Monday, September 23rd - Our drive to Green River took about four hours driving down Highway 15 to Highway 6 to Highway 70. We are currently about 52 miles north of Moab, Utah.

On Tuesday, September 24th, We drove to Moab, Utah to check out the town and then go to Arches National Park. Lisa had to work in the morning, so I took a 25 mile bicycle ride from our RV Park, out of Green River, Utah along what is called River Road. It took me through farm lands and then along the Green River with great vistas of the buttes around me. The road had just been paved and there were, essentially, no cars/trucks on the road. The weather was 72 degrees with no wind; doesn't get much better than that. I met a person at the boat ramp on the Green River who was formerly in the service with the 82nd Airborne. He spent two years in Afghanistan and came under heavy fire on several occasions. Now, he patrols the Green River to ensure that people who are floating and camping on the river are following the rules for those activities. They are trying to keep the river pristine.

After the ride, Lisa and I drove to Moab to check out the town. Definitely oriented to the tourist! Lots of places to rent ATVs and take adventures in the desert in on the Colorado River (which runs through the north end of the town). We had lunch at the Moab Diner which was highly recommended to us; it was fast and good. We then drove to Arches National Park. Our plan was to see as much of the park as we could and then take the evening hike to Delicate Arch. Delicate Arch is the primary symbol for the State of Utah. You see it on many of their tourist flyers. The hike is 3.5 miles round-trip with an ascent of 500 feet. A large portion of the climb is on open rock; thank goodness that the traction is excellent. There were some steep drops in some areas of the climb that made it a little nerve-wracking. Lisa took it all in stride (get that; hiking - stride??) we arrived at the Delicate Arch about an hour before sunset. We just sat and enjoyed the views and watched as the colors of the arch and surrounding terrain changed and brightened with the setting of the Sun. Pretty neat. Pretty hard to describe the scene; so beautiful. Check out the photos of the Delicate Arch in the Arches section of the photos. I have come to the conclusion that, while photos are pretty good at showing the terrain, they don't do justice to what you actually see. So, be sure to put all of the southern Utah national parks on your bucket list of "must see" things to do. We began our hike back to our truck well into twilight, so we broke out the flashlights to light our path, as recommended. Pretty cool to see a long trail of flashlights coming down the hill. A lot easier coming back since it is all uphill to the Delicate Arch. Also, many people stayed at the parking lot or at the Arch to look at the stars as there is not extraneous light to limit the viewing; supposed to be beautiful. Since were were staying in Green River and that was 50 miles away, we decided to head for home (our RV).

On Wednesday, September 25th, we decided to spend the day at Canyonlands National Park. The gentleman whom I had met at the Green River boat ramp suggested seeing the Islands in the Sky and the Needles sections of the park. As it turns out, Island in the Sky is accessed from a road 10 miles north of Moab, whereas The Needles is accessed from a road 35 miles south of Moab. We weren't able to see both ends of the park in one day, so we did the north side first and planned to see the southern side on the weekend. There is also a third section of Canyonlands National Park called "the Maze." To access the Maze, you have to drive well to the west of the park and come in from the west. It is a long drive and not too many make the trip. You also are warned to left the rangers know if you plan to enter "The Maze" since some people get lost. It is very expensive to have the rangers come look for you. The beauty of Canyonlands are the extensive vistas with the Green River valley meander loops zig-zagging through the middle of the valley. Also, the high red rock cliffs that we drove though on entry were spectacular. There also several arches that we stopped to see. One of the most famous is the Mesa Arch which is just a one mile, round-trip, hike from the parking lot. Although not super big, the views behind it are stupendous. You can also take photos of the distant views through the hole in the arch. Be sure to see the photos of Mesa Arch in the photo gallery. We then drove to several vista point and places where you can hike short distances to see fantastic views of the terrain for what I considered 50 miles or so. They are hard to describe as they are so magnificent that words and photos often do not do justice to what you are seeing. Again, this is a "must see" location. Be sure to plan a trip to Canyonlands NP at some time in the future. We did take a 3.5 mile, round-trip, hike to a scenic overlook of the Green River valley and the Green River; well, well worth the walk. This was an easy hike, compared to Delicate Arch (which is considered "strenuous") and lots of fun. We met a couple from Southern California on the way out and talked to them all the way to the view point. They left before we did because we wanted to just sit and enjoy the immense panoramas before us. Too fantastic to just see and leave.

