Sunday, September 22, 2013

Moab Vacation

June 30 - July 3, 2013

Our lives are getting so busy that it's hard for us all to find time to go on vacation together.  This year was the hardest by far...with youth conference, girl's camp, scout camp, family visiting from out of town, recital, personal progress projects, Eagle projects, holidays, work, etc. etc. Anyway after much planning we found four days when we could all get together and go on a short vacation.  Our destination Moab.  I know it's the hottest time of the year in the dessert but it was the only time so we had to take it!

We attended Sacrament Meeting at 9:00am so we could start driving down and not get there too late.  Since we had a river raft trip reserved on Monday morning.

We packed a lunch and stopped by a park to eat and stretch along the way.


These are a few pictures of the condo we rented. Nothing fancy just suitable for our needs.  3 bedrooms/2 bathrooms.




 




We got to our condo and then we went on a walk into Arches National Park.

Here are a few beautiful pictures of the the scenery on our short walk.  We couldn't believe that we live so close to this natural beauty and we had never come to see it.

This trail is called Park Avenue.




After our hike we drove to Balanced Rock.  The sun was setting and we were able to see some beautiful pictures.



Simply beautiful!  
This is S. How does she do that??? 

On Monday morning we went on our white water river rafting trip down the Colorado River.  G was a little nervous but once we got going, she loved it!!!  They take you with a guide down the river.  We could get in and out of the raft if we wanted.  We got lunch.  It was something we hadn't done before and it was fun!  We did get a little sunburned since we never reaplied sunblock later in the day.

KC and CR were on the cannoo when they were taking pictures.
 


The rest of us were on the raft. 




After showering we decided to go into the visitor's center at Arches so we would know what to do the next day.  The things CR does because he loves his little sister!

We needed a picture together. 


Yay for nice people that willingly take family pictures for us. 

Lots of people recommended Zak's Restaurant.  And we can't turn down good pizza. 


Tuesday we went hiking to Delicate Arch.  We tried to leave early cause of the heat but it was still really hot! On a side not look at these amazing kiddos!  



When the going get tough... G takes funny pictures. 

After the hike we went back down for lunch and a swimming break at the Moab Aquatic Center.



In the evening we went on another hike to Landscape Arch.  It was a little cooler in the evening.


This is Landscape Arch. 

On the way back down there is this area that looks like a slide made out of very fine sand.  Fun place to play, relax, and make sand angels.


Then it was time for dinner? Well since had such a late lunch and it was like 10pm we decided to just have ice cream. A good "healthy" way to end the day.  Ok maybe not so healthy but delicious for sure!



The next day on Wednesday we left our condo and went to Canyonlands National Park.  We went on a small hike to Mesa Arch.  It was already really hot in the morning.




What more could I as for... Heavenly Father must love me so much to provide me with this beautiful world to live in with such amazing people!!! These small moments make life wonderful!  Life can get so chaotic sometimes that we have no time to reflect on the beauty and blessings that are ours.  But these small moments give me strength and courage to stay on the straight and narrow path because if this is a glimpse of what eternity is like? Who wouldn't want eternal life with those you love??? 

:) 

We didn't have much energy left in us to hike too much more in Canyonlands but right next to Canyonlands is the State Park called Dead Horse Point.  This the view from here! Beautiful!

So this was our vacation for 2013.  Short, hot, needed, and very enjoyable!!!

K is so amazing when it comes to taking pictures and making videos.  She records many memories for us!  She made this video that summarizes our Moab Vacation:  B's Moab Vacation 2013











1 comment:

Kailee said...

I love it! It was a simple and short trip but actually a ton of fun. I think as we get older, the trips get more fun, which stinks because we have less time as we get older! But good summary :) Also, you should share the video in a post! If you want. The link is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXakl3uirXU

You can embed it so that it's right in the post. If you don't know how to do it, text me, it's way easy!