More pancakes and then we headed out to take in an couple of the many interesting state parks in Utah. There was so much to see all around as we drove; mesas, monoliths and mountains, in all different shades of red, white and yellow. At all times the La Sal snow-capped mountains were in sight which was strange as we were in a desert at 30 degrees!

We stopped at Dead Horse Park for a walk around the point. This looked down 2000ft as the Colorado river meandered and had carved out canyons over time. Truly awesome! We chose not to believe the legend that this was where cowboys coralled mustangs, chose the ones they wanted and left the rest to die of thirst. No way would that have happened!

Next was what we imagined to be one of the highlights of the trip - the Arches National Park. It did not disappoint, despite being quite busy. We walked along several trails into the heart of this atmospheric place to view some of the over 2000 arches here. Again the sense of time, movement of the earth and weather to create these was humbling. We humans are really very small in comparison.

After dinner at a food truck park (better than it sounds - 'street food), we returned to the Arches at dusk. We had hoped to look at the night sky as it was a new moon, however it clouded over and other than Venus, not much stargazing success. We can't have everything!