May 28, 2013 Arches National Park.....with Otis

Our regular routine has started, a quick breakfast for us & Otis, his potty walk & we pack a picnic lunch! We figure the holiday crowds at the National Parks should be gone, as we can see evidence of that right here in the RV park we're staying at. Today we are going to take "our" auto tour of Arches National Park, because Otis is our favorite passenger. We didn't tell Otis we're coming back another day without him so we can hike some of the EASY trails. We arrive at Arches National Park,

& already I can tell it's going to be an OMG day!!!! Sometimes I think I take too many pictures but yet there is soooo much natural beauty here, I'm not sure if I've taken enough pictures!!!

Let me show you what I'm taking about!

There's more!

& more......

This formation is called BALANCE ROCK. Wonder how they came up with that name!?!
Our course we found a scenic picnic spot, but it was sooooo windy out, we really had to hang on to our picnic!!!!

Maybe I should wear my hat, but it was hard enough hanging on to my lunch let alone a hat too!

There's more scenery!

& more!

there's much more but unfortunately there's also.....

OTIS!!!! Sorry Otis, but I can't wait till we come back to Arches, without you!

We got home in time for me to throw a couple loads of laundry in before dinner. This time Lennie & Otis came to help! They really did! But while I was waiting for the laundry to finish the wind got so bad Lennie & Otis went back to the RV to close the windows. It's so dry here that when the wind blows, so does the dust!!!

Lennie grilled Yellow Fin tuna for dinner, yummy, & after dinner the rain came! A steady rain, at times pretty hard. I hope it keeps the dust down cause tomorrow is another adventure.......

May 27, 2013 Boat ride on the Colorado River, at night!!!!

Good morning morning!!!! Today was a loaf" day, & it felt good! There were things I could have done, laundry, or clean the RV, but no I'm going to enjoy doing nothing!!!! When breakfast was over, we just sat outside, Otis too, but Otis couldn't exactly relax, every once in awhile a person with a dog would walk by & Otis would have to give that dog a piece of his mind! I got some post cards written before it was time to go in & make lunch. Lunch today was very lite....just a salad because we have a special night coming up!!!
After being lazy all day.....it was finally time to shower & get ready for our night tour at:Canyon Land By Night-Sound & Light Show!

The tour starts with a "Cowboy" style Dutch oven dinner. It had all the good stuff, salad,dinner rolls, corn, potatoes, baked beans of course, & 3 different meats, beef,chicken & pork. You could have as much as you wanted, plus dessert, which was apple crisp!

Canyon Land Tours is a family run operation that's been in operation for 50 yrs. After dinner we went out to the dock to wait for our sail away & dusk....& soon enough we were on boarding the boat to head up the
Colorado River!Our tour guide had a sense of humor & he loved sharing his stories with the group.

As we go up the river, our tour guide asks us to use our imagination as he points out different things on the canyon walls. Here he points out a FACE.

                                          Can you see the face!?!

Continuing up the river just by chance we see some Base Jumpers(Crazy people that LOVE to jump off the Canyons) another sport here in Moab!

Once completely dark the Sound & Light Show begins.Choreographed with lights, sounds, music & narration, you learn the stories about the formation,creation & history of the area according to the early settlers, the Catholic Conquistadors, Native Americans & Mormon Pioneers. The sky was full of stars, the only thing missing was a full moon, which we could have seen 2 nights earlier! It was such a relaxing boat ride & the illumination on the Canyon walls the highlight of the night!

All to soon the show was over, when the lights were out, it was really dark out there on the river!

We weren't allowed to use our flash during the tour, so I was pretty happy with the way my pictures turned out considering NO FLASH!?!
Lennie always feels a little guilty when we leave Otis in the evening, remember Otis is the dog???? So he ALWAYS stops at McDonalds to get Otis a McDouble! Surprise surprise, the McDouble was NOT on the $1.00 menu like it is at home!?!

Oh well, I guess Otis is worth $1.40 !?! And he tells me NOT to spoil the dog!

Doesn't take much to make

Otis happy!

May 26, 2013 What's happening in Moab!?!

Moab is definitely a recreational area! We see jeeps, ATVs, kayaks,canoes, bicycles, EVERYWHERE!!!! For that reason we're waiting till after the holiday to do any sightseeing! We took a drive into town, big difference from the last town we were in, the town without a town! Moab is your typical tourist town!   H-m-m-m maybe I can find a T-shirt!?!

We're going to be in Moab a week, so I can poke around in souvenir shops later. For now it's time to see some scenery. We took a drive up Hwy 128 along the Colorado River.

