2023 CANYONLANDS ADVENTURE - GOING TO THE TOP OF THE ARCH

 

DAY #14 – SATURDAY – JULY 15, 2023

TOPEKA, KS – MT. VERNON, IL

392 – MILES / 4,462 – TOTAL MILES

The Country Inn & Suites here in Topeka was a very nice hotel. The rooms were clean and the bed comfortable. Today was another early departure, and because our bus driver John was doing the job of baggage handler, we had to have them outside our room by 6 a.m. so that he could get everything loaded by our 7:30 a.m. departure time.

After having breakfast and making one final check of my room, I grabbed a cup of hotel coffee to take with me on the bus.  I boarded the bus at 7:20 and by 7:30 almost everyone was seated and ready to depart. I said almost everybody because the usual parties were late again. So, we waited, and we waited and we waited some more. At 7:40, Michelle tried calling the four missing travelers and no answer.

She then went to their rooms.  While she was doing that Dan and I got off the bus to make a stop at the restroom and grab another cup of coffee. When we go to the breakfast area, what do we find. Yep, our four missing travelers sitting at table finishing up breakfast like they didn’t have a care in the world.

Dan, and I went over to let them know that Michelle was looking for them and that everyone was on the bus waiting. The #1 complainer of the group acted surprised claiming that they were told we were scheduled for an 8 a.m. departure.  Dan and I both told them it was 7:30. To which she replied, “when did she change it.”

Just in time Michelle spotted us and came over and told them everyone was waiting, and they needed to board the bus “without further delay.”  Our #1 complainer said they thought it was an 8 a.m. departure. Michelle told her no it’s 7:30 and asked that they get onboard as soon as possible.

They said they had to go back to their rooms and get their carry-on bags and take care of some personal needs. So, the rest of us waited and waited.  Finally, they boarded, and we pull out of the hotel, 20- minutes late at 8 a.m.

Our #1 complainer, proclaimed to anyone and everyone who would listen that “if she is going to change the departure time, she needs to make sure everyone gets notified.” A couple of people told here that everyone else heard “7:30” and they didn’t know where they got 8 a.m.

Anyway, we pulled back onto Interstate 70-east and headed toward our first stop of the day in Kansas City. An hour and a half later we pulled into the Hallmark Greeting Card Visitors Center.  Since it was a weekend, a guided tour of the plant was not available, but a very nice lady who worked in the visitor’s center gave us an overview of the company and we were able to watch a brief film about the company’s History.

Hallmark Visitor's Center

It was here in Kansas City a young teenager from Nebraska named J. C. Hall, arrived in 1910 with two shoeboxes of cards under his arm. From that humble beginning, J. C. Hall founded the Hallmark Greeting Card Company, that is today the best known and most successful greeting card company in the world.

After our greeting and orientation, we were free to walk through the small but very nice museum that was filled with artifacts and exhibits from those early days right up until the 202s official White House Christmas Card.

Now, You would think that this being the Official Hallmark Visitor’s Center they would have a selection of greeting cards and other Hallmark Gifts for sale. Well, they don’t. Those in our group that wanted to make a purchase were directed to their retail store at a nearby mall. Needless to say, some in our group were disappointed. I wasn’t one of them.

After spending a little over an hour at Hallmark, we made out way back to the interstate and began our trek across the Show Me State of Missouri. We went right through downtown Kansas Center and a few Minutes later we pass the Harry S. Truman Sports Complex off to our right. This is the home of Arrowhead Stadium, where the Kansas City Chiefs Play and to Royal Stadium with the Kansas City Royals play baseball.

Some two hours later we stop in Columbia Missouri for our Lunch break.  There are several choices here and thankfully everyone goes in different directions.  Most of the choices are fast food, like McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy’s. A couple of people chose the Cracker Barrel.

With Everyone going to different places, none of the restaurants were overwhelmed and service was generally pretty quick. Myself and a couple of the other back of the bus bunch chose Wendys. Lunch generally takes close to an hour and since our service at Wendy was quick, I still had about 30 minutes before I needed to be back on the bus. So, I walked across the street to the “Quick Trip” for a cup of coffee and a few afternoon snacks.

