Day 3 – Arches National Park to Torrey, Utah

Moab is a happening little town, for southern Utah, just outside of Arches National Park. It is bordered by tall red rock mountains, and boasts a number of eateries, lots of motels and outdoor equipment rental shops, and even has its own brew pub. Amazingly, there’s even a winery just outside of town called Castle Rock. We didn’t make it to the winery, but I picked up a couple of bottles to bring home to try with my sweetie -the one that’s over age 21. Don’t know where the grapes came from, as it’s labeled “American” wine, but apparently it’s made and bottled there in Moab.

Our sojourn into Arches was nothing short of stunning. Boy, I’m running out of adjectives for all of these amazing sites we’re seeing. Forgive me if I begin to sound repetitive. The power and beauty of nature seem to fill our days, which is perhaps why our eyes and minds are so exhausted each evening.

We decided on a healthy hike to stretch our legs, and headed out for the Delicate Arch monument. On the way we stopped to see some thousand-year-old petroglyphs, left by the Ute Indians. There is a lot of history in the area as well as natural wonders, even from the dinosaurs. Anyway, the hike was up and over what is called “slick rock”, smooth red sandstone. We climbed and climbed, admiring views of cliffs that looked painted with various shades of green, violet, red, orange, and a far-off backdrop of snow capped mountains. At one point the trail became a narrow cliff-hugging track with a very steep drop-off on one side, just too much for my vertigo. I had to beg off just before we could view the famous sandstone Delicate Arch, but Lauren made it with no problem and was able to take photographs to bring back and show me. She even came back to get a different lens from me for the camera, and went back a second time. She’s a born mountain goat.

We drove through the rest of the park, stopping at view points along the way, then made one more stop to check out some fingered rocks that had slotted openings just large enough for a skinny, non-claustrophobic person to climb into. Lauren took the challenge, and reported back that there was even grafitti at the end of one of the slots. Such a shame. As we’ve heard it said, it’s one thing to be stupid, and quite another to want to paint your name on a wall and announce it to the world.

After dinner at the brew pub in Moab, the late afternoon and evening consisted of more driving to our next destination, Torrey, Utah. Along the way we saw lots of nothingness, followed by more fantabulous rock formations and ever-changing colors. There were even some rocks that I thought looked bruised because of their blue and purple splotches. At just about sunset we stopped for a herd of about 20 deer by the side of the road, and a couple crossed in front of us. They were quite unperturbed by our presence and we watched them for some time. A bit further down the road a single wild turkey lurched across in front of us – such a comical looking bird. Another thing for us to giggle about.

Our lodging for the night was a bed and breakfast, the Torrey Pines Inn, the only non-motel of the trip. We had a hard time finding the place in the dark, as it was located down an unpaved side road and our map was a bit sketchy. We had to ask some locals, and then wondered if they’d sent us off on a wild goose (turkey?) chase. But we made it to our destination, and it turned out to be a very comfortable home, with gracious hosts Erika and Eldon. They’d lived in the area for more than 13 years, and had loads of ideas of things for us to do and see, more than we could possible attempt in our short visit. At any rate, after a nice visit and refreshments, Lauren and I settled down to a great night’s sleep on a real mattress with real pillows. Ahhhhhhh.