Moab & Green River, Utah

Once we left Bryce Canyon, we headed east to Moab.  It was really hard to get a reservation in Moab (I luckily scored 2 nights) so we split our time between Moab and Green River, about 45 minutes up the road.  

The rest stops on I-70 were much prettier than the Jersey Turnpike, haha!

Arriving at Moab brought us back to 100+ temps.  The drive across I-70 (also stunningly beautiful) was so hot we actually ran the generator while we were driving so we could have the extra air conditioners on and keep the body of the RV somewhat cool. But when we got the campground, we found out that the power had just gone out!  We hadn't planned on going out to dinner that night, but there was no way I was turning on the stove or grill in that heat, so we headed into downtown Moab and found a pizza place.  After dinner, we found a park with some shade and let the kids play for a little while before we couldn't stand the heat anymore and headed back to the campground to swim.  Luckily, by the time we got back, the power had returned and we put the AC on full blast to cool everything down.    

bleh!

The next morning, we begrudgingly dragged the kids out of bed early ("But mom, its a Saturday!") and headed to Arches National Park to beat the heat and the crowds.  We did 2 short "hikes" (more like walks)- through the Windows section of the park and then over to double arches.  The kids loved scrambling up the rocks.  Even though there were some places to drop, this park didn't give me nearly as much anxiety as the canyons we've visited, so they liked having a little freedom without constantly hearing me yell "back up!"  After the hikes, we drove through more of the park and looked at the scenery from the comfort of our air conditioned car.  As much as I would have liked to see Delicate Arch (the most famous arch in the park)  up close, I knew we wouldn't have enjoyed the hike in the heat, so we settled for driving over to one of the viewing areas.  

After the park, we went back to the campground for lunch and swimming.  Again, we went out for dinner at night because of the heat, and because we had seen a really cool restaurant the night before.  It was called Sunset Grill and was built into the edge of a cliff overlooking the city of Moab.  We weren't there late enough for sunset, but the views were beautiful and the drinks and dinner were yummy.  

dinner with a view

Our campground in Moab- Archview

small rainbow over the national park, from our campground

On Sunday, we had thought about hitting Canyonlands National Park before we had to check out of the campground, but once we all woke we realized that we were happier lounging in our pajamas and that we had seen enough canyons.  We've been going pretty non-stop since leaving Tucson, so we all needed a little break.   

Sunday afternoon, we drove up the road to Green River, Utah.  Before we checked into the campground we found a self serve RV wash, and threw the kids in their bathing suits and put them to work!  At the campground, we met Connie and Braden, who had driven over from Colorado to spend a few days with us.  We hung in the pool for the rest of the afternoon and then made dinner and got some ice cream.  

Monday, the kids had school, while Connie and Braden went down to visit Arches and Moab.  When they finished school and everyone was back, we took a ride around the corner to Green River State Park to go fishing.   The park itself was really tiny and nothing was biting, but it had been so long since we were someplace with fishing, the kids didn't mind that it was a bust. 

On Tuesday we did school and then hit a playground in town.  We planned to visit Goblin Valley State Park that day, but the temps were so high we waited until after dinner to do it.  I don't remember how I even first heard about Goblin Valley, but I remember telling Zach and Sarah about it and showing them some pictures and they became obsessed with it.  If we did nothing else this entire trip, they HAD to go to Goblin Valley!  The entire valley is filled with hoodoo rock formations that look like little goblins.  You can climb and jump all over them.  Going after dinner was the perfect temperature, and gave us an excuse to stay up a little late to watch the stars.  Goblin Valley is a certified dark sky park and one of the darkest places in the US.  It was such a fun evening...I'll let my pictures tell the rest :-) 

I have way more pics from Goblin Valley, but they are on my good camera and I don't have enough internet to get them uploaded.  Will update later.

Wednesday we said goodbye to the McCanns and started our trek up to Yellowstone!