Each year for Christmas and Birthdays, I purchase my boyfriend a photography adventure. It’s usually a road trip that we can take together by quickly jumping in the car and driving to a destination we can reach in 10 hours or less. With destinations like Rocky Mountain National Park, Glenwood Springs, Jackson Hole Wyoming and more! This year our destination is Moab, UT home to Arches and Canyon Lands National Park.
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We left yesterday (2/17/2017) and drove off through the beautiful Colorado mountains down I-70. We like road trips, we play silly games all along the way to keep us entertained…a silly game called “Bingo” where when we see something we yell “Bingo!” My personal favorites are “Road Kill Bingo!” and “Hay bale Bingo!” (since I’m not driving, I’m usually the one spotting everything…unless of course there’s roadkill in the middle of the road).
We arrived in Moab in about 5 1/2 hours which was about 4 hours faster than our trip to Jackson Hole, WY where we photographed in Grand Teton National Park last year. First thing we did after checking into the Aarchway Inn, was to try a local restaurant. We chose a place called the Broken Oar because in their ad they are “Home to the Sweet Potato Fries” and if you know me at all…you know I’m obsessed with sweet potato fries.
The restaurant itself is located inside a log cabin and decorated in a good ol’ Paul Bunyan fashion. I tried the Buffalo Burger and of course the sweet potato fries which were drizzled with honey (I’d say besides the honey…they were pretty standard- so was the burger). Todd had the pork chop which he raved about, although they also had ran out of all their barbeque items on the menu which is why we chose the restaurant.
After eating entirely too much food we headed back to the hotel for a night’s sleep in preparation of today’s adventure. We got a late start and left at about 10:30am. It was a rainy and cloudy morning, so we decided that we would start with something indoor. On the drive in to Moab, we noticed a lot of dinosaurs on the side of the road at the Moab Giants exhibit. We figured we’d give that a try since they had a museum and cafe.
What a fun adventure! We were probably the only one’s there who didn’t have kids- which means if you have a family…definitely swing by. It was cool! They had a Tracks Museum where you could look at different types of dinosaur tracks, watch videos, play a few games and feel and see dinosaur bones. Next we went to the theater (which was honestly the down point of the whole visit). It was supposed to be a 3D theater..but as we discovered, the glasses need to be recharged or they don’t work…well we somehow got uncharged glasses so instead of 3D we only saw double and green images. The information was pretty great with a time line starting back some 4 billion 300 million years ago…so hopefully they can get the glasses fixed and make for an even better experience.
We had some of the most fun at the outdoor Dinosaur Adventure where they had some dinosaur replicas that you could touch and take pictures with. You walked through a path and could stop at each sign. They staged the dinosaurs in “real-life” scenarios…eating the bushes, being chased by predators…etc. Each dinosaur had a correlating sign that explained the dinosaur type, size, weight and some fun facts.
My favorite attraction was the Aquarium. It was another 3D adventure, but this time the effects actually worked. You really felt like you were watching prehistoric sharks and whales. The final room was the most fun and had some added special effects which had us all laughing (except for one little one who thought it was scary…in case you have kiddos).
After our Dinosaur Adventure, we headed off to Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands National Park. We got pictures at both parks, but it was a challenge with intermittent clouds and rain- but I will share the photos in a new blog once they are edited. In the meantime, head on over to my boyfriend’s page: Todd Strong Photography – he’s the professional photographer and I’m sure will have captured some amazing images- he won’t be able to start editing until we get home, but be sure to give him a “like” so you don’t miss them!
While you wait, here are some selfies we had with T-Rex
Have you ever been to Moab? Share your favorite things to do, see, eat and experience in the comments below!
I loved having my Omni-Heat Coat from Columbia - It kept me warm on this cold/rainy day.
Giving Hugs to a special dinosaur at Moab Giants - Dinosaur Adventure
Providing a little perspective on the size of the dinosaurs.
Even T-Rex was there! - Moab Giants Dinosaur Adventure
When surrounded by dinosaurs...why not get a T-Rex Selfie?
I wonder how many people visit Moab Giants - But never come back because they were eaten by a dinosaur?
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