These Are The Days To Remember: September 2008

First of all, next time I decide to take a vacation, PLEASE remind me to make sure I take a day or two off to recover from the vacation itself. WOW! We had a TON of fun, but we hiked our fannies off - which in my case isn't such a bad idea - but boy am I WORN OUT!

I guess I'll just start from the beginning and chronicle each day as it happened.

DAY 1:

We packed up on Friday, met Heather and her crew at their house and began our journey to Moab. The drive there was really pretty uneventful. We heard the classic, "Are we there yet?" or "How much longer?" questions a few times, but over all, the kids were very tolerant of the drive. It probably helped that Chris rigged up the laptop in the van so they could watch movies. It's amazing how that can help the time pass so quickly. We watched Mr. Mom, Mad Monster Party, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and started Young Frankenstein. I was really worried about the long stretches between potty breaks, but there was no problem there, so that was a huge wipe-my-forehead-and-take-a-sigh-of-relief load off my shoulders. Seriously, you have no idea how worried I was. Generally, we can't travel from our house to Bountiful or American Fork without someone in tears because they have to pee so bad it hurts!!

We got into town around 5:30-ish. We decided to go see Dead Horse Point before we checked

into the hotel, so that was our first destination stop.

Words cannot describe the grandeur that I saw as I looked out over the landscape, and for the first time in my life, saw Dead Horse Point with my own eyes! It was absolutely breathtaking. The sun was low, so there were harsh shadows and the color was a bit washed out, but that didn't matter. It was almost too much to take in. I have heard many people say this, but never really understood it myself until now, but pictures just don't do this area of Utah justice. You can't capture the vastness of it as a whole. You can't capture the feelings you feel when you first walk up on it - ESPECIALLY if you're a little wary of heights like I am!! But it wasn't about my fear of heights. I marveled at what my eyes were seeing. I was suddenly filled with that familiar, overwhelming emotion as I thought of our Creator and his hand in it all. It was a very unexpected spiritual experience for me.

We were having a great time and the kids loved to look over the wall to see the sheer drop off that was below them. We walked around the rest of Dead Horse Point and let the kids explore and run around for a while. Emmy gave us a huge scare as she bounced up onto some rocks that were above the guard rail and wide open to a really scary cliff. We got upset with her and

she started crying. Nothing after that could console her. She said we yelled at her for no reason, so she obviously didn't realize the danger she was in. All it would've taken was one wrong step or an unexpected trip to send her thousands of feet down into the depths of the canyon. The mere thought of that was too much for both Chris and me. UGH.......I can't even think about it.

By the time we left the canyon, the sun was setting behind the mountains and it was getting dark. We were tired and hungry so we stopped to eat dinner at Wendy's in Moab.

I don't know what was going on, or if it's just peak season, but there wasn't an available room anywhere in Moab when Heather and I booked the rooms a month or two ago, so J told us to book rooms in Monticello. Little did we know that Monticello was an hour drive south of Moab. That hour was a very loooooooong hour!!!

We were all so tired and ready to fall into bed as we pulled up to the hotel. The kids slept most of the drive there, but wanted to lay down in a bed. Chris and J went inside to check in. It seemed like it was taking an awfully long time and I was getting impatient as I saw Heather get out of her van. She came to my window and told me that she had to go in because the guy said there was only one room reserved. She was absolutely livid because the day before we traveled, she called the hotel to confirm that we did indeed have TWO rooms and that it was paid in FULL. She was assured by the lady she talked to that we had two rooms and everything was good to go.

I don't know exactly what went down in the lobby because I stayed outside with the kids, but when Heather, J and Chris walked out, I knew nothing had been resolved. Heather told me she'd never seen Chris so mad! The guy behind the counter asked him to go outside, but he refused. He said it was all he could do not to jump over the counter and slug that guy in the teeth. He was so unprofessional and didn't care that we had confirmation numbers and had paid in full. He just shifted the blame to a girl that works during the day and basically said that the situation wasn't his problem. So......we stuffed 4 adults and 8 children into one room with 2 queen beds and VERY limited floor space. It was a rough night. Neither one of us slept very well - if at all. It was HOT - we're used to sleeping in a frigid room - and J was snoring! I don't know how Heather can sleep through that!

DAY 2:

We all got up, got ready and went to eat the crappy continental breakfast the hotel offered. Heather took care of business and got things straightened out with the girl who got the blame from the knuckle head we had to deal with the night before. She could not believe what she was hearing as Heather told her what happened. Her jaw kept hitting the floor and then she told us that he's not normally behind the counter - that he's just the audit guy, but was filling in for someone. Anyway.....we were assured that there would be 2 rooms when we came back for the night.

