Summer Vacation - Colorado & Utah

Colorado National Monument and Arches National Park

We ate breakfast at the Hotel Colorado and giggled at the wait staff who were dressed in period costumes wearing berets, short pants, and argyle socks. We walked across the bridge that spans the interstate, and took a look at the HUGE hot springs pool. Maybe next time we'll go to the pool.

We made our way to the western edge of Colorado, first to Grand Junction where I bought an umbrella to shield myself from the sun (don't laugh, it works!), and then to the Colorado National Monument. The monument isn't a big place, compared to other places like Canyonlands or the Grand Canyon, but it's pretty cool. We did a lot of little short hikes to overlooks and such and saw lots of lizards. At the gift shop I bought Steve a very cool geological time poster.

Right outside the monument we did a short hike around the Dinosaur Loop Trail. We didn't see any dinosaurs, or any fossils, but this trail is famous for a discovery made in 1900 of a Brachiosaurus altithorax bone.

We then proceeded towards Moab, UT, following the Colorado River. Once you get into Utah, more specifically, south of I70, you truly get into the "no-man's land". If you get lost out here, good luck. There are few services (none, really) and it's dry and hot, but it's also so incredibly beautiful you can't help but want to get out and explore off the beaten path.

We decided to tour Arches National Park before checking in at the hotel. We saw some of the most famous formations such as Window Rock and Landscape Arch. We actually had to run to see Landscape Arch, the sun was setting and some of these arches are so far out from the trailhead, this one being .8mi from the parking lot. We ran, we saw, we ran back. Then we went to our hotel.

Note: Firewood is looking forward to seeing more sites in Moab.