After Flagstaff, we headed to Goosenecks State Park for a one-night boondocking stay. They didn’t accept reservations and there were only 10 sites so we wanted to get there early. We were in luck! This is near Mexican Hat, Utah, where we were greeted with a very sharp turn at the end of a steep descent. The park was fantastic. We were even able to scarf up some wood pieces left by previous campers for an evening fire.
Rock Lizard
Next stop, for 5 nights was Mountain View RV Park in Monticello, Utah. There are so many National Parks in Utah and we are anxious to start seeing them.
On May 4 we went to Natural Bridges National Monument on the recommendation of our friend Roxi. We found out that a bridge has or had water running under it while an arch does not. We had a picnic lunch as usual. We hiked to a ruins overlook and to one of the bridges. Dave hiked the longest one himself. Part of the trail was a ladder connecting two levels. Yikes!
Sipapu Bridge 
Owachomo Bridge 
Kachina Bridge 
Bear Ears 
The next day, May 5, we took in the south end of Canyonlands National Park. Like all of the other parks, the scenery is phenomenal but we almost felt the road into the park had more to see than the park itself. We will check out the north end of the park later this week.
Raven on a motorcycle 
Leaving the park, we stopped to look at some petroglyphs. Notice some people had 4 or 6 toes? I think I even saw one with 7 toes.
The next day, we drove east into Colorado to the Mesa Verde National Park. This park has some awesome displays of Navajo and Ute homes, as old as 700 AD. They range from pit homes to Pueblo. We were disappointed some loops were closed but felt we ended up seeing examples of every type of home. Also, we met and chatted with a lot of very interesting and nice people.
Friday May 7 found us moving to a new campground which will be our base for the next 7 days, Ballard RV Park in Thompson Springs, Utah.
Saturday, May 8 brought us to Capitol Reef National Park. This park was not originally on our agenda. We don’t even see it on lists of “Must See” national parks. Tom and Roxi had spoken highly of it and several people we have chatted with the last couple of weeks mentioned it. We had an empty day on our calendar for the week so decided to go. It was a 2-hour drive to the park but so well worth the time. One neat thing was the fruit orchard and historic Mormon village at the entrance to the park. However, I confess we did not spend a lot of time there. Instead, we started driving the scenic route and pulled over half way for a picnic lunch in a pull out. The scenery was indeed fantastic, and as always, different from the other parks we have visited.
After lunch we continued to the end of the paved road then drove 2 miles on dirt and rocks, to reach the Capitol Gorge trailhead. This was almost 2 miles round trip, hiking into the canyon. Along the way were more petroglyphs but they were not as prominent as the ones we had seen earlier this week. There was also a register carved into the rocks by early Mormon travelers. Indeed, this was worth the trip.
We took an ATV “you drive” tour from Moab on May 10. We thought is was going to be a ride through Arches National Park but it was Hell’s Revenge, in the Sand Flats Recreation Area. This was not what I expected and I was scared to death for most of the ride but it was also so neat that I am glad we went.
Dinasaur foot prints 
Straight up 
Top ridge is called a “fin” 
Straight down 
Not us… 
We were hungry and thirsty after that ride so drove 4 blocks to a local brewery for some local beer and chicken wings. at Moab Brewery.
We went to Bryce Canyon National Park on May 11. This was 4 hours away so we left our campground at 6 AM. Wow, fantastic scenery that we are so fortunate to see. We had a motel room booked for the night in Mt Carmel at the Mt Carmel motel, a pet-friendly motel. This was an hour from Bryce.
Friendly raven 
The next day, we went to Zion National Park. This was another 45 minute drive. We actually had to drive through the park to the other side where Boo was going to the Doggy Dude Daycare for the day. (It was her first day care visit and she did great!) Our plan was to rent e-bikes to tour a part of the park where only bikes and shuttles are allowed. Oh dear… I had not ridden a bike since before my knee replacements and found I could not do it. There is so little mobility in my right knee that is was painful/impossible to petal. The rental place was great and found us a bike bus that really was not on their available list. It worked great with Dave doing all the work (electric petal assist so not that much work) and I went along for the ride!
Middle of tunnel 
We had one more day in Moab and just had to see Arches National Park. I think this park is now on my short list of “favorite places to see in the US”. The line to get into the park was long but it only took about 45 minutes to get to the entrance. From there, we drove a lot but stopped to hike a lot also. It is impossible to capture the grandeur of the arches in photos.
The gossips 
Balanced Rock 
Double Arch 
North Window 
South Window 
Turret Arch 
Delicate Arch 
Rude!! 
There was a neat looking place near our campground, just before getting on I70. Dave was determined to buy some jerky before leaving Utah. Oh my goodness it was good!
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So great to meet yall. Awesome pics.
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Thanks, we enjoy traveling and taking them.