Day 8 Arches National Park

I was awake around 7 so decided to sit out on the deck to watch the sun rise over the surrounding hills/mountains.  Unfortunately there was a bit of cloud around so only a few glimmers of sun managed to peep through.  I sat for a while catching up with family online then went back in to get ready for breakfast at 8.15am.  As we were a little early for our time we had a quick wander round the property.  We spotted a couple of deer grazing in the orchard.

Breakfast was served in the main lodge area.  We chose a table near the window so watch the birds at the feeders and also had a view if the mountains.

Breakfast was a baked omelette served with breakfast potatoes, an Apple muffin and some mixed fresh fruit, plus orange juice and coffee.

Reluctantly we packed our cases into the car and after a quick lie in the hammocks in the garden headed off again.  It would gave been lovely to stay here a couple of nights, it was such a restful place.  As we left we took a little detour down through Castle Valley to look at the surrounding homes.  I'm not sure there are any planning laws in the US as it appears you can put or build anything you like on your land!

There are 3 national park areas around Moab and after some thought we decided to stick with the planned Arches NP.  The ride back to town was stunning and we pulled over a couple of times along the Colorado river to look at the view.

Arches NP had quite a long line of cars at the entrance.  We watched as cars already in climbed the zig zag mountain hugging road upwards! 😲   We had free access with the America the Beautiful pass we purchased at Grand Canyon and soon began the climb with more stunning views looking back down the valley to Moab and beyond.

The park was much much bigger than I expected but it was well organised with great roads.  We started with Delicate Arch which had a moderate walk of about a mile to reach the higher viewing point.

Next up was Broken Arch, about mile and a half flat walk, and Sandy Arch, a short walk from the same car park.  It was getting hotter by now edging into the mid to high 80s.

Me sat beneath Broken Arch!

We weren't giving up yet, next up was the area for North and South Windows.  I walked a little way but let Keith carry on alone for the final bit of the half mile climb.  Also from this car park area was Double Arch, a 1 mile round trip, which we both did.

Double Arch

The enormity of this park and it's arches surprised us, and it was certainly "up there" with the other sights we have seen so far.

With the time now after 4pm and a few drops of rain starting (It didn't last long and wasn't enough to make any thing wet), we headed back to the entrance and took the road north for about 20 miles, then joined the freeway westbound towards Green River.  This road had a speed limit of 80!  Very unusual for US roads!

We checked into the River Terrace hotel, river view, huge room, even has a chandelier!

For dinner we walked to the Tamerisk Restaurant next door where I had Halibut and Keith had pork chops.  Keith ordered mash and gravy with his.  Must remember gravy is not gravy in America but a creamy sauce!  He said it was nice but was a bit surprised! 😁

 

Day 7 Monument Valley

Today was one of our longest drives.  270 miles from Page, Arizona to Moab in Utah. 

We had breakfast at the hotel again after a quick video call with the kids back home, then we packed our cases as set off, stopping at Wal-Mart to stock up on lunch supplies and Kens Tours from yesterday for a souvenir fridge magnet.  Keith has done all the driving so far and wanted me to prove to myself that I could do it! So I drove the 3 miles from Wal-Mart to Kens! 😁

Although the scenery is mostly desert and rock it is surprising how often the landscape changes in colour and shape and the amount and type of vegetation.  If you start getting bored with the scenery it's not a problem as within 30 mins it'll be different.

 

 

We got to the Monument Valley area about half past one and paid our $20 for the visitor centre (this is Navajo land and not included in the National Parks Pass.  From here there are some stunning views.  We wandered round the gift shop whilst trying to decide whether to do the 13 mile desert drive. 

 

 

It is unpaved and we were slightly worried about attempting it in a hire car. (We also asked about the jeep tours but they were another $85pp for an hr and a half.)  We watched a few other cars set of on the drive and decided to give it a go.  What a fabulous decision.  The views got even more stunning.  Monument Valley is so majestic.  It was very dust and bumpy but so worth it.  

obligatory selfie!!

 

 

 

 

There are donation boxes dotted around if you wish to take photos of the "cowboy and horse"

 

 

 

 

 

We spent approx 2 hours here which we weren't really expecting so when we set the sat nav it still said we had 170 miles, more than 3 hrs, to our destination!  In hindsight this might have been a bit too ambitious for today but we had thought we would literally be driving through Monument Valley on our route with a quick stop to take photos.

