June 30, 2017
Silt KOA
Silt, CO

We drove a short distance today, just 76 miles. It's strange, but there are very few decent, big rig, RV parks along I-70 so you have to stop where the parks are or drive longer distances than we typically drive. This stop sets us up for a 157 mile trip tomorrow over the mountains.

Silt KOA is your typical KOA park with gravel roads and sites. This one sits on the Colorado River and even has sites that back up to the river. This park is very nice for a KOA and they really take good care of it.

We have a nice, big pull through, that again allows us to keep the car hitched for a quick getaway tomorrow.

Silt is a very small town that sits at the base of the western foothills. Now we rest up for the big trip tomorrow.......

June 29, 2017
Junction West RV Park
Grand Junction, CO

Today we drove 114 miles east on I-70 to Grand Junction. Junction West RV Park is your typical park with basic facilities, gravel roads and sites, but nothing special. It will certainly work for our over night stay before moving on to crossing the Rocky Mountains.

Grand Junction is surrounded by some pretty mountain bluffs....

Nice big pull through that allows us to leave the car hitched....

Up the street....

As I said, this will work fine for an over night stay. Tomorrow we have another short hop over to Silt for one night and then the drive over the Continental Divide to Central City on Saturday.

June 26, 2017
Canyonlands National Park
Island in the Sky Region

Today we got up early again to beat the sun. We headed 31 miles northwest on Hwy 315 to Canyonlands National Park.

The park is divided into 3 regions, Island in the Sky, The Needles, and The Maze. The Maze is only accessible via jeep trails or hiking. Each region is accessed independently and the roads into each region are many miles apart. Today we decided to go to the Island in the Sky region as it is only 31 miles from Moab. The Needles region is 76 miles away.

We first hit the Visitor Center and, unlike Arches, both the Main Entrance to the Park and the Visitor Center were open at 8:30.

Canyonlands is a beautiful park with great roads and facilities. It is very accessible even for old folks who don't like to hike very far.

Now that we have hit all 5 of the Utah National Parks we would rate them as follows:

1) Bryce Canyon
2) Canyonlands
3) Capitol Reef
4) Zion
5) Arches

As I said, we tend to rate parks based on how easy it is to see all of the sites. Younger folks who like the hike would rate these parks much differently....to each his own ;>)

Well that's it we have officially completed the Utah Big 5, so I'm sure we'll be receiving our completion certificate any day now....(Knock, Knock, Knock)...hang on a minute there is someone at the door, it could be the Governor with our certificate..........................never mind, it was just some blond haired, blue eyed kid in a white shirt and tie handing out pamphlets ;>).....anyhow I'm sure our certificate is in the mail ;>)

Now on to Colorado.........

June 24. 2017
Arches National Park

Today we drove 4 miles north on Hwy 191 to Arches National Park. We got to the visitor Center at 8:45 and discovered they don't open until 9am.

 after a brief wait we went in and picked out our fridge magnet ;>)

This is another beautiful National Park with amazing red rock mountains and unique rock formations.

Balanced Rock....

Delicate Arch......

There are some fantastic panorama views.....

and of course, many arches...

This park is another hiker's paradise and many of the sites require a good hike to reach (up to 3 miles).

Unfortunately. during our visit there was a lot of park and road construction and a few areas were closed. Still we had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed this amazing park.

June 22, 2017
Portal RV Resort
Moab, UT

We got an early start today because the temps are expected to hit 108 degrees in Moab. We left Monument Valley around 9am and headed north on Hwy 163. This is a two lane highway with no shoulder so there is no room for error. Strong winds made it a struggle to stay between the lines but we survived. This scenic route takes you past the town of Mexican  Hat. Its claim to fame is a rock formation of three very large, round boulders balancing on top of each other. This route is also famous for the "Forrest Gump point". Hwy 163 is the scene in the movie where Forrest stops running, turns around and starts to walk home. It is the barren road that extends across a vast valley.

About an hour into the drive the cab AC decided to stop working so we made the trip with just an open window circulating air (not good in this heat). I'll have to figure out if it's a fuse or something requiring a service tech (not too many in these parts of the country).

We pulled into Portal RV Resort around 12:30, registered with the office, and got set up.

Portal is divided into two sections, the RV Park for regular sites, and the RV Resort for sites you can purchase and improve. We rented a site on the resort side, cause that's how we roll ;>)

Here is a shot down the street from our site. The reddish roof building is the pool. The tan 3 story building is a vacation home... other RV sites have Casitas and other improvements.

Moab has beautiful red rock mountains surrounding the town.

We have a beautiful, huge, concrete site...

with a really nice Pergola...

Moab looks like a very nice, small, tourist town with many restaurants, shops, galleries, and of course 4 wheeler shops and touring companies.

We will be here for 7 days and plan on visiting both Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. With that, we will have hit the big 5 National Parks in Utah. You would think Utah would send us a gift for completing the big 5...... we'll probably just get a door hanger from "The Church" :>)

June 19, 2017
Gouldings RV Park
Monument Valley, UT

Today we packed up and left Lake Powell and headed south and east 132 miles to Monument Valley, UT. The drive went well and the country is barren and mostly Navajo Territory.

Gouldings is a complex of facilities which feature a lodge, restaurant, campground, gift shop, grocery store, and even a  small theatre.

Monument Valley has these beautiful red rock formations that resemble monuments. Some of the more famous ones are in the background below. We took this picture from inside the lodge restaurant.

The local claim to fame is the filming of the movie Stagecoach with John Wayne. Here is the cabin he stayed in during filming.

Here is the small theatre that shows a slide show on the history of this complex and the area.

Gift Shop...

Restaurant (Dining Hall) with beautiful red rock background

Their own Gas Station with Food Court..

And a grocery store....

Everything is run by the Navajo Tribe.

We will be here for 3 days before heading north to Moab, UT and Arches National Park.