We departed Columbia and resumed our trip east toward our Next stop of the day in St. Louis. Two and a half hours later we made our way through downtown St. Louis passing historic Bellefontaine Cemetery off to our left before making our way up past Busch Stadium to the Old Courthouse. John Found a parking place nearby and we left the bus to begin our tour of Gateway Arch.

Now, I have visited the Arch several time over the years and been to the top of the Arch three different times. Today I decided rather than going to the top again I wanted to spend my time walking through the museum. But as I was walking through towards security, Miss Jenny, one of the back of the bus bunch came up and asked me if I would go to the top with her.

Early on in this adventure, it was well known that Miss Jenny was scared of heights. Earlier in this adventure during our visit to the Royal Gorge Bridge, I had convinced Miss Jenny to walk across the Bridge with me. Along the way we got closer and closer to the side of the bridge.

Going to the Top of the Arch

Finally with a death grip on my arm, Miss Jenny finally looked over the sides of the bridge at the Arkansas River some 950 feet below.  Several times during our walk across the bridge we peered over the side of the bridge together. 

After our walk across the bridge, I suggested that we ride the gondola across the canyon. At first, she was dead set against it and I didn’t push the issue. A little while later, Miss Jenny came up to me and said, “I’ll ride it, it you will ride it with me.”

So, away we went. The Gondola Ride was included in our ticket, and we quickly got in line. Thank goodness the line was short, and she didn’t have much of a chance to change her mind. With her having another death grip on my arm, we boarded the Gondola with a couple of others in our group and began our trip across the canyon.

Miss Jenny at the Top of the Arch

Miss Jenny never releases the grip on my arm as she kept saying over and over, “Oh my Goodness, this is amazing.” When we got to the other side, she was in tears just about, telling me, “I can believe I did that. Nobody back home will believe it.”

So, fast forward to today, here in St. Louis.  Miss Jenny wanted to go to the top but would only do it if I went with her. So, we got in line and crowded into the small 5-person pod with three others for the almost 4-minute ride to the top.

Once we get to the top and exit the pod, we walked up to the top of the viewing area at the very top of top of the arch where the small windows are that afford you magnificent views of St. Louis on one side and the Mississippi River on the other side.  

“Oh, My Goodness, I never Thought I would see anything like this. Wow amazing,” was all Miss Jenny could say as we moved from window to window. We even took pictures so she could prove to her friends back home in West Virginia that she actually went to “The Top of The Arch.”

Back on the ground, we only had a very few minutes before we had to be back on the bus. I made a quick walk through the gift shop, but the lines were long, and I have several souvenirs from past visits, so I didn’t get anything.

It was a little after 5:30 p.m. when we pulled back onto Interstate 70 and crossed the Mighty Mississippi into Illinois. By crossing the Mississippi River, I considered us officially back in the east. A few miles later we merged onto Interstate 64 and headed toward Mount Vernon Illinois which would be our home for the night.

View from the Top

At 6:30 p.m. we arrived at Exit 95 on Interstate 64 where we were scheduled to spend the Night at the Holiday Inn. It was here that we encountered a serious problem. Usually, when we pull up to the hotel, Michelle goes in and picks up the packet that contains our room assignments and key cards.

This time we waited, and we waited until John our driver went in to see what the hold-up was. And we continued to wait. Finally, after about 40 minutes, Michell and John returned to the bus to explain that due to a slip up somewhere along the way the Holiday Inn did NOT have enough rooms for our group.

Michelle went on to explain that she had called some nearby hotels and had secured enough room to accommodate our group. A few of us would stay at the Holiday Inn. Others in our group would be staying at the adjacent Fairfield Inn and the rest would be at a nearby Drury Inn.

