Hittle Bottom Campground twenty-four miles northeast of Moab off of Route 128.

This was the first campground where we actually stayed in the same spot two nights in a row.  Woohoo!  That means not cleaning up the mats and tent for a day!

We stopped at Lion’s Park in Moab to get water and cook breakfast in the shade.  The park was in a bit of a state of disrepair.  Most of the picnic benches were missing boards and only one of the water pumps was working.

This was the one and only water source for twenty or thirty miles.  All the campgrounds were dry.  It is funny how much you appreciate something that you have at your fingertips everyday when it isn’t so easily within reach.  The views from the park were breathtaking.

This park was the beginning of a road bike trail that went all the way to Canyonlands National Park.  Some of the canyon rocks were tinted black.  They call this rock varnish, a thin coating of clay minerals manganese and iron which look like black streaks..  Bacteria living on the rock takes minerals out of the atmospheric dust, oxidizes it and fixes it onto the rock.  It takes thousands of years to form and complete a coat of rock varnish.

Brooke was not feeling well last night or today.  On top of the hot hot temps she had a fever.  She refused to eat and tried to refuse water, but we just kept sprinkling her and opening her lips to get some in.  Cody was sitting in the van in the hot hot sun building with Legos.  We tried to explain that he would be more comfortable out of the van, but he wouldn’t budge.

Brooke perked up at the Information Center in Utah because the kids were allowed to collect two brochures.  We had to start limiting them as our van in swimming in them.

We arrived at Arches National Park at 11:30.  The ranger at the entrance smiled when she saw us, “I saw your van on my way to work.  Now that’s a road trip vehicle!”  A little girl at the grocery store this morning pointed when Scott drove past and said, “Mom!  Look at that!”  At the visitor’s center there was another family taking a picture of our van.  I don’t think it is that odd looking, but then I have gotten used to it!

Balanced Rock and an arch.

The picture on the left is of Delicate Arch.  Can’t find it?  That’s because it is waaaay far away from the overlook.  If you look straight above my head and a little to the left at the top of the picture you can see it.  It was a disappointing view to say the least.  Although I suppose that is only because seventeen years ago when Scott and I were here we hiked the three miles trail up and touched it.  Three miles is a bit much for these cuties, so instead I inserted the picture they provided at the roadside display.  The arch is forty-five feet high and thirty-three feet wide. The picture to the right is of the kids’ favorite hike of the day: Sand Dune Arch.

The Sand Dune arch hike was 0.4 miles round trip.  It was a bit of a challenge though because you walked through sand most of the way.  I finally took my shoes off and pretended I was on the beach.

The kids couldn’t complete the hike without a little time to play in the sand.

This is the point where there hike became a little more adventurous.  Scott scampered up this rock and Brooke had to follow.  Cody tried and was bummed when Scott told him no.  I responded to everyone who passed and gave us looks, “This is the prelude to how my family all wound up in the hospital.”

After this hike we headed to Skyline Arch.  It was a 0.4 mile hike.  In 1940 a boulder fell out of the side of the arch doubling the size of the opening.

The picture on the left is of Cody getting water from Scott’s Camelback.  Every time the kids asked to rest and even when they didn’t we pushed the water.

Our lunch picnic spot had a view of Balanced Rock.  We had a fun conversation with a mom and dad traveling with their adult son. They were talking about how quickly the kids grow and then never come back home or call.  Okay, mostly the dad was.  He also mentioned how kids these days don’t seem to appreciate all the time and effort their parents put into these trips.  The adult son was rolling his eyes quite a bit and reminded his dad that he was with him now.  After our lunch we finished the Junior Ranger badges.

There were quite a few statues outside the visitor’s center and the kids needed to pose with each and every one.  I put in the picture of them with a lizard since Cody is always on a hunt for lizards.  After Arches we headed back to a spot near our campground to put in for our first canoe trip on the Colorado River. Robbie from the Dinosaur Green River Campground recommended this little canoe trip.  It was a great suggestion.  While Scott went and dropped off the van at the take out and biked back the kids and I played on the beach.

We put in at Dewey Bridge at 6:35pm.  During our one and a half hour 6.4 mile trip we saw great blue herons and beavers.  We paddled to mile 23 to our campground beach at Hittle Bottom campground.

We snacked on the river, well most of us.  One of us refused to eat because they had transformed into the elusive whine-a-lo. In fact the whine-a-lo made their call for at least a half hour of the trip.  We did our best to sing and distract the whine-a-lo.  The whine-a-lo really just wanted to get off the boat.  We told it it could, and yet it never left… The rest of us munched on a healthy dinner of Cheerios, Pop-Tarts, and pistachios.

Cody was so excited to find a stick floating near the canoe.  We arrived back at the campground just in time to get ready for bed.  The late afternoon sun made for some incredible view of the canyons.

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