After our hike, we decided to go to Moab to make some copies and then to have dinner. We had an excellent dinner at the Moab Brewery which had also been recommended. After dinner, we drove to the Colorado River and turned right along the frontage road. There is a paved bike path that follows the river for 2.5 miles and then stops. We plan to ride this section on the tandem and then continue out of town to the entrance of Canyonlands National Park which is about 10 miles out of town. This trail is paved and proceeds through the red rock and cliffs of the regions; pretty cool. After looking at the Colorado River, we headed back to Green River to our RV.

On Thursday, September 25th, we plan to return to Arches National Park and finish our exploration of the park. We also have a couple more hikes to take before we have seen most of what we intend to see at Arches. Lisa has a staff meeting call every Thursday at 10:00 PST, so I found a cool, little coffee shop in Green River with excellent Wi-Fi. I have managed to upload all of my planned photos for Arches and Canyonlands onto the blog and get this writing done. All before noon. I have also put together some videos which must be rendered and uploaded to YouTube. This takes a lot of time and a good Wi-Fi system; I have on video just about done and then I can post it to the blog.

On Thursday, September 26th, we had to wait until about noon to go explore since Lisa expected a call from her boss and she had to work. Her boss had to re-schedule the call. I found a nice little coffee shop in Green River with excellent Wi-Fi, so I uploaded photos to our online blog. After noon, we took off to see the half of Arches National Park that we had not seen previously. Wow! Arches is a glorious park! We went to Two Arches, Windows, and then off to see Landscape Arch. There was some hiking with each arch, but not too much. Landscape Arch required a 1.8 mile hike; pretty easy. The arches were really cool and fun to explore. You can climb all over them, except for Landscape Arch since part of it collapsed in 1991 and the National Parks people are fearful that it could fully collapse. We had a very slight shower and saw rain of to the southwest. We also saw a cool rainbow. Again, the photos do not fully show the magnificence of what we could visually see. If you get a chance, come visit southern Utah and all of these national parks. They are amazing; each in their own special way.

Friday, September 27th, we went to breakfast at the Wi-Fi coffee shop so that I could render some videos and also work on the narrative for the blog. We think we may make today a "casual" day with a lunch on the Green River nearby. We will see?

On Sunday, September 28th, we drove to Canyonlands National Park "The Needles" which is located about 60 miles south of Moab. Canyonlands is a very unique national park that is broken into three sections. "Islands in the Shy" is located to the north of Moab and is pretty easily accessed. You are on top of the plateau looking down on great valleys. "The Needles" is located way to the south of Moab and takes an entire day to explore this area. The third area of Canyonlands is called "The Maze" and it can only be accessed from the west which requires a a 30 mile drive to the north to Highway 90 then you go west 60 miles and then you go south another 70 miles and then you have to drive in quite a way to the park. It is vary rarely accessed.

Canyonlands "The Needles" is a beautiful park with huge vistas and great peaks and rock formations. It is absolutely gorgeous and it has to be seen to be appreciated. Photos do not do it justice. Lisa and I highly recommend that you plan to visit Utah and explore all five major national parks in the southern part of the state: Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and, of course, Arches.

Sunday September 29th - We have high winds in the area and are planning to stay local and prepare for our departure tomorrow for Bryce and Zion. We decided to take a little drive (30 miles) to the west to an off-ramp on Highway 70 that leads out into the desert to various campgrounds and recreational areas. It was another 30 miles on a dirt road, so we decided not to take the trip; especially in the high winds. We returned to our RV and prepped for the next day's departure.