Adventureland and little Switzerland

After a rather restless night at the lake campsite thinking someone was breaking in to the RV, we headed off to the town of vernal. A quick stop in Walmart for provisions and we were back on the road heading south. Our aim was rabbit valley campground, which we had come across during our research. Coming off the main road just after Vernal, we had to drive along a horrible, bumpy highway heading south most of the way there and then finally down a dirt track to reach the campground. However, it was worth it, as in Utah you can basically camp anywhere and this area had been designed as a space for free camping. Win!

After parking up in what essentially looked like a slightly overgrown car park, we went for a walk to check out the area. It was really just a sandy and rocky wasteland with very little to see. It was boiling and so after our short explore, we decided to hide from the sun in the RV and read our books. It was at this point that we realised we had taken on a tenant in the form of Mr Mouse which Alex mentioned in his last post. At least we now knew what the past few nights rustling had been! To get over the shock of the little creature we decided to try and maintain our fitness with a workout in the car park. We probably looked pretty odd, squating and lunging in the middle of nowhere.

The next day we headed to Moab….the adventure town of the West. Alex was desperate to hire a UTV which is basically a go kart with silly big wheels on steroids. I wasn’t so sure about the idea though…! After a quick stop at the visitor centre we floored it as fast as Ronda could handle to the nearest campsite to see if there was a spot. Hoorah. We got the last one! Back into town and we managed to book a private sunset tour for that evening in the UTV. We had an ice cream to celebrate and it was our first ice cream in the states. We couldn’t afford one each so we shared-from a tub not a cone I might add as that would be rank!

Later that evening we gathered our stuff and headed off for what would be one hell of a ride. Signing the waiver for any possible injuries I wondered what I was getting myself into. At this point I thought we were just going to be driving along roads in this weird looking go kart.how wrong I was. Our guide was driving one and we had one too. He first had to drop his kid at footie practice – what a way to turn up to school – then we were off.

We reached the rocks and were told to put it into 4wd. The next 90 minutes were chaos. But amazing chaos. We literally drove up and down vertical rock edges. It was unbelievable. I decided Alex had been driving long enough and I needed a turn. I was hesitant at first. More of a Volvo driver than a Ferrari driver but then I found my groove and I was off! It was brilliant. We stopped along the trail to see some dinosaur footprints too which was cool. All too soon it was over and we headed back to Ronda.

At about 8.30pm Alex asked where his wallet was. We had put phones and wallets in our dry bag which we took on the UTV but after a thorough check it wasn’t there. Alex was certain he hadn’t taken it in his pocket. So where was it?! Without his driving licence I was now worried I would be driving the rest of the trip! Hoping that we had left it at the shop we decided we would get there before opening the next day. After being on such a high following the UTV ride we were now on a low. THEN I remembered that his wedding ring was in his wallet! He keeps it there when not wearing it. So we then felt even worse! Going through scenarios of if we didn’t find it and having to go the police, we fell asleep and actually both slept quite well considering.

The next morning we got up early and pegged it to the shop for 745. It was already open- google hours got it wrong! Alex hadn’t even parked before I jumped out and ran in. There it was along with part of our go pro camera which we hadn’t even realised we’d left behind. What a relief! We headed off to arches national park with a spring in our step knowing we had been v lucky.

After only about 10 mins drive we got to Arches. The name says it all really as to what is in arches Nat. park. A lot of arches in rocks! After lots of twists and turns we found ourselves driving amongst huge rock formations. My immediate thought and which I voiced was “they all look like willies”. Very immature I know but I say what I see. We wanted to do the only big hike in arches which was supposed to be about 11.5km. We headed off and within about 5 minutes my socks and trainers were full of sand. Not the ideal start. We trudged on and soon found ourselves clambering over rocks which Alex thought was fun. I wasn’t so sure as I am a human, not a mountain goat. We followed the signs and then suddenly the signs vanished. There was a distinct lack of people too. How have we got lost again?! We then saw 2 people and they told us we had to go back the way we had come. Grrrreat. Eventually we were back amongst the masses and heading to the exit having done 2km extra.

It was now lunchtime and I had read about a place in town in so many guide books. It sounded like it was the stuff of legends. Today was the day. We headed back into town a bit arched-out and pulled up at Milts burger place. OMG. It was incredible. After our burgers (well deserved after our 14km hike) we shared an Oreo milkshake to top things off. We didn’t speak for the whole 3 minutes it took to eat. Milts will be a very fond memory for us! That evening we couldn’t handle any food!

The next day we were leaving Utah and heading to Colorado. This was a great drive. We were heading for Ouray-the Switzerland of America. We were recommended this stop by someone we had got chatting to on our trip and what a fantastic recommendation it was. After googlemaps had taken us on a whacky route to the RV camp we parked up, had lunch and headed into town to check out the local breweries. We tried 3. The prices were eye waterring and made London look reasonable. Still. This was our first time staying within walking distance of a town so for once we didn’t need to drive! Our last beer was next to a burger shack and it took real strength to not get one and instead return to Ronda and our homemade and slightly weird chicken curry!

The next day we set off on the perimeter trail. This was a loop around the town of Ouray and so we both felt confident that all we had to do was follow the trail and signs and all would be well. It was going to end at the Hot Springs which we decided was an ideal way to end a 12km hike. The first 6km went swimmingly. Morale was high, the sun was out and we were storming along. Then it all went very pear shaped. At a fork in the track, with no sign, I was convinced we needed to go right and Alex wasn’t so sure (Alex turned out to be right). After heading at least 1.5km in the wrong direction, which also involved our first argument of me blaming Alex for us getting lost and asking “what the hell does he do in his army training if not learning to read a map” it was a tense time! We turned around., neither of us speaking to each other. We had lunch which made us slightly more friendly but then we took another wrong turn! We decided to backtrack even more and finally we found our way. There was no sign for the walk if you were coming from our direction and we have since written to parks to complain.

Feeling very fed up we headed back into town and did some shopping to cheer us up. That evening we headed to the hot springs. A bit more public swimming pool than what we had imagined but very pleasant none the less as situated amongst the mountains. We were there until nearly dark and so the stars were out which was awesome. We walked back to camp and went past a rather fresh looking bear poo. Our step quickened. We made it home safe and sound. The next day we would be leaving magical Ouray and definitely our favourite place we have stayed so far. Until the next post…..