So our plans for the day were to go to Canyonlands National Park. Since we stayed in Monticello, we started with the south part of the park. It was quite a drive up the canyon before we got to the park, but it was so beautiful. We kept buzzing about Canyonlands and what there was to see there, the kids were full of anticipation! Then out of the blue, Landon piped up and said as he sighed, "Dad, when in the heck are we going to get to Candyland???" We all busted up laughing! It was so funny because he was so serious. We giggled as we discussed the imagination cloud that must've been above Landon's head as he thought about gumdrop lined pathways, lollipop signs, chocolate waterfalls and rivers and cotton candy clouds!!!!!! I think he was really disappointed when we corrected him. It was so cute though - DEFINITELY the highlight of the day!!

We stopped in at the visitor's center for a potty break and to look around for a minute. I'm so glad we did. One of the park rangers told the kids about the Jr. Ranger badges they could earn if they completed some things in a little booklet that he gave them. So they each took a booklet, eager to do what they needed to so they could bring it back for their badge. We walked

around a little bit and read some interesting facts about what there was to see. Emily was especially interested because she learned that the particular area we were in was once inhabited by the Anasazi Indians, who she just happens to be learning about in school. She was able to see an ancient mug, arrow heads and a portion of a sandal that was from the Anasazi people. She was so excited to go back to school and tell her teacher all about it!!

Our first stop was Cave Springs. We saw a lot of really cool stuff. There was

an old cowboy camp with some of the artifacts that they left behind. There were a lot of overhanging rocks that we had to walk under on the hike. It was kind of spooky to think that we were walking underneath a huge rock that wasn't much taller than Chris. Then we came to two ladders that we had to climb in order to continue the hike. The kids thought that was pretty cool. Once we got to the top, the view was amazing. You could see forever. We spent some time at the top playing and taking in the view before heading off to our next destination.

We took a drive further up the canyon to see the Needles. That was really cool, but thinking that

there was a better viewing spot, I didn't take a picture. Turns out that viewing spot was in a completely different part of the park. Oh well. We couldn't simply drive from the south end of the park through to the north end. We had to drive out the way we came. On our way out, we stopped to look at a roadside ruin used by Ancestral Puebloans as a grain storage bin. These structures were always hidden in inconspicuous places so they couldn't be seen to prevent others from stealing their grain storage. I thought it was pretty cool.

Before we left the park, we stopped back in at the visitors center so that the kids could get their Jr. Ranger badges. The Park Ranger was so cute with them. She checked each of their books and then swore them all in as Jr. Rangers. There was a small audience of elderly people that just thought that was the cutest thing ever, and quite frankly, so did I! Todd and Austin were embarrassed and thought it was stupid, but the other kids loved it!

We had to drive another hour to get to the north side of Canyonlands, but it was well worth the drive! We went to the Island in the Sky part of Canyonlands to see Mesa Arch. WOW!! What a view. I know I keep saying that, but that's just how it was. I just don't have words to say how awesome it was....I'm not a good writer. This is an arch that we had to approach with care as there was no guard rail between us and the deep, dark parts of the canyon floor below! There was a cool breeze blowing up in our

faces as we carefully tried to look over the edge. I kept getting butterflies just looking at a

distance, but my heart was in my toes as I watched others sit right on the edge of the ledge to take pictures. Even the kids were feeling a bit dizzy looking out and were anxious to get to some safer feeling ground, so on we went. We saw some really cool twisted, dead trees as we completed the hike and the kids had fun pretending to sit on the cactus.

Our last stop of the day was at Upheaval Dome. This was the hardest hike of the day because of the steep incline. It was pretty much stairs the whole way. The sign at this location speculates

that it was ground zero for a huge meteor. Click on the picture to read the sign. It was pretty mind boggling to think of a meteor hitting earth and leaving that kind of crater.

Again, the sun was setting as we left the park and it was dark before we got into town to eat. This time we ate at McDonald's. Not the best diet, but we had to eat as cheap as we could! The kids were so excited to get to eat out 2 nights in a row. What a treat!

The hour drive back to Monticello seemed twice as long. I was so tired from all the hiking and

sun exposure that I just wanted to fall asleep. We got to the hotel at 10:30 p.m. and the kids were dying to go swimming in the pool. At first I told them no, but as I considered the amount of caffeine I had just drank, I knew I wouldn't be falling asleep anytime soon. So we all went swimming. Heather and J actually got in the hot tub, but I didn't feel like showering afterwards, so I opted to stay dry!

Boy did I sleep like a rock that night! My head hit the pillow and I didn't hear a thing until about 8:30 the next morning.