I, along with Dan and Sally and two other couples would be spending the night at the Holiday Inn. The rest would be taken to the Fairfield Inn and Drury Inn. The Holiday Inn was nice enough but I kind of hoped that I would get the Drury just because of the Nightly “Kickback” dinner that is served for guests. Plus, the breakfast was as good as or better and nothing was going.

But I was at the Holiday Inn and ended up walking down to a nearby Cracker Barrell for Supper. After finishing supper, I walked back to my room, stopping along the way to pick up a few evening snacks.

Tonight is my last night on the road. If all goes well, tomorrow night I will be sleeping in my own bed. We are still more than 600-miles from home and there are no planned tour stops. According to our schedule I should be arriving back at the 118 Park and Ride somewhere around 10 p.m.

The Adventure continues, for one more day.

2023 CANYONLANDS ADVENTURE - CATHEDRAL ON THE PLAINS

 

DAY #13 – THURSDAY – JULY 14, 2023

DENVER, CO – TOPEKA, KA

527 – MILES / 4,070 – TOTAL MILES

The Doubletree Hotel here in Denver was nice enough. The room was clean and comfortable, and breakfast was very good. The only downside was most of the front desk employees, while professional, were somewhat aloof and unfriendly. The restaurant staff on the other hand were very friendly and accommodating.

Our tour guide Michelle changed things up on us this morning. We still had to have our bags out by 6:30 but we had to be on the bus ready to depart at 7:30 a.m. This was going to be a mileage day as our destination for the night would be Topeka, Kansas, which is over 500-miles to the east.

Surprisingly, everyone was on the bus ahead of schedule and we actually pulled out a minute or two early. As we pulled onto Interstate 70, we got one final look at the snow-capped peaks of the front range of the Rockies. 

Soon after leaving downtown Denver, we got a brief look at the unique terminal of the Denver International Airport off in the distance to our north. It’s not a very user-friendly airport. I have flown in and out of it a couple of times and it’s a long Uber/Lyft ride to anywhere. Definitely not my favorite airport. Thank goodness I don’t fly anymore.

It was an uneventful ride across Eastern Colorado and about two and a half hours after leaving the Hotel we made our morning rest stop at Love’s in Burlington, Colorado. It was windy and warm, with temperatures in the high 80’s. I used the opportunity to grab a couple of snacks and a large cup of coffee. By and large, I have found that Love’s has the best truck stop coffee.

After a the 30-minute break we continued our trek east. Just a couple of miles after leaving Burlington, Colorado, we crossed the state line and entered the State of Kansas. Eastern Colorado, and all of Kansas is mostly flat with miles and miles of corn and wheat fields. Every small town along the way had huge grain silos that were often the tallest structures in town.

The miles clicked off and by the time we Reached Ellis, Kansas it was time for Lunch. We stopped at another Love’s that had an attached Dairy Queen which was our only choice for lunch.  Everybody on the bus descended on the Dairy Queen all at once. There were only three people working, two up front and one in the back cooking.

Needless to say, they were not prepared to handle such a large influx of customers. They did the best that they could, but it was slow, and the usual complainers did more than their share of complaining.

I decided to grab a couple of Hot Dogs from the rollers in Loves along with a large fountain drink and a cup of coffee.  It seems that I spoke too soon about Love’s Coffee. This was one of the older Love’s and the coffee was still being served in the round glass pots. The coffee in these pots gets strong quick and this coffee was horrible. I ended up throwing it in the trash.

The Hot Dogs were about what you would expect from a Gas Station hot dog. Nothing to write home about but they beat nothing.

It took a full hour for everyone to get lunch and get back on the bus. From The Love’s it was just a short 30-minute ride to our only tour stop of the day. The Cathedral on the Plains in Victoria Kansas.

In 1990, My mom and Stepdad left a little MG Convertible in California when they moved back to the east. I flew out to San Jose and spent over three weeks driving it back across country. It was a great trip. During that trip I traveled this same route from Denver across Kansas. Back in 1990, I made a quick stop at the Cathedral on the Plains.

During that trip it was not open for tours, and I was only able to walk around outside.  Today we were going to get a guided tour.

