Spring break...of sorts.

So. As homeschoolers, we don't really take a spring break. With our three weeks on, one week off schedule, we generally get the breaks we need. But. Last year, on our way home from California, we were able to take the boys briefly into Arches National Park. We loved it and vowed to come back. Fast forward to this year.

We knew we wanted to go before public schools were out for the summer (and before the high temperatures of the summer, lol)...not while it was crowded with spring breakers...and when the ground wouldn't be covered still with snow (like last March when we stopped there). Between this, that and the other, last week/weekend turned out to be "it" for us. (I'll add here that we're also very thankful for the flexibility in Nathan's work schedule.)

We headed out on Thursday morning...amid the snow (click on any image to make it larger):

Yup, lovely Colorado April weather that stayed with us until we were over the Rockies. Much needed moisture but icky driving conditions. Sigh. (The semi trucks were being required to chain up over parts of I-70...which we thought was overkill but just goes to illustrate the conditions.)

After a bit of driving (altogether, drive time from Fort Collins to Moab is just under 7 hours) and a few stops, we made a detour to see the Colorado National Monument...which isn't actually a single monument but is a lovely park with fabulous views and landforms. Nathan and I had been there years ago and loved it. Here we are in the foreground of "Kissing Couple":

And here are the boys at a further viewpoint:

After our short visit, we continued on to Moab, ate dinner at the fabulous Moab Diner, checked into our hotel and got ready for the next day. (FYI, when we road trip, we tend to eat out of our cooler for everything except dinners.)

Friday morning, we headed first for Canyonlands National Park and started with the short hike to Mesa Arch. The view at the arch was spectacular...definitely more than we'd been expecting:

The weather, by the way, was completely perfect...warm enough to not need jackets but cool enough to not be hot. Anyhow, after Mesa Arch, we also hiked to Upheaval Dome, ate lunch and then stopped at the Grand View:

Seriously, folks, this was awesome! The natural wonders to be found in our national parks never ceases to astound. Along the way, the boys completed the Junior Ranger program for Canyonlands, earning themselves Jr. Ranger badges on our way out of the park. (They love these Jr. Ranger programs and I think they're fabulous! We've done a number of them...at Rocky Mountain NP, Yellowstone, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rushmore, Jewel Cave and probably others that I'm forgetting. Even if we skipped out on "school"...the boys learn plenty when we're at national parks and traveling in general.)

So. We then headed over to Arches (about 30 minutes drive?). Last time, we'd done the hike to Landscape Arch and knew that this time we wanted to tackle the Delicate Arch hike. It's 3 miles round trip and has 480 feet of elevation gain. It's listed in their "strenuous hikes" category and recommended for late afternoon (for the great lighting of the arch for photographs) or early morning (for cooler weather). Off we went...

(Note: Yes, it was listed as strenuous. Yes, we have a 5 year old with us. We're pretty good at prepared hiking, though. Nathan and Asher both wore camelbacks with water and Noah wore a hip-pack with two more water bottles. Nathan's pack was full also of snacks and a trash bag. I had the camera bag and mini first aid kit. We wore appropriate footwear (unlike the folks in flip flops that I did actually see). And, we've hiked enough to know that the boys could handle it.)

Anyhow, here's Micah heading up the last bit of the trail (yes, there were sections of rock ledge after plenty of slickrock):

And then we took our picture in front of Delicate Arch:

And then we hiked a little further and got someone to snap our photo actually under the arch:

 
And then we hiked back down...here's Nathan about half way down (??)...off in the distant right you can see the parking lot:

 
After another delicious dinner (complete with ice cream) and some down time, we hit the hotel pool and hot tub and crashed for the night. Whew.

Saturday, we checked out and headed back into Arches to do the hikes to Double Arch and The Windows. Micah declared Double Arch to be his new favorite arch:

(Yeah, at this point, Noah was pretty much done with my taking pictures, lol.) After these last hikes, which was pretty much the end of Micah's tolerance, we hit the Visitor Center one last time to check out the exhibits again (the boys really liked Arches' Visitor Center for some reason) and turn in the boys' Jr. Ranger programs for Arches, collecting another badge. We ate a late lunch and got on the road toward home... 

On the way, we detoured again quickly to visit the Colorado National Monument Visitor Center (it had been closed when we came through the first time). We had to take some pictures by the Balanced Rock:

...and then we continued home...getting in late Saturday so we could have Sunday to unpack, do laundry and such before getting back into the swing of things Monday. Fun times. ;) 

Comments

[nan]

I'm jealous! I want to make that trip again. Sigh...some day...

[tania]

i hope we get a chance to meet someday.
you have such an amazing little family amanda.
that's all.
:)
t

[elizabeth]

what an awesome trip this looks like, amanda... high on my list while we're out west.