Arches National Park is a beautiful 76,679 acres park located on the Colorado River 4 miles north of Moab, Utah. It has many unique natural sandstone formations including balanced rocks, spires, fins and over 2,000 arches.  It was first designated a National Monument in April 1929 and redesignated a National Park in 1971.  Over 700,000 people visit Arches each year.

We spent most of our day at Arches driving and stopping along the scenic byway which traverses the park.  There are many pull-offs and trails of varying length and difficulty throughout the park.  Some of the arches are visible from the road or pull-offs and some require walking a trail.  The views in the park are stunning.  There are thousands of sandstone formations of all different shapes and sizes.  The salmon and buff colored sandstone is layered like a cake.  Massive multicolored fins of rock rise from the ground.   Some of those fins eroded over time and became arches.  Arches of varying sizes and age are located all throughout the park.  Over Forty two of these delicate arches have collapsed since the late 1970’s.  The early stages of new arch formations are also visible. Who knows how long it will take for those tiny young holes to develop and grow into full sized arches.  As you continue through the park you can see sandstone rocks appearing to defy gravity by precariously balancing atop spires and fins. Every turn of the road brings another beautiful formation into view. It truly is an amazing place that should be on everyones bucket list.

Visiting our nation’s parks was one of the reasons we began our journey around the United States.  So far their beauty has been breathtaking.  Arches National Park is certainly at or near the top of our list of the most beautiful parks in America.  Next week we visit Zion National Park in southern Utah and we can’t wait to see what that brings!

Check out more pictures of Arches NP on our Travel Gallery page.

We recently spent some time on the west coast of Oregon. We stayed at a very nice Motorcoach Resort in Newport, OR.  Our site was about 200 feet from the Pacific Ocean. The views were beautiful and the sunset was spectacular.  We spent one of the days traveling up and down the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway.  We had a great day driving the road and taking in all the views.

We spent some time in Newport Harbor and had a nice quiet dinner at a new restaurant on the Newport Dock.  Outside the restaurant, below the dock, Sea Lions rest on concrete platforms placed in the water.  They relax in the sun and bark loudly every time another Sea Lion wants to join them on the platform.  We also had a nice breakfast at a small Café near Nye Beach.

What we did not know before arriving at the coast was how different the weather is.  The average daytime temperature in July and August is 64 degrees.  Strong winds blow many days and sometimes the fog rolls in off the water blanketing the entire area in a cloud of white.  We had been traveling through areas where the temps were in the 90’s so we were shocked by the cooler temps. During one of our days there the wind was howling and the fog was banked to the ground.  We were trying to sit outside on our swing and enjoy the views but we were bundled in sweatshirts and a blanket trying to keep warm. It was a losing battle so we retreated to our coach and turned on the heat.

All in all we had a good time on the Coast.  We have now retreated inland to the warmer weather.  Today it was a blazing hot 95 degrees and I wish we were back on the cool coast!!!