Apr 17, 2010

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Well I think this is a new record.  We have been on the road for two days straight.  At least for the past couple of months, we haven't traveled every day.  This entry is catch up time.  On Wednesday we visited Arches National Park.  We spent the day just wandering and getting a handle on the park.  We started the morning with Breakfast at the Love Muffin in downtown Moab.  Judy had a bowl of warmed red quinoa with fresh fruit and I had a breakfast panini.  Both were excellent.  They even made us some sandwiches to go, for a picnic lunch later in the park.  Both of our sandwiches were very tasty.  We stopped at all the usual overlooks  like Park Avenue and Balanced Rock and even checked out the campground.

After our picnic lunch we took Mollie back to the RV and just relaxed for a couple of hours.  Later in the afternoon we put on our hiking shoes and headed back to the park.  We decided to do a short but "moderately strenuous" hike.  It was only 3 miles round trip but with a 450 foot up hill climb.  The objective was an overlook called Delicate Arch.  About the time you wonder if the uphill climb is really worth it, you round the bend to see the Arch.  Yes, it's worth it!

Friday we were both a little sore from the hike so we relaxed before heading into Moab for a late lunch and a little shopping.  We had an excellent lunch at the Red Rock Bakery and Net Cafe.  It was nice to have good healthy choices.  We even bought a loaf of their bread.  We wandered down the main street checking out a few galleries and tourist shops.  Judy even got me to buy a couple of shirts and she found a new 'Moab' coffee mug.  We bought a few groceries and headed back to the coach. When we checked into the Arch View RV Park on Tuesday it was half empty.  The lady who checked us in commented that she hoped she could find us a spot for three nights.  We both laughed and for the first two nights the park remained quiet and almost empty.  Thursday evening everything changed.  The park became full within a few short hours, and almost everyone had ATV's, motorcycles, and off road Jeeps with them.  We couldn't wait to get out of there.  In fact, our biggest concern was if we could get out.  Friday morning we managed to squeeze our way out of the park and were on the road by 8:30.  We will definitely come back to the Moab area, but probably not this RV Park.

Our trip east was uneventful on Friday.  The weather was good, traffic was OK, and we made it up over the mountains through Denver and then stopped for the night at the Cabela's RV Park in Sidney, Nebraska.  518 miles. A long day for us, but a good start to our trip back to Michigan.

This morning we relaxed and took our time, looked around a little at Cabela's and were on the road by 11:00.    Nebraska is not the most scenic state, at least not the part that I-80 cuts through.  So you look for anything of interest.

Like this 64 million dollar imitation log bridge over the highway near Kearney.  If you want to visit the museum you have to exit a couple of miles before you get to it.  Probably the museum is most famous for it's role in the movie " About Schmidt" starring Jack Nicholson and his RV. We also unfortunately missed stopping at the birthplace of Koolaid in Hastings Nebraska. 

We only drove a little over 300 miles today and are now at the Double Nickel Campground just off I-80 near Waco, Nebraska.We have fast internet, the park is almost empty and very quiet.  All in all, safe travels, a good day.

Until later