Moab

We arrived in Moab on Saturday afternoon, after a shorter drive down from Salt Lake. We got groceries this morning, which didn't take too long and hit the road by 9 am. The drive down was mainly suburbs on the interstate and then desert for a really long time.

Moab is a little town with dozens of off road excursion shops and lots of restaurants and little shops. We stayed in the KOA on the south side of town, which was fine for our purposes but not as nice as some of the other resorts we passed on the Colorado river. Of course, it was also better than so me others.

After getting settled into our spots (no shade or tress unfortunately), we explored the downtown area for a little while. The visitor center was really nice and we finally got a Utah map and some more information on the parks. We had dinner and beers at the Moab Brewing Company, a really fun restaurant that brews over 10 types of its own beer, including root beer. The boys loved it and we all had plentiful meals. We took back a growler filled with root beer for the kiddos to enjoy later.

Next up we explored the Arches National Park. This park is an amazing display of stunning arches, fins, towers, buttes and caverns. It is easily driven in a few hours and we got out and hiked at a couple places. We did the short hike to see the Delicate Arch from far away because the 3 mile extreme hike in 100 degree heat did not seem as reasonable. As it was, the short hike was grueling. We also hikes the north and south windows and were able to enjoy the sun setting as we were there. The windows were spectacular, framing views of distant canyons and valleys. The boys raced around and were true boys on the slick rock, enjoying the jumps and ramps provided by nature. We were all hot and witnessed a woman being removed by a medical team due to what looked like heat exhaustion. They make a big deal out here about taking enough water for everyone and it is really necessary. The dry air and heat can get to you.

The Arches park was more beautiful than I imagined and I wish we had more time to explore it. Maybe next trip to Utah we will be able I hike into delicate arch. It's late tonight as we crawl into bed, exhausted from the heat and thankful for air conditioning in our trailer.

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