Road Trip to Utah for Scuba and Sightseeing

Oh, this motel had so much promise when we checked in. We were in a nice, clean, spacious room with a refrigerator and microwave and easy access to many restaurants, shopping, and I-15. We got a great rate on Internet, and there was an excellent self-serve breakfast buffet complete with hot waffles - all of this was great. Then it came time to go to sleep. The paper-thin walls were unbelievable! The people next door were speaking at a normal volume, but you could hear every word they said. Every time someone flushed the toilet, it sounded like a 747 was taking off in our room! Every door closing, everyone walking down the hall was clearly heard. We didn’t get much sleep that night. Sorry, I love a bargain, but this is not worth it!

We needed a quick overnight en route to Moab, so we ended up here (can't see paying more than $50/night in Green River). I wish we had paid more - this place is pretty dismal.

The first thing that hits you is the smell of Lemon Pledge, and I mean OVERWHELMING smell, when you enter your room. It was obvious that housekeeping used it on every surface, although there is nothing made of wood in the room! I was able to breathe only by opening the window and turning the fan on high. The bathroom was a disaster. The shower head sprayed everywhere but into the tub, and the drain was thoroughly clogged – I was in ankle-deep water a few minutes into the shower. The bedding was threadbare and cheap. Morning coffee was weak and lukewarm. We were very glad to get the heck outta there in the morning!

The Apache Motel is definitely a throwback to the ‘50s, but that's part of its charm. Its claim to fame is that John Wayne stayed here while filming some of his famous westerns in the spectacular canyon lands not far away. My husband's comment was that he hoped they had changed the sheets since then! I think they have - it seemed adequately clean, especially the bathroom. The decor hasn't changed a bit since the ‘50s for sure: dark paneling and furnishing, kitschy lights, and decorations. Our room had a mid-sized refrigerator, which was convenient.

It's located a few blocks off Main Street, and it was quiet at night, even with the windows open. The woman who runs the front desk (not sure if she owns it) has a no-nonsense approach - you should have heard her with a late cancellation on the phone! The Apache is a good value among inflated lodging prices found in Moab.

After two days of chain restaurants and fast food, my husband and I needed a really good meal. This was the place to have it! The Center Cafe is visually very attractive; it has a modern decor in a large, open wood-paneled room with exposed beams, a fireplace, and small tables with white tablecloths. It’s Moab, so no matter how upscale the establishment, there is no need to get all dressed up. It appeared to be all couples, some older, some younger. Since we arrived there later on a Sunday evening, it wasn’t too busy, and there was no problem seating us promptly. (I'm sure reservations would be needed on a Friday or Saturday night in season.)

The menu here is not extensive and all á la carte. I decided to order a salad, because the entrées didn’t include much in the way of side dishes. I was treated to one of the best flavor and visual experiences in my culinary life. My large plate contained about four or five asparagus spears, warm and al dente, wrapped with a slice of applewood-smoked bacon and gently laid down on a bed of field greens tossed with vinaigrette. One side of the plate was covered with a bright red sauce, topped with crumbled feta. The sauce wasn’t sweet, and I couldn’t identify the taste (it was tomato coulis I found out later). The combination of flavors was outstanding. I absorbed every drop of tomato coulis with my bread.

For my entrée, I ordered the house specialty, their pan-seared lamb loin topped with a balsamic and port reduction and accompanied by an adorable, little garlic flan. The perfectly cooked medium rare lamb chunks together with the sweet sauce and smooth garlic custard created taste-bud heaven for me! John had an excellent veal saltimbocca with cheddar grits. He enjoyed his meal, but he said he was glad he had some cheese and crackers before coming to dinner – he isn’t used to these small but beautiful portions!! We had a bottle of J. Lohr cabernet, which added to our enjoyment of the meal. With the small portions, we had room for dessert, which is an infrequent treat for us. I had a crème brulee, which was flavored with a hint of lemon – oh, that was good! John enjoyed a strawberry rhubarb crumble with sourdough ice cream ("vanilla with a kick," as our waiter described it).

The Center Café is not an inexpensive night out, but when you have a dining experience instead of just a meal, it’s worth every penny. My only regret is that we don’t live closer to Moab!

We asked at the front desk of our hotel where to eat, and the enthusiastic answer was, "Ray's!" Then the woman looked at us and asked, "You're okay with eatin' in a bar, right?" No problem. Ray's was easy to find in this small town, with a huge sign on the main street pointing the way.

