Arches National Park

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We had a very long drive yesterday. We enjoyed our drive through Yellowstone on the way out, and our drive through the southern part of Idaho was also gorgeous. Once we crossed into Utah, the scenery started to change from forested mountains to arid landscape. It got very hot. Surprisingly, the highways were extremely busy in Utah as well. There were many cars on the road with a high speed limit (80 mph). It felt a little dangerous driving through the state (especially through Salt Lake City), but we eventually made it to southern Utah and the town of Moab. It was evening, and the KOA office was closed. Thankfully, they had our keys waiting for us, so we were able to get to our cabin no problem. We also grabbed Paul & Colleen's key. They're meeting us in Moab to take the kids while Andrew and I go to a wedding this weekend, but they were a few hours behind us because they wanted to drive through the Grand Tetons and also dropped off Scott in Salt Lake City, where he will be flying home to Texas.

This morning, we set out to Arches National Park. I've always wanted to see Arches. It's not that far from Denver, and I lived in the Denver area for 17 years but never made it to Moab. It's very hot and dry, like Denver, but it's also very beautiful. We set out to hike at about 9am. It was in the low 80s, but the sun was really beating down on us. There are no trees that grow naturally in this part of the country, except near water ways, so there was no shade. I had a cooling hat on, but it wasn't enough. After about 15 minutes, I had to turn around and head back to the car. The sun was just so brutal. That's something I really don't miss about living in this part of the country.

So, our trip to Arches was a disappointment. It was our second hike we had to scrap this trip, but at least we got to enjoy a beautiful drive in the air conditioned car. The rock formations reminded me of Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, but the national park is a much larger area. I'm glad I got to see it but wish we'd gone earlier so we could have walked around more before the sun was beating down. Learn from our mistake and go earlier in the morning or late in the evening!

After Arches, we dropped the kids off with Paul and Colleen. They're taking the kids to Durango. Paul is excited to take the kids on the train there. Andrew and I are heading to Ridgway, Colorado for his best friend's wedding!

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