The Cathedral of the Plains is officially known as Saint Fidelis Catholic Church. It was dedicated in 1911 and the main sanctuary will seat about 1,100 people. The church is 220 feet long and 110 feet wide with twin towers that are 141 feet tall. At the time it was the largest church west of the Mississippi River.

The Church was built between 1908 and 1911. According to the church history, each member of the church who was 12 or older was asked to give $45, and haul six wagon loads of Fencepost Limestone and four loads of sand each year until the church was completed. Some families brought as many as 70 to 80 wagonloads of stone. The nickname The Cathedral of the Plains was bestowed upon the structure by former presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan after he visited the town in 1912. Its 48 historic stained-glass windows were installed in 1916, by Munich Studios in Chicago, at a cost of $3,700, and are now valued at more than $1 million. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Our guided tour of the Cathedral of the Plains Lasted a little more than an hour. It was conducted by an officer and church member who did an excellent job. It was an interesting tour to say the least. After the tour we had a few minutes to walk around the and explore the grounds of the church.

After completing our visit to the Cathedral of the Plains, it was back to Interstate 70 and the longest segment of today’s journey. We pulled back onto Interstate 70 right at 4 p.m. and according to the GPS on my phone we were still almost 200-miles away from our Hotel in Topeka.

It took us almost 3 and a half hours to make the 200-mile drive to the Country Inn & Suites in Topeka, Kansas. Michelle got our Keys and unlike most night, I was one of the first names called and was on the way to my room.

Once settled in my room, I walked about a quarter of a mile down the street to the Culvers Restaurant. It’s your typical fast-food restaurant and again was nothing to write home about. On the way back to the room I stopped at a convenience store and got a few snacks and a couple of drinks.

I don’t know what it is but today seemed long and tiring. I guess almost two weeks on the road is beginning to take its toll. When I am traveling on my own If I start feeling like this, I can stop and spend an extra day in town taking in the sights and basically just take an easy day to reset. Today we crossed the 4,000-mile mark in the amazing adventure. Our stay here in Topeka will be our next to last night on the and are still well over 1,000 miles from home. That means tomorrow and the next day will be a pair of 500-mile days.

The adventure continues but as I sit here in Topeka, the end is near.

2023 CANYONLANDS ADVENTURE - ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

 

DAY #12 – THURSDAY – JULY 13, 2023

MOAB, UT – DENVER, CO

326 – MILES / 3,543 – TOTAL MILES

 

This is Day #12 of my great Canyonlands Adventure, and my day begins in Moab, Utah. The Fairfield Inn here in Moab was very nice and comfortable. We had to have our bags out at 6:30 with an 8 a.m. scheduled departure. I was up by 6 and after putting my bags out, I went down and grabbed a cup of coffee in the lobby. Breakfast doesn’t start until 7 a.m. so I decided to take a morning walk.

The morning sun made the scenery look fresh and beautiful. I must say that I have enjoy these morning walks. Enjoying the beauty of my surrounding is a wonderful way to start the Day.  I am glad that I got cortisone shots in both of my knees before I left. Without them, walking and hiking on this trip would have been very difficult.

It took me about 45-minutes to wake 2-miles, according to my Fitbit. I arrived back at the Hotel about 7:15 and enjoyed breakfast with Dan and Sallie.  After breakfast and one final check of my room I boarded the bus at 7:50 a.m. Surprisingly, everyone was on time, and we pulled out right at 8 a.m.

Today, we are making the Big Turn and start our trip back to the east. Rather than heading directly back to Interstate 70, we take are taking Utah Route 128 which runs along the banks of the Colorado River. This is a very scenic drive and a highly used recreation area.  There are campgrounds all along the river. Some are primitive, while others are for tents only and there are even some that can accommodate large motorhomes with full hookups.

Along the 50-mile route we saw a lot of rafters using the river and even a few climbers on the steep cliffs that border the river. This is an amazing drive filled with beautiful scenery at every turn.

