Arches National Park

We only stopped for one night in Moab/Arches. It was a great place for a layover between Breckenridge, CO and Bryce, UT. We arrived early enough to spend a few hours in Arches National Park. For me, this was more than enough as my eyes become visually over stimulated. Spend an extra day or two here if you want to explore more.

Arches is located in Eastern Utah(adjacent to the Colorado River and 4 miles north of Moab, Utah). Wind, water and underground salt beds have created the most incredible monuments. Definitely a must see. After you see it you will be left saying to yourself " What did I just see?" 

Cost to get into the park is $10 per car but with a National Park Disabled access pass, the fee is waived. You can view much of the park from your vehicle. A few scenic locations have wheelchair accessible trails to view even more spectacular sights. There is so much to look at and the road is constantly turning, so if you're prone to motion sickness be prepared. There are several designated stops along the way to take beautiful pictures. Other activities in the park include hiking, biking, backpacking and climbing. My recommendation is visiting in the spring or fall because summer temperatures can become quite brutal.

I do not have an RV park to recommend. The place we stayed at is going out of business. There were a few other RV Parks in the area to choose from.

 







Another fun thing to do in this area is shopping and eating. The city of Moab, Utah is flat with tons of shops, restaurants and bars to choose from. We ate at, La Hacienda. It was really good!

Breckenridge, Colorado

Breckenridge is located in the state of Colorado with an elevation of 9600 feet. The population is about 4500, but they are mainly part-timers with vacation homes. Breckenridge is mostly known for snow skiing. However it's pretty popular for outdoor summer activities… Mountain biking, hiking, fishing, etc. Being in a wheelchair I wasn't sure what I would find, but I knew my husband would have a blast.

               We stayed at:
      The Tiger Run Rv Resort
             85 Revette Drive
      Breckenridge, CO 80424
              970-453-9690


 

Amenities include;
Full RV hook ups
Extra large sites
Chalets (cute log cabins)
Wi-Fi (that actually worked)
Indoor pool and spa
Tennis court
Volleyball and basketball
Game room
Kid and dog friendly
Laundry and showers
Etc.…



This place is beautiful. Well-maintained and beautifully landscaped. Each spot seems very private. Some of the RV sites are up to 60ft. deep and 20ft. wide. All of the sites are privately owned and at times owner occupied  All have picnic tables and some have much more.  ** they do not allow truck trailers, pup pup trailers or anything under 20ft. in length or more than 20 years old. If you want to give the RV a rest, the cabins are a wonderful alternative to a hotel. The cabins come stocked with all of the basic necessities and room for four adults. The only problem I have with this RV resort is that I am now forever spoiled.

** If you rely on GPS make sure you look at the route it wants to take you on. Ours had us get off the freeway and drive up and over a steep mountain road (above the tree line). Only to find out, that if we stayed on the freeway until the next exit we would be right at the entrance of our destination..

Breckenridge has a lot of outdoor activities. In the winter of course there is skiing. The rest of the year is for bicycles, hiking and fishing. There is a paved trail that leads all the way to Vail, Colorado. A motorized wheelchair or scooter would have no problem on the trail. This is just a beautiful place to be outside.

The actual town of Breckenridge is NOT wheelchair friendly, at all. The streets and sidewalks are in rough condition. The curbs are high and most of the parking is not close by. We look for a restaurant, but everything way found was up a flight of stairs. In all fairness, this is a high mountain ski destination. We were also visiting during Oktoberfest. Because I didn't want to completely miss out on the celebration, I had a beer and bought a beer stein.



Close by is the town of Frisco. Frisco is extremely wheelchair friendly. The streets and sidewalks are mostly flat. Shops and restaurants are easy to get into. If you like pizza you're in luck… It's everywhere. We ate at Kemosabe Sushi. It was delicious!

One scary night in Kansas

We were driving from Nashville, Tennessee to Colorado. Due to a heat wave across the South we decided to take the most direct route and cut straight through Kansas on I70. After we crossed into Kansas my husband asked if I knew anything about the state. Jokingly I said, "No, except I've seen The Wizard of Oz". I70 from the Turnpike to Topeka would be our first ever toll road. Who knew that this day would be our first for a whole lot of things.

As we drove on the wind started to pick up. Drizzle began to fall in the sky got darker. We saw the most spectacular lightning display in the distance, across the horizon. Our only concern was trying to capture the perfect photograph. The rain and the wind got very intense, and the sky went dark. At the end of the toll road there was a note on the toll booth that read, " No Toll. Find Shelter". We explained to the kid battening down the hatches of the toll booth that we were from California and understood earthquakes, but had no clue what to do in a tornado. He gave us a quick tutorial, and said we would have no problem because the tornado was behind us. Wow... was he wrong. All of the weather conditions became worse. We could not see where to go.  Driving speed was now down to about 20 mph. It seem like we were the only ones left on the road. There were very few buildings and nothing but open space. Not even an overpass. Our radio and the cell phones were going crazy. "Tornado Danger – Get Low! Flooding Danger – Get High"!!!

Suddenly, we saw light off in the distance. My husband said, "That is where we are going". It was a small truck stop filled with more trucks then I have ever seen. The trucker that we pull behind said something that I will never forget and actually made me cry, "You are safe now, my truck is not moving until the morning". Eventually we were packed in like sardines, and I never slept better.

The morning was quite surreal. The sun came up and birds were singing. We saw the trees that actually blew up from the lightning strikes. We saw the freeway signs that were twisted like pretzels. There was a semi truck that was mangled in the ditch. And then there was someone on an overpass waving and American flag, because oddly enough it was the anniversary of 9/11