staying ahead of the snow

We have been keeping a close eye on the weather, and saw that snow was coming- so we were happy that it was time to move on to Moab! The weather reports were talking about high wind, getting stronger as the day went on, so we left Torrey early so we wouldn’t be driving in the worst of it. The drive took us through Capitol Reef and then continued northeast, and boy did the scenery change:

The west side of the park was so vibrant with red and orange, and when we left the park and were driving we saw this startling desolation!

And then we got into the wind:

Fortunately most of the dust was on the other side of the road so we did not get pelted! Jerry did have a good grip on the steering wheel, but we felt stable and safe the whole way- YAY!

The drive also showed some interesting colors that we hadn’t seen a lot of yet:

We arrived in Moab, which is an interesting town- it’s right at the entrance to Arches National Park, is about 30 miles from Canyonlands National Park, and is a mecca for mountain biking and riding ATV/UTV and jeeps- they were everywhere, and available for rent everywhere! The highway is the main street of the town, and is lined with hotels, campgrounds, restaurants and shops- it takes a while to drive through town due to all the traffic!

We got set up in our campsite and saw that rain was expected that night and the next day- this is what we woke to:

And just across the road a bit was this mesa:

And just about 30 miles away were the La Sal Mountains:

It was so beautiful- and so cold! We went out and bought long underwear for me and hats for both of us- here we are styling in front of the North Arch in Arches NP:

We are here for several days so that we can visit Arches and Canyonlands National Parks!

Oh, by the way- it did snow the next day at Capitol Reef… and also snowed at Bryce the day after we left there!