It took us a little over an hour to make the 50-mile drive from Moab to Interstate 70 near Crescent Junction, Utah. Once we are back on Interstate 70, it’s another 60-miles or so to the Colorado Line. The scenery along this section of Interstate 70 is remarkable and I spent my last few miles in Utah snapping photos out the bus window.  I am told that once we hit Colorado, the scenery along the interstate is even more amazing.

A little over two hours after leaving Moab we make our first rest stop of the day at the Love’s Travel Center in Grand Junction Colorado. I think our tour guide has given up on quick rest stops. When we first started this trip, she tried giving us 15 minutes which never worked because of the lines at the bathrooms. So, most of the stops are now 30 minutes and most people (yes, we still have the usual stragglers) are back on the bus and ready to go at the announced time.

Leaving Grand Junction, we follow the Colorado River to Gypsum Colorado. The Scenery is truly amazing, as the river and the Interstate winds through Glenwood Canyon. He the Westbound lanes of the interstate are on a raised viaduct. This was done to protect the beauty of the canyon and allow the rover to follow its natural path.  This was truly an engineering marvel.

As we traveled east through Glenwood Canyon, I noticed on several occasions that the rafter on the river would take the opportunity to drop their drawers and moon us.  This is also a popular activity for rafters when Amtrak’s California Zephyr passes through the Canyon.

Once we leave the Colorado River in Gypsum, we begin our climb up the western face of the Rocky Mountains. Once again (I know you are tired of hearing this) the scenery is spectacular. I am totally amazed and really want to come back to this area an spend a lot more time.

At 12:30 p.m. we arrive in the mountain resort of Vail.  As we pull into the Vale Transportation Center, Michelle announces that we have two hours for shopping and lunch. We should be back on the bus, and ready to go by 2:30 p.m.

I am not really into shopping, so I se about exploring the town. The first thing I notice is that there are a lot of things here named “Ford” in honor of President Gerald Ford who had a home here.  President Ford loved to com here to ski and would split his time between Vail and his home in Palm Springs.

In his later years, President Ford was unable to ski and was less active, so hie sold his home here and resided full time in Palm Spring.

Vale no doubt caters to the rich and that is reflected in the price of just about everything. It didn’t take me long to figure out, this place was well above my pay grade. I looked at some of the homes for sale in the window of a local real estate company and the lowest priced home was a little of 1,400 square feet. The listed price was $1.4 million. The highest priced one was $15.7 million.  There were a couple listed with “Call for Information.” I shudder to think what they would cost.

 A few of my traveling companions decided that we would take a gondola ride to the top of Vail
Mountain. The ride up to took about 20 minutes and when we topped out, we were close to 10,000-feet above sea level. The views were great.

 I asked one of the Gondola attendants where was a good place to eat. He asks what I was interested in and I said something Cheap. He looked at me and chuckled, “Friend, this is Vail, there is nothing cheap here.” I settled for an 8” sub from the local deli. The sub, Bag of chips and a Drink set me back $23.89. He was right there is nothing cheap in Vail.

I enjoy the gondola ride and my walk around Vale. It was interesting to see “how the other half lives.” Most of the people who work in the shops and cafés were very nice, however some of the “resident guest” had inflated ego’s and were border line rude.

At 2:25 p.m. John arrived with the bus and most of use were onboard at 2:30 p.m. But you guessed it, the same 4 people were late and nowhere in sight. We waited and we waited some more. Michelle tried calling them on their cell phones but no answer. Several people in our group jokingly told Michell just to leave them. I’m not so sure they were joking.

Finally, at 2:45 p.m. the four stragglers showed up. They were unapologetic and obvious to anything going on around them.

Leaving Vale, we continued to Climb the western slope of the Rockies toward the Continental Divide. About an hour later we arrived at the Eisenhower Tunnel. The Eisenhower Tunnel is just a little over a mile and a half in length and is the highest point along the Interstate Highway System, with an elevation of 11,158 feet. 

