Blogs from Utah, United States, North America - page 163

Day 13 - August 17, 2006 Today we headed to Canyonlands National Park. We passed Horsethief Campgrounds, don't know why. It had a dirt road, and we're not trying any of those. Traveling in a RV is not exactly what I thought it would be. The noise from the road and stuff inside rattling make it too hard to read aloud to the kids or even to Scott in the front seat. I grew hoarse everyday trying to do it, and basically have given it up. Same goes for listening to books on CD. It's also hard for the kids to read in the RV because of all the swaying (or is it Scott's crazy driving, he does a good imitation of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride sometimes!) Most of the storage is unavailable while the RV ... read more

Day 11 - August 15, 2006 This morning dawned incredibly bright and early (probably too bright and early!) but at least we were not freezing. (The low was only in the lower 60s.) Most of us tried out the KOA's shower facilities and I can tell you that you definitely do want to keep your flip flops on in the shower. But at least we could keep the water running during the entire shower. Then it was "on the road again". We made our first stop at Four Corners via New Mexico. This is a place where one can stand in one spot and be standing in four state simultaneously. The four states are New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado. We also bought some "authentic" Navajo Frybread. It tasted like donuts made from biscuits in a ... read more

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning and headed out to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. This park is not one of the most well known National Parks but is definitely one that should be visited more often! The skies were cloudy so we did not know how much of it we would actually be able to see. As we entered the park, we encountered thick fog and wondered if we would even be able to see the road! Soon we were above the clouds and had decent visibility. The sun even cooperated and broke through the clouds long enough for us to snap a few good pictures. While we were in the park, we did a drive along the south rim, stopping to take pictures at multiple overlooks. We then descended ... read more

Plan on spending at least a few hours in the park, exploring the scenic drive and several of the viewpoints and short trails. If time permits, longer hikes lead to many spectacular rock formations, including Delicate Arch, and the Devils Garden Campground provides an excellent base camp for multi-day trips. Also, consider attending an interpretive program. Guided walks, short talks and campfire programs are offered daily March through October. Arches is open year-round, 24 hours a day. The visitor center is open daily during the following hours: April through October: 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. November through March: 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The visitor center is closed on December 25th. By Mail Arches National Park PO Box 907 Moab, UT 84532-0907 By Phone Visitor Information (435) 719-2299... read more

I wrote this bit of blog before we left civilization. Don’t get me wrong, it was great to leave it for a bit but I didn’t think it would be two weeks before I could connect again (or even get my cell phone to work). Anyway, I’ll post this first and then I’ll try and describe what the next two weeks were like (through memory and feeling) as I didn’t write one word in that beautiful place. It was a bit of a frustrating day. We left for Salt Lake early but could not seem to make any time. We stopped at a Saturn dealership and they didn’t carry the part we needed, then we stopped at an RV store and guess what, they didn’t carry the part we needed, and so on and so forth. ... read more