Zee or Zed (The stories of Laura and Paul): Days 29-42 Green River, UT

We stayed outside of Moab, about a 45 min drive to Miss and Arches. Maybe a hour to Canyonlands and Goblin Valley state park

On our way from Escalante to Green River we had lunch at Capitol Reef. We really wished we didn't have the trailer this day so we could drive up in it but the road by the visitor center was amazing.

Monday was laundry and shopping day. Green River was a old uranium mining town and a place they tested missiles. Now there is just a handful of restaurants, old building that are not occupied. I did have the pleasure of visiting the library and post office because I needed to get some insurance forms filled out for work. We also visited the dentist / clinic because Alex had an infected toe. After being there for 2 weeks I grew to love that little town. Everyone was super nice. I met the sheriff at the library and saw him on the road almost every day. The people in the grocery store knew me after my 12 visits. It might not be as charming as Moab but it was a great community that was willing to help me when I needed it.

April 27 after school, work, making some chocolate chip cookies and a quick dinner we headed up to Arches and did some of the easy to access arches. Sand Dune Arch, Balancing Rock and another arch I forget the name.

Wednesday I drove a hour north to stock up on some food and snacks. I got two new out door chairs as our $5 chairs broke. Then Thursday I made some togo taco dinners and we headed to Canyonlands for a hike on the ridge and dinner.

Friday we went to Moab walked around and at dinner at Spoke on Center.

Saturday we decided that we didn't want to go to one of the National parks to stay away from the crowds and it was supposed to be in the 90's in Moab so we did a hike that was on a river to a waterfall. Turns out it was pretty popular with the college/high school crowd but we had a good time walking in the cool canyon.

Sunday we had plans to do a larger hike at Arches but we pulled up to the gate just as they had shut down access to everyone and told us to come back in a couple hours. We stopped by a state park near by and walked over the columbia river and then drove down the river a bit to place people do bouldering next to the river. Arches was still not open when we got back to Wifi so we went to Moab for some treats. While eating my amazing Lemon Ice we got the tweet the park was open. So got in the truck and headed over. We did the iconic license plate hike to Delicate Arch. It is a stead 3 mile round trip hike with a steady incline to get to the arch. I have terrified of heights these days but for the most part it felt safe until the last 1/8th of a mile. When you get to the arch after climbing on the side of a cliff you don't even understand how high up it is from the pictures. With drops on both sides of you. As I was having a panic attack (some guy validated my fears and told me that I made it farther than him) we heard thunder in the distance. I saw one drop on the dry rock and knew that the 1.5 miles back was going to be interesting and wet. At first the rain was light and welcomed drying a half second after it landed on you. Soon the wind picked up and the drops got larger and larger. The lightning was getting closer and we were nearlying running back down the trail. People were taking cover under rocks. Overall it was super fun and I think we will all remember it.

Monday May 3rd I made pizza and we walked over to the Green River State Park to view the golf course and the river.

May 4th we went back to Arches after school and work. We saw Windows and Double Arch these arches are just off the parking lots at .5 of a mile and .25 of a mile.

May 5th back to Arches for one last dinner in the park and to see 3 more archs that was a short 3-4 mile hike round trip. Called Pine Tree Arch and Landscape Arch the big skinny one. There was a window like arch and I forgot it's name. Then we did sunset at Balancing Rock and left arches for the last time.

Thursday and Friday we took it easy. Had some taco for lunch on Thursday and went to Ray's Tavern for dinner Friday. Saw the town missle in the park.

Saturday May 8th we went into Goblin Valley State park thinking it would be less busy. We had to wait 20 minutes at the entrance to get in. They were letting one car in for every car that left. We had packed a lunch and enjoyed a hot longer hike to a cave that required some medium bouldering to get up and down into the cave. After that hike we played around in some hoodoos before we left. We all were pretty tired from the heat at that point. We came home for dinner, hooked up the trailer and gave it a much needed bath.