The Beehive State

  Who out there knew the state nickname for Utah was the Beehive State?  Our first stop after leaving Colorado was Moab Utah. Moab is a quaint small town in the  eastern part of the state.  We got another great view from our campsite at OK RV Park on the southern end of town. Very convenient right off US 191:

Sunset was spectacular:

After about a ten minute drive we were at Arches National Park:

There are web cams of the entrance gate you can view before heading out because sometimes the park is so crowded there is a long wait at the gate. We got lucky this day and the next with no waiting.

  The park is not as big as Mesa Verde. A short drive from the visitor's center takes you to your first viewing area, the Park Avenue Viewpoint and Trailhead:

All of the rock features are named and easily hiked to. 

This scene reminded me of something out of an old Star Trek episode:

This is called Balanced Rock:

The famous Double Arches:

I cannot emphasize enough, that if you are going to visit Arches, take seriously the warnings about having enough drinking water with you. The temperature hits 100 degrees and just a short easy hike can dehydrate you.

There are so many awesome views and photo ops:

A few days later we drove to Canyonlands National Park. Canyonlands is a huge park with three separate sections with their own visitors centers: Island in the Sky, The Needles, and The Maze. The Island in the Sky was the most accessible for us, about a 45 minute drive. 

As the name implies there are many canyons:

In the above photo you can see a roadway in the center-right on the side of the canyon wall.

There is a persistent haze in the air caused by pollution from wild fires, farming, and carbon emissions.

  Our next stop in Utah was Willard Bay State Park about an hour north of Salt Lake City:

This was one of our best campsites. All the sites are large with covered picnic tables. A bargain too at less than $30 a night.

We took a day trip to SLC and saw the Mormon Temple:

The old Union Pacific Train Depot:

The splendor that once was the golden age of rail travel. Now an empty shell:

There are street cars though:

And panhandlers, in spite of signs telling people not to support such activity and the panhandlers themselves:

Traffic was abominable on I-15 between SLC and Ogden so we got out of town before the afternoon rush our and stopped in Ogden for dinner:

  That concludes our Utah visit. We are moving north to Idaho and base camp will be Henry's Lake State Park. We will be close to the West entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The weather will be in sharp contrast to what we have experienced up to now. The 100 degree days will give way to highs in the seventies and lows in the forties. And I brought only one pair of long trousers. Stay tuned.