Day 18: Estes Park, CO to Moab, UT

We woke up and, despite some soreness on Arielle’s part from the day before, opted to rent bikes again for our morning workout. We enjoyed the three and a half mile loop around the lake in slightly cooler weather, and appreciated the opportunity to exercise outside.

We packed up and hit the road for the ambitious six hour plus drive ahead of us. We stopped an hour and a half in for gas and to heat up our lunches, which consisted of Arielle’s leftover eggplant parm from the night before and a purchased Amy’s tofu scramble for Abe (we know some readers, like NB, appreciate the details). We continued a few more hours through the incredible scenery around Vail (no snow this time of year) and through the White River National Forest.

We stopped in Grand Junction, CO at an appealing dessert place called Home Style Bakery that listed literally hundreds of donuts, cookies, cakes, pies, and more on its website. Sadly, there was no banana cream pie again, and Abe wasn’t taken with the Swiss Chocolate Melt and Double Chocolate Chip cookies he selected. Arielle much preferred her two glazed donut holes and mini strawberry-topped donut. All in all, the desserts cost $4, but it wasn’t worth the twelve-minute detour.

About half an hour later, we crossed into Utah, a state we’ve both been to already but one in which we’ll be visiting all new places (no time for Salt Lake City and Park City on this trip). We’ve got five national parks to see in four days.

We were greeted by sights of marvelous red rocks all along the road as we passed Arches National Park to arrive four miles later at the Hampton Inn in Moab, UT. We checked in and drove about three minutes to Arches Thai, the #2 rated dinner restaurant in town on TripAdvisor. We immediately knew we made the right choice due to the incredible smell inside. Our edamame was tasty, and it was worth the long wait for our main courses. Arielle got the Arches Fried Rice with tofu, which was complemented nicely by the sweet chili sauce. Abe ordered Garlic Pepper tofu which was also superb. Thoroughly satisfied with our meal, we drove around the corner to Crystal’s Cakes and Cones, where Abe got root beer ice cream and Arielle got the Superman (banana, blue raspberry, and cotton candy) and the Grasshopper (mint and Oreo).

We drove back to the hotel and prepared for an early morning to beat the crowds at Arches National Park, though Arielle stayed up late finalizing details for the event she’s hosting as part of Reimagine, a conference dedicated to reimagining life and death happening at the end of October in New York. Ask her for more details if you’re interested.

Approximate number of miles covered: 405