Moab, Utah

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After dad was finally able to say goodbye to the Grand Canyon, we once again hit the road, this time heading for Utah. The town we were driving towards - Moab - is a long drive from where we were staying in Tusayan, and it would have been a hell of a journey were it not for the stunning landscapes we were passing through. On the way we stopped at Monument Valley, which I think most people know of, even if not by name, as it's featured in so many movies and adverts, etc. Perhaps most importantly (in my opinion anyway) it is the place where Forrest Gump finally stopped running. The Lonely Planet guide had suggested that one factor which adds to Monument Valley's beauty and impressiveness is that it rises up suddenly from amidst a bland and boring landscape. I have to say that I totally disagree with that. Perhaps for those well-acquainted with the changing rock formations and shrubs that stretch in all directions, the scenes as you drive aren't so exciting. But as it's so foreign to us, we found the area leading up to the Valley to be lovely to drive through. Nonetheless, Monument Valley was spectacular even without it providing a stark contrast to a preceding 'drab' landscape. Once we entered the Park, we drove along the bumpiest and dustiest stretch of road I have ever encountered... and it was awesome. Each of the mesas, spires and buttes which stretch up from the red sand have been given their own names, which usually correspond to what they look like, but my parents and I had a great time spotting faces and animals in the different rock formations and deciding for ourselves what they best resembled. My favourite was probably one which looked like a dragon, but I also spotted what looked like an epically huge turtle, and he was pretty cool.

We arrived in Moab relatively late, so once we'd unloaded our bags we headed out in search of something to eat. Moab was the first town in Utah which we'd stayed in, so it was hard to say for sure but the town certainly appeared to us to be something of a rarity in this predominantly Mormon state. The streets are lined with restaurants and shops which are open well into the evening, and serve a mixed clientelle of families and young athletic types who have come to Moab to utilise its proximity to several (brilliant) National Parks, and enjoy the assortment of outdoor activities that are on offer here. The restaurant we ended up in on that first evening was a cool little place called Pasta Jay's where mum and I shared a large pizza which proved too much for us and thus served as our dinner the following evening too. (People really aren't exaggerating when they say how big the portion sizes are in the USA!)

One of the Parks close to Moab is the aptly named Dead Horse Point State Park. If the stories are to be believed, cowboys rounded up wild horses in the area, driving them up to the Point, and picked the horses that they wanted to keep. The horses that were left behind were left to die, with incredible views of the canyons and the Colorado river which are about 2,000 feet below. We followed one of the walking trails that took us from the Park's visitor centre to the Point, and involved climbing over and around a bunch of rocks and old trees - always fun. The views were great throughout the whole trail, but the panaromic view from the point was really something special. Hopefully the photos give some indication. We were quite lucky with the weather I think, because the clouds provided some protection from the sun, but by lunch time the sun had broken through the cloud cover and I have to say that we were all pleased to get into the air-conditioned art gallery and museum. The art gallery there was great. The exhibitions change quite regularly but whilst we were there they were showcasing (and selling) pieces by two local artists called Robin Straub and Phil Wagner. I had to content myself by taking photos of the pictures in order to avoid spending all my money buying them! Most of them are paintings of the stunning landscapes in and around the Park, but one I was particularly fond of was called Mediation II

After getting lunch and chilling out at the hotel for an hour or so, we jumped into the car and drove to another nearby Park - Canyonlands. This National Park is split into 3 main sections by the Colorado River, the most accessible of which, from Moab at least, is a place called Island in the Sky, which is where we headed to. This mesa is around 1,000 feet higher than the surrounding canyons, so it offers impressive views. We drove to Grand View Point and again walked along another rim trail (are you seeing a recurring theme in our adventures so far?) Again the views were lovely, and the early evening sun threw a pale hue over the pinks and blues of the canyons. Even more stunning than the remarkable view from the Grand View Point however, was the Mesa Arch, through and above which you could see the canyons stretching out below. The walking trail only took about 30 minutes, so we reached the Mesa Arch just before the sun was starting to set. It must have been the perfect time because the whole scene below was painted a beautiful bleached pink colour. A rock arch that awesome obviously has to be climbed up onto and walked across, which is exactly what I did. The peace and tranquility was punctuated, however, by my mum saying 'Ooh, ok, that's far enough now. Ok, please stop now. Please turn around and come back now.'

Ok, so that brings us up to Wednesday 15th. This day offered even more rocks to climb on and about (or perhaps I should say, to clamber on and about... I'm slightly lacking in grace, at least when it comes to climbing back down the rocks!) We had originally intended to spend all the morning and the afternoon in Arches National Park, but the heat (around 33 - 37 degrees) forced us to take a bit of a break in the afternoon, so in the end we split the day into two visits: a few hours in the morning and a few in the evening. By now we'd seen a LOT of rocks, but the Arches National Park definitely stands out. As you may be able to guess, the Park contains a whole host of rock arches admist the arid desert. We took walking trails to several of the different arches but I think the two highlights have to be double arch and landscape arch, the latter of which is as long as a football field. The arches themselves are impressive enough, but these aren't the sole attraction of the Park. There's also ancient sand dunes and other sandstone forms, including a huge balanced rock, called, would you believe it, Balanced Rock, which mum concluded looked like a seal with a beach ball balanced on its nose. In the afternoon between the two visits we went for a swim at the hotel pool and then had lunch. I mention lunch specifically here because this was my first peanut butter experience of my US trip so far. On this day, my friends, lunchtime was peanut butter jelly time. The best kind of time.

That just leaves me with the final day in the awesome town of Moab to tell you about. Thursday the 16th is my dad's birthday, so after a relatively leisurely morning exploring the quirkly little shops and galleries, mum and I treated dad to a steak lunch at one of the (many) nice restaurants in the town. In the afternoon we set off to one of the other districts of Canyonlands National Park; The Needles. This district is less popular with tourists, and has a slightly more rugged and wild feel than some of the other Parks that we'd been to. Whether its ruggedness is the cause of its comparative lack of tourist activity or a consequence of it, I'm not quite sure. But it was a nice area and it was particularly peaceful and quiet thanks to the lack of other people around. One other group that we did encounter in The Needles district was a young family. The dad was trying with increasing despiration to coax the kids out of the car, to do one of the hiking trails. The youngest child exclaimed loudly enough for us to hear, that 'This is the worst trip ever! I don't want to die in the mountains!' We suppressed a giggle.

Well that's all for this blog entry. Since leaving Moab we've kind of been staying in the middle of nowhere without the internet - shock horror! I've now managed to find a little internet cafe so I may have to come here again tomorrow to write the blog for the rest of our time in Utah, but we shall see how the time goes.

Bye for now!

Laura P

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