Wild-West Road-Trip: Arches II, Moab Giants, and Canyonlands 4x4

The RV is really easy to drive, but it's not very easy to find enough space to park the thing. We woke up especially early, today, and entered Arches National Park for a second round of views and climbing. I knew that I wanted to see the "Windows" portion of the park and I knew that we'd have an easier time getting the RV closer if we didn't wait too long. 

This was a really easy walk to the first window. There were already quite a few people swarming the site, and my first reaction was to compare humans with ants. It tends to feel that way when you compare the relative size of the landscape with the people crawling all over the rocks.

The sheer scale of the landscape makes it difficult for me to convey just how tremendous these natural structures are. Even from a great distance, there is a sense that each of the stones in these mountains is heaver than anything I can imagine, but they're just part of the whole.

The kids were really great this morning. Addy was acting like a three-year-old, again. She just doesn't believe that our instructions actually apply to her. I'm shocked, actually, by how defiant she can be. It doesn't matter if the cliff-face drops to our doom. She just wants to get as close to it as she can. Evan still wants to talk about how the landscape could be one of the planets in the Star-Wars universe. Owen believes that the easiest and safest way to reach the next view is for lesser mortals. He'd rather go over or under more difficult footings just because he can.

We wrapped it up at Arches so that we'd still have time to visit Moab Giants, a dinosaur museum with lifelike dino models commemorating all of the fossils that have been found near this area. The same forces that preserve these magnificent arches are the same forces that allow the dinosaur fossils to survive so we can study them.

The park is pretty cool. If you go, you should definitely make plans to stop at the cafe and have lunch. The food is so much better than you'd expect at a place like this.

After a few hours of rest this afternoon, we met our Canyonlands tour-guide for the evening. A NavTec guide, Mitch is a 32-year-old adventurer who is attempting to live in a new state and work as an outfitter every season. That, all by itself, is pretty cool, but he seemed to know so much about the land and the features. Our first stop was a section of highway where First-Nations had carved their marks into the rocks. There were a few twentieth-century additions, but whatever.

We passed through some amazing territory that falls under the jurisdiction of the BLM on our way to Canyonlands National Park. The whole scene was just breathtaking. I was so impressed by the land through which the Colorado River carves its path.

That last pic features the incredible Devil's Tower (I think...)

There are also some exposed fossils that are becoming more difficult to find since tourists cut them out of the rock as a souvenier. I do not remember the names of the creatures in these pictures. I just thought they looked cool. Side-note: I sure am glad I brought that macro lens;)

The next part of our tour involved lookouts and vantage points at which we could take more pictures, fill up our water-bottles, and stretch our legs.

I got as close to the edge as I could for some of these shots. At least I

know where Addy gets her ideas;)

Mitch has a thing for maps and I can't blame him one bit. When you're trying to get everywhere, you need to know where you're going and how to get there.

The Colorado River gooseneck in Canyonlands national park.

Mitch also wanted a shot. He sees this stuff every day and he swears that it never get old.

The photo above and below feature the Musselman arch. It could be a landbridge for all I know.

A little shadow play is always fun:)

The final series of pics were taken from various places along the road that seemed like good photo-ops as we made our ascent out of the canyon. The pic above features the Toyota Land Cruiser, named Lavender, after one of the canyons in the area. I'm so grateful for Mitch and Lavender for their skill and professionalism during the tour. Navtec is really lucky to have you, both!

That strip in the middle of the frame is one of the roads that we traveled to get to this point. It's just one more reminder that perspective is everything.

Anyway, thanks for reading this entirely-too-long post! July 4th is a driving day as we're headed to Bryce Canyon and I don't know what the cell-service or data connection will be like. No matter what, thanks for all your encouragement and support:) 

- Wayne