It was a bar all right, with about a half dozen booths and the same number of tables down the middle of the small room. It was pretty full with what appeared to be a mix of both locals and tourists. We were ushered to two seats at a larger table where a man was finishing his meal. No problem sharing here!

Now, the menu is perfect for people who have trouble making decisions. All they had for dinner was pizza, burgers, steak, and pork chops! We had steaks, which were pretty good, and they came with salad, garlic bread, and fries (they were already sold out of baked potatoes). The beer on tap was from the Uintah Brewery - I really liked their wheat beer. We ate our decent steak dinners as we watched boxing on TV and unwound after a long drive. We agree: Ray's is the place to eat in Green River!

The hiking trail through Devil's Garden at the end of the road in Arches National Park is an ideal place to hike to see some arches, incredible rock formations, and desert life. It's a very easy walk from the parking lot to Landscape Arch, less than 2 miles round-trip, with a couple of very short side trails if you want. It is very scenic and amazing. If you do no other trails in the park, this is the one to do!

My husband and I arrived in Canyonlands National Park mid-afternoon on a cloudy, rainy day. We were disappointed to discover that the promised endless vistas from the top of the Island in the Sky area were almost completely obscured by the low-hanging clouds and soft rain. We drove from viewpoint to viewpoint and could occasionally see some of the canyons below, but the colors were very muted. The only patches of brightness were the profusion of desert wildflowers along the road brought to full bloom by the wet weather of the past week.

We drove to the end of the road and pulled into the mostly empty parking lot at Grand View Point. I grabbed my umbrella and camera and went to peer into the clouds at the edge. The trailhead for the walk along the edge of the mesa is nearby. My husband convinced me to start down the trail for at least a little while to see if there was anything worth seeing. I reluctantly joined him.

The trail is an easy, level walk marked by stone cairns, about 1 mile long. I’m not the least bit afraid of heights, but without any guardrails, this trail can conjure up images of what would happen if somehow one tripped on a loose rock near the edge - it’s a long way down! This feeling was intensified by the mist that would roll in and out, sometimes completely obscuring all but a few feet around us. Gradually, though, the rain stopped, the sky started to lighten, and the clouds began to part below us. Shafts of sunlight would illuminate far-off canyons, and I began to shoot more and more photos. The colors really became vivid in the late afternoon sun as it sunk below the clouds. Small clouds stubbornly hung on to lower mesas, really intensifying the scene. As I suspected would happen, a partial rainbow began to become visible in the distance. Even the far-off snow-capped mountains withdrew from the grayness, completing the scene of awesome beauty.

We will absolutely return to Canyonlands to explore much more of the park. Chances are that we will experience the typical hot, sunny climate on future visits, so I will cherish the different view we had of the park on this day.

Now here’s an unexpected reason to go to Utah - to scuba dive! My husband needs to dive once a year in order to maintain his certification. We live in Denver, and the diving opportunities nearby just do not exist. We researched other locations and decided to take a road trip to Utah to check out Bonneville Seabase outside Salt Lake City.

Bonneville Seabase describes its water facilities as a "geothermally heated, salt water, high-altitude mini ‘ocean,’ the only one of its kind for SCUBA diving, snorkeling, and training. Although it is close to the Great Salt Lake, its waters are not the same; theirs are from underground springs. Whether you are feeding the beautiful French angel fish or observing the docile nurse sharks, you’ll never believe you are the middle of Utah."

This certainly sounded like an interesting dive opportunity, so we drove over 500 miles in one day from Denver and stayed overnight south of Salt Lake City. Early the next morning, we headed west on I-80 about 30 miles from the city, passing the Great Salt Lake. Bonneville Seabase is located in a rural area near the town of Grantsville. From a distance, the facility was not what I was expecting, and we almost missed the turnoff. It looks like a decrepit farm operation, with greenhouse buildings and old construction equipment surrounding small ponds. We parked and checked in inside the main building. Their facilities were not as developed as I had thought: port-a-potties, showers in a separate area from the changing rooms, and no lockers. The staff is very friendly, though. We watched a video on what to expect underwater and the rules of the facility.

The diving area is not large or deep in most places (60 feet maximum in one area, but mostly 15 to 25 feet). The water is fairly murky and visibility often just 2 to 3 feet, but the temperature is warm, about 70°F. I was planning to snorkel, but decided it wasn’t worth dealing with the primitive shower and changing areas, especially if I couldn’t see much. My husband did two short, shallow dives, far less than he would have liked. He was glad to have gone diving, but certainly wouldn’t go out of his way to come back here to dive again. For local students learning to dive, this would be a good area, but experienced divers would find it lacking.