Arches National Park

Today we drove from Buena Vista, CO to Moab, UT, traveling from an elevation of 8,800 feet (50 degrees) to 1,224 feet (108 degrees)! 

Sadly, we said goodbye to Trail West.  The girls and I slept in, while James went on an early morning hike.  He said it was breathtaking, literally – the altitude made a steep hike much more challenging. 

We packed up and said our goodbyes.  I cannot say enough great things about this camp.  It was the perfect amount of relaxation and activity.  It was the perfect amount of family time, couple time, and alone time.  The student volunteers were amazing kids, and as one woman said last night, they gave her renewed hope in teenagers and college students.  We had three amazing meals each day, prepared, served, and cleaned up for us.  As we left, Dawn, Juan, Mrs. Miagi, and Leroy Jenkins were on Big Red with cheers and waves to see us off.

I didn’t think it possible for the scenery to get any prettier than what we have already seen.  We rode for 5.5 hours today with our jaws dropped.  I have sung “American the Beautiful” all my life, but now it has so much more meaning.   It seemed as if every curve we turned or hill we crested, a stunning view awaited us. 

We crossed the Continental Divide at the Tennessee Pass.  We went through Glenwood Canyon, which was absolutely stunning.  The Colorado river ran beside us for most of the drive (we thought it was so neat to see the river running in the opposite direction on the west side of the divide).

Welcome to Utah

There were a few white knuckle sections of the drive!

As we were driving, I wished I had studied up on land formations.  What's the difference between a butte, a mesa, and plateau?  What's the difference between a valley, a gorge, and a canyon?  Thanks to Google, James educated us on the drive.  Lily even drew us a picture so we could remember.

Sarah Ellen got a little bored with the geology lesson.

  

We stopped for lunch outside of Vail at Jilbertitos.  We learned not to judge a restaurant by its cover.  If it weren’t for Yelp’s good reviews, we would not have thought to stop at a fast food Mexican restaurant in a rundown strip mall.  It was delicious, authentic Mexican food.

 On the next leg of the drive we passed Grand Mesa, Battlement Mesa, and the Book Cliffs.

In the afternoon, we arrived at our destination - Arches National Park.  We drove to the first two lookout points so the girls could complete their Junior Ranger booklets.  Back at the visitor center, they took their Junior Ranger pledges (which included a promise to not pick up lizards by their tails) and received their badges.

Since Arches is known for its sunsets, we drove into Moab for a bite to eat with plans of returning to the park.  Once back, we hit a few more lookout points.  One of our favorites was the Sand Dune arch.  We walked into a slot canyon in the softest red sand to find a hidden arch.  It was stunning.  

Yep, that says 108and it was 6:30 in the evening.

Delicate Arch from far away

Balanced Rock 

After that we drove to the Windows section of the park to watch the sunset.   Once again, stunning!

The hole in this rock is the backside of the double arch that James and Lily climbed.

The girls enjoyed exploring a little girl's hat full of Junior Ranger badges.

From underneath the arch

We left the Windows arch to try to see the Double Arch before dark.  It was massive and awe-inspiring.  Lily has turned into quite the climber.  She is the first one of us to clamber up onto a formation to see what is on the other side.  She was determined to see the other side of this arch (a steep cliff).  She and Daddy did it.  They sat on a ledge and watched the sun fully set.  This is a moment I know they both will always treasure.