We went down on Thursday the 8th and ended up not coming home until Monday the 12th. We left around 2:00 on Thursday and ended up needing to switch trailers in SLC. I was driving my Subaru and towing a trailer with our 4-wheeler on it and David and Hollie were driving the Steele’s Jeep Grand Cherokee towing the small trailer packed up with gear. After that things went quite well. We ended up stopping in Green River at a place called Ray’s tavern for dinner. It was basically a ma & pa’s family bar. They basically served Chicken or Burgers. It was good, but nothing to write home about. (Maybe good enough to put on a blog though)
After setting up camp and a cold night, on Friday morning we went on the Corona Arch Trail. (http://climb-utah.com/Moab/corona.htm) This is a fun trail that takes you over railroad tracks that come tunneling through the rocks and around coves and even up a ladder before you walk around a corner and see it. Corona Arch is almost camouflaged because when you initially see it, there are rocks behind it so you can’t see the opening of the arch. It is a huge arch and it’s hard to believe that it doesn’t get more praise or recognition because of the size and magnitude of the arch and for the relative ease of accessing it. There is also a very large pothole arch along the trail that is called Bowtie arch. As we were hiking along we could hear a flute playing Indian-type music. It was really awe-inspiring. It was perfect for the setting. Really cool, the man playing the flute was from Ogden, UT, and told us that the music wouldn’t sound as good being played in a different setting. He was probably true about that. Later that night we went into town to eat dinner and we decided on going to the Pizza Buffet on Main Street. After waiting 45 minutes for a table that had been vacant the entire time we had been waiting, we actually talked to our waitress a grand total of 3 times. “Hi, what do you want”…”Oh I’ll bring you your bill”…and “Oh yeah, I get your bill for you”. Reluctantly – because we’re good people, left her a tip totaling $3.25. The food was really good and would recommend it for the food.
We stayed in a place called the Arch View Resort. (http://www.archviewresort.com/index.html) This place is about 9 miles out of Moab and was just about perfect for what we were doing. We were the only tenting campers so that was nice, and we had a lot of space. There is a convenience store and gas station as part of the resort and that made buying things like plastic bows, salt and pepper, and ice very convenient.
Saturday was another fun day; we decided to spend most of the day driving. Colette and I rode on our 4-wheeler , and James drove our Subaru and David and his family drove in the jeep. First we went up over the front end of the trail to Gemini bridges. It climbs several hundred feet next to a cliff that drops to the roadway below before falling into the canyon behind it. It’s a great picture spot. We drove a few miles in until we hit the “4-wheel drive required trail” which the Subaru would not do well on. So we turned back and reversed the trail all the way back to camp. 
Then we grabbed some stuff for lunch and drove on the trail that leads into the back entrance to Arches National Park. We stopped and say some dinosaur tracks along the trail. Then we drove as far as the park border before turning back. 4-wheelers are not permitted in the national parks and we could get in big trouble if we were caught. So we drove back to the spot that we camped in on the first night of the trip that I proposed to Colette on. It was a bit windy and we were trying to find a spot that helped deflect the wind. We went back to camp and enjoyed chili dogs and smores cooked open an open fire before playing games for a couple of hours.
The nights were cold and got into the low 40’s and upper 30’s so there was a good reason to snuggle up as much as possible.
Our day on Sunday couldn’t have been spent better than a good day in Arches National Park. (http://www.arches.national-park.com/map.htm) We started off by doing the Park Avenue trail that can be a one-way hike that does a lot of hiking down hill. It is a stunning trail that takes you through a small valley where you find yourself surrounded by spires and rocks and washes that all help define the beauty of the park. Then we stopped and picnicked at our favorite in-park picnic spot, just down from Balanced Rock. Then we continued on to Delicate Arch. We ran into Colette’s sisters at the trail head that were also in Arches for the weekend. After completing the strenuous and very gratifying trail we drove into the Devils Garden campground to say hello to Shayla and Felicia and their families again. On the way back we stopped at the Sand Dune Arch and drove around the windows section at sunset to end a glorious day in Arches.
We decided to once again venture into town for dinner, and decided on something safe and easy – Denny’s. Hollie ordered an appetizer and then we all ordered ordinary menu items then anxiously awaited our meals. After a solid 20 minutes of wondering where the cheese fries appetizer was, the first of the meal started being served. I was the only person that ended up with their entire meal (minus a refill). Colette didn’t receive dipping sauce for her chicken – nor did she get her side of French fries, James didn’t get jam for his toast, David didn’t get butter/syrup for his pancakes, Cassie didn’t get her fruit, Hollie didn’t get her….appetizer. Of course James and I were trying to be patient for our drink refill, and it didn’t come, and it didn’t come. Finally I asked for it and she seemed frustrated as she slowly brought things to us. Hollie finally canceled the appetizer as we were finishing our meals. The waitress didn’t seem to like that much. So in the end, we were there forever, had horrible service, didn’t get what we wanted, couldn’t be helped and left after leaving her a whopping $1.10 tip. I guess you get what you pay for….No wait, you get paid for what you do. Yeah I like that one better.
Monday was a smooth trip home and was mostly uneventful except for a stop at Wendy’s to top of the weekend of awful service. All of us had at least one item negated from our order. Is this even possible? Unbelievable!
Overall we had an amazing and very relaxing weekend that we have come to expect from going to Moab and Arches.
