… since we’ve entered a new state. We’ve been living the full-time RV lifestyle for 20 months now — wow! That sounds like such a long time! It honestly doesn’t seem that long for us. I don’t know if it’s because we spent two months in Connecticut last spring, or because we haven’t been anyplace new in quite a while.
We’ve tried to visit Utah three times previously, but for one reason or another we had to change our plans each time. In our case the fourth time was the charm! We just wrapped up a three-week tour of southern Utah, the “Mighty Five” National Parks and a few State Parks. Surprisingly, nothing important or shocking happened, no run-ins with wildlife, thank goodness! We simply spent a few weeks enjoying the jaw-dropping beauty of this state, the warmth and sunshine, and a couple of great meals along the way.
I don’t think I really have any great stories to tell, so I’ll let my pictures do the talking. Instead of stories and history, the usual things I post about, this is more of a photo album. Enjoy!
Monument Valley – Arizona/Utah Border
This is where Forrest Gump stopped running.
Goosenecks State Park, Mexican Hat, Utah
The “goosenecks” formed over the course of about 300 million years as the San Juan River, once much wider and stronger, carved it’s course through the rocks.Our motorhome is up there on the edge of that 1000 foot high cliff.A beautiful spiral labyrinth created on the cliff by a former camper.
Arches National Park, Moab, Utah
Famous “Delicate Arch.” I forget the name of this arch. There are about 2000 arches in the park,and 43 have fallen down. Eventually all the arches will disappear, although that could take tens of thousands of years. This arch used to be much smaller, until a large stone fell out of the middle.
Canyonlands National Park, Moab, Utah
I like this photo because it looks like it must have been taken from an airplane. It was actually taken from a scenic overlook. It’s easy to look at Canyonlands and see that there was an ocean that once covered a vast part of the western U.S.
Capitol Reef National Park, Fruita, Utah
Hiking in the “grand wash.” A “wash” or “arroyo” is a dry riverbed. Caution is required when hiking in a wash, as a big rain storm 50 miles away could cause far flung rivers to flood, filling these dry beds with flash flood waters. Signs at the entrance tell you that if you hear what sounds like a train coming, climb as high as you can as fast as you can! (I suspect it’s been a very long time since water has touched this one as it is one of the most popular hikes in the park.)Crazy holes pock-mark the rocks in some places. Most of the holes are filled with small rocks … left behind by a flash flood years ago?
Goblin Valley State Park, Green River, Utah
Wild Horse Butte marks the entrance to Goblin Valley.(The huge cloud behind looked like a tornado, but wasn’t.)The top of Wild Horse Butte is a narrow rock column striped with hundreds of colors of stone. Very visible even from the ground!Looking down at Goblin Valley, an area filled with petrified sand formations that have been worn into cool shapes by wind and rain.People are allowed to free hike through Goblin Valley, trusting that they will not try to climb the more delicate formations. After a while, you start to see faces and creatures everywhere you look.This might be the coolest campsite backdrop we’ve ever had!
Bryce Canyon National Park and Red Canyon, Bryce, Utah
Bryce is not really a canyon, it’s a collection of a dozen or so areas where the stone has been eroded into weird formations called “hoodoos.” There are also arches and natural bridges. For Bob’s birthday, we took a UTV tour of a couple of caves, also called “slot canyons” because they are so narrow and open at the top.Again, it has taken millions of years for water and wind to erode the rock walls of these caves into smooth, multi-colored formations.
Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah
Zion was our favorite National Park. It’s SO majestic! Photos never do places like this justice. There were “wow’s” around every corner at Zion!From rugged, angular mountains …… to rocks that look like they had been poured onto the earth.This was our sunset view at the campground, the rocks glowing orange!
Hi BLT: you’ve been gone from ct almost 1 year now and on a wonderful journey. By the looks of it you are all doing well. LOVE your pics and narratives. Stay well and strong. We can’t wait to see where you go next. Absolutely beautiful!! Your friends in CT Bill and France
BLT to go! 🚐 
Hi BLT: you’ve been gone from ct almost 1 year now and on a wonderful journey. By the looks of it you are all doing well. LOVE your pics and narratives. Stay well and strong. We can’t wait to see where you go next. Absolutely beautiful!! Your friends in CT Bill and France