A garden full of flowers: Arches

Jason was traveling to Texas a few weeks back. He got off the plane, and headed home. I think we ate dinner, and the kids went to bed. He then turns to me and says, "do you want to go to Arches National Park tomorrow?" I like to plan for weeks before taking a trip. Since Jason travels so much, all he needs is about 10 minutes and he would be ready for a two week vacation. I was up for an adventure though, so even though I had to rush to get everything ready, I thought it would be fun. Since he travels so much, he has a million points (literally), and so we booked a free hotel for the following night with his points, and drove the four hours the next morning to get to Moab. We have been enjoying exploring Utah, and getting to see things we would have never had the chance to see had we not moved here. Each weekend (for the most part), we have been trying to go on a new "adventure." We still don't know many people, so it is fun getting to know the state and our surroundings a little better.

The drive was long, but not too bad considering we have driven back and forth from Utah to Cali quite a few times in the last few months. We spent the day looking at the various formations and going on a few walks/hikes. One of them was a hike to see the famous Delicate Arch that is on all the license plates in Utah. It is one of the most popular hikes in the park. Normally this park gets very crowded in the summer (from what we heard), but since we went in the middle of Winter, it was pretty nice. We started on the trail, and I assumed it was going to be a small walk to see the arch. There were signs that warned that we needed to bring water on the hike. I had left my bag with our supplies in the car because I didn't think we were going to be gone for very long. Jason had the baby on his shoulders, and I was holding the boy's hands. Quickly we realized this wasn't a small hike. It was actually up the side of the mountain. We had to walk 1.5 mils, mostly uphill, to get to the arch. ( And then 1.5 miles back down). I didn't think we could do it with all the boys and no water. Luckily, it was nice and cool, so heat was not a factor. The boys tend to complain on the small neighborhood walks we go on, so I was fairly sure the boys would not be able to make it up the giant rock face we had to hike. Shoot, I didn't think I could make it! It was a gorgeous view, but since it was mostly uphill the whole way, it was really wearing me out. I used to go on almost daily walks, but since moving up here, its been more like once a week, so I'm kind of out of shape. At the very end of the hike, the trail winds around a steep cliff. I had the death grip on my boys. I put Wesley on the inside near the mountain, and Chase was on the cliff edge side. He would look up at me with his sly little smile and tell Wesley, "Mommy has me. She wont let me fall." We finally made it. It was a triumphant moment indeed. The view was spectacular, and we spent a few minutes enjoying the beauty all around us. However, with cliffs on each side, our crawling baby and two rambunctious boys were making us nervous. We didn't stay up there too long, but we got some nice pictures, and then made the journey back down. As we headed down the trail, Wesley encouraged all the weary hikers who were heading up. He would exclaim words of encouragement in their direction : "You are almost there!! Just a little further!!! You can do it!!!" People on the way up saw what good spirits the boys were in, and would comment on how amazing it was that they made it all the way up. The boys did tell me they were tired, but amazing, they really didn't complain too much. Blake was carried most of the way by Daddy on his shoulders, and I helped carry him in my arms on the way back down. After we finished, we realized that hike was labeled as a "very strenuous" hike. Had I known, I wouldn't have even attempted it with the boys. I'm glad I didn't know, and that Jason encouraged me to keep going along the way. It was well worth it, and it proves that we can do hard things. After it was all over, it didn't seem as hard as it did on the way up. I guess life is kind of like that too. :-)

We stayed in a hotel that night (the boys get so excited when we stay in hotels). The next day it was VERY cold. It was snowing slightly, and very windy. We went to the visitor's center, and were hoping to get to see a few more arches. We headed into the park, and drove to the furthest end to see the Devils' Garden and Landscape arch. I was really excited to see this area, because the hikes were easy, and the views were amazing (from what I could see from pictures). However, I didn't realize how cold is was going to be and I didn't pack very warm jackets. Blake had layers, and blankets, and a hat, so he was fine. Jason had a thick jacket, and so did Chase, but Wesley and I only had light jackets. It was 30 degrees according to my car, but with the wind, I think it felt like 10 degrees. It was very windy, and there was light snow blowing at us. We should have had gloves, and hats, and LOTS of layers to even attempt these hikes. I don't think I have ever felt such cold. We started on the first hike as bundled up as we could get with what I brought. I was miserable. I felt like if I didn't keep moving I was literally going to freeze to death. The boys were crying, but I thought we could make it if the trail was short. However, even a trail only 1/4 a mile long in that cold with our skimpy jackets was too long. We walked for a short distance, and soon realized it was just too cold, and we headed back to the car. I never appreciated my car heater so much! :-) We stopped at a few more places before we headed home. I bundled up in Jason's jacket, and took a few minutes to see a few more locations. It was so cold, it was really hard to enjoy anything though. Wesley wanted to see one more rock formation, so I put Chase's jacket on him, and the two of us went to see one more thing. I was sad it was so cold, because all the hikes we were planning on going on that day were really short and easy, and the boys would have really enjoyed them. Oh well...now we have an excuse to go back so we can see what we missed! ;-) The day before was beautiful though, and we really had a fun time. I LOVE spending time in nature. It is so refreshing and makes me so happy. We headed home, and had to be really careful because the roads were starting to ice over. We saw a lot of small towns, and wondered what it would be like to live in the middle of nowhere. It was an amazing trip, and I love making memories with my little family.

Balanced rock

See those little people way up there?! That's us! :-)

This is what we had to hike up to get to the Delicate Arch. You can see the path wind at the right of the picture, and goes all the way to the road where our cars are parked way back in the distance.