We all piled into the car filled to the roof with our
belongings and started on a two week adventure through the southwest. We headed east through Oregon and into
Idaho. We enjoyed the hospitality of
friends in Homedale, ID. On day two we
had 8.5 hours to drive from Homedale to Green River, UT. We broke up the drive by stopping at the
incredible Shoshone Falls.
Due to our many stops, we got to Green River Campground at
10:30pm. We pitched our tent in the dark
and had two very excited girls who needed some wiggle time. Fortunately, we were on vacation time and had
a leisurely morning.
We drove from Green River Campground to Dead Horse State
Park. We set up camp and then headed to
Arches National Park.
We did a lot of driving and short walks. When we stopped at the Balancing Rock, Amy
stated, "This is not a hike. This
is like a sidewalk with dirt on the sides.
Yes! My thoughts to tourist areas
exactly! However, she also says she
wants to own an RV...Hmmm, maybe her father has some influence as well.
We went on a moderate hike in the 95 degree heat to
Landscape Arch. We drank plenty of ice
water and took our time with the heat.
The whole family did wonderfully!
Landscape Arch was incredible!
We drove to the viewpoint for Delicate Arch and got to see
it from a distance.
We stopped at a picnic area and cooked dinner. Given the altitude and the ice water it was
hard to produce warm food! Both girls
did great with the driving and the heat but Amy was ready to play construction
worker at the campground and Baby Analise needed to wiggle by evening.
Since it did not cool off until quite late, bedtime was
pushed back and I took a walk to watch the sunset. Our large, six person tent accommodated all
of us well and even Gil was happy since he had an outlet to plug in his apnea
machine.
The next day we headed into Moab for Gas and a wonderful
breakfast at a local bakery. Then we
headed to Canyonlands National Park.
Since we don't have 4WD and did not have very many days, we decided to
spend our time at Islands in the Sky.
As amazing as the Arches were, I LOVED hiking in
Canyonlands! The girls were sleeping and
hung out at the viewpoint with Gil while I headed out on an incredible hike!
After my hike, we headed to a shorter hike up Whale
Rock. It was fun to hike up the back of
a whale shaped rock!
Amy kept reminding me to "watch out for the
cactus". We stopped at the top to
take in the view and for some family bonding moments.
After Whale Rock, we took a short hike to check out Mesa
Arch. It was lovely!
We stopped at the Visitor Center and Amy became a Jr.
Ranger. Then we headed back to Dead
Horse Campground.
We went to Dead Horse Point and watched the sunset before
heading to bed.
After a nice night at the campground, we drove to Steamboat
Springs, CO. Amy said she had enough of
hiking and we stopped at a swimming pool in Grand Junction to cool off halfway
through our drive.