After passing through the Eisenhower Tunnel, it all downhill as we make our way toward Denver. We make our way down the Front Range of the Rockies and about 90 minutes later we arrive at the Double Tree – Central Denver which will be our accommodations for the Night.

On the way into Denver, we Pass Coors’ Field, which is home to the Colorado Rockies Baseball Team. After arriving at the Double Tree, it took Michelle an abnormal amount of time to secure our room Keys.  Usually it takes her about 10-minutes, but here it was close to 30-minutes before she arrived back on the bus and began distributing out keys.

Once I go my Key and was settled in my room, I checked the Trip Advisor and Yelp apps on my phone to see if there were any restaurants nearby.  There was nothing within walking distance so I along with several other members or our group decided to have supper in the Hotel Restaurant.

Like most hotel restaurants the prices are greatly inflated, I had the fish and chips, with a non-acholic drink. With tip it set me back $24.56.

After supper, I decided to take a walk round the Hotel, but soon after leaving the building I had Second thoughts. Several suspicious people were loitering across the street from the Hotel and just up the street a few homeless people had set up tents. I chose to turn around and return to my room.

Today was another good day, I really enjoyed the drive across Route 128 and Interstate 70. The stop in Vale was nice but expensive. Tomorrow will be all about miles has we head east across the flat plains of Kansas.

2023 CANYONLANDS ADVENTURE - ARCHES NATIONAL PARK

 

DAY #11 – WEDNESDAY – JULY 12, 2023

BRYCE CANYON CITY, UT – MOAB, UT

292 – MILES / 3,217 – TOTAL MILES

 Day #11 begins at Ruby’s Inn in Bryce Canyon City, Utah.  A large Breakfast Buffett in the restaurant was included in our stay. For Me, Ruby’s Inn was an adequate place to spend the night, but upon arriving at breakfast and talking to some of my other traveling companions I learned that a couple of people in our group took issue with our accommodations.

I was not surprised to discover that the chief complainer was one of the people ladies who is always late. Since we began our trip more than a week ago, there hasn’t been a day go by that she hasn’t complained about something. Day in and Day out she has constantly complained about just about everything.

This morning several of my fellow travelers were again talking about her.  Seems that last night she created somewhat of a scene with our tour guide and some of the staff members here at the Hotel. After switching rooms three different times she finally found one that that she agreed to stay in.

Then evidently this morning she again created quiet a stir by confronting some of the staff. From what I hear she was rude and one person in our group said that “she berated” a couple of the staff members in the office and again one of the buffet attendants in the restaurant.  

Now, I am going to say that Yes Ruby’s Inn is an older property, and the rooms are small and dated. But it was clean, and My King Bed was comfortable and well made. I was quite satisfied with my room. 

In talking with several members of our group who saw part of the breakfast incident, felt it necessary to apologize to the staff and assure them that her conduct does not reflect the attitude of the rest of our group. 

We were scheduled to depart at 8:00 a.m. and once again we were a few minutes late in getting on the road.  I boarded the bus about 8:10 a.m. and the mood was somewhat subdued and quiet. No one was talking. I think the conduct and constant complaints from the same people were getting old and was affecting the mood of the entire bus. The sad part about it, is she doesn't realize that most of the people in our group dread being around her. I have noticed that several people, including myself, have really mad an effort to avoid her. Whenever we see her coming, when find a way to go the other direction. 

When the late parties arrived and we pulled out of the hotel, they wasted no time in telling anyone who would listen just how miserable they were. I think that most folks in our group would be more than happy to chip in enough money to buy her a plane ticket back home. 

Those of us in the back of the bus were determined not to allow the complainer to destroy our mood and enjoyed the beauty of Utah.   Two Hours after leaving the hotel we made our first stop of the day at the Love’s Travel Center adjacent to Interstate 70 in Salina, Utah.

We arrived at Love’s Travel Center right at 10 a.m. for a 30-minute break. Surprisingly, everybody was back on the bus on time, and we pulled out and headed east on Interstate 70 right at 10:30 a.m. The scenery on Interstate 70 was unique and amazing as we made our way toward our next stop for Lunch in Green River, Utah.

