Questival San Francisco 2017!
ARCHES: DAY ONE
We drove down to visit Arches National Park near Moab this past April. I had been to Arches with friends nearly 10 years ago, and I was excited to visit again and show Aaron the sites!
When we arrived we went straight into Arches. It's similar to Yellowstone in that there are about a zillion spots to pull over and enjoy the scenery and take hikes.
This is one of the first rock formations you see when you're driving into the park.
"The Three Gossips"
After 6+ hours of driving in the car, the girls were happy to get out and explore.
This was the perfect vacation for them at just over 2 years old. They could hike around mostly on their own and they loved having their independence.
Still nursing her bald spot...
Sunglasses were a big hit on this trip.
Our next stop was "Double Arch." This was one of our favorite hikes. You walk down a half mile trail until you get right up close to the arches. Then you can actually climb up onto the rocks that make up the base of the arch. We were glad it was shaded, it made a good spot to sit and rest!
Baggies of trail mix: another big hit with the girls!
Our last stop in Arches for the day was called "Park Avenue."
We snapped a few photos and then headed to our hotel for some much needed naps!
Yeah... all of us napping in one room was never going to happen, even with two pack n' plays! But we did rest for a little while and get cooled off before going to dinner and our next adventure.
I read online about an awesome waterfall south of Moab, so we thought we would go and get some photos. Sounded easy enough. What it didn't say online is that there is no path or trail of any kind to get there. Aaron drove us up this old dirt road (and had to get a selfie with his manly truck in this rugged terrain) then I hiked down to the waterfall. I think I may have had to jump a few fences to get my photos.... so I wouldn't necessarily recommend this spot to others, hahaha!
ARCHES: DAY TWO
DAY TWO
We started the day with a delicious breakfast at the Moab Diner. I think that was my favorite place we ate the entire trip! We had yummy pancakes and french toast, then drove to Canyonlands!
The girls loved being able to run around on their own on this trip,
but we did end up with lots of scraped knees!
Our secret to getting our girls to sit on our laps for a family photo:
Trail mix! Makes for an awesome photo prop, ha!
Aaron was having a "Lion King" proud dad moment.
"Can I get a refill over here?"
After lunch in Moab we headed back into Arches
to check out the visitor's center and go on a few more hikes.
The next hike we went on was called "Windows"
and was a great length for the girls, under half a mile.
Then we went over to "Sand Dune Arch."
This was on the top of my list of things to do in Arches.
I remember going here with friends and thought it was a cool place.
Basically it's an arch with a sand dune underneath it.
We took little plastic cups from our hotel to use as scoops and the girls had a blast.
I think we were cleaning sand out of our shoes and clothes for the rest of the trip!
Laney pouring sand all over herself
Our last hike for the night was the longest hike we took on the trip. "Delicate Arch," the famous Utah arch that you see on all the license plates. I think it took Aaron about an hour to hike up to it - he was hustlin' to get to the top before the sun went down. He had Ria on his shoulders and left me and Laney in the dust pretty quickly. I was already pregnant and Laney was not being as cooperative, so we didn't quite make it to the top, but still had a fun hike of our own.
All of these photos were taken by my talented husband:
Ria having a graham cracker snack.
I don't remember exactly what happened to her sweatshirt, I think it got wet or something. So she's wearing my sweatshirt tied up in the back and sleeves rolled up. Classy.
Moses
It was looking like it would storm so Aaron started hiking back down; he didn't want to have to hike in the dark, and the sun peeked out for just a few minutes on his way back down the trail.
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