TGJFRTO of 2012 - Days 5 and 6

Boy, the days are beginning to run together into one giant vacation blur, and we don't even have a full week under our belt yet....


First thing Monday morning we headed to Arches National Park, just outside of Moab. This was also when a few days on the road caught up with me and vacation expectations clashed with reality. I'm fine now....and all family members are still accounted for.


Arches is amazing. (I'm using that word frequently on this trip....I may need to reference a thesaurus.) It's desert, although when I think of desert I tend to think of flat and sandy, and this is anything but. We drove to the farthest point of the park, climbing and winding most of the way; that probably took 45 minutes. We had a picnic, then set off on one of the easier hikes to Landscape Arch. (Oh, yes...I'm smart enough to avoid any trail that has the word "primitive" in it, thank you very much.) On our way down, we did another "easy" hike to Delicate Arch. I've learned that in park lingo, "easy" is relative. In one place it means longer and flatter (about an hour for the one we did, some inclines, but not too terrible), in another, shorter but significantly steeper (think stair-master). Hiker beware. This park is also home to Balancing Rock, which is just what it sounds like. Oh, and it's plenty hot up there out in the blazing sun. Water consumption is highly recommended and encouraged.


We spent the rest of the day driving along curving mountain roads, where train tracks tunneled through mountains, and rivers traced the road with us...destination Salt Lake City. One eagle-eyed passenger spotted a combined KFC/A&W, necessitating a snack stop. (Apparently someone (not me) hadn't had their fill of KFC.) (Original, please.) Of course, the boys thought A&W Root Beer floats were an awesome road trip treat.


We stayed the night in downtown Salt Lake City. On the way out Tuesday morning we drove by Temple Square for a peek...it's really quite beautiful...but didn't stop for the grand tour. (Gee, there's a shocker.) (But still, Go Romney.)


From there it was out to Antelope Island State Park to view the great salt lake, the largest lake West of the Mississippi, and the second saltiest lake in the world. (I think that's right, but don't hold me to it...you can google it if you're interested.)


And then it was on to Idaho. One of the things we've seen a lot on the roads up here are tandem trucks....semis pulling multiple trailers behind them. I don't recall seeing that at home; S says they're not legal in Texas. Don't know....but man, they sure do haul along those long stretches of open road in Northern Utah and Southern Idaho. Also, according to the road signs, those stretches are prone to high winds, severe rain and blinding dust storms (not necessarily at the same time, and which one should not drive into) (really...ya think?), and, last, but not least, wildfires. How's that for pleasant driving conditions?


We stopped in Twin Falls, ID along the Snake River, where I was ever so grateful for the cyclone fence running along the edge of the scenic view, which was a sheer rock canyon, then again at Shoshone Falls. Beautiful. And referred to as the Niagara Falls of the west, should you ever be faced with that question in Trivial Pursuit. On our drive there, we drove through lots of farm land, and as we got closer, drove by one house with apricot trees in front, ladders out and a sign that said "free apricots". Well, of course we stopped. I mean, free....why not? Not that we've ever eaten apricots right off the tree but there's a first time for everything.


Final stop Tuesday...Boise, ID. Stay tuned for more vacation adventures....