Moab!

CAUTION:

Lots of pictures and lots of information. I just want you to know that before we begin the epic novel of our trip to Moab. But I have to put everything in so that we can remember what we did and what the places were called where we went. So here we go...

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On Sunday May 2, 2010 we left for our vacation to Moab so that we could hike at Arches and Canyonlands. It took us about five hours to get down there. Since it was Sunday we didn't want to plan a lot to do. So we checked into the motel and found that there was a scenic highway drive that you could go on that had some cool stuff to look at. This was our first stop. It was some fossilized dinosaur tracks. We had to hike a little to get to where they were but it wasn't bad. They had painted them white to make them stick out so you could see them easier.

Then there was this cool arch on the side of the mountain. It's called Jug Handle Arch. It was hard for us to see it at first but it really did look like a handle on a jug.

On every trip we go on we like to find a "family rock" to remember our trip and Kaylee was getting an early start. This was up by the dinosaur tracks but she had already found at least three rocks that she wanted to keep. We settled on one.

This was up by the tracks too. Curt and Austin hiked over to this ledge with the cool "caves". I wouldn't let the other kids go over there because I was still getting used to the kids hiking on cliffs. I got a little braver as the trip went on...but not much.

This is one of my favorite pictures. I love the color contrasts with the white clouds, the bright blue sky, the shadows on the mountains and then of course the red rock. It's so pretty there. I loved it.
We unknowingly passed by the petroglyphs and had to ask someone we saw along the way where they were. It was no wonder that we missed them. They were kind of high up on the walls but we found them. It was interesting to think about what they were and how long they've been here. The kids were very excited to see them as well.
Can you see the hand print on this picture. For some reason this one just mesmerized me. I don't know why. I guess I just think that someone hundreds of years ago decided they wanted to leave their mark. It just looks like one of my kids' hand prints left on my wall or a window.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK

On Monday we started our hiking adventure. We started at Arches. Curt had been there but this was my first time and I was in awe. I loved the cliffs and all the different rock formations. We started with Delicate Arch and I'm so glad we did. This was at the beginning of the trail head...just some old cabins that had been occupied heaven knows how long ago. We thought they were cool. Austin wanted to go in this one and cried when it was time to leave.

Also on the trail there was a little side trail that led to some more petroglyphs. These are easier to see.

I took this picture because I thought it was so amazing to see such a pretty flower growing out of a rock. I know there's sand and a little bit of dirt there...but not much.

This is how Austin joined us on the trip...at least for the first day. Curt's shoulders hurt by the end of the day so we tried different methods the next couple of days. He seems a bit big for this but it worked! Aren't they cute?

This was our longest hike of the day, mile wise. It was about 3 miles roundtrip and I was little nervous because as you get towards the arch there are some places where if you don't really watch where you're going you could just slip off the edge to your death...which is what I pictured Carson doing. So we had to keep telling them, sometimes yelling at them to, "Keep your hands on the wall," that was on the other side of the edge. Then as you round the corner this is what you see. Isn't it absolutely breathtaking? The pictures totally don't do it justice. I just kept thinking, "I can't believe I'm actually here right now." It was great.

If you know Kaylee this picture will not surprise you. Here she is in her "zen" like state and Carson's trying to be like his big sister. You will also see throughout this post that Carson is into doing weird things with his hands in pictures. He thinks it's cool. Go figure!

As we were hiking down from the arch Curt saw this little arch. It was up the wall a little bit so he had the kids hike up to it and took some pictures.

Our next stop was Sand Dune Arch. Needless to say there was a lot of sand at this arch. We had to stop when we were done and empty out our shoes. I thought the crevice was pretty cool too. Thanks goodness it wasn't too tight or I would not have gone through it, a little claustrophobic you know.

Remember I told you about Carson? Here he is looking a bit like Mini-Me from Austin Powers, "One Million Dollars...hahahaha."

Our next hike was to Broken Arch. I think this was one of my favorites, too. It wasn't a bad hike but it was so much fun up there. The kids loved climbing on the huge boulders and it was really kind of fun climbing on the sandstone.

This is the reverse of the top picture...now we're looking out!

Shelby took this picture. Not bad, huh? Can you see Austin peaking around? He also has a cracker in his hand which is basically all he would eat during the day. We took the stuff to make PB&Js while we were out and he wouldn't touch them. Only crackers for him!

We like to have the kids try and learn something interesting when we go on trips. For this trip I actually learned this beforehand but when we saw a lizard I told them about it. Lizards have a built in life-saving mechanism. If something grabs them by the tail they can drop their tail from their body and get away but it's not safe to test it because I guess they store their fat in their tails so they could starve if they can't find food. It looks like this lizard is trying to grow his tail back.

I love this picture because to me it looks like we superimposed Carson into the scenery but honest...we didn't. The colors are amazing!

This is Tunnel Arch. It wasn't a bad hike but the kids were groaning because we had to hike downhill to get to it and they knew that they were going to have to hike back up the hill eventually.

This is Pinetree Arch. We're not sure why they named it Pinetree but I was thinking maybe because the rock indentations above the arch kind of look like the top of a leaning pine tree. Who knows?

This is Landscape Arch. I guess recently (I forgot the year) a piece of the arch came crashing down while people were up looking at it. Thank goodness nobody was hurt but because of that and the thinness of the arch they have made it so people can't go up underneath it anymore. You have to just look at it from a distance. It's amazing that it's still standing.

