Well we are back from vacation, it was wonderful. We left Tuesday March 16th and drove from Butte down to Moab, UT. We left our house at about 0415 in the morning. We had packed up the car the night before. Rick drove the entire way down. We stopped in Salt Lake City for some much missed Cracker Barrel goodness and then only one other stop for gas on the way. We made it to Moab at around 4 in the afternoon, maybe a little earlier. We stayed in Moab so that we could walk around the town in the evenings when we were done at the national parks. We stayed at a campground where we tent camped.
Wednesday March 17, we visited Arches National Park. Rick was very hopeful to see some big horn sheep, but no such luck here. After driving into the park we stopped at the first pull off for a lovely hike through the red rocks. Got quite a few good pictures. From there we drove over to balancing rock and then had a picnic lunch. Went on another hike after that to delicate arch. And then up to the devils playground where there are a few more arches to see. There was some snow on the ground, but nothing we couldn't hike through. Ate at the Moab brewery for dinner, very yummy food!
Thursday March 18, we drove to Dead Horse Point state park where it looks almost like the grand canyon, spent a little time there walking around and then headed to Canyonlands as rick likes to call Candy land. In Canyonlands there is a hike up to the top of the plateau which I had to push myself to do as at some points you are right on the edge of the cliff and as I get older I do not care for being high up in the sky very much. But it was definitely worth going to the top. The view was spectacular.
The ride back to Moab was beautiful. You have to watch out for cattle as you drive through their land. They are just out in the middle of the road and so on. Very interesting. We enjoyed very yummy Mexican food in town that night and then wandered around the town as we would be packing up and leaving Friday morning. There was a very interesting little antique shop with all sorts of old interesting stuff. Spent most of our time here and if we had tons of money to spend, would had probably done so.
It rained Thursday night while we were sleeping in our tent and so Friday when we got up we went to breakfast first to try and give the tent a little more time to dry. It was a very nice little cafe where they made homemade bagels, haven't had one in quite some time and really enjoyed it. Rick talked to the owner who served us about starting up a cafe and got a few good tips. When we went back to the campsite the tent was still damp so we took it down anyway and threw it in trash bags, which worked well.
After loading up the car we headed out for Capitol Reef National Park. When we first were planning the trip to the national parks we didn't plan on going here, but it was actually on the way to Bryce Canyon National Park and so we thought we would give it a try as it had been recommended to us by one of the church members.
We were quite glad for the recommendation. It was gorgeous there and probably one of our favorites. It has a lot of history in the park and a little town called Fruita. Very interesting. There are all kinds of fruit orchards throughout the park and during harvest time you are allowed to pay a small fee and go in and take what you want from the trees. They had one of the old houses that you could go in and see with fresh baked fruit pies and all kinds of goodies. We decided to camp here the night and make our way to Bryce in the morning. Capitol Reef is at a higher elevation and so this was probably the coldest place we camped. They also have old uranium mines in the park which are gated now, but interesting to walk up to and see. We had a nice campfire that night and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows for dinner.
Saturday morning we packed up the tent and headed down to Bryce. In Bryce none of the campgrounds were open due to the seven -eight feet of snow that was still on the ground. The roads were opened, but no places to hike and so we just drove around to the look out points, took a few pictures and then left for Zion National Park.
Zion was by far our most favorite of all the parks. Absolutely breathtaking views. Words and pictures do not do justice and we highly recommend this park, but be in good shape because to see a lot of the great views you had to hike. When we came in to the park about 2 miles in we had to go through the longest tunnel I have ever been through. Then after the tunnel you have to go down this road that winds back and forth down the mountain. Would never want to drive a motor home and trailer through that part. When we got to the bottom I was able to see a big horn sheep (2 actually) on the side of the mountain. We were able to find a campsite here and stayed for the next three nights.
Springdale it right outside of Zion on the east side and it is a cute little artsy town. Walked around there and had some great food one day. Did some laundry there as well.
Tuesday we left for St George to go to the spa. We stopped at In-N-Out burger on the way....oh so good....best fast food burger and fries ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The spa was excellent. Would recommend that as well. From there we left and went to Capriotti's. Rick had been going on about them and so we got subs to go. I was very sad after trying Ricks sub (the bobby) it is like a thanksgiving day sub, I wished we had gotten a bigger one or that I had gotten that kind. Didn't realize how great it was going to be.
We drove from there to Provo, UT where we stayed at the Hines Mansion Bed and Breakfast for two nights. Never stayed at a B & B, but it was great. Had a two person hot tub in the room. Breakfast was amazing! On Wednesday the 24th we drove up to Park City and did some outlet shopping. Have been missing shopping at the outlets. Had dinner at Carrabba's, yum!.
Thursday morning we packed up and drove home. Took us about 6 hours to get home from Provo, not a bad drive. We had to get the puppies that night because we missed them. They were happy to be home, us...not so much. All in all it was a much needed, excellent vacation. And we can't wait to be on holiday again! We love ya'll. Miss ya'll. Take care.
