Day 30

Day 30 - Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

Monticello, UT to Moab, UT

After a great nights sleep, a lazy morning of updates, and an underwhelming continental breakfast we headed off to Moab and Arches National Park. First, however, we were in need of an oil change. We stopped at a Quaker State Lube Express in Moab , UT and saw across the street that there was The Moab Brewery. They brew over 10 beers on the premises, plus their own root beer and other sodas. On top of that a pint of beer and a glass is only $5. The food was pretty excellent as well. In fact the whole thing was so good that we returned that night for dinner.

Arches National Park is only 6 or so miles north of Moab. We drove to the end of the paved portion of the park, only exiting the car once, while we continued to digest the food (Black Bean Soup, Caesar Salad, and Root Beer for Tara, Southwest Chipolte Chicken Wrap and a Merrimack Steamer for myself). At the end of the road was a place called the Devil's Garden. Since we have encountered a preponderance of Devil's ______ (read blank), we thought it appropriate to walk around. The map made it seem like a number of arches were nice and close, and with it being 3:30 in the afternoon, sunny, and in a desert, we thought we would be ok for a quick jaunt. The first few arches were actually real close and we were amazed by the incredible size of Pine Arch.

(That is Tara and I standing in front of the arch for those wondering.)

It was when we started to go toward Landscape Arch that we began to question our decision. We finally reached the arch,

about a mile from the parking lot, took a couple of pictures and began making our way back to the car. The heat and uphill nature of the hike was almost too much, but we had water with us and when it was all said and done we had hiked about 2 1/2 miles in the heat of the afternoon. Not our smartest decision, but we survived.

We returned to Moab a bit worn out, checked in to the La Quinta Inn, washed up, and rested until dinner. We drove to Brewery, feeling a little ridiculous to discover that it was just across the street from our Hotel, and enjoyed 3 more of their brews + glasses: Elephant Hill Hefeweizen, Lizard Light Ale, and Deadhorse Ale. We split the Gyro Salad, a cup of the Veggie Chili and one of the largest baked potato I'd ever encountered. We returned to our room with a little Gelatto in hand and relaxed.

Map