You and I Will Meet Again

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The pace of our adventure accelerated through Utah. And it really accelerated when Clary was the driver (this is Robert writing again). After spending seven weeks in Montana and Wyoming acclimating to our non-Tar Heel surroundings, we had to make deliberate choices about our limited time in Utah.

Who would have guessed that Vernal (population 10,370) and Torrey (population 182) would be the highlights? Could it be the case that the Gray Grizzlies, after years in New York then Boston then Charlotte, are actually small-town bears? Or is it that we love new sights and new people (miss y’all back home though)? Enough with all the questions (and all the parentheticals), I believe it is the novelty that excites us.

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As Clary wrote in her first post, “our classrooms are these unfamiliar places” and “growth is what I’m seeking.” There is so much more to explore in Utah that we haven’t been able to see this trip, including Zion, Bryce, and Canyonlands. And also so much more to see in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and the Pacific Northwest. This trip has opened our eyes to the joy of traveling with our children and seeing new places through their eyes. To adventures in Utah and farther out there, You and I Will Meet Again.

Checking in to the Dinosaur Inn in Vernal, Utah

To say that Vernal impressed us would be a terrible understatement. It has been one of the best legs of our trip. Dinosaur National Monument is perfect for families and we had the 330-square-mile park nearly to ourselves. Lunch afterward at Vernal Brewing was unexpectedly fresh and delicious– just watch for those 2% beers! Hiking to Moonshine Arch was hot, dry, and tough for the kids but completely worth it.

The kids voted The Dinosaur Inn their new favorite hotel (they don’t know it’s a motel)

The museum at Dinosaur National Monument was built around the quarry wall holding the bones in situ

After the quarry we hiked along the Green River

We dropped Marshmallow into 4WD and ventured deeper into the park – We call this rock formation “Pensive Gorilla”

The shark-like heliocoprion prowled Utah when the area was a shallow sea 270 million years ago

In a cave looking out towards Moonshine Arch

Exploring caves near Moonshine Arch, which was outside the park down an unmarked road (DM us for directions)

Watching out for any stray heliocoprion prowling their old haunts

Clary’s view from the top of Moonshine Arch

Our next destination was Moab, where we glamped a few miles north of Arches National Park. The park was often full and rangers turned us away on both our first and second mornings. The third morning we carried the kids still in their PJs to Marshmallow around 6am and entered the park to hike Delicate Arch at sunrise.

Arriving at our glampsite in Moab, near Arches National Park

Grandstaff Canyon Trail provided plenty of opportunities to boulder

Cameron surveying land settled by the first Black prospector in the area

The Grandstaff Canyon Trail terminates at Morning Glory Bridge, a 300 foot span, with a swimming hole beneath

We celebrated Aubrey’s birthday on a jet boat trip up the Colorado River. It was difficult to take pictures or videos, but I cannot recommend this highly enough!

Absolutely beautiful but Clary deemed it a deathtrap as we scrambled along cliff edges

A view of the sunrise and moonset at Delicate Arch. I thought Clary was going to have a heart attack as we all clambered up rocks to take this shot

The hike was not so strenuous that it prevented us from bringing doughnuts

After the park we snuck in to the pool Red Cliffs Lodge (nowhere to swim at the glampsite and the kids needed to learn how to “play it cool and pretend we belong here”) and chatted with a young Californian couple who had just come through Zion National Park, which was to be our destination after Moab and Capitol Reef. The couple detailed the difficulties of touring Zion during coronavirus when that park was entirely reliant on buses and doesn’t allow passenger vehicles. So after our trouble gaining admittance to Arches and the story about Zion, we cut out all the Utah and Arizona parks after Capitol Reef.