The Camping Machine rolls into Moab

For those of you who have never been to Moab, Utah – and I suspect that is most of you – this post will give you a sense of a very unique place.

As a TV News Cameraman I first went to Moab in the late 1980s. Moab is located is the southeastern part of Utah, close to the Colorado River, in a pretty valley bordered by stunning red sandstone cliffs. For many years Moab was a sleepy, rural small town in the middle of nowhere until a uranium boom put it on the map in the 1950’s. The boom was followed by the inevitable bust, and the town languished. Those who stayed enjoyed beautiful views, a slower pace of life, and a mild influx of tourist dollars from people who wanted to see two of the most beautiful and under-appreciated places in America – Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.

When I first went there I thought it was just another wide spot on a rural road to nowhere, a place to gas up and continue your journey to your final destination. I’ve seen dozens of those and they all looked the same to me. After visiting Arches NP and taking a couple of off-road jeep tours I came to appreciate the special qualities of this part of the state. I soon found myself coming to Moab, a four-hour trip, for weekends of bike riding, four-wheeling and photography. I came to love the stark beauty of the red cliffs and unique landscape in this part of the country. The Colorado plateau is stark, stunning and severe – it is also spiritual and special to those who can appreciate it.

Today Moab is approaching places like Park City and Sedona as hip and chic places to hang out, shop, enjoy arts and the outdoors. Moab draws a different crowd – younger, less affluent, more inclined to go for a bike ride, off-road adventure or river run than play golf or rub elbows with celebrities – but the atmosphere is similar. The main street in Moab has an eclectic mix of bookstores, café’s, curio shops, galleries and restaurants (as well as the ubiquitous franchise outlets), so there is plenty do see and do for those who don’t want to or can’t enjoy the opportunities to hike, bike, and explore.

This is the place we took our family for Memorial Day Weekend in The Camping Machine. The boys were very excited to get out for our first camping adventure of the season. We left early Friday morning to beat the inevitable exodus from our city that was to follow later in the day. Where we live it is common to see the freeways out of town fill up with RVs and other recreational vehicles beginning shortly after noon every Friday. It begins even sooner when a Holiday weekend approaches. When I was single I would see these vehicles leave town and wonder where the campers and RVs were going. In my mind they were all going to fun and exciting places, getting away from the city for a breath of fresh air at the lake, in the mountains or on the desert. I hoped that someday I’d be one of them, heading on the highway, looking for adventure or whatever came my way.

Today we were one of them, proud members of the RV Nation. Destination: Moab.

We had beautiful weather as we pulled The Camping Machine into Moab and our campsite at the Moab Valley RV Park. We set up the campsite, hooked up the utilities and organized the living space before packing the boys off to the pool for a swim. It seems strange to come all the way to Moab to swim in a small campground pool, but when you travel with kids ages 7 and 5 swimming is what they like to do. The water was extremely cold – I don’t know how the boys could stay in so long, but they had a great time as MBW and I froze. We were icicles by the time the boys were ready to get out.

We grilled brats and hot dogs for dinner, made s’mores for dessert, played life-size checkers and mini-golf at the campground playground and went to bed.

The next day we went into Arches National Park. Arches has the largest concentration of natural stone arches anywhere in the world. Delicate Arch is the unofficial symbol of the state of Utah and is featured on one version of the state’s license plates. The park draws tourists from all over the world, and we happened to enter the park just ahead of a busload of tourists from Germany. When we got out at one of the first major scenic areas we were nearly trampled by German-speaking men and women racing to get photos of each other in front of one of the larger arches in the park. MBW said, “What’s their hurry? It’s not like it’s going anywhere.”

She has a point.

The highlight for the boys was Sand Dune Arch. This particular feature is an arch hidden between two massive sandstone walls, or ‘fins.’ Because it is virtually enclosed between two towering walls, the sand created by the wind and rain eroding the sandstone rock features has gathered at the base of this arch, creating a giant sandbox. It is a perfect place to bring two boys and their sand toys to sit and play amid the splendor of nature. Much as I’d like to say we were the only ones to think of this idea, we weren’t. So many families decided to do the same thing it prompted one visitor to say, “This looks like the National Park Service day care center.”

After a picnic lunch in the park we went back to the campsite, changed clothes and went into Moab. It turns out Memorial Day weekend is when Moab holds the annual Moab Arts Festival. While this arts festival is nothing like the Park City Arts Festival, the Sun Valley Arts Festival or the Jackson Hole Arts Festival, it did feature live music, some interesting characters and some interesting art. MBW bought a silver bracelet. I took pictures.

Sunday we went south to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. We made a stop at Newspaper Rock State Historical Site, a large rock panel covered with Native American petroglyphs. This is one of the largest and best-preserved rock art panels in the United States. The artwork is thought to be a combination of Anasazi, Fremont and Navajo images. No one knows for sure what the images mean or what stories are told here, but it is thought that it was a way to communicate with others passing through the area.

After leaving Newspaper Rock we entered Canyonlands National Park. This is one of the more remote and least-visited National Parks in the United States. It features beautiful, stark vistas of sandstone rock formations and more Native American rock art and structures. We explored a cave that had been a temporary dwelling place for Native Americans and, later, cowboys who passed through the area. The boys thought it was very cool to stand in a cave where ‘Indians’ and Cowboys once stood. Despite the hot, dry desert conditions the area features beautiful and abundant plant life uniquely suited to the harsh desert climate.

By the end of the day we were all hot and tired. It was early to bed for the Camping Machine family, and come Monday morning it was time to go home. Breaking camp is one of my least favorite activities, as it means it’s time to go home. But we had a wonderful trip and it makes my day when, as we’re pulling out of the campsite, my son says, “That was so much fun! Let’s come back here again!”

We will. You can count on it.

For more on this trip, including more photos, please visit The Camping Machine website sometime over the weekend. It will take me a bit longer to upload the photos I took and the blog entry will be expanded on that site.

It’s Great to be The Family Man with The Camping Machine.