Click here for the full photo album!
Chapter 1. Swim Fast, then Hit the Road!
An early start to the day, as usual when some sort of travel is involved! But today we had another reason to be up early anyway. Lily had a swim meet at Gleneagle! I had initially been planning to hit the road to Moab first thing, but when we found out that the swim meet was scheduled for that morning, I figured we would just leave straight from the pool and accepted the obvious fact that we would be getting into Moab pretty late. She was excited to swim in the first in-house meet though so it would be worth it.
We got packed and loaded, both camping and swimming stuff, all barely fit into the back of our Subaru Outback. We sure are getting spoiled these days not having to load the car-top carrier! We decided not to bring the bikes this time – there surely are some good places to ride in Moab, but we didn’t think we would have enough time to make it worth the effort. Maybe next trip!
We grabbed a quick breakfast on the way to Gleneagle, it was the first time Brian had gotten to see where she swims, and the sun was beautiful on the newly-snow capped mountains along the drive. Lily and Owen were anxious to show their dad the “wee way”, as they call it, that takes us up briefly into the high country on the way to Gleneagle.
Lily got started with her warm-up and soon Grandma arrived to watch her race! As is typical with a swim meet, there was much standing around and waiting for her events to come up, and also as usual, she was stressed and nervous for much of it. But she had some really good swims – so nice to see her making progress again after the disaster we had last year (with a different swim team). She even got to participate in a relay at the end, and her team won!
It was nearing noon by the time it was over, and we needed to get on the road, so we said good-bye to Grandma, and grabbed some Subway to take along. We usually don’t like to eat on the road, but I didn’t want to be too late getting in.
The fall colors throughout the drive were absolutely beautiful – one of my favorite parts about traveling this time of year for sure. The drive was mostly uneventful, and we actually made better time than is typical for us. (I can usually count on adding about 50% to whatever Google Maps predicts – we are not known to be good road-trippers!)
We were glad to see that Copper (our favorite ski resort) was already getting quite a bit of snow! And Owen loved going through the tunnel, he’s been fascinated with them ever since we went to Yosemite. A little later, we made our only significantly long stop. It was a rest area but also had a short trail that went up to an overlook – the kids were determined to climb the hill to the top. The two of them running back down, holding hands and laughing, was a memory Lily said she would keep forever 🙂
Chapter 2. Up the Creek
As we got closer to Moab the characteristic red-rock walls started to appear. The landscape took on an almost alien look – so different than anything we are used to seeing at home. Words simply can’t describe, so you’ll have to see for yourself in the pictures, though even they fail to do it justice.
It was just about dusk when we finally arrived at Up the Creek Campground, right in the middle of Moab. It took us a minute to figure out which site was ours, and we got busy getting the tents set up. yes, tents, plural! Lily really wanted to sleep in her own tent this time, so we had brought both the 2 and 3-person backpacking tents for this trip.
The kids had a blast running around and playing in the grass while we set up – the campground was tent only and walk-in, so no noisy cars or RVs right on top of us, although the sites were pretty close together. Lily was not quite sure what to think of the bathrooms – I realized she has had very few experiences with actual campgrounds – we usually stay in a hotel or go backpacking into the wilderness, mostly because we don’t like the smoke from campfires. Fortunately they weren’t allowed here.
We set off into town for dinner (this was not a cooking trip!) – I had researched a few places ahead of time and one of my suggestions for tonight was Zax. It was mostly a pizza place – plenty loud and chaotic which is always a good thing with a 2-year old! They told us a 40-minute wait when we checked in, but it was really only about 15, which was good since we were starving! The pizza was yummy, and even though Owen was a bit of a handful we made it through with no major disasters.
Back at the campsite we tried to settle in for the night. Lily was asleep almost immediately, but Owen squealed and bounced around in our tent for well over an hour. Hopefully our neighbors weren’t too annoyed! Finally he collapsed from pure exhaustion, but the lack of sleep he brought on himself would not do him well tomorrow.
