Spring Vacation Part 4: Stop and Go

This is the 4th (and final) part in a series about our family's spring vacation this year to southern Utah.

After we finished walking, hiking, and seeing the sights in Arches National Park on Monday March 24, it was late in the afternoon. After we left the park, we drove across the highway from the park entrance to a giant hillside of red sand. The boys had eyed it the previous day when we drove into Moab, and again that morning when we were on our way into Arches. We parked the car and the boys immediately set out to climb to the top.

As soon as they made it to the top, they ran and rolled all the way down and immediately climbed back up, but this time stopping on a rock halfway to the top.

After doing it once, they just couldn't stop jumping off that rock over and over again! Free entertainment!

Then they tried to do simultaneous jumping off of multiple rocks...

Josh and I loved watching them play in the sand. They were so free, and they had so much fun!!! There was a whole bunch of other families and kids there too, and it was so relaxing for Josh and I to sit after a long day of hiking, and watch all the people having a good time.

The boys freely played in the hot, red sand for two hours!

They didn't even mind that they were COMPLETELY covered in sand! I just love these photos of my super happy, very dirty boys!

It was dinner time when we left the giant red sand hill, but it had been so hot outside that we weren't even hungry for food. We all wanted something cold instead, so we stopped at a cute diner on Main Street of Moab (dirty, sandy, and all!) and ate delicious, refreshing large ice cream cones!

We went back to the hotel after ice cream and took showers and changed our clothes to get all the sand off of us. Then we decided to go for a drive. We headed south to go see the landmark "Hole in the Rock".

Unfortunately, it was about 7:30 when we got there, and the place had closed at 7:00. Bummer! I've never even heard of this place (I just saw it on the map), but it looks like a fun spot!

So we drove back to the hotel, soaked in the hot tub, watched TV, and went to bed for our last night of vacation. The next morning, we left the hotel for a long day of driving. We had decided when we made our vacation plans to spend day 4 of the trip driving the ENTIRE way home--which is about 12 hours. Before we had gone on vacation, I had rented several older movies that the kids hadn't seen for the long sections of driving, which ended up being such a great idea! The boys watched 3 movies that day alone--including "Forrest Gump" and some Adam Sandler movies.  We stopped to eat lunch at "In and Out Burger" in American Fork--and I ended up giving Josh wrong directions AGAIN (that was the LAST time on our trip!). We got off the exit in Pleasant Grove, then got back onto the freeway for American Fork instead!! Lunch was good; the boys had never been to that restaurant before. After driving for so long in the car, we decided to stop and let the boys move their legs at this place in Ogden: 

Josh has ALWAYS wanted to go to Smith & Edwards Surplus Store since the time we lived in Tremonton when we were first married, but he's never been! It was a good break from the monotonous driving! It was a fun store for him and the boys to walk around in--which we did for over an hour. He let them all pick one item that he'd get for them. The boys played some car bingo for a while from Salt Lake to about Malad, Idaho, then it was back to watching movies until we got home to Salmon that night.

Our 4-day trip to Southern Utah had been short, but so good. We got to visit my Grandma, stay at my parents' house, explore a State & National Park, play in the sand, and spend a lot of time basking in the warm sunlight. Overall, it was a wonderful family vacation!

Spring Vacation Part 3: Arches

This is the 3rd post in a series about our Spring Break Vacation this year.

On Day 3 of our vacation, the Monday morning of March 24, we packed some lunch and drinks and everything we'd need for the day and left our hotel in Moab for a day at Arches National Park. Our first stop in the park was the longest hike of the day: Delicate Arch. Last time Josh and I went to Arches, we saved the Delicate Arch hike for last and it was a mistake. I was so worn out, it was hot in the afternoon sun, and it took me forever to make it to the top. So, we decided it would be best if we did it first this time with the kids. And that turned out to be a fantastic choice! It wasn't too hot or crowded yet, and the boys were energetic and ready to go!

On the last stretch of the hike up to Delicate Arch, it's a narrow walkway along a ledge with a steep drop-off, and it freaked Micah out a bit, but he continued to press on!

It is such a beautiful sight to behold after the hour-long hike--especially because at no point along the hike can you even see it.

Josh had to gently lead Micah and Kanyon over to Delicate Arch because they were so afraid of falling off the edge of the mountain that the arch is on. This photo makes me laugh because it looks like they are being dragged against their will (which is only partially true!).

Josh and all the boys at Delicate Arch.

Josh & Kala at Delicate Arch

We spent about two hours at Delicate Arch: between the hike up, taking photos and snack break, and the walk back down to the car.

Our next stop was a picnic lunch at Devil's Garden, and then we began the walk to the Landscape Arch. Part of the walk includes a long stretch of walking in sand!

This arch is about the length of a football field, and because part of it fell off about 20 years ago, it is now fenced off, and this is as close as you can get to it. (You can see the rubble under the right side of the arch where it fell in the 90's).

We were all a little tired at that point, after already walking/hiking for miles and having lunch, so we took a little nap break!

Then we headed to Pine Tree Arch, which is one of my favorites! I love the short walk in sand to it, and the trees that grow at its base, and that you can walk through it and see so much of the landscape of the park behind it. Here's my boys sitting on a dead branch under the arch:

And here's a close-up of them. This photo makes me laugh!!! Can you see why?!!

As the boys explored the area, I was happy to sit in the sand and soak in all my surroundings!

On the way back to the car, the boys played in this awesome narrow incline of sand!

That stretch of sand is sandwiched between two tall rock walls, and is semi-hidden when you walk into this section of the park, but on the way out, it's really noticeable.

Our last stop at Arches was the Windows section. We started out on foot towards Double Arch (on the left). We explored that and hiked all over rocks underneath it, and then the boys hiked into the dark cave (on the right).

Made it to the top of the ridge in the 2nd arch!

And a close-up at the same location:

I stayed at a spot in the rock pile under the 1st arch.

Kanyon found a sun beam!

Ammon fits right into the surroundings in the next photo, don't you think?!!

In case you couldn't find him in the above photo, here's a close-up:

On the way back down from climbing to the 2nd arch.

The boys found some carvings in the rock behind me, so they got some small rocks and carved the rock, too!

Kanyon carved the name of his friend "Abby".
He said it was shorter than carving his own name! ;)

Micah was the first to begin the hike into the large cave that has two smaller cave inlets at the top.

Ammon thought he would be able to hike up to this "Key" shape hole that's in between Double Arch and the large cave, but he only made it about halfway before it became too steep to climb.

While we were waiting for the boys to climb the caves and Key hole, Josh and I found some more sand to sit in. When the boys were done climbing, they joined us!

Then we walked across the parking lot to the Windows. This is Turret Arch:

The boys thought they could make it to that little "eye hole", and they gave it a good effort, but it was impossible. They did make it to the peak in the center of the arch, though!

Here's North and South Windows--which to me look like Quasimoto's face!

The boys climbed as high as they could reach at North Window. I like Jonah's location--it looks like a perfectly recliner-shaped spot in the rock! And Kanyon was happy with standing by the boulder--that's as far as he wanted to get!

By late afternoon, we'd toured the major sites that have easy access in the park. It had been a beautiful day, and we all really enjoyed our time at Arches!