Like I said, the scenery never stops......

we watched people having fun on the water......

then continued our scenic drive. We also went "somewhere" & purchased tour tickets for tomorrow, I can't wait, it's going to be massive photo opts!!!
We left Otis in the RV with the A/C running while we were gone, I don't think he suffered any!?!

Lennie grilled burgers tonight. This is the first time we've had a hamburger since February! Yum! Bring it on!!!!

Talk about a HAPPY CAMPER!?!          

Those are mushrooms & grilled onions spilling out of my bun! YUM-YUM!!!!

More about Moab tomorrow!

May 25, 2013 Driving to Moab!

Last night after dinner Lennie connected our car to the RV so all he had to do this morning after breakfast was disconnect all the hoses.The small RV park sure filled up as people prepared for the holiday weekend! I took Otis for his potty walk, then walked over to the Post Office to mail postcards. It was a real tight squeeze & Len had an audience as he pulled out of the site!
It's about a 300 mile drive from Kanarraville to Moab. Something came over Otis! For the first 80 miles of driving he figured out he had other seating options besides my lap!?! He went from the love seat to the recliner before he realized my lap was the best seat in the RV & up he came!!!! I think this is the first drive where it was scenic the whole drive!

The mountains in the background with snow....I believe are probably
The Rockies?

The scenery never ended & we never stopped enjoying it.

When we stopped for a fuel fill-up, I gave Otis a potty break & captured this picture, which I thought was cool especially being Memorial Day weekend.

Our picnic today was not in a park but in "the bus" but it still wasn't lacking in scenery!

It was a hard drive for Len, the crosswinds were terrible!!! It's been soooo windy every where we've been!?! We finally made it to Moab,Utah. This is our last Utah location we'll visit. I can honestly say if Utah was the only state we visited this season, I would not have been disappointed. What a beautiful state!
We're staying at the OK RV park in Moab.

This is the view as you pull into the park,

We are going to be here a week......

being Memorial Day weekend this RV Park is FULL!!! We decided to wait till after the holiday to go visit the National Parks in this area, hopefully it won't be as crowded???
Funny how we always arrive at the RV parks in time to make dinner!!? That always makes Lennie & Otis happy!
Lennie fell asleep during TV time, driving in that rough wind is hard on Len. He did wake up to take Otis out to potty & called me to come outside with the camera & look what I saw!

It's definitely a good night!

May 24,2013 Cedar Breaks National Monument Park

Sad day today, it is our last day to sight see in this area. We are not done with Utah quite yet!?! Breakfast is done, Otis has been walked & the picnic lunch is packed! We are now ready for Cedar Breaks National Monument Park!

Nobody had to pay today because the park doesn't officially open until June 7th.

The park roads due to snow, only opened YESTERDAY! The Ranger told us all the overlooks were open, some still had snow so proceed with caution, none of the facilities were open yet. We were just glad the roads were open!
Cedar Breaks is famous for its red rock scenery. This was one of my favorite sights I could have snapped pictures all day long, but pictures just don't do this sight justice, you really have to see it to believe it!

Wait, there's more.....

& more

there's more but I can't post all of them! It was 52 degrees at the upper elevation we were at & the wind was really blowing hard. There were patches of snow everywhere so of course we wanted Otis to get into some snow!!!

& I wanted to get into the snow too!

Notice I have sandals on!?! It was in the 70's when we left the RV Park!I don't miss the snow, but I do miss the beauty of the snow!

Time to find a picnic spot!

I don't know why Lennie cut the picnic out of this picture!?!

But the scenery's still there! I need my shades, the sun is really bright!!! We need more scenery shots!

There, that's better!

Leaving the park we drive to Cedar City en route to our RV Park. We stopped at the Veterans Memorial Park in Cedar City. The park features large scale memorials, bronze statues & walking trails in honor of local veterans of World War l & ll, Korean,Vietnam,Afghanistan,& Iraqi Freedom. It was really nice!

We had one more stop to make in Cedar City before heading back to the RV!

That's right WALMART!!!! For supplies!!!! Kanarraville,Utah is a town without a town!!!! It has a population of 375! It has NO stores, restaurants,gas stations??? It does have a fire department, & it does have a post office<-No home delivery but open Mon-Sat 9:00-1:30pm! All your needs can be met in Cedar City it is a booming metropolis, & just a short drive away! Time to go back to the RV Park. This small RV park is overflowing now. People are preparing for Memorial Weekend. I hope they enjoy the sights as much as we did!
Tomorrow morning we pull out of Kanarraville, Utah heading for...........???