DAY 4 OF 10 OF OUR EPIC SUMMER JOURNEY

FROM MOAB, UT (ARCHES) TO THAYNE, WY (NEAR GRAND TETONS)!!

DAY 4 - Travel Day: Driving from Moab to Thayne

Day 4 of our amazing southwestern/western US excursion was mainly spent with a full day of what I like to refer to as "windshield-time". BUT... It turns out the quickest route was SUPER scenic!

We ate breakfast at the Peace Tree Cafe (it was delish!!) and toodled around downtown Moab for a bit. What a FANTASTIC town!! There were a lot of great "local" gift shops and the like. We didn't get to spend much time there (or even take many pics)... but we are absolutely going back one day (hopefully soon!). It makes a great home base since it's so close to everything.

From Moab, we went up through Green River and on into beautiful Provo. We decided to skip going through busy Salt Lake City, instead going through Park City, where the Sundance Film Festival {founded by actor, producer, director, environmental activist and Hollywood legend ~ Robert Redford} takes place, then to Evanston and on into Thayne. Not to mention... it saved us around 30 minutes of driving time rather than through SLC and Ogden!

Wind turbines at the Spanish Fork wind project in Utah.

We made a pit stop in "Happy Valley" Provo.. voted one of the happiest cities in America!
Being such a beautiful place... it's easy to see why! 

Y Mountain in Provo. We actually saw several of these (letters on the sides of mountains) during our 10 days of travel.
I wish I'd taken photos of each one!

The next time we travel through the "Happy Valley"... maybe we'll just stay overnight in ol' Jeremiah Johnson's Sundance Mountain Resort . Can we say NEW Bucket List item?!! That's one of my beau's most favorite Robert Redford movies, so I'm sure he wouldn't challenge the idea. {{See what I mean? So much to do, so much to see... and so little time!}} I've always been a huge Robert Redford fan and love ALL of his movies... but my favorite will always likely be The Horse Whisperer.

At any rate...

We went by so many recreation areas and state parks (6 or 7 I believe...), but I think Deer Creek State Park and Jordanelle State Park may have been my favorites! They were absolutely breathtaking and pictures just don't do them justice (as with MUCH of the trip thus far...).

The waters here were so inviting in crystal-clear, deep sapphire blue and there were a ton of people out enjoying the beautiful sunny weather ~ whether boating, windsurfing or fishing. I did also read there was an awesome zip line tour available too (that boasts the "longest zip line in the world over water").

The 607-foot-tall double cataract "Bridal Veil Falls" in Provo Canyon.
Though not near as massive, we have another named the same in North Carolina's beautiful Highlands too!

"Of all the roads you take in life, be sure a few of them are dirt." ~ John Muir, Father of National Parks
So... this is how we bypass an interstate shut down by an RV that caught on fire!

Whoop, whoop!!! Welcome to Wyoming!!

**** And OH MY GOSH!! I LOVE trains (just one of the reasons I love my hometown so much) and boy... did we EVER see our fair share of trains this day! ****

** The next pics are just of one REALLY loooooong black train!! **

And before you knew it... here came another beautiful western sunset!!

We stopped to recharge with dinner and some suds at Suds Brothers Brewery in Evanston and it was delicious! If you ever find yourself traveling through... I highly recommend it! 

It was really dark by the time we arrived to the LDS Star Valley Temple and we were ready to get snuggled in our room, so we didn't stop for a photo op. Even at night, you could see how beautiful the building was since it was all lit up!

Here we are... finally making our way under the Elk Antler Arch in Afton, Wyoming. It's the World's Largest Elkhorn Arch, with over 3,000 woven into a rectangular arch that stretch above four lanes of the downtown highway.

It was pretty late when we finally arrived to our motel, Snider's Rustic Inn, and while it was definitely a no-frills-kind-of-place, the rooms were clean and the staff was super friendly! Not to mention... with 9 people in our group, we spent a THIRD of what we would've at the next place in town. Since all we were doing was {*literally*} sleeping... we didn't mind the simplicity of its quaintness one bit!

At some point during our day of travel, we actually crossed into Idaho as well! 

The next morning, we headed to the Wagon Wheel Cafe for a hearty, authentic, small town western breakfast and then trekked onward northeast to the Grand Tetons National Park (where we would start slowing our traveling pace a bit)!

Do-overs for the fourth day of our epic summer journey would probably been to have spent as much time as possible in Moab and just traveled through the night to Thayne. Irregardless... the drive was stunningly beautiful and being during daylight, we were able to make several pit stops along the way to enjoy a few of the small towns we traveled through. 

My advice: Get up *early* and enjoy Moab at least until early afternoon. There is *SO* much there ~ as far as things to do, outdoor recreation, places to eat and drink, etc... It's a shame not to experience as much as possible in the town that claims to be, "Where Adventure Begins". And if you're still heading to the Tetons the same day you're leaving Moab... stay the night in Provo rather than driving all the way through. That town is precious!

Accommodations: Snider's Rustic Inn in Thayne, WY. It was a no-frills, plain-Jane motel, but very clean and the staff was accommodating... even with our late check-in. Most importantly... it was SUPER budget-friendly (even with 3 rooms for our crew of 9) and while small, the town was super cute too! While we had hoped to find an AirBNB in Jackson Hole to stay the night, we realized very, very quickly how expensive it was at this time of year. Not to mention... accommodations book up quite literally more than a year in advance. And the drive from Thayne to the Tetons was not quite an hour-and-a-half, but it saved us probably close to $1K dollars. So... 5 stars for that!

What I learned: STOP. Slow down, smell the roses and take the time to really enjoy all the beauty that surrounds you. ~*~ Essentially... sit back, turn on the radio, relax, karaoke it out in the car and enjoy the scenery! ~*~ Most days traveling out west, you'll find that you just can't fit everything you want to do in a single solitary day (sometimes even in the time you've allotted for it!). And while it was a long day of driving, I sure am glad I didn't miss any of this day's beautiful scenery!!

"Life moves pretty fast. 

If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." ~ Ferris Bueller

Cheers, y'all!!

xoxo



(See Day 1, Day 2 {P1}, Day 2 {P2}, Day 3 {P1} Day 3{P2} and Day 3{P3})