Last night we decided to take a quick detour through Arches National Park outside Moab, UT. According to our trip planner, the original 8.5 hour drive would only be extended by 30 minutes plus whatever time we spent in the park. We ended up spending 2 hours in the park so the overall trip today took about 11 hours. We are tired but are glad we when through the Arches. Neither of us had been there before. It was interesting.
We set off this morning about 7:00 am and took one look back at the Mesa Verde. We enjoyed the visit there. We headed up US-491 out of Cortez and then got on US-191 at Monticello which took us to Moab.
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| Mesa Verde |
The trip to Moab was great. Two lane highway but almost deserted. The landscape was pretty desolate, but there were some interesting rock features.
About three hours later, we arrived at the Arches National Park.
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| Balanced Rock |
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| Delicate Arch (the one on the license plates) |
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| Devils Garden |
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| Devils Garden |
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| Devils Garden |
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| Balanced Rock |
We then continued up US-191 until we met I-70. We went straight to Denver, passing through the Eisenhower Tunnel.
THE most grueling portion of the trip today was between the western outskirts of Denver and Greeley. The traffic was VERY bad. We finally arrived at our hotel just after 6:00 pm. We checked in and then went down the street for some dinner. We got into the room about 7:30 pm. I call mom and told her we had arrived and we would come see her in the morning.
