My son, Andy, and I spent a couple of days messing around Moab, UT. I have always considered the scenic wonders of the Colorado Plateau as being uniquely American. In many ways the geographical expanse that encompasses Utah's five national parks is truly amazing. Delicate Arch in Arches National Park is particularly iconic. If you look at a map, you will notice that Moab lies right on the Colorado river nestled between Arches NP and Canyonlands NP.
Naturally, Moab has a bit of a tourist-trap feel to it, but it isn't too bad . . .yet. We arrived in town on Thursday in the early afternoon. After getting a room at a motel, we headed downtown to roam the stores and get a bite to eat. The first thing I noticed was how many people were speaking foreign languages and how few were Americans.
Now, I've been to points south (in Utah) many times. The dearth of spoken English on this trip was VERY noticeable. All over town small family groups wandered from store to store checking out the offerings of cheap "Indian" jewelry and Moab tee-shirts. In fact, the number of families was very noticeable. In the past, foreigners tended to be in groups of adults. This summer most of the groups were comprised of a father, mother, and two or three kids. Actually, it was kind of cool.
Nothing changed when Andy and I headed out to the national parks. Our first stop was Canyonlands NP. My guesstimate is that only one in five family groups were Americans. I'm not kidding. I heard German (there were lots of Germans), French, Spanish (and I'm guessing it wasn't Mexican Spanish, either), Italian, Portuguese ( I think those folks were from Brazil), Scandivavian speakers, and a few Slavic languages thrown in for good measure. It was amazing.
We spent two nights in the motel. A continental breakfast was offered each morning. On Saturday, the last day we were there, Andy and I were the only English speakers in the moderately large room dedicated to breakfast. At least I couldn't discern anyone else among the thirty-odd guests speaking English.
A very favorable exchange rate with the Euro probably spurred Europeans to finally take the plunge and make that trip to the good old USA. And the high gas prices are probably keeping Americans away. The boonies of Utah are finally smack dab in the middle of the world economy, and business is bustling.
