Arches National Park and Canyonland, Utah

 There are no words or adjectives to describe the sheer beauty of this part of the country that would do it any justice whatsoever. This place of beauty  is called Utah. The name Utah comes for the Ute Indians and it means, top of the mountain. It should mean top of the world because that is what it feels like to stand on this ground and look for miles in every direction. Each turn of the road brings another and another and another magnificent, geological, natural sculpture.  We spent one day at Arches National Park http://www.nps.gov/arch near Moab, and I wish we could have stayed a week. We did the scenic driving tour but there is much, much more to see when hiking the trails and exploring this area to it's fullest. The town of Moab is actually a very small and we didn't have hotel reservations so fortunately we were able to find lodging at the Aarchway Inn. Not worth posting a website for but just beware if you are going to plan ahead and have a reservation in place if it is peak tourist season. We had no trouble finding a wonderful place to eat called Desert Bistro, http://desertbistro.com . The old ranch house decor is divided into two medium size dining areas and although the website says, gourmet southwestern cuisine, I had vegetarian lasagna that was fabulous and Dean had Elk which is said was equally as good as my handmade pasta dish.
From my perspective, this gorgeous piece of our great planet lies about two days driving time from Sacramento CA and I strongly urge anyone reading this blog to get a wild hair up their ass, jump in their car and drive there. You will not be sorry. Don't wait for that "right moment in time" or for someday.................just do it.