Chapter 3. Delicate Arch, and a Delicate Mood from the 2-year old
I did actually set an alarm for 6am, but when it went off we were no where near being ready to get up! It was still cold, making the thought of climbing out of our toasty sleeping bags unbearable. Plus we had been out much later than intended, and even then Owen hadn’t gone to sleep right away. (Although he did sleep soundly the rest of the night). So we stayed snuggled in our tent until about 7:30.
There wasn’t really much we needed to do once we were up so we were on our way to breakfast pretty quickly. We had a quick but good meal at Wake-n-Bake, then made the short drive to Arches National Park. We had to buy a new National Parks Annual Pass since ours had expired. We always get our money’s worth out of those though, and like supporting the parks anyway.
Last time we came here, they were doing some contraction and we hit a really bad traffic jam just inside the gates, but today it was smooth sailing! Also on that trip, we had managed to explore 2 of the parks 3 main areas, so we were first headed to the one we hadn’t gotten to before – Wolfe Ranch / Delicate Arch. It’s actually one of the more popular areas of the park, so we certainly wouldn’t find solitude here today.
We parked and set off on the trail to Delicate Arch, with Owen in the backpack. Despite it having been cold in the tent that morning, it was already turning into a very warm day, and our jackets were off and stored in the pack almost immediately. Lily was working on her Jr. Ranger badge, and stopped several times along the trail to take notes and answer questions that were in her booklet. Owen was enjoying doing a bit of walking band climbing on his own, but the lack of sleep was making it hard for him to keep a good attitude about things, and we dealt with a few near-mealtdowns.
Most of the trail was along large sections of slickrock, red and orange colored. We often had to carefully watch for the cairns to keep form wandering off course. All around us we were surrounded by the incredible geology of the region – huge walls of red rock that opened into random arches and caves. And, unfortunately, lots of other people there enjoying it as well 🙂
We finally arrived at Delicate Arch (the trail was 3 miles roundtrip). Actually getting over to the arch was precarious, there were steep drop-offs all around us, so I stayed up on a ledge overlooking while Brian and Lily went down to explore some more. It is a spectacular sight though, easy to see why it is such a popular destination.
The hike back was a little more difficult – downhill, but Owen was seriously grumpy by now. He does not deal well with being tired and he was worn out – from the exhaustion of the morning, combined with not getting enough sleep. He had a few screaming fits, and then for a while, he would only let me carry him in the backpack, not Brian. I’ve done it before – hard work for sure, and even harder on the legs downhill! Once he fell asleep we managed to transfer him back to Brian’s back.
Chapter 4. Windows
We had discovered on our last trip that the picnic area at Balanced Rock is not usually busy, since it’s down a dirt road a little ways. So we headed there for lunch. There isn’t any food sold in the park, and with the drive back to town being almost a half-hour, we knew it was worth it to come prepared with our own mini-feast.
Owen had woken up, feeling a little more refreshed after a short nap. He and Lily spent far more time running around and exploring the picnic area than eating, but it was good to see them having fun at least. And fortunately Owen didn’t fall into any of the cactus plants that were all over. We tried to warn him about them, but weren’t sure he was “getting it”.
After lunch we went over to the Windows Section of the park. We had spent a lot of time here last trip, and thought Owen would enjoy all the places to climb on the rocks. At Double-Arch, Brian and Lily climbed up to the top and sat in the “window”. They had done this last time, and it scared me to death, but Lily was far more capable now.
Owen wanted to do his share of climbing, but I had to make him come down when it got to be too much – and he was not a happy camper! I know, it’s totally unfair that you’re older sister gets to go all the way up and you don’t. We didn’t stay too long, mostly because he was getting to be uncontrollably grumpy. So we headed back to the car, and hoped he would go to sleep.
Chapter 5. Junior Ranger-ing, #8!
We drove back towards the entrance, but stopped to drop Brian off the the Park Avenue trailhead – another repeat from last trip. It is a short trail that connects to the road in two spots, so it makes a nice one-way hike that we can pick him up on the other end of. Owen fortunately had passed out by now, so he continued to sleep while Lily and I read. (Keeping 3 phones and 2 Nooks charged up with only 1 car-charger for 4 days was a challenge though!)
