The last week of May, we decided to take a last-minute family vacation to Moab, UT. We had planned to go to North Dakota to visit Dru's family, but an unfortunate series of events prevented us from doing so. We already had the time off of work, so we decided to head to where it was warmer (it was a cold spring here) and Moab sounded like the perfect destination. It's a 9-hour drive, but we did it in 12 hours - lots of stops. The kids did great!
Here's Fin at one of our pit stops. He loved getting out of the car!
He slept a lot on the way, which was helpful.
Dinner break! It's amazing how much stuff one has to remember to pack for 2 kids under 2!
Our little foodie
We finally checked into our hotel where we had a king suite - the only room that would fit 2 cribs and us. Clara was SOOO happy to be out of her carseat and rolling around on the floor!
Bright and early the next morning we headed off to Arches National Park, only about 4 miles from Moab. They have some of the most incredible rock formations seen anywhere in the world.
View heading up to the park
Our first stop was at a neat formation called the Balanced Rock.
Ready to explore!
Here's the back side of the rock. Dru is standing at the bottom - you can see how tall it is!
Next stop was at a formation called the Delicate arch. It was a long hike to get to it, so we just went to the lower viewpoint, where one could still get a good view of it.
Next we headed to Sand Dune Arch. It's an arch in between large slabs of sandstone, seen here. This is us headed in.
Once inside, it was like a miniature oasis - cool, shady, and complete with green vegetation!
Here's the very large Sand Dune arch - Fin and I are standing underneath for comparison.
Fin liked sticking his fingers in the dents in the rock.
Just to the north of Sand Dune arch was a hike out to Broken Arch. Fin LOVED running down the narrow path to it and seeing all the wildlife.
Broken Arch
Clara was having a great time in the hiking backpack, too!
Then it was time for a lunch break. Fin ate like a grown man - so much energy he was burning!
After lunch, we took the longest hike of the day out to the largest arch in the park, Landscape Arch. Clara was such a trooper for the 3-mile roundtrip hike.
Finally made it - here is Landscape Arch - incredible in person (camera does not do it justice).
Fin got a little tired on the hike back (understandably) so he hitched a ride.
I got to pack Clara, but I didn't even think about the added weight - I was too busy enjoying this incredible scenery!
Lizard! Fin had to stop and look at this for several minutes. Heehee - he's all boy!
Clara fell asleep close to the end of the hike. Don't know how she slept like that!
We went back to the motel for the hottest part of the day - Dru and Fin enjoyed the motel pool while Clara and I lounged in the shade.
After a delicious supper at a local Mexican restaraunt, we headed back to Arches in the cooler evening. These rock formations are sheer and monstrous - makes you feel like a tiny ant.
This formation is called Double Arch - very impressive.
South Window Arch
North Window Arch
Unfortunately, the sun was in our eyes looking at this very cool rock called Cove Arch.
Leaving the park - the sun was setting and casting long shadows across the rocks - very cool.
The next day we drove about an hour out to Canyonlands National Park. We stopped on the way at Newspaper Rock, a petroglyph panel etched in sandstone that records approx 2,000 years of early man's activities! This was incredible!!!
We went to the north side of Canyonlands, which is a gigantic national park. They had this cool rock formation called Wooden Shoe Arch. Can you see the wooden shoe?!?
Dru and Fin checking out one of the many canyons.
There's also really neat rock formations called the Needles for obvious reasons.
We found a picnic area and took a short hike after lunch. Fin can't get enough of being allowed to be outside so much! :)
Clara was such a darling...hardly fussed the entire trip.
We walked out on these big flat rocks which eventually ended in breath-taking views of deep canyons.
In the middle of these gigantic flat rocks were little miniature cactus gardens.
Panoramic views of canyons
We got back to the hotel late that afternoon and enjoyed some down time together.
We left the next morning to drive home. About an hour out of our way was this off-the-wall national park called Goblin State Park. We decided we had to check it out.
Fin entertained Clara while Dru and I parked and got situated
As we were getting ready to hike down into the park, Fin discovered his pockets. We do not know why this sudden discovery occured, we only know that no amount of wheedling could get this little man to take his hands out of his pockets. Hilarious!
You can see the "goblins" in the background here - hundreds of blob-like red rock formations down in a valley. Notice Fin's hands remain in the pockets.
Hiking down into the valley with the goblins. Hands still in pockets. In about 5 seconds after this picture was snapped, Fin tripped and was unable to put his hands out in front of him to break his fall. Result - nasty face plant and cheek scrape (thankfully not a broken nose). This STILL did not convince him to take his hands out of his pockets.
Climbing on the "goblins" - Fin loved this part!
Lunch break before heading home. Fin's so darn cute.
Goodbye, Utah!
We made it home around midnight. We had a great trip, saw some amazing things, and made lifetime family memories!
