Before heading in to our last Utah park, we spent the night in Moab. The RV Park we stayed in was decent, and we made good use of the pool to cool off after a long drive. Then we plugged our ride in and relaxed in the AC!
Moab is apparently quite a biking destination and the business district reflects the popularity of the region. This was the first place we’d been to which had a real grocery store (with a Starbucks!) so we picked up some necessary provisions. We have a coffeemaker in the RV, but professional iced coffee is almost other-worldly good in 100+ degree heat.
After a comfortable, AC-fueled night, we hit Arches National Park. Arches has the most modern feel of all the parks we’ve seen so far. It truly feels like it was designed for the car, with just some short, paved walks from clearly designated parking lots for activity. Normally there is the option to join a guided hike into the Fiery Furnace, but obviously not this year.
As with the rest of Southern Utah, Arches National Park is filled with rocky landscapes that are both awe-inducing and puzzling. Things can be both gorgeous and weird at the same time…not something I see much at home.
There’s a lot less hiking in Arches which suited the family. We’d been clocking 8-12 miles a day for a while and I think there was appetite for a “duff day.”
I felt pretty medium about Arches. I think the 5th day of 100+ degree weather was a lot, and I was pretty worried about the car since it was still giving us trouble, but even more so I think the fact that the park is basically a series of parking lots that you drive through without any major change in scenery left me underwhelmed.
So the first half of the trip, I’d rank the experiences like this:
- Vermillion Cliffs slot canyons (horrible to get to and a million degrees, but simply breathtaking once we got there)
- Bryce Canyon (I appreciated the mix of cool hoodoos, hiking, and the relative quiet of the park)
- Grand Canyon North Rim (nearly a tie with Bryce)
- Arches (not bad, but I probably would’ve liked it more had I done it first rather than last)
- Zion (in fairness, we didn’t see much of it because of the heat)
We left Arches and hit the road back to Salt Lake City. Long story short, we had to drop the RV off with the owner to have a repair made. He booked us a hotel in town for the night, and we made a trip out to Pi Pizza (as planned all along) since Anna-Sophia LOVES the pizza there.
Vacation Days 