Lily had finished the requirements for her Jr. Ranger badge, other than watching the movie at the visitor center, so after Brian got back we drove on to the entrance. he stayed in the car with a still-sleeping Owen, while we went inside. I always like looking at their exhibits anyway. The movie was neat – it talked about not only the geology, but also the history of the area, and included a lot of info about Canyonlands (tomorrow’s destination) too.
One of the rangers went over her book with her and they discussed some of the geology concepts we had learned about, and helped her say the Jr. Ranger pledge. Then she had her 8th Jr. Ranger badge! Quite a collection indeed.
It was still a little early for dinner, but late enough that we didn’t really have time to do anything else in the park, so we went back to the campground and relaxed in the tent for a while. The kids played some more in the grass, until we decided we were hungry. I had initially thought we might go back to the Italian Restaurant we had loved last time, but seeing how difficult Owen had been all day, it suddenly seemed daunting to take him in such a quiet, formal place. So we opted instead of Eddie McStiff’s, which we remembered being more kid-friendly.
These viagra uk include Obsession by Calvin Klein and Michael Kors. Do not buy online viagra if you are admitted to the hospital for angioplasty when it is not an emergency: * Tell your doctor what drugs you are taking, even drugs or herbs you bought without a prescription.* You will usually be asked not to drink or eat anything for 6 to 8 hours before the test.* Take the drugs your doctor told you to take with a small sip of water.* Tell. Ginseng also has various skin devensec.com levitra no prescription benefits. EDTA Chelation Treatment has shown multiple devensec.com viagra price benefits in various health issues, for example, Heavy Metal Removal Fatigue or tiredness Memory problems Hypertension Immune system issues Fibromyalgia Cardiovascular diseases, arrhythmia Abdominal area discomfort Insufficient Blood Flow – lower leg pain, loss of visibility and hearing power, creating cold feet and/or hands, breathing problems, bad digestive capacity; lessened vitality; slow recovery from bruises; problems related to impotency, erectile dysfunction. Settling in for the night was a bit easier this time- Owen still bounced and played for a while, but not nearly as long. At least he seemed to sleep really well in the tent once her GOT to sleep, hopefully the more we do this the easier it will get for him to settle down.
Chapter 6. Canyonlands
After getting breakfast in town, we set off on the much longer drive to Canyonlands – it was almost 2 hours away. We could feel civilization slipping beyond our grasp with every mile. You definitely don’t want to make this trek without being thoroughly prepared with fuel and supplies.
Before we got to the Canyonlands entrance, we saw a sign for a Point-of-Interest, Newspaper Rock. We needed a potty-stop anyway, so we spent a few minutes here. It was a large, flat wall absolutely filled with petroglyphs! They aren’t really sure why it was created, or even by whom, since their aren’t a lot of other clues left in the area. Really neat to see though. And I hadn’t even known about it. A common problem I seem to have in planning these trips is that I research the national parks themselves, but not the surrounding national forest.
Last time we came to Canyonlands, we explored Island in the Sky – the northern (and closest to Moab) district. The park is actually divided into 3 districts, and it is impossible to get from one to another inside the park, even on foot. You have to come in from a different entrance, so this time we wanted a new adventure and made the longer drive to the Needles entrance.
Our first stop in the park was at a very short trail called Roadside Ruin. Lily immediately picked up one of the trail guide brochures and spent much of the trail being our guide. We stopped at all the labeled points and she read us the information – I think she liked feeling like the expert 🙂 There were several unusual kinds of plants, and also an ancient grain storage bin left behind from native peoples. It was short and easy, but fun. And not another soul in sight.
Chapter 7. Fun @ Pothole Point!
