I visited Arches National Park twice – by myself late afternoon on Thursday and with Jett Friday around noon. The second visit was to give Jett an opportunity to see this beautiful park, but I also wanted to take a look at the “Windows” area, which I had skipped when I ran out of time on Thursday. Besides, Friday was even clearer than Thursday.

The roads in the park were being resurfaced, which made it more difficult to get around. Some areas – most notably the “Park Avenue” area – were totally closed, which was disappointing. But the park has so many features that there was still plenty to see.

The entrance to the park is flat, but it immediately transitions into a climb up the side of a cliff. In less than a mile the road rises over 500 feet, producing a panoramic view of the Moab Valley. From there it flattens out and the rest of the 18 mile ride is relatively flat and easy, with just one additional drop – maybe 200 feet – into a valley.

Many of the arches require a walk to get close. Jett wasn’t interested in any hikes and I was pressed for time on Thursday, so I only did two hikes. The first was about a half mile up to a promontory, to view the Delicate Arch. I found that view disappointing and probably not worth the effort. The second hike was about a quarter mile, into a chasm containing the Sand Dune Arch. That hike was eerie and definitely worth the effort. But I found myself wishing I could find a time when the lighting was better. But with the chasm being as deep as it is, there may never be a time when it gets direct sunlight.

Canyonlands National Park is one of two national parks near Moab UT, the other being Arches National Park. I visited both, but I went to Canyonlands first, yesterday morning, because the day started out cloudy and, since it was farther away – about 30 miles – I figured that it might clear up a bit by the time I got there. I was right.

Canyonlands is not one of the better-known parks. It is a bit difficult to get to. You first have to find your way to the Moab area, which is 30 miles from I-70. Then you have to drive over 20 miles up a dead-end road to even reach the gate. Before you get there signs warn you that there are no restaurants, no gas stations, no water in the park. The only service provided is toilets. Primitive toilets. This is not a hospitable park.

But it is beautiful.

I really liked this park. I think it is arguably as interesting as Grand Canyon National Park. And more varied in its vistas. It has both towering rock monoliths and gaping canyons. And it has something that the Grand Canyon does not have – challenging offroad trails. The White Rim Trail is a 100-mile trail around the rim of the lower canyons. It is flat and is probably not a challenging drive, but the length of the loop and the isolation of the area (the park warns that, should your vehicle become disabled, towing charges could exceed $2,000) would make it an intense driving experience – probably a multi-day experience.

I should note that the park is huge with several distinct “units”. I visited the most popular and most accessible unit, the “Island in the Sky” which offers a 17-mile (one-way, 34-mile roundtrip) scenic drive in the highest sections of the park. At the point it overlooks the White Rim Trail it is probably more than 1,000 feet above the trail.

Anyway, I will let the photos tell you how much I liked the park.

We are, tonight, sleeping for a third night in a place we never intended to visit – Salina UT. The truck had some kind of major electrical problem which prevented it from running smoothly. Compounding that problem was our older battery (the truck has 2) which decided to pile on and fail. I was unable to even start the truck this morning (in 30-degree temperatures, with frost on the windshield) to drive it 100 yards to the repair shop. It just barely turned over and acted as if both batteries were completely drained. When I tried to start it again, about 15 seconds later, it started fine, no problem at all. But the clock had been reset because the voltage had gone so low, temporarily, that it couldn’t keep its time. Weird.

Anyway, I got the truck to the shop around 9am. Fortunately they were actually working today (Columbus Day). But the mechanic admitted that he had never worked on a DuraMax engine and from what he could see of the problem the cylinder head would have to be removed – very expensive! He recommended that I have it towed 20 miles to Richfield to the GMC dealer there.

I called the GMC dealership and they agreed to take a look, but made no promises on when it could be worked on. Lacking any other options, I loaded the truck onto a flatbed for a $150 mile trip to the dealership.

I told the dealership that I would need a rental car, assuming that there was no possibility that they would be able to diagnose and fix the problem in one afternoon. They gave me the number of the local Enterprise office. I called. No cars. Maybe some later today. I left my number and asked them to call me back when they had a car.

Being noon and having nothing better to do, I walked the 1.5 miles to the Enterprise office. Closed for lunch. So I walked over to a drive-in diner and had a decent lunch. After lunch I checked the Enterprise office again. Still closed. So I walked the half mile to the only other car rental place in town, housed at the local Ford dealership. They had cars, so I rented one, drove to the nearby Walmart to do a bit of shopping, then drove back to the GMC dealership where they were busy diagnosing my problem. I sat and waited and an hour later – around 2:30pm – the service manager came to me, said they think they had found the problem and could fix it in about 1.5 hours. I gave my blessing.

I got the truck back around 4:30 and immediately set off on a 10-mile test drive on local streets and I-70. Everything seemed fine. However, I won’t be convinced that the problem is truly fixed until I try towing the RV. So tomorrow morning we are going to hitch up, travel the 20 miles to the GMC dealership and, if everything is fine, pick up the rental car, return it and set off on the next leg of our journey.

If we have problems during that towing test drive we will limp to whatever RV campground is most convenient, unhitch, drive the truck back to the dealership, leave it for additional diagnostics, pick up the car and return to the RV.

And settle in for however long it takes.

The electrical problem was caused by a faulty injector connector. Cost of the part: $89. Cost of the new battery: $124. Total cost, with tow: about $600. Not cheap but cheaper than any kind of fix that would have required removal of the cylinder head.

Needless to say, we are praying that the problem is truly fixed. We want to continue on our way. It is becoming rather urgent that we get across the Rockies soon: Denver had 4 inches of snow last night.

Keeping fingers crossed for a successful test drive tomorrow…

Oh – I am still waiting for Enterprise to call back.

We spent four days in Salt Lake City and didn’t really get a chance to do any sightseeing until the last day. We didn’t take the 45-minute tour of Temple Square because the website told us that we had to book a day in advance. Not true, but even when given the opportunity to join one we declined. No tour enters the sacred Temple and we got plenty of information about each building – the two visitor centers, the Tabernaccle, the Temple and the Assembly Hall – from the dozens of volunteers who staffed each one. We saw everything we wanted to see. The highlight was the Tabernacle, home of the famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It looks like a domed gymnasium, which was a surprise to me. An even bigger surprise was that the Tabernacle was built first and existed at the time the building of the Temple got underway in 1850. Who built domed buildings in the 19th century?

The interiors of both the Tabernacle and the Assembly Hall were beautiful, somewhat reminiscent of the interiors of the colonial churches in Boston – the Old South Church and King’s Chapel. The Assembly Hall had a spiral staircase that intrigued both Jett and me. We didn’t ask where it led.

Though entry into the Temple was prohibited, a very detailed cutaway model of the Temple is offered in the South Visitors Center, in front of a window facing the Temple so that you can look at the model and then look at the full-sized building. Very interesting model and a very nice presentation.

I also liked the Handcart Pioneer statue. Having driven some very long hops to get to Salt Lake City, I fully appreciated the effort it took to walk all the way, pulling a heavy handcart. Incredible achievement.

We also used our day in Salt Lake City to check out the City Creek Center mall, a very nice urban mall adjacent to Temple Square.