Our hotel has doors that open to the outside and not to a hotel hallway. At around 10:30PM last night Sharon and I had just gotten into bed. Then we heard a clicking sound as if someone was trying to get in the room. Now you need to know that Sharon and myself are introverted and mousy people. So we are not likely to confront people. This person obviously had the wrong room. The room numbers are printed on the keychain. So why didn’t it dawn on her after trying a few times that she was in the wrong place. After the 3rd time of her going away and trying the key again I told her “I think you have the wrong room.” “Sorry,” she said and didn’t try it again. I didn’t dare open the door to her figuring the key in the door was a ruse to rob us (you never know). Seems that she and her husband probably wanted the unmarked room behind us. We heard them move into that after while. It didn’t help that the hotel front desk closed after hours. So we couldn’t exactly call the front desk to have this taken care of. The rest of the night any kind of creak of a door or footsteps outside gave a nervous alertness. I had trouble sleeping after my adrenaline was up so much. Thank goodness for locks and deadbolts.

The next morning I got up early and took my shower. I didn’t want to wake Sharon figuring she had a rough night. At around 7:45AM she got up and got her shower. I had lost my GoPro battery recharger and called the previous hotel in Kayenta to ask if they had it. Sure enough they had it. So I asked them to mail it back to me.

Breakfast was served in the reception area of the hotel. It had 50s style chairs in line with the retro theme. It was do-it-yourself meal fixing. Burritos and hot tamales for available for microwaving. Bread was available for toasting. Various cereals were available tool. I opted for some toast, Fruit Loops, and chocolate muffins. Sharon had a bagel.

Then it was off to Moab. Much of our drive seemed like a rural drive in Kentucky. Farmland was in this area. Houses dotted our drive. Eventually we got into a more rural area we had come to know on this trip. I gassed up in Monticello and spotted not one but two Volkswagen Microbuses. I quietly and quickly snapped a picture of them before heading back out on the road.

I had seen a sign saying there were delays of up to 1 hour on a certain route. I thought about re planning our route in case it was part of this construction. But I let it be. About 20 miles outside of Moab we were stopped for about 30 minutes. Sharon and I caught up on social media while we waited. After a while we saw cars in the other direction coming so we figured the end of the delay was in sight. We eventually got to go and found out what caused the delay: a rockslide. The roadway was built so close to the mountain that rocks had slid into the roadway.

We found our way to Milt’s Stop and Eat. It’s a mostly outdoor diner, although they have indoor seating, obviously for winter months. I got a bleu cheese burger while Sharon got a bacon cheese burger and tots. We sat outside under a shade tree and watched people. Milt’s is a bit expensive, but they had a great product and you won’t leave hungry. Sharon and I also got a chocolate and orange shake.

It was on to Canyonlands. Sharon had done some research beforehand and suggested we go to the Island in the Sky to view the overlooks. It was mostly a driving tour which was fine with me. Neither Sharon nor myself was in the mood for a long drawn out hike.

It is difficult to describe Canyonlands to someone who has never been there. The vastness is amazing. Canyons and desert as far as you could see, with no settlements. Just vast open country.

Then it was on to Moab Rustic Inn where we checked in for the night. I had to use a third Party European booking company to be able to reserve a room. It seems this third party company puts holds on 4 rooms which are released 10 days before the booking date should no one book them. The front desk lady had never had an American to book a room through this European company. She said I paid too much, but that’s a moot point because I had already paid for the room. I’ll know next time.

After washing our clothes and putting them in the hotel’s dryer, we went off to Moab Diner. I had eaten here before with Mark and Megan in 2011. It’s a typical diner. Their prices are much less than other Moab restaurants so we will probably eat here many times.

Tomorrow we visit Arches National Park, our last major attraction before heading back to Denver via Glenwood Springs.

We did walk to Mesa Arch which provided a taste of what we will see tomorrow – Arches National Park.