We fly from Seattle to Salt Lake City and our much anticipated road trip begins in earnest! Slight wobble to begin with when we have to wait in line at the Avis counter for over an hour and a half to pick up a car. None of the other rental car outlets have any lines and why Avis is so much in demand is far from clear. Avis makes up for it (for us at any rate) by upgrading us to a Chevy Tahoe. For those unfamiliar, a Tahoe is a small truck-sized 4-wheel drive SUV with three rows of seats and enough room even for the “small” amount of luggage that accompanies us on every trip!

We spend the next three days around Moab in the southeastern part of Utah close to the border with Colorado. There is a massive out-of-control wildfire burning just across the state line and the blue sky to the east is obscured by smoke. The area is also experiencing near record breaking heat with afternoon temperatures around 110F (low 40’s C) during our stay. Being desert, the temperature fortunately drops quite dramatically during the evening so nights are tolerable.

The town of Moab itself has little to commend it. A main street dominated by hotels, motels, adventure tour operators and western-themed gift shops. The area used to be all about mining - predominantly uranium - but all that’s left of that now is a large area on the edge of the town where an extensive clean-up operation is underway to remove the toxic waste left behind.

But this is “red cliff” country and Moab is now totally dependent on tourism centered around the two spectacular National Parks close to the town - Arches and Canyonlands. And it’s not just the national parks. There is much public land outside the parks where just about every adventure sport known to man can be experienced! We hear that the pandemic has knocked tourism this year, but not as badly as anticipated. August is usually the time overseas visitors flock to the area but obviously not this year. But as Americans can’t travel overseas, there has been an increase in domestic visitors which has somewhat made up for the absence of foreigners.

There are many scenically stunning and impressive sights around the United States but (in our opinion at least) Moab's two National Parks really "take the biscuit". A geologist's dream - around every corner there's another even more impressive red rock formation (the famous Arches are just one) or view, particularly where the Colorado River cuts through canyons which rival the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, photos don't do the amazing scenery justice

And we couldn't have come at a better time. Not only was the weather perfect (although a little warm) but sadly perhaps thanks to the pandemic, there were no crowds and in many spots, it was just us....

Day 2 - Salt Lake City-Sorrel River Ranch (17 miles east of Moab): 255 miles

Day 3 - Sorrel River Ranch-Arches National Park-Sorrel River Ranch: 110 miles

Day 4 - Canyonlands National Park