Our Utah Trip, Part One-- Moab

Our trip to Utah was several little vacations all in one, so as to not give one HUGE long post, I am going to break it up. So, here we go!

We left our little house on June 18th to begin the first part of our trip, a mini-family vacation in Moab, UT. We left a little later than we had intended, but oh well, we were going to have fun! The girls slept and we drove as long as possible while they slept. We stopped at the Navajo National Monument for a few minutes, but were too late to get into the visitor's center because it had already closed (I had forgotten that the Reservation operates on daylight savings time, even though the rest of Arizona does not). We decided that we didn't have time for the hike (it was a mile round trip, whereas Jeff had thought that it was just off the visitor's center) and left to continue driving. We realized that we had not factored in the time change into when we were leaving, and were a little pressed for time. We stopped briefly in Monticello to see the temple there. It was beautiful the way it was all lit up at night, so we took some pictures and continued on to Moab. When finally pulled into our motel we were just glad to be there. Lydia was a little stir crazy, but we finally got her to bed and went to bed ourselves, preparing for our next day in Moab!

This is Jeff and Lydia at the Navajo National Monument.

Here is our family in front of the Monticello temple.


The next day (June 19th) after sleeping in a little and enjoying our continental breakfast, we went and found some pictographs in Moab. It was actually pretty neat because we got to a group of pictographs just as some people who had paid for a tour got there also. We eavesdropped a little bit, and learned some neat facts about some of the pictographs. Then, we set off for Canyonlands National Park. Once at the park, we went to the visitor's center. Lydia loved running and looking at the neat things in the visitor's center. Afterwards, we went on 2 short little hikes. Jeff had Lydia in the backpack carrier, and I had Claire in the front carrier. They both did awesome!! On one of our hikes, we had to climb up 2 ladders. It wasn't too bad until I got to the top and realized what way we had to continue!! Fortunately, all was good and we had an enjoyable hike! When all was said in done, we drove out of the park, stopped at Newspaper rock, and drove back to our motel. We went and had dinner, and then took Lydia swimming. She LOVES to go swimming, and it was a good way for her to get some energy out!

Some of the pictographs


A cowboy campground in Canyonlands (Apparently, they used to allow cowboys to come through Canyonlands with their cattle; however, in 1976 they ended that, yet these campgrounds still remain)


Our family on a hike in Canyonlands National Park

Claire and me before ascending the ladders


Newspaper Rock

On the 20th, we got up and loaded up the car as after our outings that day we would be driving up to Midway,UT. Our first stop in Arches National Park was the viewpoint to Delicate Arch. Initally, we had wanted to hike to Delicate Arch; however, as we thought about it, we decided that it wasn't the best idea, and thus decided that the viewpoint hike was good enough. It was only a half mile hike, and we had fun. Jeff really wanted to see Double Arch. If you have seen the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, you'll recognize the Windows section as part of the movie was filmed here. We didn't really have time for a hike, so Jeff quickly took some pictures and then we left. I really wanted to see balanced rock because I just think it is amazing to see this big rock just balancing there. So we got a picture and then went to the visitor's center. You always learn some neat things there, such as the soil in Moab and Canyonlands is living! It is called cryptobiotic soil and grows slowly. I don't think I had known that before getting there. Pretty cool. We then left the park and drove up to Provo and stopped at BYU. It was fun to go and drive by where I used to live as a student, and then see places that we went to while at BYU. We also drove by our old little apartment in Provo and got food from Bamboo Hut, a hawaiian grill that we enjoyed. It was fun to see the places where we have lots of fond memories. It was good for me, as I realize that I love all the memories that were made in Provo, but being here in Arizona is where I am suppose to be. After that we drove to Midway to see Jeff's aunt and uncle, and stay the night there before beginning our family reunion the next day.

Here I am wearing Lydia's hat. I had made a comment how I wished I had my hat, so Lydia handed me hers so that I would have one! What a sweet girl!


Delicate Arch
Jeff and Lydia with Delicate Arch in the background.


Double Arch (I keep mixing this Arch up with the Windows. I remembered them incorrectly, so now sometimes I call this the Windows.)

Balanced Rock


I hope you enjoyed our pictures! Part Two coming soon...