It took us exactly 90 minutes to make the 100-mile drive from Salina to Green River. Our stop in Green   River was at another Loves.  This was our Lunch stop and our choices were limited to the grab and go selection at Love’s or the adjoining Arby’s.

We had an hour here and for the second time in a row we were back on the bus and on the road again right at 1 p.m. and made our way toward our afternoon visit to Arches National Park.

It took us an hour to make the 50-Mile Drive to the Entrance Station at Arches National Park. The one thing that I discovered with the National Parks here in Utah is that they are not particularly accommodating to tour buses.

Bryce Canyon National Park restricted where Tour Buses can stop. Here at Arches, I found out that the tour bus restrictions are even more restrictive. We are only permitted to stop at 3 predetermined locations and then only for a short period of time.

The tour bus restrictions that are in place really limit what you can see. Some of the more famous arches require hiking anywhere from about a half mile to 3-4 miles round trip. Because of these restrictions we were not able to do any of the hikes and could only see a few of the Arches.

Regardless of the restrictions we spent more than 3-hours in the National Park and from what we were able to see, it is indeed another amazing place. The scenery was spectacular.

The First place we were allowed to stop was at Balanced Rock. This is one of the most photographed locations in Arches National Park. It stands a total of 128-feet tall and weighs an estimated 3,600 ton. Due to erosion the rock will eventually collapse.

We were only allowed 30 minutes at this stop and then it was time to move on to our next stop at the Windows Arch. This is the ONLY arch that we were permitted to stop at and to visit up close.

In addition to the Large Window Arch there are a few other arches that are available at this stop. The North Window, The South Window and Turret Arch are all nearby but because of time we were unable to do any of the hikes to view them.

Because of the restrictions I spent my time at the Large Window Arch, which required about a half mile walk from the bus parking lot. Several of our group joined me on the short hike up to the base of the arch.

We were allowed to stop at one other location in the National Park but there was no oversize parking available so we just continued our driving tour. Even with all the restrictions, we ended up spending almost three hours and a half hours touring the park.

We ended our tour of Arches National Park at the Visitors Center. I was able to get a few souvenirs and get my passport stamp. 

I wouldn’t exactly say that my visit to Arches National Park was a bust, but there was so much more that I wanted to see and do while here. The scenery was magnificent and while I did enjoy the tour, I would have like to have had more time so that I could hike to some of the other arches.

Once we wrapped up our visit we were off to Moab where we will spend the night. Our hotel is on the north end of town and no restaurants anywhere close. So before heading to the hotel we were let off in downtown Moab where we were on our own for supper.

I chose a place called Pasta Jays in downtown Moab. Dan and Sallie walked up just as I arrived, and we had a really nice supper. I chose the Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and it was really very good and almost more than I could eat.

Michelle our tour guide gave us 2-hours to eat and visit Moab. After supper I still have about an hour before I had to be back on the bus so I spent some time walking around, visiting some of the local shops.

Everybody was back on the bus by 7:00 p.m. and we arrived at the Fairfield Inn about 10 minutes later.  While we were having supper John and Michelle picked up our room keys and distributed them to us on the short ride to the hotel.

Today was an interesting day. It started of with our chronic complainer making a scene about “what a dump of a hotel,” Ruby’s Inn was. She further complained about the breakfast buffet.  It is a shame that this one person is so unhappy that nothing on this trip is making her happy. I certainly hope that this will be her last Bus trip and that others will be spared her disgruntled personality.

I was a little disappointed with all the restrictions placed on us as we toured Arches Nati
onal Park. There was so much more that I would have liked to have seen but the Scenery was spectacular. Maybe one day I can return and explore this area or southern Utah at my own leisure.

Tomorrow, we begin in earnest our trip toward home.  We will make the scenic trip across the Rocky’s on Interstate 70. We will end up spending the Night in Denver. There is still more to come on this adventure, but I can see the end approaching.