The Plan:

Trip to SW US in May 2015

Plan is:
Leave Portland Tues 5/5
Stop in Cascade, ID (2 hrs N of Boise)
Leave Cascade Fri 5/8 Arrive SLC
Leave SLC Sat 5/9
Spend Sat night, Sun & Mon cruising w/ G&C
    around Moab and Arches
G&C head back to SLC Tues 5/12
Lu & I continue E to Mesa Verde Cliff Dwelling Tue 5/19 & 20th
Continue N to Colorado, unknown stops/time
Continue N to Yellowstone for however long weather, coach, and enthusiasm for traveling last
Return to Cascade
Return to Portland
whew!
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Actual Itinerary:

Depart Portland on schedule 5/5. Drove through Boise [enlarge] to Cascade. [enlarge] Then after a couple of delightful days at the cabin, left 5/8 for SLC. [enlarge] Spent one night in SLC, then left 5/9 for Moab. [enlarge]

Arrived without incident, parked the coach at Monitor & Merimac viewpoint N of Moab, and rode in son-in-laws car to Dead Horse Point.

Spent the afternoon there, and cruising around the canyon, then drove back to the viewpoint and camped there for the night - probably against the rules, but there was no sign saying No Camping, and no park rangers challenged us, so all was well.

Up early the next morning (5/10), then drove SW down Hwy 279 (jct off 191 just N of Moab) for a few miles and camped at Gold Bar Campground on the Colorado River.
From there we drove back a bit towards Hwy 191 to parking lot and hiked up to Corona Arch. Not as big as the arches in Arches National Park, but certainly more accessible, and you can even get on top of this one! Uh, well, albeit with some spider-man rock climbing, but truly not as dangerous as it looks, and easy foot holds to pause and rest in.

Trip pictures