Day 3:

I woke up anxious to go see Arches National Park. Knowing that we would be hiking a lot again today, I decided I should stretch out and loosen my muscles a little before we left. Surprisingly, I wasn't sore at all.....until I had some nasty charlie horses, that is. I did my stretches and got busy packing everything into the van so that we could check out of the hotel. As I sat down to put my sneakers on, both of my lower legs began to get tight. I stood up and tried to stretch it out, but the charlie horse didn't stop. It just got stronger and harder. Oh my goodness did it hurt!! All I could do was sit there and wait for it to relax. It only lasted for 15 - 20 seconds, but it seemed more like a minute. I could hardly walk and my legs were so stiff and sore after that. I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to hike.

We checked out and drove the hour to Moab. I didn't think the pain in my legs was so bad until I got out of the van to walk into the visitors center. I did my best to ignore it and didn't complain. I wasn't about to let it ruin my last day at Arches.

We got our map and plotted out our visit. I honestly had no idea that there was so much to see in Arches. Our first stop was the first attraction, which happened to be what they call Park Avenue. What can I say that I haven't already said? It was simply

AWESOME!! As we truly began to realize how fatigued we all really were and that the temperature was going to be harsh, and not pleasant like the two previous days, we decided to drive to the top and work our way down so that we could do the hikes we wanted to before we all fell over! We also agreed that any hike over a 1/2 mile each way was out of the question!! So with that, off we went.

We stopped really quick at Fiery Furnace for a potty break. We just walked to the look out point to see what we could. We didn't do the hike through it. Our next stop was just up the canyon a little bit to Skyline Arch. This particular arch was rather intriguing because in 1940, a HUGE boulder fell out of the arch, doubling it's size. It's amazing to think about how it takes millions of years for these arches to form and that at any given moment, something like that could happen. When you get to the base of Skyline Arch, all the rock that fell in 1940 is right there. It's so cool to look up and see how jagged some parts of the arch are, not all rounded like the rest of them that have been eroded by the elements over who knows how many millions of years. All the boulders provided a great playground for Chris, J and all the kids for a good half hour. Heather and I opted to stay behind in the cool shade!

Next we took a .2 mile hike to Sand Dune Arch. We were really liking the fact that this one was

only .2 miles! Once we got through a very narrow crevice, we came upon a child's paradise full of SAND!!! It was so fine and cool to the touch. Although this was the shortest of all the hikes that we did, it seriously was one of the hardest! I quickly remembered how much

I HATE walking in sand for any distance. And to get to the arch was UPhill. The sand was so fine that your feet sank as you stepped so it took so much effort to walk that short distance. I guess I'd have to say it was worth it though. Again, Chris started climbing the rocks and took the kids exploring for a little while. By the time we got back to the van, everyone had shoes full of sand and were ready for lunch.

We drove down to Wolfe Ranch, which is where the Delicate Arch trail starts to eat. It was HOT, we were sweaty and tired, so we really took our time eating. As we sat there, we realized that this

trail head was the long 3 mile hike, which we all knew we'd never make, so we drove a short distance to the Upper Delicate Arch Viewpoint trail head. That was only a .5 mile hike. We figured we could handle another half mile and at this point figured that seeing Delicate Arch at a distance was better than not seeing it at all.

Although the distance was short, even the kids were out of gas. They were the ones asking to stop for a rest and not wanting to get back up. By this time, the heat was blistering and was really sucking the fun out of the whole experience. We made it, but nobody wanted to gather for

a picture. With enough persistence from me, however, I managed to coax them over for one last pose with the most photographed landmark in Utah, with the promise that I wouldn't make them pose for anymore. The walk down was intense for me. I seriously didn't know if I was going to make it. My legs were so stiff and sore from the charlie horses that walking down all of those steep stairs was just about more than they could take. I was out of water and there was absolutely no breeze. I felt like the trail was getting longer, not shorter. But I did make it. We stopped for another potty break and then drove down to our very last stop.

Luckily, this last stop was Balanced Rock and was just a short stroll on a level sidewalk. As close to the road as it was, Emmy and Dylan didn't want to get out of the van and walk another step. J stayed in their van with Kailey because she fell asleep, so Em and Dylan sat with them while the rest of us walk the 100 yards to Balanced Rock.

You can't look at how that rock is balanced on top of it's pillar without dropping your jaw to the ground in amazement. It looks like it could topple off at any given moment. It looks like if you walked up to it and shook the base of it, or blew on it too hard it would fall. WOW!!

We drove down the canyon and were on our way home by about 5 p.m., if I remember right. We weren't 5 minutes down the road when I realized how quiet it was in the van. I looked back and every one of the kids were ZONKED! We truly wore them out. The quiet was nice as Chris and I started talking about coming back in October when CC and Chelsea come, so that we can see the rest of what we didn't get to see!

The kids slept the hour and a hlaf drive to Price where we stopped for dinner at Taco Bell. We pulled into the garage around 9:30 p.m. and were so happy to be home! As much fun as we had, there really is no place like home.