Had a really good sleep last night, had shower & breakfast & got ready to go the Arches National Park. It only cost us $10 to get in & we drove through wonderful scenery to park at Devil's gate. From there we walked along a track to the Landscape Arch & saw a 3 foot long whip snake, several lizards, some Hopi chipmunks & a collared lizard which had a bright yellow head & green body. This was quite exciting for us as we're always on the look out for animals. Hoping to see larger ones on our travels!
The weather is very hot, luckily we had drinks with us on the 1.6 mile walk. The arch was well worth the walk & then we continued our drive through the park stopping at several more scenic viewpoints until getting to the Delicate Arch. Roy went rock climbing to get a good picture of it as we were quite a way from it.
The next place we went to was Canyonlands, 35 miles away. Again we paid $10 to get in & drove through more fantastic scenery, I hope you can see from the pictures how big it all is. The upheaval dome is where a meteorite fell, made a massive crater & then the ground pushed up so the bottom of it is full of spiky mountainous rocks. Amazing to see from very high up! We got talking to a couple from Vancouver for ages, it's great how many people from all over the world just stop to talk to you. They were advising us on places to visit. Both of their parents were originally from England.
When we got back to the hotel we sat by the pool reading before having a walk up to the Moab Brewery where we had a very nice drink & meal. A lovely day.
Day 32 - Moab - Richfield 16.5.12
Slept really well again, shower, breakfast & packed up. Left about 10.00am & went into the lovely town of Moab to buy a couple of things. It's a great place, lovely atmosphere, lots of people there for treking, cycling, rafting etc. all with the mountains overlooking the town. Our journey to Richfield is 175 miles so we've got plenty of time as we can't check in until 3.00pm.
The scenery on the way was breath taking. Started off with canyon type rock formations & deep ravines & gradually changed to forests of fir trees, hills & mountains with snow on the top. It's no hardship travelling by road here in the USA, I can honestly say neither of us has had even a minute of being fed up during our journeys.
We arrived at the Hampton Inn on the outskirts of Richfield at 3.00pm, checked in & unpacked. Our room is lovely, good view, not overlooked & a nice, bright room.
We went off to Walmart to buy a few bits & then into town for a bottle of wine as you can only buy wine & liquor from a liquor store! It was quite strange going into a small liquor store & coming out with our brown paper bag with the bottle of wine in! Even worse when we went back in to buy a big bottle of wine for when we're staying somewhere longer than 1 night! Well, for £4 for a double size bottle of wine you can't not buy one. can you?
Got our tea from KFC & ate it while drinking the smaller bottle of wine. Watched 'Little house on the prairie' & went to bed.
Day 33 Richfield - St. George 17.5.12
Moving on again but staying for 3 nights this time. Long enough to get the washing up to date! We've decided to call at Bryce Canyon as a detour on the way. Everyone we've spoken to has told us we MUST go to Bryce Canyon, so we better had.
Before getting into the canyon we had to drive through the Red Canyon. It was suddenly there, from wooded slopes to rock formations of the reddest sandstone ever. Roy says I've got to tell you it's 'jaw dropping'!
It cost us $25 to get into Bryce Canyon, so it better be good!
Stopped at a charming little gift shop first & had a coffee too. Then off on our drive around. The first viewpoint we stopped at, Sunset Point, looked nothing until we walked to the edge, then, WOW! The amphitheater (American spelling!) Words would never explain it, hopefully the photos will give you a bit of an idea. So steep & we could see people walking down at the bottom like little ants. Wished we had time to attempt the walk but we've got to get to the next hotel. All I can say is that those people were right & we're so glad we listened to them.
We had to drive all the way back through the canyon to get on the road to St. George & we've got to go through some of the Zion National Park to get there too.
When we got to Zion we had to wait in a queue to pay, another $25 valid for a week, then had to drive through the canyon with enormous rock formations on either sides of us & hairpin bends all the way to a long tunnel through the rock. Scarey!After what seemed like miles we emerged from the park & discovered we were still 60+ miles from St. George! Well, we eventually arrived at the Great Western Coral Hills Hotel & a lovely, remodelled king room, very tired after a great day.
Day 34 St. George 18.5.12
Happy Birthday to my Son in Law, Rob!
Usual start to the day, but after a busy & tiring day yesterday we've decided to take it easy today. Did 2 loads of washing then went for a long walk down the road & back. Sweltering again, in the 90s! Got some crackers & soft cheese for lunch then I did the ironing. So much that it took me an hour while Roy sat by the pool!!!!!! I joined him when it was done & we spent a couple of very relaxing hours sitting reading before getting ready to go out for tea.
In honour of Rob's birthday we've decided on steak tonight! Went to a restaurant called 'The Outback Steakhouse'. It was so popular we had to wait for half an hour for a table, but they give you a pager & call you when you're table is ready so we had a walk down by the retail outlets. We had a sangria, then ordered our meals which started with an enormous salad each followed by the steak with a baked potato with so much on it that it was a meal in itself. Our waitress persuaded us to try the key lime pie, but we had one between us. Good job because it was huge & we were stuffed! Best meal so far this trip.
Here are a few photos for you.
By the Colorado River in Moab, Utah
OMG. I couldn't of gone so close to that drop you are very brave. You are certainly seeing a lot. we will have a lot to hear about at lunch. Sam
ReplyDeleteLooks amazing!! xxx
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