WHERE IN THE WORLD... Okay, it really is in the middle of nowhere, about 4-6 hours' drive from places you might otherwise be (Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Albuquerque...) And near other great national parks including Bryce and Zion.
The town of Moab is absolutely adorable. A main street which is, by default, also a major truck route with huge rigs steaming through. Studded with small businesses and anchored (for us) by a food truck park and a stellar bakery and coffee cafes and rock (the hard kind) stores. A massive business is one part pharmacy, one part hardware store, and one part anything else you might conceivable need to buy on your travels. With parking.
Here's the one OFF note, a chain restaurant in downtown. A Wendy's. But it seemed to be closed and look at the sign it's got out front... Sour grapes??
And then there are the parks, spectacular red rock landscapes. Here's the lineup of cars to get into Arches... you have to have signed up for "timed entry" if you want to drive through during daytime hours.
Here's one of the arches that the park is named after. Massive. And at night (we went for a "night sky walk) resembles a hulking gorilla silhoueetted against the night sky (with the BIG DIPPER framed in the center opening).
We also took a Jeep tour of Canyonlands which is just up the road about 20 minutes. Easy peasy.
One of my favorite spots is this flat stretch where they filmed Thelma and Louise driving off that cliff at the end of the movie. I think they had to airlift the wrecked car out of there after. Nearby one of the scenes of Tom Cruise rapelling in a Mission Impossible movie was filmed. He apparently did his own stunts.
There was also plenty to see close up. Ravens. Magpies. The occasional waterfall. And lovely little weedy things that look for all the world like baby birds stretching to be fed.
And that just scratches the surface. IF YOU GO! My advice, stay IN the town of Moab. The hotels are very basic (as opposed to the fancier ones just outside town) but you'd step out onto the street and be able to walk in any direction... and you're reminded of how it once was before Burger King and Wendys took over a streetscape.
Please, share your memories of a great national park...
What amazing sights! Thanks for sharing them with us . . . .
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous trip, Hallie! Great photos, and excellent travel tips. Before we left on this trip I noticed that same, inscrutably weird sign on our local Wendy's. It's a headscratcher.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite national park is the Everglades, especially down at the southern tip, near and in Flamingo. Mrazek Pond is teeming with birdlife, and my favorite ever birdwatching moment happened there. It was a clear, beautiful day with deep blue skies, and a flock of outrageously pink roseate spoonbills flew overhead. I still haven't caught my breath.
Anhinga Trail alone is worth the long drive. There are other boardwalk trails in Florida--Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is one of the best--but Anhinga Trail, despite being only half a mile long, has an astonishing variety of wildlife, all so used to people that you have no trouble at all spotting them up close. And the visitor's center has our local wildlife artist Charley Harper's colorful abstract murals.
Thank you all for the lovely notes yesterday. I am feeling much better, and many tests, including a scary angiogram, have shown no heart disease or blood clots that might have caused the MI. Having the angiogram, though, means I can't fly for several days, so our bestlaid plans have gang awry. Luckily, we have travel insurance, but my daughter and her husband took off work to travel with us.
Man plans and God laughs, right?
Thank you for sharing the good news, Karen. Strange, but happy you don’t need additional procedures while traveling. And I bet your daughter is happy to have the time off to be with you.
DeleteThanks, Lisa. I am beyond grateful for her. My husband was absolutely panic-stricken, and totally out of his depth, particularly because we are not in the States. She is well-traveled, and has spent a lot of time in the UK, plus was the calm in the eye of the storm. She had the hotel manager there in minutes, who was on the phone with 999 and ordering an ambulance. Best of all, she got my nurse daughter on FaceTime to direct us while we waited an hour for paramedics.
DeleteKaren, what good reports from such a scary time. Continue to heal and to be surrounded by the love and care of your family. Elisabeth
DeleteKaren, what a relief to see your message this morning. Sending healthy vibes to you and many wishes for your recovery and enjoyment of the remainder of your time abroad.
DeleteDid your daughter in Greece fly to England to be with you?
So glad you are okay, Karen! Blessings for your family. I visited the Everglades in 1980 when my birder sister and her partner were living down there. I became a birder - those gorgeous marsh birds (including the anhinga!) just stand around so you can see them. I bought my first field guide in the park gift shop.
DeleteKaren SO glad to hear you have things under control … traveling is a huge leap of faith and family is golden. On parks, I’m right there with you on the magnificence of that park And we saw roseate spoonbills there, too. It’s right up there with the glory that was Sanibel Island’s Ding Darling reserve
DeleteIt was only a National Lakeshore when I lived there, but I loved growing up with the Indiana Dunes in my backyard. Beachcombing and finding the most interesting “rocks,” which were slag from the nearby steel mills.
ReplyDeleteA college friend is working her way through the national parks so I occasionally get a text like, “What do you think about Pinnacles in September?” After looking up its Central Valley location, I said, “It’s going to be hotter than he!!” But it was actually just warm, and beautiful and we had fun looking for condors (but only saw vultures).
A morning walk through a lovely flat field in Yellowstone in the summer of 1970. Very quite, very easy walking, and ahead of us a coyote which, as if it were the “family dog” liberated from a leash, bounding ahead, pausing to sure we were still following, and moving on. The experience was rather comforting, a nice touch of home, as we were in the midst of a cross country move. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteThat's wonderful, Hallie. Did you go on a tour or with a friend/family member?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a child, every summer my family of six would (tent) camp for two weeks in Sequoia National Park. We would hike, go on ranger walks, swim in the snow-melt dammed stream, make up treasure hunts, and gaze at the majestic tall trees. We learned how the indigenous people ground acorns and about John Muir and how meadows come from woods and return to them. Some nights we'd take sleeping bags to the big open parking lot at the little store, lie on our backs, and my mom would teach us about the stars.
It was idyllic, healthy, low-budget, and the best kind of vacation.
The summer after my freshman year in college, I flew out to visit my aunt and uncle in California and was met there by my cousin, Ellen, who'd just finished her sophomore year in New Mexico. My aunt and uncle took us and their two kids who were 6 and 8 at the time to Sequoia and Yosemite. I loved it! We all stayed in tent cabins. It was magical. The night sky was full of shooting stars and I'd never seen scenery like we saw. We rode mules up a steep trail to one of the amazing overlooks.
ReplyDeleteSeveral years later, I returned with 2 girlfriends. Black bears were all over the place that year and I remember seeing one as I was heading to the "head." I turned and scurried back to my tent cabin until the coast was clear.
A few years ago, Irwin and I visited Yosemite with an excellent guide. It was irwin's first visit to that Park and it definitely isn't his favorite but it remains mine.