This morning we headed north of Moab and west to Canyonlands National Park. Unlike many of the national parks, this one does not require timed entry. We visited here in 2017 on our northwest trip, but it was a fairly lengthy day trip from where we were camping at Grand Junction, so our visit here and to Arches National Park was abbreviated. This time we are camping right in the town of Moab, so we can spend more time at each venue and even visit twice of needed.
It was about 1035 hrs before we figured out our game plan and it was already about 90F. We stopped for fuel on the way out of town and the going rate here for diesel is $4.45 to $4.55 per gallon. That is the highest price for diesel that we have paid on this entire trip so far with 44 refueling stops.
Soon we were on our way and headed north on highway 191. The turn off for Canyonlands is highway 313 and not long after we headed west we were engulfed in amazing scenery already, and we were still 19 miles from the Canyonlands National Park. A few pictures:
Our first stop was the welcome sign, a big deal for most visiting the park. We all took turns taking pictures for each other.
Next we passed through the park gate where we were greeted by a friendly park ranger who checked our ID and Access Pass, and then not much further we parked at the Island In The Sky visitor center. We got our questions answered there and looked over some information about the entire park.
Doreen had never seen anything like this 'hole in the floor' on the right in the outdoor latrine facilities, but when she showed me the picture I said it was very similar to what we had in Japan!
Across the street was some great canyon scenery and our first taste of the Canyonlands.
We got back in the truck and continued our journey into the park, stopping at several overlooks for pictures. Due to the heat we decided to forego the lengthy hikes and settled for shorter walks from the various overlooks, and there are many. A few more pictures:
We made our way to the end of the road which terminates at the Grand View Point Overlook, and then we backtracked and headed northwest to Upheaval Dome. On the way we passed some more unbelievable scenes:
We stopped at Upheaval Dome and checked out the map, but the hike was going to be an hour round trip to see the dome, and we could not allot that much time before heading back. It would have been an interesting view!
Just past Upheaval Dome, on the way back to checked out Whale Rock, and from the right angle it indeed resembles a whale!
The trip out of the park was enjoyable and we got some different views than when we went in.
Just before we turned south on 191 we passed some dinosaurs grazing behind a strip mall. Seriously LOL! Well, at least there were some dinosaur statues for the kids to explore!
Back at the campground, Liberty was very glad to see us and we had a late lunch, walked her and then settled in to watch our grandson Calvin play in the 10U State Baseball Tournament back in Iowa. Unfortunately the Internet would not support a live video feed so we had to settle for the digital version which is better than nothing. They lost the first game and then won the second game, so we will see how the bracket forms for games tomorrow. Calvin was behind the plate (catcher) for the entire first game, and played center field and pitched during the second game.
At 1700 hrs we headed downtown to check out the Swanny City Park Arts & Ag event. It is basically a farmer's market in a city park with tables of crafts and a couple with expensive veggies.
We had not yet driven past our campground to the south, so we checked that out and stumbled onto a local comfort food restaurant called 'Susie's Branding Iron'. Since it was dinner time we decided to stop. Doreen had chardonnay wine in a unique glass (canning jar), and I had one of the local beers called 'Rocket Bike Amber Lager'. It was OK, a bit too hoppy for me.
Doreen ordered the Navajo taco's, and I ordered the chicken fried steak. Portions were huge and we both only ate half, so we have a meal for tomorrow back at the RV.
Tomorrow we may head back towards canyonlands but turn off and visit Dead Horse State Park and check out Dead Horse Point Overlook.
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