I'm not sure if this has a name but we called it Elephant Rock because it looks like the head of an elephant. Can you see it?

After Landscape Arch we drove around a bit to give the kids some time to rest. Austin finally took a little snooze. This is Balanced Rock. Curt was the only one to get out but he took some awesome pictures of it. Isn't it amazing that that huge boulder is still balancing on that little shelf and hasn't toppled over yet? I'd hate to be around if it ever does.

This is Double Arch. This is one of my favorites as well. Can you see the two arches that are adjacent to each other? It was fun to get up there and see them. See how big they are and how little our family is?

This is while we were up in the arch looking out towards the way we came in.

This is Turret Arch. Curt, Carson and Shelby went on the hike to this one and the next one which were the Window Arches. Kaylee and I stayed in the car while Austin slept.

This is the backside of Turret Arch.

This is the North and South Windows.

This is called the Cove of Caves. You can't see all of them but there are lots of "caves" or arches that are starting to form. It was really neat.

This is Courthouse Tower. It was huge!

This is Park Avenue. Look at how skinny the top rock formations are. They reminded me of what Hollywood studio sets look like when they have the cities that are just made out of cardboard.

This one reminds me of the head of Queen Nefertiti from Egypt with the really tall hat. Can you see it?

Curt took this picture. Can you guess why? Read the topic by number 1.

DEAD HORSE POINT STATE PARK

On Tuesday we were going to go to Dead Horse Point State Park and to Canyonlands. We started at Dead Horse Point. I had never even heard of it before so it was all going to be new to me. I'm SO glad we did. I was amazed by what we saw. There was a hike where you could walk around the rim of the canyon wall to the point. It was an easy hike but a little long. We got some great pictures.

Austin has been fighting a runny, snotty nose for the past month or so and every time he sneezes you pray you have a tissue. This is why. It's so gross! He's going to love this picture when he's older!

Carson was so scared of the cactus, thinking they were going to reach out and get his feet. But we decided to take a picture and then after that he was fine. I don't know why but that seemed to help the situation.

Instead of the backpack this is how Curt carried Austin for most of the day. He said it felt better on his shoulders and it worked just as well.

Here's Kaylee peaking through a hole in the rock.

This is why I loved this park. It reminded me SO MUCH of the Grand Canyon. The pictures don't do it justice (as always) but it was beautiful and truly awesome. I loved seeing all the different levels of erosion in the rock. It just makes you wonder how long it took to form.

On our way back Austin fell asleep on Curt's shoulders. Doesn't THAT look comfortable? He was snoring, too.

CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK

After Dead Horse Point we went on to Canyonlands. I don't think I had seen any pictures of Canyonlands so I was thinking, "There's no way this could beat Arches." I was totally wrong. It was amazing...but in its own way. We started off at Mesa Arch. It was an easy hike and when we got there I thought, "This is it?" But when you get up to it and look to the other side you see the sheer drop off and then you start to appreciate it.

This is the backside of the arch. Can you see the drop?

Then we went on to Aztec Butte (of butt if you're Curt and the kids!) On this hike you can go see some ancient Puebloan granaries so we thought that sounded cool. It's really hard to see in this picture but close to top, under the green trees on the very top there's a ledge right before you round the corner on the left. We hiked up this mountain trying to find those. Curt was in the lead and looked around that corner and saw that it was steep. So we decided we wanted to live instead of continuing on.

This was us up on that mountain...kind of in the middle. We had to get down by scooting on our bottoms at certain points. I was praying that we would get down safely. My prayers were answered...thank goodness.

While on this hike there was a a fork in the trail towards a smaller mountain. We weren't sure which way to go so we chose to go to the bigger mountain. Well after we got down from there we thought maybe the granaries were on the first mountain. So we tried it. It was a much simpler hike and we did actually find some. There was a little scary part to hike across but we managed it and here are the pictures to prove it. Unfortunately we don't have too many pictures because we forgot to charge the battery in our camera so we only had limited battery use. We did buy a normal camera so that we do have some more pictures but we'll have to get them digitized and put on our computer later.

After Aztec Butte we went to Upheaval Dome which was an easy hike so we decided to let Austin try his hand at hiking. He did fairly well and at some points would see a certain rock and would stop and have to climb on top of that rock and jump off before continuing on. He's so cute...but only when he's not throwing a temper tantrum.

This is at the top of Upheaval Dome. It was SO WINDY up there. I took a picture with the other camera and once I snapped it the wind picked up and nearly blew me over. It was that strong! Needless to say we didn't let the kids even think about going near the edge for fear they'd be blown over.

This is The Grand View Point. I think it looks like a giant dinosaur footprint.

Well that is our trip. On Wednesday we came home. On our way out of town there was a rock shop and of course we had to stop for our "official" family rock. We wandered around and since Austin was getting fussy I took him, Carson and Kaylee out with me to look at what they had outside. They had a great time because we found three fuzzy caterpillars. I had to stop Austin from picking them up or stepping on them but he was amazed and loved watching them crawl around. Curt and Shelby came out and they had chosen a piece of petrified wood (very cool) and a replica of a raptor claw. Carson was very excited about that because right now he loves dinosaurs. Other than that our trip home was fairly uneventful but it was nice to get back into a schedule. We had a great time and can't wait to visit again.