The next stop was also just a short walk, called Pothole Point. It started off a little rough – Owen and Lily were playing with a new stuffed frog that Lily brought, it it ended up dropped into a puddle. Lily, unfortunately, is not yet past the meltdown stage herself, and we often aren’t sure which is harder, dealing with a 2-year old, or a 9-year old! But fortunately, this one passed relatively quickly, and she was in a much better mood, now that it was “out of her system”, I guess.
It ended up being one of our favorite parts of the trip actually! The first part was along large slabs of slick rock, and in the puddles that would form from the rare rainfall, you could find all sorts of larvae and tiny aquatic life. Not a drop of water can be wasted in this desert, even a small puddle is a haven for life.
Then we found the more adventurous part of the trail – rocks and arches to climb on and under, even some caves and tunnels to crawl through! Owen was out of the backpack for almost the entire time, and having an absolute blast! Lily was in full exploration mode, darting from one rock-form to the next, seeing what fun awaited on top, or underneath it. And again, we had the place entirely to ourselves!
Chapter 8. Picnic @ Elephant Hill
Back at the car, there was one other, slightly longer trail farther up the road, but it was later than I had anticipated (mostly since we spent so long “playing” at Pothole Point), so we decided to just make a quick visit to the trailhead before finding a picnic area. It turned out that you really didn’t need to go past the trailhead to get the full effect, at least not today when the entire park seemed completely empty.
The Big Spring Canyon trailhead was beautiful! A rocky plateau that opened up to a small valley below, and amazing rock formations all around. Brian and Lily spent a few minutes exploring, while Owen and I mostly sat and peered out into the canyon. We liked seeing how completely silent it was when we sat still. I remembered that from last time too – must be something about the geology and landscape that just sucks in the sound.
Lunch was calling though, so we set off to find the Elephant Hill picnic area. This was where Brian would be leaving for his solo hike, and it required a drive down a rather precarious dirt road. At least we were in our adventure-mobile! I wouldn’t have been nervous during the drive, except that I knew I would have to drive back up it by myself after lunch.
We found a shady table, and again, the kids enjoyed playing and climbing more than eating. Al packed up, it was time for Brian to set off – he was planning to hike in the Elephant Hill area, and we could see on the map that there were multiple ways to connect to Squaw Flat, where I would pick him up. But, we knew little about the trail system back there other than that it was represented by lots of branching, dashed lines on the map. This was a little frustrating, but he guesstimated as best he could how long it would take, and we made sure we knew exactly when and where we would meet.
Chapter 9. Ummm, I don’t think we can climb THAT!
The drive back up the narrow, winding dirt road was nerve-wracking, but fortunately we didn’t meet any other cars, which was my biggest fear. We had plenty of time to kill, so I thought I would take the kids over to Cave Spring, another short nature-walk. I put Owen in the backpack, though he didn’t stay there for much of the hike. At one point, we passed a old cowboy camp that had been abandoned, all the pots and tools were left sitting just like they had been left. It was eerie but cool. No one knows what happened to the inhabitants.
We found a few more tunnels to crawl through, then suddenly the trail was face-to-face with a cliff wall… and a creaky-looking, wooden ladder going up it! The ladder was almost 2 stories high, and I knew there was no way I could do that with Owen, so we were going to have to turn back. Lily climbed up the top to look, then we set off back to the car. It was a fun adventure though, and a little more daring than I usually do alone with the kids, so I was proud of myself. And once again, we didn’t see a single person the whole time. (I think we only saw one or two people the entire day actually!)
We drove back to the visitor center so that we could watch the movie and get the badge, she had done all the other requirements throughout the morning. The ranger here was much more excited to be getting a Jr. Ranger – since it is pretty rare. (They seem lucky enough just to get the lone visitor occasionally!) We also picked out several books in the gift shop, since we had lots more time before we needed to meet Brian. We read outside on the picnic tables until Owen started getting grumpy, then we headed on to Squaw Flat, knowing he would surely fall asleep on the way.
We waited there, and read some more, and the kids played around at the trailhead. It was by a campground, that actually looked really nice. Right by the road, but the spots were very spread out, and Canyonlands is so quiet and empty anyway that I thought it would make a nice place to camp next time. There were several site occupied, but still we didn’t see any actual people, other than a couple of hikers that came off the trail while we were waiting.
