Rockin' it!

Today we were blown away by ROCKS and ARCHES. Like: one-minute-into-the-drive-in-Arches-National-Park-inducing-permanent-smile-syndrome.

How does this place exist on Earth and I only first heard about it maybe a year or two ago?!?

I am going to try not to put all 400 pictures on this blog. (Yes. Really. 400 pictures in half a day.) But honestly? The park kinda deserves it. This park was straight up desert-ty but with cool breezes, family-friendly hikes, and lots of rocks. :)

We started our day at 6am. We had made lunches the night before - thinking we were all smart. Well, I quickly realized that filling 7 camelback hiking packs with ice and water was also something that should have been done the night before! But alas, by 6:45am we were headed to Arches - only 15 minutes past the time on my itinerary :) Win!

Lose: We show up to Arches and gasp! Although the park is open 24 hr/day, the visitor's center opens at 7:30am instead of the 7am stated on the website. We needed to first hit up the visitor's center for Junior Ranger books and passes for a ranger-led hike of Fiery Furnace (a maze of canyons in the park). Cue standing around while a perfectly cool and crisp 60 degree morning drifted away a bit. But bright side? The kids had fun climbing on metal desert animals and we got to take in some beautiful scenery while waiting. 

Lose: They are booked for the Fiery Furnace for the entire time we are here! Insert sad face. But bright side? We will switch up our day that I had that hike planned and do another one I had put on the back burner. Plus we still do have an option of switching up our very last day of the whole trip and doing it instead of something else. Decisions decisions...

Despite starting the day with a couple of *small* hiccups, the rest of the day totally made up for it!

Like I said, our initial drive through the park (windows down, now-63-degrees wind blowing our hair) was incredible. The early  morning sunlight perfectly illuminated all the rocks and we were left turning our heads left and right for the first 3-4 mile drive. 

Our first stop was the Windows section. This part has a couple of trails. The first takes you to the North and South Window arches and the Turret arch. The kids quickly learned that yes cactus are cool but you are NOT to walk off the trail through vegetation. (Thank you "kind" fellow visitor lady who sternly "reminded" our kids of this!) The first stop of the trail was the North window. The kids enjoyed singing our theme song on the way up: Imagine Dragon's "I'm on top of the world!" At the top, we all watched in mini-horror as Aaron, dare-devil guy, made his way all the way across and up the opposite rock face from the window. Sigh. Do I really have to take him to the Grand Canyon with massive cliffs next week?!?! I think I will be the one who dies....from a heart attack of worrying!

Can you find Aaron....

Next we made our way around on the "primitive" trail to the South Window arch. The kids had fun making their voices echo here! And climb on even more rocks :) I also got to teach them a new word - CAIRN. Thank goodness I had read about these beforehand or we might have literally have gotten lost. There are "primitive" trails in Arches that are not marked or designated in anyway....apart from cairns placed every so often. So to find your way, you look for the next cairn and walk to it. The kids had lots of fun finding each cairn and showing us where to go!

The neat part of the primitive trail is that you actually end up on the OTHER side of the windows arches - meaning you get to see both of them side by side! Which meant....group picture time!

The rest of the primitive trail was GORGEOUS too...

Our next stop was just across the parking lot at the Double arch. This arch was in the beginning of an Indiana Jones movie and was BRIMMING with people. It took some scrambling up slick rock, but we all made it up and I snagged some pretty cool shots :)

Next stop: Devil's Garden! By now it was starting to get kinda hot in the sun. Thankfully, at Devil's Garden were bathrooms and water-filling stations - YAY! Everyone refilled their camelbacks and we were on our way. Only problem? A LOT of the hike is in the sun, literally walking through desert sand. With kids. Who are hot. And hungry. Sigh. :) Although I was amazed at literally EVERY turn, the kiddos were, well, hot and hungry. Thankfully we packed our lunches to eat on the trail. Next problem? Finding somewhere in the shade to eat them! WOW there is barely any shade. Finally we found a spot off the trail on a bunch of crumbly rocks where thankfully no rattlesnakes were waiting (or, if they were, they kindly stayed away from us). Kiddos ate. Kiddos got shade. Kiddos got a burst more of energy to make it up some tough slickrock climbing. The views on this trail could NOT be beat. It was insane being so far out. I LOVED every minute of it. I especially loved the cool humidity-less breeze that prevented me from sweating despite the intense sun. :) 

After we made it up the slickrock and learned that the Double O arch was still a mile away, and we had kids that were having a tough time, the dads decided a better use of time would be to climb up some treacherous rocks with steep cliffs and make their way to a big rock at the end. Ummm, ok :) haha. I had a tough time when I couldn't even see them, but everyone made it back alive! I think my nephew, Noah, would choose that as perhaps his favorite part of the day. :) 

After a quick walk for me, Aaron and Joe to the Navajo Arch (which was a pretty cool cave/arch!), we headed back down much to the kid's joy :) By this point, I could not make any kid join me in a fun rendition of "I'm on top of the world", so I was happy to just be the motivator/encourager. On the way back, we passed by the Landscape arch again which is just INCREDIBLE. It is the widest arch in the park.

Finally, we saved the best for last for the kids: Sand Dune Arch! It is just a quick .3 miles from the parking lot, and it is a pretty arch.....but the best part.....silky smooth orange sand, EVERYWHERE. Because I had read about it beforehand, I knew to pack and bring some buckets and shovels with us just for this part. And wow was it worth it. The kids had a BALL. Digging holes. Burying their legs. Filling buckets. All the shade with a cool breeze. And dads got to nap while the moms people-watched. It was glorious. At the end, Noah was running and tripped and fell. Well, naturally that looked *FUN* so all the kids starting intentionally running and falling in the sand. Which then prompted Josie and Brie to roll in the sand down the hill. Oh joy! haha. It really was fun and a memory I will treasure!

Finally, all sandy, we piled in the car and headed back. And we gave the kids what was promised: Pool time! Thankfully the pool is right next to our unit and has a hot tub. The kids had WAY too much fun (which means they are probably sleeping hard right now) and the parents got to relax. Win! The kids had fun competing to see who could jump/walk/twist/flip into the pool the best and each took turns being the "judge". I don't think I have ever heard so much laughing for so long! And isn't that what it is all about at the end of a long day? 

We ended our day at a local Moab restaurant with a burning tree on the outdoor patio. Don't ask me what it has to do with the restaurant's theme, but it was cool :). I also decided dinner talk was a bit boring so I googled "conversation starters". lol, jackpot! One question - what is the funniest dream you have ever had - prompted 30 minutes of laughter as kids retold dreams from a gypsy getting arrested for stealing Lucky Charms to pirates breaking into a house and putting cole slaw on your head. Win again!

I am officially now up way too late. Tomorrow morning is a sunrise hike to Mesa Arch at Canyonlands National Park. So goodnight!!