into Moab for some dinner and a bit of tasting at the Moab Brewery.  As a family friendly establishment we found the menu to be diverse with everything from a large selection of appetizers they call “Brew Bites” to dozens of sandwiches and up to New York Strip Steaks and Prime Rib.  The restaurant at Moab Brewery even offered quite a few Vegan and Vegetarian dishes and their own “house made” Root Beer, caffeine free and made with 100% cane sugar, just like the good ole days!

The following morning we packed up our backpack with water, camera and sunscreen and headed out to tour the two National Parks, Arches and Canyonlands.  Approximately a 40 minute drive from Moab took us to the Visitors Center at Canyonlands National Park to plan our first exploration.  The terrain was a  deep red sandstone and the panoramic vistas, breathtaking.  The park is conveniently configured with 20 miles of paved roads to take you to locations of interest with some having views of over 100 miles  in any direction, on a clear day.  Most points of interest had parking areas with hiking paths to spectacular lookouts.  The main area hikes varied but generally less than a mile or two.  It’s interesting that the park is open 24 hours a day and you can head offroad in a 4 X 4 or on foot and spend the night in the backcountry.  Many of the trails are steep and strenuous.

Having never been here, I felt blessed to just stand quietly and try to get my head around the beauty.  Words fall short in trying to describe the magnificence and grandeur of what was on display before me.  In my soul I felt full, surrounded by this surreal and glorious splendor as if God was overflowing his goodness everywhere I looked.

We needed to move on and make it to Arches National Park, which was 30 minutes away.  Arches National Park has the largest concentration of these natural sandstone arches, the result of erosion over millions of years.  Located in the “high desert”, the temperature can fluctuate as much as 50 degrees on a daily basis.

Landscape Arch

Delicate Arch

Double Arch

The “High Desert” terrain can be a contradiction to one’s sensibilities.  Desolate, rugged, unforgiving and yet magnificent, this imposing landscape seems to have no productive purpose but to exalt the creator and inspire self reflection.

Tomorrow is another day and we will pack things up after breakfast and head north into Grand Junction, Colorado to meet up with the friends we ran into in Oklahoma City when they introduced us to our first Dog Show experience.  They have a nice piece of land and have invited us to stay with them for a while as we explore more of Colorado.