Arches National Park, Utah

Last night, Derrick’s parents arrived at our condo in Colorado, and this morning, we all headed out on our trip to Utah.  We decided that we were all going to stop at Arches National Park along the way, before they continued their journey to our Utah condo in St. George and we headed south to stay in a hotel near Mesa Verde National Park. 

When we arrived in the park, we stopped at the visitor center to stamp our National Park Passport Book, get a token for the kids’ memory book, and grab a few postcards for friends at home. 

It was a beautiful day, sunny and clear, perfect for hiking and exploring the park. 

 

 

This man said he'd been painting for tow days at this location.

Sheep Rock (I thought Crouching Lion would be a better name)

The formations were HUGE!

Amazing Balanced Rock!

Balanced Rock total formation is 128 feet tall.  Eventually it will collapse due to the bottom layer eroding.

 

We did the short hike around Balanced Rock and I am glad we did.  Nothing can compare to standing right next to it!

From the rear of the formation we could see the other arches in the distance.

The boys with Grandma Vicky

Ethan and I thought that this formation looked like the back of my hand.

The boys wanted to stand next to the rock to show how big it really was.

This made me nervous, but now you can see the size of this MASSIVE rock!
Do you see our kids now?

  

Hiking up to North Window

North Window.  Really amazing up close!  So BIG!

Ethan with South Window

North and South Windows

When I don't ask Everett to pose, this is what I get!  He flashes his JCrew smile!

Again, he posed without me asking.  Such a sweet boy!

Delicate Arch (most famous arch in the park), it's 3 miles round trip to hike where those people are standing.

Hiking to this overlook was not a short or easy hike, and we were still far away.  The hike closer was over 2 hours.

I was surprised at the amount of formations in the park and we enjoyed guessing the names of the formations and getting up close to experience their gigantic size.

We arrived late morning/early afternoon, so by the time we did a few hikes and stopped at all the scenic pull-offs, we were fighting the sunset to see the last formation (Landscape Arch) which was one I was wanting to see.  The arch was at the end of a .8 mile hike, so Derrick dropped me off at the trailhead with my camera and phone (which had no service anyway) and I took off to hopefully beat the sunset and grab a glimpse and a photo, while they headed up to the ridge to watch the sunset. 

I jogged a few feet then walked fast, as I pushed forward to beat the sunset.  I had a full bladder, and being 4 months pregnant, it wasn't working out so well for me.  I knew, as I passed some older women at the half-way point, that I was going to be lucky to get to the top before the sun went down, and slightly damp pants were going to be my fate. 

I did end up making it, with enough light to see the formation and grabbed a few photos before heading back, but the hike turned out to be a little longer than I had anticipated and I knew Derrick would be concerned it was getting too dark, so I quickly started back.  Then, right about the time I was getting worried I would be walking in complete darkness, Derrick and the boys appeared on the trail to find me.

This area is called Devils Garden

The sun was setting, causing lots of blues and pinks to show in the sky.

Landscape Arch - the span is more than a football field in length

It was pretty amazing how narrow the ribbon of rock was at the top of the arch

We walked back towards the parking lot and quickly, as the last of the light faded, the wind picked up and the sand in the narrow area we were hiking blasted us, making the kids squeal and Derrick and I pick up our speed as we approached the trail head.  Laughing and excited to be done with our day, we hopped in the van and started off on our trip south towards Mesa Verde National Park.

Cortez, Colorado, was about a 2 hour drive south from Arches and only a few minutes from Mesa Verde National Park, so we decided to look there for hotels.  We have learned, when traveling late at night, that the best way to find a reasonable deal is to look online at the prices and reviews, narrow it down to a few “prospective” places, then walk in and ask them what their best rate is for the evening (keeping in mind what the coupon books/online deals rates are).  I have found, by walking into quite a few hotels, that the person behind the counter is often willing to reduce the rate to their bottom dollar for friendly late night visitors.

This time we tried a place we don’t normally try, due to lack of “decent” looking hotels.  The Holiday Inn Express is always overpriced, but I thought I’d stop and try my luck.  Like I expected, the rate was over $120 for the evening, but the lady was nice enough to tell me she could give me their lowest rate of $114 with tax and everything.  I said I’d pass; it was too pricy, and as I turned to leave she told me about the hotel they owned across the street that was around $62 per night.  It was the “Retro Inn” (formerly American Garden Inn) and they had just remodeled it with new everything.  She said it was really nice and she thought we’d like it, plus they had free breakfast in the morning. 

I got back in the van, told Derrick the info, and then we drove across the street to a “street-level motel”, (not my favorite type of place to stay).  It looked clean and maintained on the outside, and the lobby was definitely remodeled, so I tried my luck.  The woman behind the counter was very friendly and allowed me to look at a room before we purchased it.  It was like she had said, all new everything, so I went back into the lobby to pay for the room.  When I asked for the rate again, she told me she would give me a discount, so the room turned out to be right around $58 with tax and all.  Not too bad.

All the kids, but Ethan, had fallen asleep in the van, it was almost 10:00 PM and we hadn't eaten much but snacks and PB&J all day, so we drove over to Dominoes to grab a sandwich and pizza to go.  Everett and Elliot were so exhausted from the day they didn’t wake to eat, so Derrick, Ethan and I shared the food, watched some football on TV and then went to sleep.  It was a fun, dusty and long day.