Well, the time for our epic northwest adventure of 2012 finally came. After over a year of planning, budgeting, discussing, and getting excited, we finally had the opportunity to explore uncharted (well, uncharted to us anyway) countryside, mountains, cities, plains, and valleys of the northwestern U.S. I'm not exaggerating when I say "over a year" either. What started as a fun-sounding trip transitioned to a very real possibility and eventually became a concrete plan that we were able to execute and enjoy, making memories that will literally last a lifetime (as cliche as that may sound).
In what will probably seem like a poor attempt at capturing some of of those memories, I was graciously given a journal by my parents that I used to document details of the trip. Given my constant travel-fatigue, along with our relative lack of time, I was only able to make some bullet points each day of our trip. Therefore, I'll use that information as an outline, and I'll expand in this blog. My goal is to write a different post for each day of our two-week trip (with a picture from that day). I'm sure this will take a good deal of time and space, but since not many people (if any) read this blog, well....I don't care! :) Here goes nothin'....
6/2/12 - Day 1: After picking up Jon and Megan at the airport the evening before, we were set to go on Saturday morning. We (very geometrically) packed everything in the car with some space to spare. I was a little nervous about getting everything in the trunk since I didn't want anyone to be uncomfortable with items at their feet given that we'd be spending a great deal of time in the car. However, we fit everything perfectly and headed out around 8 a.m. We didn't make it too far (Bernalillo) before we stopped at Blake's for some good ole' New Mexican breakfast burritos. It was a quick stop though, and once we had our stomach fuel, we were ready to go (again). We drove northwest through New Mexico and through the southwest corner of Colorado (west of Durango and north around Cortez). Once we made it to the Utah/Colorado border, we stopped on the side of the road and took some pictures in front of the "Welcome to (enter state here)" signs. Our goal was to get pictures in front of each state sign. Overall, we did pretty well (missed Washington, and didn't care too much about NV or AZ).
Anyways, we stopped in a little town called Dove Creek in UT and ate lunch at a roadside cafe called Peace Tree. It seemed like an organic/fresh food type place, but when I asked for no mushrooms on my cheesesteak, they indicated that the veggies all "came together" (which means "frozen" to me). Regardless, the food was good - cheesesteak for me and ceasar salad for Cari - and it was nice to get out of the car and sit outside to eat. After lunch, we hopped back in the car and headed north to Arches National Park. Megan and Jon brought some car games, so we played a few of those on the way and stayed relatively entertained. We made it to Moab, UT early afternoon and drove through the town to get to Arches National Park.
Once at Arches, we stopped at the visitor center to use the restroom, buy a postcard at the gift shop, and mainly to plan our visit. After getting a plan together, we drove into the park. It was an amazing sight to see - lots of reds and browns, large rock formations, and definitely still a lot of desert. The main formations and arches were more spread out that I expected, but there was one paved road that went in and out of the park (and was relatively straight, which we wouldn't appreciate until later!). Our first stop was Balanced Rock, which was just that, a large rock that appeared to be "balanced" on top of another taller, more slender rock formation. We took a few pictures and continued along to the Delicate Arch viewpoint. Delicate Arch is the "symbol" of Utah, and it appears on many of the license plates. We didn't hike to the arch itself (3 miles roundtrip), but we did hike the mile to the viewpoint. It was still a little far away, but easy to see and take pictures of. Next, we cruised over to Window Arches (North Window, South Window, and Turret Arch). We parked and hiked to the window arches (climbed around a little bit) and then over to Turret Arch - all large, beautiful formations. Before wrapping up the day at the park, we crossed the street to Double Arch and took some pictures.
We drove back into town (Moab, that is) and ate at "Blu Pig BBQ" for dinner. It was a fun place; not too nice, so we felt okay going in our sweaty hiking gear. I had brisket and pork BBQ with fries and "bacon-laced" green beans and Cari enjoyed chicken strips and baked beans with hashbrown casserole. The food was excellent after a long time in the dessert, although, the "Carolina-style" pork must have been Western Carolina, since it certainly wasn't the vinegar-based "Q" that I expected. Either way, I can't complain! We listened to some blues music from a local house musician while we ate, which made the experience even better. Finally, we checked into our hotel, the River Canyon Lodge. It was pretty old, but okay for just the night. We shared a room with Jon and Megan this time around, and all of us passed out relatively early (and quickly!). Day 1, in the books!
