Blogs from Arches National Park, Utah, United States, North America

We had a very long drive yesterday. We enjoyed our drive through Yellowstone on the way out, and our drive through the southern part of Idaho was also gorgeous. Once we crossed into Utah, the scenery started to change from forested mountains to arid landscape. It got very hot. Surprisingly, the highways were extremely busy in Utah as well. There were many cars on the road with a high speed limit (80 mph). It felt a little dangerous driving through the state (especially through Salt Lake City), but we eventually made it to southern Utah and the town of Moab. It was evening, and the KOA office was closed. Thankfully, they had our keys waiting for us, so we were able to get to our cabin no problem. We also grabbed Paul & Colleen's key. They're ... read more

Yes, more rocks. We really will get to some lush scenery soon. But the American Southwest is mostly about deserts, rocks, geology and dry landscapes. The last three blogs (Grand Canyon et al, Zion et al, and Kodachrome et al), along with this blog, all took place within six days. We were taking so many pictures that we got to a point (more than once actually) where we put the cameras away because we were tired of taking all these pictures, just to take them back out five or ten minutes later and take more pictures. :-) “Stark, exposed, and unforgettably spectacular, Arches National Park boasts the world’s greatest concentration of sandstone arches - more than 2,000, ranging from 3 feet to 300 feet, at last count” (Lonely Planet, USA, 2018, p. 885). Some formations were ... read more

Ok I know I'm doing three posts in one day but I do like the fact that there is another place besides facebook to talk about my travels. Also I know that I am doing two posts about Utah but I honestly feel like the national parks in Southern Utah are also a must see. A few months ago while I was out of school a few buddies and myself left for Moab Utah to hike Delicate arch and the two windows. Even though I have been to arches several times. It never ceases to amaze me how breathtaking the natural rock formations are. Even if you are in Europe it is totally worth the time and effort to fly to Utah and hike the beautiful red rock trails. I guess my one pro tip for ... read more

Arches National Park is a 5 minute drive north of Moab and home to more than 2000 natural arches. The arches, mesas and spires are the result of a fascinating geological phenomenon, 350 million years in the making. We have spent many hours over the past week exploring the park and just a few of the arches accessible by hiking off the park highway.... read more

Our plan to get on the road early holds firm, mostly with the assistance of Adriana and Wesley waking up at 6.30am to cook us a delicious breakfast. I make multiple trips down the 3 flights of stairs with the suitcases to begin the ritual of loading. Antonio’s done something clever to reduce the number that need to be strapped onto the back from five to four; this allows a new configuration which hopefully keeps everything far enough away from the exhaust. I don’t believe I mentioned it prior, but we have melted the tarp and a couple of the handles from the cases by getting them too close to tailpipes. I have visions of us zooming down the interstate like a rocket with twin streams of fire and smoke trailing us upon re-entry. By 8am ... read more