We wanted to get to our hotel before nightfall as the instructions suggested it might be difficult to spot in the dark.  We stopped at a gas station in Moab and found some chicken for dinner then headed on.  We passed through the very pretty town of Moab and turned right to follow the river through the mountains!  Such stunning scenery, it was a shame we were in a hurry.  We promised oueselves to take some time in the morning to enjoy the setting.  We arrived at Castle Valley Inn with minutes to spare before dark.  Two deer greeted us as we approached the entrance.

We parked up and knocked on the owners door who gave us our keys and pointed us in the direction of our "suite".  Beautiful cabins set in tranquil gardens between the mountains, cant wait to properly explore in the morning. 

We heated our dinner in the well appointed kitchen/dining area and then spent the next couple of hours relaxing on the balcony listening to the night creatures and watching the stars (shame the moon is so bright I'm led to believe you can see the milky way on a dark night).  I think we might have found a little piece of paradise!

Day 6 Page and Antelope Canyons

We started this morning with breakfast in the hotel.  It was quite busy at 8am but we soon found a couple of chairs.  Back in our room we sorted out water bottles, sun cream, hats and camera ready for our day.

We had reserved 'Ken' s Tours' for Lower Antelope Canyon at 10.30.  We arrived early as requested and booked in.  We had a quick wander round the gift shop and we were then directed to our meeting point.  (There were a lot of people waiting at the ticket office for last minute cancellations and no shows. So pleased we had booked before we left home!!)  We were allocated a guide in groups of 15.  We were stunned when we realised the slot canyon was literally just a few feet away and we were walking the 5 mins to the entrance.  There is no hint from ground level of what you are about to see.

We walked down a sandy slope to the canyon entrance.  There were some very steep steps built down into the canyon.  This apparently used to be the exit but it was changed so you didn't gave to walk back up a sandy hill at the end of your tour!

The next hour and 15 mins passed with many wow's and "OMG look".  Keith was on camera duty this morning and I seriously thought the freshly charged camera was going to expire from overuse! 😂  Words really can't describe the colours and shapes visible throughout the canyon.  This canyon has a V shape, narrow at the bottom and wider at the top.  Some of the walk ways were to narrow to place a foot so you needed to half climb through the gaps.  It as definitely the sort of experience you don't want to end.  As you go through there are small metal stairways built in that gradually bring you back to the surface at the end of the mile long canyon and back out into the sunshine.  Just a WOW experience.

 

We headed back to the hotel to recharge the camera.  We grabbed a coffee from the hotel breakfast area (available for free all day) and took an hour to chill.  We were due for a tour of the Upper Antelope Canyon, with Navajo tours, at 1pm ready for a 2pm tour.  We stopped at Wal-Mart and bought a sub to share and headed back to Antelope Point.  The temperature was rising by now and was heading for the mid 80s.  We booked in, then sat in the air conned car to eat our lunch, then reapplied suncream before joining the meeting point.  This canyon is about a 10 minute jeep ride away, we were allocated a guide (groups of 14ish) who then took us to our jeep for the short ride over the desert! 

 

 

 

This canyon differed from this morning in a number of ways.  First off you can just walk straight into the canyon.  It is also A shaped so wide at the bottom and narrow at the top.  This was very visible the further in we went as it got much darker, with just glimmers of sun high above us.  It also felt much busier than Lower Antelope.  Equally stunning in its own way it was perhaps spoilt a little with the number of people.  We made our way through the canyon taking lots more pictures.  Our guide gathered us together at the far end and we then made our way back through.  The instructions say photos on the way in only, none on the return walk.  It was well worth doing though.  We returned on the jeep to the car park said our thanks to our guide and headed for the air con of the car!

We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at Lake Powell.  We headed across the Glen Canyon Dam and turned of to Wahweap, a national park area and marina on Lake Powell.  We stopped at a couple of view points along the way to admire the view before parking up at the boat hire marina and walked out onto the pontoons just to get a close up of the lovely clear water.

 

 

 

 

 

would love to have had time to take a boat out on the lake

 

 

It has again been a lovely day with staggering scenery.  We popped back to the hotel to shower before heading to Denny's for dinner!  Keith was looking forward to his Denny's milkshake. 

As we got ready for bed later we found an old programme on the TV showing the building of the Glen Canyon Dam and how Page was built around it - fascinating.

Tomorrow's plan is a long drive to Moab via Monument Valley.