Arches and Canyonland

October 22: It was a short night since I needed to be up and on the road early. I wanted to wait until the KOA office opened to ensure I had the cost right for the night since I moved around. The lady was the same from the night before and was very friendly. She told me how busy Arches gets so it would probably be best for me to head there first, so I did.

Arches

I dropped off the trailer again in the visitor center before taking the road up the hill into the National Park. I loved that the moon was still out and showing above the red rock structures. I wish it were a little more prominent in the sky though. Again, Callie was very limited in the park including not being able to go to most viewpoints, even the paved ones right off the road. We drove down to the end of the park, hitting a few of the viewpoints. One of the highlights was of course the viewpoint for the Delicate Arch. Many people were hiking up to it, but I was satisfied with the viewpoint from a distance. My favorite part was actually a smaller arch off to the side of the road. I was able to walk about 3 minutes down a trail to get a great view of it. I was also able to enjoy it alone which was very different from the Delicate Arch. I think this one would be fun to visit again and actually do a hike or two. 

More help from strangers to get this pic

I was in love with the moon still hanging out.

This was my favorite arch. I had the small hike to myself

Poor Callie spent most of the time looking out the car window. 

As you can tell from my write-ups, I was struggling to enjoy the Utah parks as much. This was the second day in a row visiting two parks and I needed to get well on the way to Colorado too. Getting through the parks quickly does take a little away from them, but I am still thrilled I have at least seen them.

Canyonland

It wasn't a far drive to Canyonland from Arches. I was very impressed by the mountain bikers everywhere on the way in. Made me semi wish I knew how to mountain bike. It was a relatively boring drive into the park. It was also less popular since I barely had to wait to get into the park. I took the trailer throughout this park as there wasn't anywhere to drop it off. I wasn't sure what to expect from this park. I was guessing it was a smaller Grand Canyon and I guess that is accurate. I wasn't impressed with Canyonland. Maybe it was seeing too many red rocks in the Utah parks and thinking about the Grand Canyon. I drove down to a few viewpoints to see if I was missing anything. Don't get me wrong, it is beautiful, but again, I think national park fatigue was wearing me down. I think I left the park in under two hours and that included finding a picnic area and enjoying a PB&J with Callie. I honestly probably won't revisit this park unless I have a day to blow in the area. 

I had found a KOA about 3 hours outside of Boulder, Colorado to spend the night. I arrived there with plenty of sunlight left which meant I could take Callie on a nice long walk around the complex. It was a newer complex and very nice. They suggested a place I could go for dinner, but I was feeling lazy and had my last taco bowl. I also was able to watch the Cubs game on my phone and watch them clinch the series to send them to the World Series! It was a glorious and relaxing night. Oh and watching sports on the west coast is so much better since it doesn't go past midnight.

I was so happy to take a short break from being alone in national parks to see my college friends in Colorado.