Brian came back, only a little late, and told us of his EPIC adventure! His trail wound across a rocky desert. Then it went deep into a canyon. He had to climb up a ladder across a swirly spot between the canyons, entering another canyon where he walked along the edge. Crawled through a crack in the canyon wall into yet another one, then eventually ended up in a grassy meadow, and back across the rocks.
It was time to make the long drive back to town. We had dinner at Buck’s Grill House. We were a little nervous that Owen wasn’t up for such a formal restaurant, but we managed it without causing too much commotion, at least I hope! Tonight was definitely easier getting him to sleep, getting to be a tent-sleeping champ, here on our last night, ha!
Chapter 10. A Very Big and Warm Pool.
Again, we slept in more than I had planned, and procrastinated packing up by going into town for breakfast first. It’s always so hard to get going when it’s so cold! We ate at Peace Tree, then tackled the monumental job of having to get TWO tents pack in their stuff sacks. It was tedious, and seemed to take hours, but at last we were ready to hit the road, over two hours behind schedule. Oh well.
We were generally heading home, but with a planned stop in Glenwood Springs, and spending the night in Vail. We ended up missing lunch altogether, since when we finally to to Glenwood Springs we just wanted to get to the pool! it is natually heated from the hot springs, and the main swimming pool is huge! It seems to stretch on for city blocks. Then a smaller therapy pool, which is as hot as a hot tub, but as big as most swimming pools. Unlike anything I’ve ever seen, for sure.
Both kids had a blast swimming, and Lily even went off the diving board several times. They have a hotel right there at the pool, and I started thinking that it might make for a nice mini trip next summer. Once to keep in mind for sure.
After a few hours, Owen was starting to wear out though, so we got changed and ready to head for Vail. We were starving, from skipping lunch, and Lily was very grumpy and impatient to get there. We thought we would check into our hotel first (The Marriott Mountain Resort), so that we would have a place to park (since the pizza place we were eating at was in the same village.) Unfortunately, there was a lot of construction going on, that slowed us down and complicated things, and once I finally got there and checked in, they said there was no hotel parking, we had to use the deck we had passed several minutes ago back in the village.
Sigh. But we backtracked, got everybody out, and wandered through the village until we found Blue Moose Pizza. Food at last! it was yummy, and the kids liked that we got to sit by the “blue moose” statue inside. It was a long, cold, dark walk back to the car, and then we still have to gather our luggage and haul it back to the hotel. I decided that I did not like Vail as much as Copper. Cool to stay here once (during off season, much cheaper!), but I didn’t regret at all our decision to return to Copper every winter. It just feels more like home.
Chapter 11. Getting home can’t just be easy…
We got to the room and settled in just in time to watch most of the presidential debate, while the kids bounced around on the beds and played. Even though the accommodations were, ostensibly, a large step-up from our tent, I actually didn’t sleep as well. We were awake earlier than the alarm, and though we might as well get an early start on the road, since Brian needed to get back to work by mid-morning.
He went to fetch the car while I checked out, and we were on the road long before sunrise. Coming over Vail Pass proved to be rather harrowing – there had been some precipitation overnight, and now the roads were icy – and it was still dark, yikes! But we made it unscathed. We made a quick stop in Dillon to grab breakfast, but as we were coming to the Eisenhower tunnel, traffic suddenly stopped.
We remained stopped for about an hour and half, the entire interstate had to be closed. The bad roads had caused several accidents on the other side of the tunnel right before we got to it. On one hand, if we hadn’t stopped for breakfast, we might have missed it altogether. Or we might have been just enough ahead to have been involved in the wrecks. So, perhaps it was for the better. No chance of getting back early now, should have just slept in! But the rest of the drive was uneventful, once we got out of the mountains and off of slick roads. We were glad to see at least, that Copper had gotten another healthy dose of snow 🙂
Another great trip – we did some familiar favorites, and discovered some new things too!
