Arches Trip

Last week Dal and I took a little trip to Moab. We hadn't been there in probably ten years. I didn't realize how much I missed it until we got down there! 

Ready for the four hour drive. We were so pumped!!

When we got there we checked in to the Big Horn Lodge. It was a cute little motel. The decor was very country; wood walls, horse hoof towel hanger, and all!

Then we headed to Arches! Did you know it's only $10 per car to get into the park? Talk about a steal!

We attempted to recreate a picture we took from our family vacation here years and years ago...

We were so little :)

Our first attempt at taking a picture of the two of us and an arch, by ourselves. Turned out perfect :) It's my favorite from the whole trip.

The hardest thing about trips with two people is the picture challenge. I didn't want all of 

them to be just like the one above, so we got creative :)

Some lovelies from another country took this one for us. We were amazed at how many people on the trails were from another country. I felt like we were the only Utahns there.

Isn't my brother a stud??

These leaves were so green! My camera couldn't capture it, but aren't our feet cute?

 We found these on two different hikes... We think our brother-in-law, Justin Briggs, did some vandalizing ;)

At the end of day one, we ate dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant. I had my first fried ice cream experience. It wasn't very fried, but so good nonetheless!

Day Two was my fave. We were able to spend the entire day hiking. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

 On our way to Navajo Arch, we found Dal a little home :)

 And stacked rocks, aka path markers called cairns. We couldn't remember what they were called, so we ended up calling them Timmys.

 'Being one' with the arch.

Oh hey :)

Partition Arch was our fave by far! I cannot describe it. Any words I could use would be an understatement.

 The hike takes you to where we're standing. Then you can go under the arch, and it leads to this ledge:

& this a.m.a.z.i.n.g view.

 

Dal, just hanging out in a little window :)

We hiked to Private Arch. It was a longer hike and we were the only ones on it. When we got there it was silent. And I mean, silent. It was awesome. Then we heard a sound our ears had never beheld. Did you know when a bird soars, you can hear the wind in its wings?? Coolest sound ever. It was so nice to get away from all the noise of life; no phone, no internet, no music, no traffic, just stillness. It was really rejuvenating.

Double O Arch.

 Look into his eye, what do you see?

The last hike of the day was Delicate Arch. We were hoping to stay up there and look at the stars, but darn clouds were in the way :/ That just means we'll have to plan another trip there soon :)

 

 We found some petroglyphs at the start of the hike.

 When you're on this hike, you turn the last corner, then bam! The arch is right there. It was a crazy feeling. It instantly felt like home. Living in Utah, we see pictures of this everywhere, but to see it with my own eyes is completely different. It felt surreal. I loved being up there.
 

 We couldn't end a long day of hiking without ice cream, so we made a stop at the grocery store for some Ben & Jerry's. You can never go wrong with them. Dal's fave is half baked. I decided to try it. Now I know why it's his fave. It's probably one of the greatest things I've ever eaten. We stayed up late talking, laughing, and complaining light-heartedly about how blasted uncomfortable our beds were. Oh what a night :)

We spent our last day walking through the cute little shops on Main Street (so many fun trinkets they have!) then headed up to a couple more spots we hadn't checked off our list.

 One of them was Sand Dune Arch. We played in the sand for a minute, before we froze (it was chilly) and ran back to the car four the drive home :)